Hello John,

I had all kinds of trouble with the front suspension on my Abarth.  It got rebuilt and changed many times.  The biggest problem with the suspension, as we all know, is the lower spring.  With modern sticky tires that spring lower a-arm turns into what I called a flexible flyer for all guys old enough to remember sleds.  Even with a heavy duty spring when I braked hard the tire would move back and hit the inner fender.  The solution turned out to be easy and totally transformed the car.  It made it fully tunable.  Before I tell the solution I will mention the other problem.  The attachment point for the sway bar is also on the flexible spring.  When you stiffen the sway bar it only partly works because the spring will still flex out past the sway bar mount.  So going to a much stiffer sway bar didn’t do nearly as much as I had expected.  The solution was to make a sway bar and attach it to the upright in such a manner that it also triangulated the front suspension.  I actually used a old style flat 124 front sway bar.  I bent it a bit and cut the ends to the proper length.  Then I made a bracket that I welded onto the upright.  There was no adjustment on the front bar as it hooked in solid.  The adjustment was in the rear bar or by changing the size of the front bar.  It worked fantastic.  It made it predictable as far as tuning when.  The biggest thing was it instantly felt and drove like a modern car.  No more flexible flyer!  No more twitchy braking and it was legal in Street Prepared.

Derek

From: fiat850racing@yahoogroups.com [mailto:fiat850racing@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of John Edwards
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2008 7:51 PM
To: fiat850racing@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [fiat850racing] And yet another new member to the Group

Welcome Jeff,

This is NOT the other forum, all who have joined so far are all like minded about performance. I hope that you will enjoy your new home! You are not gonna get bashed here, except for those damn floor mats and windshield wipers! LOL.....

As for the Sedan, I just posted some stuff back to Derek about removing the spring assembly from my 68 and now I'm in the process of making a bunch of delrin bushing to tighten everything up and flip the spring back over because I'm making an aluminum channel spring purch which will lower the car at least 1-1/2". Will have drawing of the bushing soon and will post here as well. Are you still in the Bay area?

Regards,

   JE...

Jeff Loughridge <lokrij@comcast.net> wrote:

Another new member…

I got my first Fiat 600 when I was 14 in 1967. I had 7 600s altogether including one Multipla. I started autocrossing in 1969 and raced at local events in the San Francisco bay area (Pleasanton, Cotati, Foothill, DeAnza). Back then I had lowered it and had a mild racing cam in a 767cc motor. I went on to race RURA races in Fremont then road racing motorcycles at Sears Point, Riverside, Ontario, etc. Stopped racing in 1979.

Fast forward to grandpa time, picked up an 850 sedan (my dream car back in highschool). I’ve put a 903 into it and I’ve built up a new reverse eyelet, re-arched front leaf spring and will be lowering the car from stock height in the next few weeks. Don’t know how much tweaking on the motor I’ll be doing, but I do enjoy throwing it around a bit and plan on competing once the car is ready.

I look forward to being able to talk about racing modifications without getting my head bit off. And I dream of my own version of the 1600OT someday…

Jeff

Jeff Loughridge | www.boogerballs.com

I saw the notice posted on the Yahoo! Fiat site and clicked over here
to join up. I'm hoping this group will target my kind of car better
than the old one did.

Here's what I have: My Dad bought a bunch of old Fiats in 1980 to use
as a basis of a Foreign Stock Class race car. There was a Multipla,
two 600's, a 500, two Allemano roadsters, and my '67 Abarth Coupe.

Most of the other cars went into keeping a race car going, but the
Allemano's and the Abarth were set aside. He did use the Abarth
engine for a couple of seasons, but the car itself wasn't messed about
with.

The Foreign Stock class collapsed in the late 1980's, and Dad sold off
everything except the last remaining 600 race car (pretty bad
condition) and the Abarth. As a project, he rebuilt the Abarth engine
and re-installed it into the original car. Mechanically, he finished
the car; everything worked perfectly, and he moved on to working on
the body. After a few months, he fell ill and never returned to work
on the car. It was last licensed in 2000, and after that it just sat
in the yard next to the machine shop.

I asked him several times if he would sell it to me to finish the
project, and he kept telling me I couldn't afford to buy it. In the
end, I won out by paying for the car in gold coins and bullion.

That was November 2006. I found myself having increasing health
problems myself, and it turned out that I was the only kid who had the
time to stay with him and help him out.

Like he said, us two and a boy would just about make 1/2 a man if we
were all put together!

I began living at Dad's in November 2006, and I took care of him all
through his last illness. He passed away in March 2007, and I've had
to remain there to take care of the property until I can get it
through Probate.

