Intermeccanica Italia Advice

This information relates only to the early Torino and Italia. My car is the first production Torino and I suspect, in common with most low production cars that used proprietary parts, that there were changes through production as certain parts became unavailable and were replaced by those that could be obtained. Therefore not all information may be directly applicable to cars that are even a few months of production away from mine. Certainly later Italias had a completely different front suspension setup for which I can offer no advice.

I decided to keep the original front suspension on mine for the sake of originality and because the foundational parts on my car were in reasonable condition such as to make that approach viable. I am located in England, so many of the parts used were sourced within Europe - some may be more or less difficult to find in the USA. Below are the major points addressed and some guidance of the parts used and reasons why:

A-Arm Bushings: These are the same for all locations so 8 required. The originally specified items are from a Fiat 850 mini van and I obtained these from Italy (Italian ebay). These I fitted but were not 100% happy with them; they were clearly designed for a much lighter car so I did my own modification. I ended up using MOOG K6108 bushes after researching the dimensions in the MOOG catalogue for the closest match bushing that was still widely available. Changes necessary to the bushing was to grind the step change in the outer dimension to be slightly nearer the shoulder (effectively extending the minor outer dimension) and dressing of the inside bore to more easily slip onto the suspension shaft. I left the bushings as long as possible (some trimming to length is required) such that a slightly thinner than stock nyloc nut can still be used with a thread and a half protrusion. Changes to the A-Arm are limited to a slight reaming out of the bushing seat bore only (certainly not enough to weaken the arm) to achieve a nice press fit (don't fit off the vehicle!). This then ensures the maximum length of bushing for more realistic sizing to the cars weight.

A-Arm bush mounting: The lower arm mounting spindle on the chassis is actually two tubes, one inside the other. There is a puddle weld on the forward end of the top of the outer tube to pin the inner tube. I made the decision not to try and separate the tubes to ease assembly as I considered that 50 years of the two tubes being together made an unlikely prospect of me separating them undamaged. I therefore assembled the bushings to the A-Arms directly on the car using a series of spacers and makeshift tools. In theory, the top A-Arm bushings can be pressed off the car, but I tried that and found I could not get the assembled arm between the shock tower and the inner fender. Again, I ended up assembling on the car as I was getting pretty good at that kind of thing by then!

A-Arm Top and Bottom Ball Joints: Originals are available but a little pricey. These are Fiat 1800 and for you guys in the USA, Mr Fiat stocks them. Conversion of the top ones to Mopar units are described in the Intermeccanica Club Newsletter #13. I also looked at Alfa Romeo GT GTV bottom ball joints which look similar but are much more affordable but since mine were in good condition I just replaced the boots.

Tie Rod Ends: Fiat 132 items are a direct match, but have to be trimmed by about 1" on the thread to ensure enough room in the adjusting collar to get proper front end toe-in. This is a common item to other fiats; 125, Dino etc, but those listed for the mundane 132 are the cheapest - here at least! You need the version that has a kinked arm. I found that there are at least two different designs that carry the same part number. The one you need has a threaded portion that is longer such that trimming still leaves loads of thread. just putting "Fiat 132 Tie Rod" into google images will demonstrate the differences.

The bushing for the steering rack end of the tie rod ("silent bush") is a Peugeot part 203 and 403 part and is easily and cheaply obtainable here from many sources. eg. https://www.franzose.de/en/Home/

Roll Bar Bushing: I just used universal ones of the right dimension (I think for a Camaro).

Shocks: Mine were in good mechanical condition so I repainted and reused them with end bushings from A Suzuki Jimny which were a good fit.

If more specifics on any of the above are required, just let me know. I think I've spent as long researching and sourcing parts for this car as I have physically in the garage restoring it. However, its now approaching completion and am hoping to get it on the road for this summer.

Regards

Andy

 

Thanks very good info, I know how much work it takes to get that down correctly.

 

Saturday my car passed its MoT (UK safety inspection) and now awaits its plates to be issued to achieve full road legal status. It's been around a year and a half from start to finish but came in under budget and on-schedule; even with the distraction of purchasing another Intermeccanica (Indra) along the way - I just couldn't risk passing that up.

