850TC Replica Started

[kikolemus]

Not that I do not have enough projects but I have been working on this early 600 - "Pre-D model" off and on for the past several months. I am not planning a show car but something that I can beat up and some fun in. The first photo is from when I first bought the car. It is a nice rust-free shell that had a family of opossums living in it.

I have been accumulating Abarth parts for the past couple years and I have most of what I need. I am planning a roll cage and some vintage racing seats. I have already have put disc brakes on the front and spent a fortune on a real Abarth steering wheel. I bought a nice TC style alloy gauge pod that I have found a Jaeger speedo and tri-gauge for it, I just need a 125mm tach, any suggestions for an appropriate tach would be appreciated.

I have a couple engines to choose from but I do plan on using a Weber 36DCD carb on it. I have not decided on the radiator set up but I will have some sort of auxillary radiator with a big oil cooler.
Right now it is rolling on 850 13" steel rims but I have a nice set of new Campagnolo wheels that I will use.

The car does have the smaller European headlamps, if anyone has an extra set of buckets and associated hardware I would be very interested in purchasing them.

[molen586]

Hi there, you have a nice project there going on. I love the 600 models with the suicide door. What color do you want the car? And will you have a cooler front and wider fenders?

[viotti600]

Mike,

If you're going to make this into an 850TC replica, you might as well also source some 600D suicide doors & taillights to make it look right. ;)

Everything else...sweet! Can't wait to see/hear the finished product! :)

[kikolemus]

For the time being I do not plan on painting the car, I like the old finish on the car and my plan is to put
as many old parts on the car as I can so it looks like it always was that way. I have had too many projects that languished for years because I wanted the car to be perfect and I have had perfect cars that I would stress about every rock chip or ding it received from being driven. So this one will just be a fun beater.

I also like the narrow body cars and I do not plan on any flares. I did roll the inside lip of the rear fenders old-school style with a wood baseball bat and they came out pretty nice and clear the tires. I have to play a bit with the front tire size to get what I want for the front end and I may have to have the massage the lower front corner of the fender a little bit so the tire clears it when out on the road.

If I do put a radiator on it, I will either place it under the car in front of the transaxle or on the front of the car without any shroud.

Jeff, I know it will be a bit of a bastard 850TC without the wind-wings but I do like the look of the one piece windows and I am not going to paint the car anytime soon so I will have to keep the doors that it has now. I also like the early taillihgts without the reflectors of the D model.

Thanks,
Mike

[kikolemus]

I wound up with another nice 600D last year and finally got it up and running, it has a 903 engine with reverse rotation gears, Weber 36DCD carb, PBS 280camshaft and original Abarth exhaust, compression is pretty good @ 160psi on all 4 cylinders and it pulls pretty good. Below is a link for a video of it buzzing my neighborhood.

The previous owner put disc brakes on the front, 13" wheels, a nice steering wheel and an electric fuel pump.

My nephew is driving the car and I am taking the video, I laugh everytime I watch it and you can hear me snickering at the end of the video. The big sissy let up on the gas going into the turn at the end of the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPi5ekqfQMo

[viotti600]

 Oh crap!!! I **LOVE** how great that exhaust sounds! :D

I've been regretting selling it ever since (even though I have no car to put it on at the moment). It was such a cool "period" piece to me. Now I want it even more! haha ;)

This green 600, is it Chris Saul's old car? I'd heard he blew up the engine at the ORE'10 Track Day (Mirafiori.com event)? Did you rebuild or replace the engine in it? (looks a bit smoky)

I saw you had it listed on CL recently...drool, drool. I really miss having a 600-bodied car to rip around in, they're such a blast!

I'm slowly plugging away again on my '68 850 Spider project; front suspension is nearly complete (waiting for brake calipers), rear suspension is underway. Too damn hot lately to work in the shop, though!

Wanna trade when I'm done? (haha)

[kikolemus]

Thanks Jeff for the kind words. I bet there is a bunch of Fiat and Abarth stuff that you wish you still had stashed away.

That pipe really sounds great, it would be great to try and reproduce something like it for another car. I think I will most likely build up something with a Supertrapp muffler, I just hope it sounds half as good. I know part of it has to be the PBS280 camshaft.

Like all of my projects it seems as though the momentum stalls out for months at a time. I had changed the head for one that had a nice port job and it turned into a smoke machine. I put the old head back on and it still smoked but not as much. I took the engine out and took it completely apart and found one of the oil ring springs was overlapped and not making any seal. Everything else was fine and I put the old head back on.

I got the car running again a couple weeks ago and it no longer smokes. It did however get pretty hot so I am thinking about putting a front radiator on the car. I have a later front shroud and a radiator that needs a new core but it should work ok; just not look right since it has suicide doors. Good thing I am not too much of a purist.

Below is a couple shots of the car. I will post some better shots in a couple weeks. I buzzed the hell out of it today and it really pulls well for such a little thing.

[grant gauld]

Mike,If its not bleedingly obvious to all..?And has already been corrected.... Thatall important engine mount is all topsy turvy..
Grant

[viotti600]

Thanks Jeff for the kind words. I bet there is a bunch of Fiat and Abarth stuff that you wish you still had stashed away.

**Sigh**...And how! The stash is getting pretty thin these days.

That pipe really sounds great, it would be great to try and reproduce something like it for another car.

  Yeah, I didn't realize until later that it was a 95% likely to be a REAL period Abarth stinger exhaust. If you do decide to repro the lower half, I'd be interested in one! Assuming it sounds the same... :D

Like all of my projects it seems as though the momentum stalls out for months at a time.

  Not to worry, I find myself doing the same thing. My biggest concern (priority) lately has been to correctly consolidate the cars & parts (almost done!) & to get the shop/workspace set up appropriately so I can better work on the car(s) like I want to. My current project is reinforcing the pallet-racks-based "mezzanine" that serves to house all of my parts & the shelving units, bins, etc.. There's going to be a lot of weight up there, & I want to make sure they don't collapse onto all of my cars parked underneath them! Oh, and making the shelving units a little more earthquake-friendly. And building a railing so I don't accidentally walk backwards & fall off the edge of the mezzanine (almost did it twice, now). And, and... ;)

I got the car running again a couple weeks ago and it no longer smokes. It did however get pretty hot so I am thinking about putting a front radiator on the car. I have a later front shroud and a radiator that needs a new core but it should work ok; just not look right since it has suicide doors. Good thing I am not too much of a purist.

Maybe split the difference & find a Series 1 type shroud? It's a little less "obtrusive" to the eye, & different than most others out there. Or just build/run it with the later shroud like John T's white car or Kane Brechlin's old black car?

Good to see current photos of the "hot rod" 600. That's a great stance on the car, btw. ;)

  You definitely want to get that engine mount put rightside up, as Grant noted! (ie: the center cone goes on the bottom, inverted 180° & below the main bracket that bolts to the block). With that "beastly" engine installed, you might also consider fabricating/installing a reinforcing plate to keep the engine mount perch secured to the rear body panel (they flex & tear off). If you don't have the pattern, I think I have a copy somewhere in my files that I could Xerox for you? Let me know...

Are you running this on the street with no air filter? (Tsk, tsk)