So...I've been living there for more than a year, going home only a
couple of days each month. In addition to the Estate work, I've found
time to go through the Abarth and repair all those things that tend to
go wrong in a car that sits too long.

As I write this, I have only two minor jobs remaining to do before I
can safely drive it on the roads again; the left front brake hose
leaks and the generator doesn't charge. Neither job amounts to much,
but we've had a hard winter and I can't get the car inside the shop
because there's a huge lathe sitting in the middle of the floor where
the delivery men dropped it off.

I've had plenty of time to go over the car in detail, and I've worked
up a to-do list that will probably take me the rest of this coming
Summer to complete.

Luckily, there is very little chance of rust out here in California,
and I can only find two tiny spots that will need attention.

I feel confident that I can do the body work, but I want to farm out
the paint to a good shop, as well as finding an upholsterer who can
duplicate the original interior.

Meanwhile, I'm having a ball seeing the disbelief on peoples' faces
when I take her out for a little 'test run' through the parking lot
adjacent to Dad's house! Especially when they find out the car is
only 1000cc!

Steve in California
(Near Death Valley)
1964 Volvo PV544 Sport Sedan
1965 Volvo P1800s (with V8)
1967 Fiat Abarth 100-OT

or you can do what I did!

take the abarth style aluminum crossmember with coil overs and a-arms but make it twice as wide for rigidity. Coil overs are cheap from Speedway and available in all types of shock settings and spring rates. My sway bar is mounted to that crossmember, but in front not behind. Linked with HEIM joints (as are the a-arms). The A-arms and pickups have been lengthened and modified to reduce bump steer (with a lowered car). The modified Miata rack and pinion also mount to the crossmember. Some experimentation led to a nice set up also virtually eliminating bump steer. I have no caster changes either with the adjustable a-arm setup. Also added a "strut bar" between the upper shock mounts to strengthen and stabilize with the addition of the coil-overs (at the stock upper shock mounting).

Separately, I crossdrilled the rotors, added 4 piston Wilwood calipers and a Wilwood 1" master. A lot of work, but now the front end actually works. This is all legal in prepared class and especially since the Solo II rule book lists Fiat 850 and Abarth on the same line! It would not be legal in street prepared.

Converting to a VW transmission allows for (almost) unlimited gear selections, CV joint axles (but still swing arm - by rule) and much larger VW brakes. Also this set allowed for a Z bar so the rear really sticks now. This was not an easy conversion as I melded the VW trailing arm to the FIAT to allow for a lower car with a more upright wheel. Took a lot of time, jigs, and measurement.

TEXAS David

-----Original Message-----
From: Derek Greenwood
Sent: Feb 22, 2008 9:28 AM
To: fiat850racing@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [fiat850racing] And yet another new member to the Group

Hello John,

I had all kinds of trouble with the front suspension on my Abarth.  It got rebuilt and changed many times.  The biggest problem with the suspension, as we all know, is the lower spring.  With modern sticky tires that spring lower a-arm turns into what I called a flexible flyer for all guys old enough to remember sleds.  Even with a heavy duty spring when I braked hard the tire would move back and hit the inner fender.  The solution turned out to be easy and totally transformed the car.  It made it fully tunable.  Before I tell the solution I will mention the other problem.  The attachment point for the sway bar is also on the flexible spring.  When you stiffen the sway bar it only partly works because the spring will still flex out past the sway bar mount.  So going to a much stiffer sway bar didn’t do nearly as much as I had expected.  The solution was to make a sway bar and attach it to the upright in such a manner that it also triangulated the front suspension.  I actually used a old style flat 124 front sway bar.  I bent it a bit and cut the ends to the proper length.  Then I made a bracket that I welded onto the upright.  There was no adjustment on the front bar as it hooked in solid.  The adjustment was in the rear bar or by changing the size of the front bar.  It worked fantastic.  It made it predictable as far as tuning when.  The biggest thing was it instantly felt and drove like a modern car.  No more flexible flyer!  No more twitchy braking and it was legal in Street Prepared.

Derek

From: fiat850racing@yahoogroups.com [mailto:fiat850racing@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of John Edwards
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2008 7:51 PM
To: fiat850racing@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [fiat850racing] And yet another new member to the Group

Welcome Jeff,

This is NOT the other forum, all who have joined so far are all like minded about performance. I hope that you will enjoy your new home! You are not gonna get bashed here, except for those damn floor mats and windshield wipers! LOL.....