It was only about 5 miles as a round trip to the MoT station (which is the only trip legally allowed here without plates) but enough to get a feel of the car. I'm not entirely sure what I expected, but it's a very "involving" drive and though I took it easy on the loud pedal, the potential performance was very clear to feel. It wasn't until later that it dawned on me that the trip was the first time the car had actually been driven in 35 years! I'm very much looking forward to giving it a proper run in a couple of weeks time. Hopefully then I can also get the chance to take some photos and post them up here.

Andy

 

For those that haven't seen it, a potentially interesting project has presented itself on BaT. Nothing to do with me even though I contributed to the discussion so please do your own research

1967 Intermeccanica Omega | Bring a Trailer

 

The Torino (Italia) is finally finished and today the weather cooperated and I took it out for a few photographs.







I thought it would be fun to compare some similar "before and after" shots of the car

 

Amc American usata - Intermeccanica italia a cascina (pisa) inserito il 04/02/2016

Missed some heart beaths, but unfortunately this is likely not real as image search reveals the same picture being used multiple times

https://www.google.com/search?tbs=sbi:AMhZZivVZQfKl5zl3GHkncYdGNDeySi9h8Djn7Bh2Sn7w7QT_1OxxA6JXh2jhHvl7joPpyZA-Em4raWOAwW4oFg_10AkGh_1VHjqmN71QHzWRlDfJ3RJUDDsjiVBA8AZZcoi-fQuW3FRFDRP9ee0Wq1PBFgwZWg647TsKVBTs9pSlivf2MvKg-twTgR4ZCBVaTNGsYDgaMb42Y24ARmVc5VFk0dfSKOY7EvUwm_1l8bRp0E0Z6bQ-kUC_1Z28xb2GxygjXdISh1pinlGNbtUFnZ7OU3FU4sThxT5C9D8wH4hQa4K9nnfHnWL0xnhDrpzIyJR6udqAAHzgrzobU8H37blVLb6drciEYKhZxw&hl=en

 

I have heard that a shop in VA did a complete surgical replacement of the Italia suspension with jaguar parts few years ago and that the change massively improved the handling. Has anyone heard of this or any similar modification as the handling is clearly the biggest engineering weakness in these cars.

 

Anyone have a sorted Italia Spyder they would consider passing on to a new owner?

 

Alpintourer: There is a convertible coming up at the RM Ft. Lauderdale auction in April. You can see it on their website. Also,Mark Hyman (Hyman Ltd) has just acquired a convertible, but it is not yet on his website.

 

Thank you. I'm loving the color of the RM one. I will try and contact Mark Hyman.

 

Alpintourer: You should have a copy of the Intermeccanica book by Paula Reisner. It is excellent and has a listing of all the cars. There were far fewer built than the numbers circulated around for many years. I have sorted out many of the records and can help with some production numbers by the changes made during production.

 

This one just sold, nice car... http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/24809/lot/182/?category=results&length=90&page=2

 

This has got to be one of the best ones left.

 

There is a pretty nice one in your neck of the woods George.

 

Andy, gee I haven't checked this thread in a long time. Your car looks great. Enjoy!

 

Don't tease us, please give us a list! What's the Intermeccanica 8?!

 

Thanks FerrariChat for hosting such a great Intermeccanica discussion.

Has anyone seen this Italia before it sold at auction a few years ago? It was sold with ZERO history. It seems to have come from the Toronto area possibly? With it's unique valve covers, aluminum heads, headers, it might stand out in someone's memory?

https://rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/am16/amelia-island/lots/r122-1971-intermeccanica-italia-spyder/175312

Any history or even a past location would be very helpful. Thanks!
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Do you have this book?

I have a copy I no longer use. PM me.

 

Oh yes. I can see that the car was originally green. Just no idea of its history! Anyone in Canada recall seeing it?

 

the red car would look so much better with black rockers and chin under pan in black as well as the under boot.
Something tells me they came new that way

 

The car in post # 267 looks correct to me. (I had a 1967 coupe). The wheels are probably not original though.

 

Bumping this thread to be close to the latest Intermeccanica thread.

That's the guy ho bought my old car #40057.

 

Near paint
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Close to paint, going to be Mang's fav color.