As for the Sedan, I just posted some stuff back to Derek about removing the spring assembly from my 68 and now I'm in the process of making a bunch of delrin bushing to tighten everything up and flip the spring back over because I'm making an aluminum channel spring purch which will lower the car at least 1-1/2". Will have drawing of the bushing soon and will post here as well. Are you still in the Bay area?

Regards,

   JE...

Jeff Loughridge <lokrij@comcast.net> wrote:

Another new member…

I got my first Fiat 600 when I was 14 in 1967. I had 7 600s altogether including one Multipla. I started autocrossing in 1969 and raced at local events in the San Francisco bay area (Pleasanton, Cotati, Foothill, DeAnza). Back then I had lowered it and had a mild racing cam in a 767cc motor. I went on to race RURA races in Fremont then road racing motorcycles at Sears Point, Riverside, Ontario, etc. Stopped racing in 1979.

Fast forward to grandpa time, picked up an 850 sedan (my dream car back in highschool). I’ve put a 903 into it and I’ve built up a new reverse eyelet, re-arched front leaf spring and will be lowering the car from stock height in the next few weeks. Don’t know how much tweaking on the motor I’ll be doing, but I do enjoy throwing it around a bit and plan on competing once the car is ready.

I look forward to being able to talk about racing modifications without getting my head bit off. And I dream of my own version of the 1600OT someday…

Jeff

Jeff Loughridge | www.boogerballs.com

I was making some test laps at Willow Springs Raceway in Rosamond, CA
a couple of years ago.

While we were there, there was a vintage racing club making runs too.

Does anyone know about such an organization in Southern California?

I'd be interested in joining, especially as there was an older
gentleman running an Abarth 600 in full race trim.

I'm thinking I'll try to contact the track and see if anyone there
knows about it.

Steve in California
(Near Death Valley)
1964 Volvo PV544 Sport Sedan
1965 Volvo P1800s (with V8)
1967 Fiat Abarth 100-OT

I saw the notice posted on the Yahoo! Fiat site and clicked over here
to join up.  I'm hoping this group will target my kind of car better
than the old one did.

Here's what I have:  My Dad bought a bunch of old Fiats in 1980 to use
as a basis of a Foreign Stock Class race car.  There was a Multipla,
two 600's, a 500, two Allemano roadsters, and my '67 Abarth Coupe.

Most of the other cars went into keeping a race car going, but the
Allemano's and the Abarth were set aside.  He did use the Abarth
engine for a couple of seasons, but the car itself wasn't messed about
with.

The Foreign Stock class collapsed in the late 1980's, and Dad sold off
everything except the last remaining 600 race car (pretty bad
condition) and the Abarth.  As a project, he rebuilt the Abarth engine
and re-installed it into the original car.  Mechanically, he finished
the car; everything worked perfectly, and he moved on to working on
the body.  After a few months, he fell ill and never returned to work
on the car.  It was last licensed in 2000, and after that it just sat
in the yard next to the machine shop.

I asked him several times if he would sell it to me to finish the
project, and he kept telling me I couldn't afford to buy it.  In the
end, I won out by paying for the car in gold coins and bullion.

That was November 2006.  I found myself having increasing health
problems myself, and it turned out that I was the only kid who had the
time to stay with him and help him out.

Like he said, us two and a boy would just about make 1/2 a man if we
were all put together!

I began living at Dad's in November 2006, and I took care of him all
through his last illness.  He passed away in March 2007, and I've had
to remain there to take care of the property until I can get it
through Probate.

So...I've been living there for more than a year, going home only a
couple of days each month.  In addition to the Estate work, I've found
time to go through the Abarth and repair all those things that tend to
go wrong in a car that sits too long.

As I write this, I have only two minor jobs remaining to do before I
can safely drive it on the roads again; the left front brake hose
leaks and the generator doesn't charge.  Neither job amounts to much,
but we've had a hard winter and I can't get the car inside the shop
because there's a huge lathe sitting in the middle of the floor where
the delivery men dropped it off.

I've had plenty of time to go over the car in detail, and I've worked
up a to-do list that will probably take me the rest of this coming
Summer to complete.

Luckily, there is very little chance of rust out here in California,
and I can only find two tiny spots that will need attention.

I feel confident that I can do the body work, but I want to farm out
the paint to a good shop, as well as finding an upholsterer who can
duplicate the original interior.

Meanwhile, I'm having a ball seeing the disbelief on peoples' faces
when I take her out for a little 'test run' through the parking lot
adjacent to Dad's house!  Especially when they find out the car is
only 1000cc!

Steve in California
(Near Death Valley)
1964 Volvo PV544 Sport Sedan
1965 Volvo P1800s (with V8)
1967 Fiat Abarth 100-OT

Yep, I’m in Los Gatos (for the last 30 years). Once I lower using the reverse eyelet spring, I’ll know whether I want to use the height of the spring perch as well. What suspension modifications did you make on your autocrosser?

Plus, I have to ask this question, are the Solo 2 organizers down there not using enough cones to mark out the courses? I must admit from what I’ve seen in your videos, it does look a bit confusing…

Plus, it is really helpful to walk the course early in the day, if possible. It helps with working out proper apexes, turning in points, course condition, and making the most of that last turn before the long straight. In a Fiat we usually don’t have the option of gobs of horsepower to make up for our mistakes.

Jeff

Jeff Loughridge | www.boogerballs.com

---

From: fiat850racing@yahoogroups.com [mailto:fiat850racing@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of John Edwards
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2008 4:51 PM
To: fiat850racing@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [fiat850racing] And yet another new member to the Group

Welcome Jeff,

This is NOT the other forum, all who have joined so far are all like minded about performance. I hope that you will enjoy your new home! You are not gonna get bashed here, except for those damn floor mats and windshield wipers! LOL.....

As for the Sedan, I just posted some stuff back to Derek about removing the spring assembly from my 68 and now I'm in the process of making a bunch of delrin bushing to tighten everything up and flip the spring back over because I'm making an aluminum channel spring purch which will lower the car at least 1-1/2". Will have drawing of the bushing soon and will post here as well. Are you still in the Bay area?

Regards,

   JE...

_

Another new member…

I got my first Fiat 600 when I was 14 in 1967. I had 7 600s altogether including one Multipla. I started autocrossing in 1969 and raced at local events in the San Francisco bay area (Pleasanton, Cotati, Foothill, DeAnza). Back then I had lowered it and had a mild racing cam in a 767cc motor. I went on to race RURA races in Fremont then road racing motorcycles at Sears Point, Riverside, Ontario, etc. Stopped racing in 1979.

Fast forward to grandpa time, picked up an 850 sedan (my dream car back in highschool). I’ve put a 903 into it and I’ve built up a new reverse eyelet, re-arched front leaf spring and will be lowering the car from stock height in the next few weeks. Don’t know how much tweaking on the motor I’ll be doing, but I do enjoy throwing it around a bit and plan on competing once the car is ready.

I look forward to being able to talk about racing modifications without getting my head bit off. And I dream of my own version of the 1600OT someday…

Jeff

Jeff Loughridge | www.boogerballs.com

Really nice looking sports racer.  What a fun project!

John, did you ever come up to Seattle and autocross an X1/9 say in the early to mid 90’s?

Derek Greenwood

From: fiat850racing@yahoogroups.com [mailto:fiat850racing@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of jfboone@aol.com
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2008 4:31 PM
To: fiat850racing@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [fiat850racing] Howdy & welcome...

John et al:

I bought my first 850 back in about 1979.  It was a former AutoCross car that I converted to road racing work.  Raced it at Seattle, Portland, Spokane airport, Westwood, Blackhawk Farms and Road America.  I finally sold it about 1984 to finance construction of an X1/9 race car.

In the meantime I owned a host of 850s and x1/9s for the street...so many I can't remember them all.

Fast forward about 20 years.

I've gone through a couple X1/9s, won a few SCCA regional and International Conference championships and want to get into something faster. So I buy a well-used LeGrande and later a former SuperVee Wheeler and move up to DS/R. The cars are fast but very expensive to operate and the technology is leaving behind anything I can afford.  And the idea of vintage racing has a lot of appeal.

I found a derelict H-Modified on ebay.  It's cheap, it's neat, it's close by and it was once powered by an 850 engine (after the 600 was taken out).  And now it's mine.

First order of business is to get running gear, so I post a note on the Fiat group seeking parts and pieces and any old race stuff hanging around.  A few weeks later I get a response from a guy in Seattle willing to cut me a heck of a deal on a couple cars and a bunch of old race parts.

It isn't until I grab the second gearbox that I realize that 20-plus years later, I'm buying back all my old 850 blocks and gearboxes.

The car is coming  along. Had it on the track twice last year. First time out the new competition water pump disassembled and cooked the engine; second time out I spun it and got nose-to-nose with a Saab Sonnett that had no place to go and not enough room to stop.  I'm still repairing damage.

Photos of the car and its reconstruction are at http://sports.racer.net/chassis/thorgeirson/page1.htm

-- boone
portland, oregon

 

---

More new features than ever. Check out the new AOL Mail!

As usual - I fight to get everything set up on the group- dang newfangled technology!

Glad to have a spot to post stuff where I'm not bombed for daring to suggest that a stock set up isn't quite right for higher performance!

I have a 850 spider (5 actually in various states of being!). One is used for autocross - daughter was SW divisonal champ in GP. Old car class. Highly modified with many non-FIAT parts - I'm putting together a CD of pics - sometime

Also have a non-FIAT - but liked the body style so much. In Brief - tube frame, formula car suspension, mid-engine v-6 3 litre with triple webers, etc. Fibreglass FIAT body one piece front and rear. Still uses FIAT windshield , doors. and body shape(ish). About 250hp and 1600 lbs street car. still WIP - probably another couple years.

Been autocrossing since 1964 (no not a typo) in every class you can imagine from Amod to HS and everything in between. Somewhere older than 39!, 49!, and, alas 59

david in Texas

-----Original Message-----
From: John Edwards
Sent: Feb 21, 2008 4:11 PM
To: fiat850racing@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [fiat850racing] Another new member to the Group

Chuck,

 

Welcome to the Forum! Sound like you have plent 850's to keep you busy. I too hope that this will be THE forum for us hot rod guys and I look forward to reading your posts. - Remember - no floor mats and wiper blades!!! LOL

 

   JE...

chuck levy <cblevytech@gmail.com> wrote:

Howdy John:
Thank you for building a new Fiat 850 group! It seems to me that there
will be plenty of Fiat 850 "Hot Rodders" out there to keep it very
interesting and informative.
To sort of introduce my self...my name is Chuck Levy..I live in
Northern California. I got hooked on 850 when I bought a new 1971 850
Coupe. I guess that sort of gives you an idea of how young I am!
Currently I have (3) 850 spiders that I am working on...a 1968 pre fed
Spider--1971 Spider and a 1970 Racer. I intend to use all of the cars
as street vehicles, but certantly not in stock condition.
Hopefully some of the modifications that I have made will be of
interest to the group and add to the Fiat 850 experience.
I have 'worked' many of you before with John (intake manifold/flywheel)
and Paul (PBS head)and Derek (general information and support).
Howdy out there to the other members...lets make this a great forum.
Thanks again.Chuck.

John et al:

I bought my first 850 back in about 1979.  It was a former AutoCross car that I converted to road racing work.  Raced it at Seattle, Portland, Spokane airport, Westwood, Blackhawk Farms and Road America.  I finally sold it about 1984 to finance construction of an X1/9 race car.

In the meantime I owned a host of 850s and x1/9s for the street...so many I can't remember them all.

Fast forward about 20 years.

I've gone through a couple X1/9s, won a few SCCA regional and International Conference championships and want to get into something faster. So I buy a well-used LeGrande and later a former SuperVee Wheeler and move up to DS/R. The cars are fast but very expensive to operate and the technology is leaving behind anything I can afford.  And the idea of vintage racing has a lot of appeal.

I found a derelict H-Modified on ebay.  It's cheap, it's neat, it's close by and it was once powered by an 850 engine (after the 600 was taken out).  And now it's mine.

First order of business is to get running gear, so I post a note on the Fiat group seeking parts and pieces and any old race stuff hanging around.  A few weeks later I get a response from a guy in Seattle willing to cut me a heck of a deal on a couple cars and a bunch of old race parts.

It isn't until I grab the second gearbox that I realize that 20-plus years later, I'm buying back all my old 850 blocks and gearboxes.

The car is coming  along. Had it on the track twice last year. First time out the new competition water pump disassembled and cooked the engine; second time out I spun it and got nose-to-nose with a Saab Sonnett that had no place to go and not enough room to stop.  I'm still repairing damage.

Photos of the car and its reconstruction are at http://sports.racer.net/chassis/thorgeirson/page1.htm

-- boone
portland, oregon

 

---

More new features than ever. Check out the new AOL Mail!

As usual - I fight to get everything set up on the group- dang newfangled technology!

Glad to have a spot to post stuff where I'm not bombed for daring to suggest that a stock set up isn't quite right for higher performance!

I have a 850 spider (5 actually in various states of being!). One is used for autocross - daughter was SW divisonal champ in GP. Old car class. Highly modified with many non-FIAT parts - I'm putting together a CD of pics - sometime

Also have a non-FIAT - but liked the body style so much. In Brief - tube frame, formula car suspension, mid-engine v-6 3 litre with triple webers, etc. Fibreglass FIAT body one piece front and rear. Still uses FIAT windshield , doors. and body shape(ish). About 250hp and 1600 lbs street car. still WIP - probably another couple years.

Been autocrossing since 1964 (no not a typo) in every class you can imagine from Amod to HS and everything in between. Somewhere older than 39!, 49!, and, alas 59

david in Texas

-----Original Message-----
From: John Edwards
Sent: Feb 21, 2008 4:11 PM
To: fiat850racing@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [fiat850racing] Another new member to the Group

Chuck,

 

Welcome to the Forum! Sound like you have plent 850's to keep you busy. I too hope that this will be THE forum for us hot rod guys and I look forward to reading your posts. - Remember - no floor mats and wiper blades!!! LOL

 

   JE...

chuck levy <cblevytech@gmail.com> wrote:

Howdy John:
Thank you for building a new Fiat 850 group! It seems to me that there
will be plenty of Fiat 850 "Hot Rodders" out there to keep it very
interesting and informative.
To sort of introduce my self...my name is Chuck Levy..I live in
Northern California. I got hooked on 850 when I bought a new 1971 850
Coupe. I guess that sort of gives you an idea of how young I am!
Currently I have (3) 850 spiders that I am working on...a 1968 pre fed
Spider--1971 Spider and a 1970 Racer. I intend to use all of the cars
as street vehicles, but certantly not in stock condition.
Hopefully some of the modifications that I have made will be of
interest to the group and add to the Fiat 850 experience.
I have 'worked' many of you before with John (intake manifold/flywheel)
and Paul (PBS head)and Derek (general information and support).
Howdy out there to the other members...lets make this a great forum.
Thanks again.Chuck.

Howdy John:
Thank you for building a new Fiat 850 group! It seems to me that there
will be plenty of Fiat 850 "Hot Rodders" out there to keep it very
interesting and informative.
To sort of introduce my self...my name is Chuck Levy..I live in
Northern California. I got hooked on 850 when I bought a new 1971 850
Coupe. I guess that sort of gives you an idea of how young I am!
Currently I have (3) 850 spiders that I am working on...a 1968 pre fed
Spider--1971 Spider and a 1970 Racer. I intend to use all of the cars
as street vehicles, but certantly not in stock condition.
Hopefully some of the modifications that I have made will be of
interest to the group and add to the Fiat 850 experience.
I have 'worked' many of you before with John (intake manifold/flywheel)
and Paul (PBS head)and Derek (general information and support).
Howdy out there to the other members...lets make this a great forum.
Thanks again.Chuck.

Howdy John:
Thank you for building a new Fiat 850 group! It seems to me that there
will be plenty of Fiat 850 "Hot Rodders" out there to keep it very
interesting and informative.
To sort of introduce my self...my name is Chuck Levy..I live in
Northern California. I got hooked on 850 when I bought a new 1971 850
Coupe. I guess that sort of gives you an idea of how young I am!
Currently  I have (3) 850 spiders that I am working on...a 1968 pre fed
Spider--1971 Spider and a 1970 Racer. I intend to use all of the cars
as street vehicles, but certantly not in stock condition.
Hopefully some of the modifications that I have made will be of
interest to the group and add to the Fiat 850 experience.
I have 'worked' many of you before with John (intake manifold/flywheel)
and Paul (PBS head)and Derek (general information and support).
Howdy out there to the other members...lets make this a great forum.
Thanks again.Chuck.

John:

Funny how many dealerships were shared with or were former Studebaker.
The Mercedes Benz dealer I worked for in Pasadena still had the "S"
logo on the used car lot back wall. Was that Compton Fiat dealer ever
farther east near the drive-in? I seemed to remember it being east of
Bullis and across the street from the Rosecrans drive-in with the
Viking ship painted on the street side of the screen. Maybe I'm
thinking of something else. I only went there a few times. Seemed like
they had a fairly small showroom with only two or three cars in it.

Anyway, I live in Rowland Heights near where the 57 and 60 freeways
meet. I do venture down to south or mid Orange County every now and
then so I would definitely like to check out your shop some time. I
imagine weekdays would be best? I'm retired so I'm free most any day!
Karl
69 Spider

--- In fiat850racing@yahoogroups.com, John Edwards <fiat_nut@...> wrote:
>
> Welcome Karl,
>
> I used to live behind the phone company @ Compton Blvd & Santa Fe
where the Fiat - Studebaker dealer was located, knew them well. Used
to deal w/Joe when I was service manager @ Tom Hubert's. Are you still
here in CA? I'm in Costa Mesa (Orange County) down by the fair
grounds. If you are local, stop by the shop sometime and I'll show you
the 850 Sedan project that I'm currently running in Solo 2 events. I
hope that we attract the Fiat 'faithful" in this group that are more
bent on driving their cars with gusto than looking at them. Ahh, one
can only hope!
>
> Regards,
>
> John Edwards
> Costa Mesa R&D Automotive Machine
> 123 Monte Vista Avenue
> Costa Mesa, CA 92627
> (949) 631-6376 - shop
> (949) 702-3470 - cell

John:

Funny how many dealerships were shared with or were former Studebaker.
The Mercedes Benz dealer I worked for in Pasadena still had the "S"
logo on the used car lot back wall. Was that Compton Fiat dealer ever
farther east near the drive-in? I seemed to remember it being east of
Bullis and across the street from the Rosecrans drive-in with the
Viking ship painted on the street side of the screen. Maybe I'm
thinking of something else. I only went there a few times. Seemed like
they had a fairly small showroom with only two or three cars in it.

Anyway, I live in Rowland Heights near where the 57 and 60 freeways
meet. I do venture down to south or mid Orange County every now and
then so I would definitely like to check out your shop some time. I
imagine weekdays would be best? I'm retired so I'm free most any day!
Karl
69 Spider

--- In fiat850racing@yahoogroups.com, John Edwards <fiat_nut@...> wrote:
>
> Welcome Karl,
>
>   I used to live behind the phone company @ Compton Blvd & Santa Fe
where the Fiat - Studebaker dealer was located, knew them well. Used
to deal w/Joe when I was service manager @ Tom Hubert's. Are you still
here in CA? I'm in Costa Mesa (Orange County) down by the fair
grounds. If you are local, stop by the shop sometime and I'll show you
the 850 Sedan project that I'm currently running in Solo 2 events. I
hope that we attract the Fiat 'faithful" in this group that are more
bent on driving their cars with gusto than looking at them. Ahh, one
can only hope!
>
>   Regards,
>
>   John Edwards
>   Costa Mesa R&D Automotive Machine
>   123 Monte Vista Avenue
>   Costa Mesa, CA 92627
> (949) 631-6376 - shop
>   (949) 702-3470 - cell

My name is Derek Greenwood and I have been racing 850s and 600 based
Abarths since 1981. At first I raced a 1968 850 Spider and then
later a 1966 Abarth Corsa clone. I now have a Turbo twincam 850
Coupe and a PBS 1050 twincam Turbo 1959 Abarth 750.

The 1966 Abarth Corsa was very fast so fast in fact that SCCA
reclassed it from DSP to CSP where the Abarth All line is now. I
will most likely race the 1959 Abarth while I continue to build a
Lancia 037 replica.

I tried many setups on the 1966 Abarth before coming to a very nice
setup. I used John Edwards intake manifold, headers, aluminum
flywheel and windage tray. I had a Abarh Corsa Cam in it with a lot
of machine work. The suspension was the hardest part but by the end
worked fantastic.

I have old video of my Abarth at the track that someday I will
convert from Hi8 to digital so that I can post it.

It is great that there are some racers out there as this is where my
interest is.

Derek Greenwood
1969 850 Coupe Twincam Turbo
1959 Abarth 750 PBS 1050 Twincam Turbo
1977 Lancia Scorpion\037
2005 Saleen Mustang

My name is Derek Greenwood and I have been racing 850s and 600 based
Abarths since 1981.  At first I raced a 1968 850 Spider and then
later a 1966 Abarth Corsa clone.  I now have a Turbo twincam 850
Coupe and a PBS 1050 twincam Turbo 1959 Abarth 750.

The 1966 Abarth Corsa was very fast so fast in fact that SCCA
reclassed it from DSP to CSP where the Abarth All line is now.  I
will most likely race the 1959 Abarth while I continue to build a
Lancia 037 replica.

I tried many setups on the 1966 Abarth before coming to a very nice
setup.  I used John Edwards intake manifold, headers, aluminum
flywheel and windage tray.  I had a Abarh Corsa Cam in it with a lot
of machine work.  The suspension was the hardest part but by the end
worked fantastic.

I have old video of my Abarth at the track that someday I will
convert from Hi8 to digital so that I can post it.

It is great that there are some racers out there as this is where my
interest is.

Derek Greenwood
1969 850 Coupe Twincam Turbo
1959 Abarth 750 PBS 1050 Twincam Turbo
1977 Lancia Scorpion\037
2005 Saleen Mustang

Karl Severson here. I lived in Lynwood until 1975 and in 1969 a
college buddy and I went to the Fiat dealer in Compton on Rosecrans
where he bought a '69 Spider. I don't remember the dealership name. A
few years later I acquired the car and in the mid 70's traded it in
for a '74 X1/9. A few years later I found another 850 Spider, this one
a '70 and drove that for a while until it was wrecked. I lost the X1/9
in a divorce. Now I have the '69 Spider in my sig which has the '70
car's running gear and just about everything else after buying a
roller from Fiat Joe in Huntington Park in the mid to late 80's. This
car is currently on the docket for a rebuild but I haven't decided
whether to build for stock or performance. I almost like the coupe
better for a performance car as it has "the look" mostly because of
the Abarth cars I guess. I'll probably make a decision on which way to
go in the next few months once I have had the time to tear the car
down a bit.

Thanks, John, for starting the group.
Karl
69 Spider

Karl Severson here. I lived in Lynwood until 1975 and in 1969 a
college buddy and I went to the Fiat dealer in Compton on Rosecrans
where he bought a '69 Spider. I don't remember the dealership name. A
few years later I acquired the car and in the mid 70's traded it in
for a '74 X1/9. A few years later I found another 850 Spider, this one
a '70 and drove that for a while until it was wrecked. I lost the X1/9
in a divorce. Now I have the '69 Spider in my sig which has the '70
car's running gear and just about everything else after buying a
roller from Fiat Joe in Huntington Park in the mid to late 80's. This
car is currently on the docket for a rebuild but I haven't decided
whether to build for stock or performance. I almost like the coupe
better for a performance car as it has "the look" mostly because of
the Abarth cars I guess. I'll probably make a decision on which way to
go in the next few months once I have had the time to tear the car
down a bit.

Thanks, John, for starting the group.
Karl
69 Spider

Good to see a group more attuned to racing activities.  My
involvement with Fiat, more particularly Abarth derivatives started
in 1969 when I helped a fellow So. Californian, by the name of Bill
Allen, prepare an NSU TTS.  SCCA D-Sedan was the class for small
displacement sedans and the FIAT 600 inspired Abarth cars were
predominant, all except 1969 when Bill's NSU won the Nationals at
Daytona.

I re-entered the world of Fiat more directly some years later, when
in 1992 I bought my current race car, a 1964 Berlina Corsa.  This car
was purchased in Australia and was one of the cars that was assembled
there by Pressed Metal Industries.  Right hand drive of course.  It
has been my faithful companion ever since.

From historic rallying in Australia the car moved with me to the USA
when a new job beckoned.  Historic rallying was not very competitive
here, so the car was quickly converted to a GP racer in the Vintage
Automobile Racing Association (VARA) in So. Calif.  A few years later
I was fortunate to win the class championship, beating Bill Allen and
his NSU at the last race of the season.  The year 2001 saw a full
season of racing with the Abarth Coppa Mille Series in Germany which
is super competitive.  I managed to finish 4th in Div. 4.  Another
stint later in 2004, in a different division, was another great
experience and managed a respectable 5th in Div. 2.

This was also the time that I started to develop my own line of parts
for Fiat 600 and 850 automobiles, having retired from the
telecommunications industry.  Today I still race the same car with
many of the race proven parts that our company sells around the world.

I look forward to being able to contribute in a small way to this
forum

Paul Vanderheijden
www.scuderiatopolino.com

--- In fiat850racing@yahoogroups.com, John Edwards <fiat_nut@...>
wrote:
>
> Howdy from SoCal!
>
>   My name is John Edwards and I have been involved with Fiat's
since 1966 when I bought my first Fiat 600. My passion for these cars
has grown steadily since then. I was the Service Manager @ Tom
Humbert Fiat in Downey California for a while back in the early 70's
before starting my second business, Automobili Prova, in Paramount,
CA. At that time I started my first real work on improving the 600
and 850 based cars by designing and building my own pistons and
header systems. One of my clients was Bill Miller who purchased the
yellow PBS coupe, I worked on that car for a while doing service and
engine building. I still own a 1959 Fiat Abarth Allemano that was
campaigned during the late 70s' and early 80's in both vintage and
SCCA Solo 1 racing. The car still holds the track record at the long
gone Las Vegas Speedrome in H Production. Currently and fast forward
to today, I am campaigning a 1968 Fiat 850 Sedan in Solo 2 events
here in Southern California in both Cal Club and
>  San Diego Region events. There will be more posted about my
progress with the car as the years moves along. I hope that you, as a
new member of this forum will contribute useful input about how and
what makes your Fiat competitive. We won't be talking about rubber
floor mats and wiper blades here, just hard core racing topics. I
hope that we can share info to keep our Fiat powered cars out there
and racing to win.
>
>      John Edwards - Fiat850Racing owner/moderator
>