My New '58 Fiat.

[XanRules]

I pick her up tomorrow if all goes according to plan.
1958 Fiat 600.
See those wheels?
Those are 12s. TWELVES, bitch.



Only one picture right now. Sorry.

My girlfriend and I are planning to restore the car on a budget of $1000 or less. It still has all the parts, it's just sorta in shambles right now.
It's going to be painted Bahama blue. I don't know who makes that color OEM, but we're rattlecanning the shit.
Just trying to make it a fun little car, not a drag monster or anything.

Though eventually if I have a spare Subaru motor lying around, I might bump it up from this little 600cc thing in the back

[thepolecat]

putting next to an excursion FTW! haha it is so tiny! cool little car

[XanRules]

It's been sitting in that parking lot for 5 years - the Excursion just showed up and made it all totally perfect

[r0bb86]

that's awesome!
i'd love to own something like this.

georgia has a really cool micro car museum located off i120 east in Madison, GA.
http://microcarmuseum.com/

if you ever wanna sell it - pm me

[slostang]

NICE!

[vinayak]

That is pretty cool. Guy down the street from me has a 54. He is one of those that would rather let it rust than let it go. It looks like this

[E=MC²]

such a small car and still double parked!

on another note i like it.

[XanRules]

Yeah. It's been sitting for 25 years total. But it still has all the original parts - and to completely rebuild the engine with all new parts would cost about $200!

[yogi08]

put in a 2.5 subaru motor.... yessa

[r0bb86]

you probably know this.. if not... check out mrfiat.com for parts

[quickdodge®]

See those wheels?
Those are 12s. TWELVES, bitch.

I've been on 12s for 3 years. Later, QD.

[XanRules]

put in a 2.5 subaru motor.... yessa

2.5 may actually be too much power and would require a lot of custom fabbing. A 1.8 or 2.2 will be a snug fit, but won't require me to destroy too much.

[yogi08]

what size are the older legacy motors?

[Elbow]

Damn sweet, I want a Fiat 500.

[canas]

thats so cool. ive never seen one of these before. and diggin the flowers. lol
nice ride man

[XanRules]

I lied, it's a 1960.
But - the old old Legacy motors? The non-turbo was a 1.8, the turbo was a 2.2 - if anyone knows of any old VW beetles being parted out, I'd like the transmission - everything else just bolts up for a Subaru motor.

The flowers are gonna go - it's getting a blue flake paint job.

[XanRules]

On the interior we're looking at redoing the upholstery and headliner in checkerboard fabric, a la Vans. The factory headliner looks like linoleum tile.

The seats have completely rotted away - we're going to take out the rears and put a sub/amp setup in their place, and going to put something cheap and comfortable in the fronts - maybe the old seats from my wagon.

I really think the car would be fucking hilarious with purple underglow, but the girlfriend says no.

[vinayak]

I have a 69 or 70 Beetle gearbox I can not say if it is good or not. I have never used it. I am in Duluth if you are interested.

[XanRules]

So I finally hauled my ass down to Auburn, GA to work on the car today. We almost got the engine out until we realized we had to unbolt it from the radiator. It's a weird design.

The distributor and block are bolted to a small donut gasket and metal ring that serve as a motor mount - bolted directly to the rear bumper. This is the only motor mounting point. The transmission itself passes thru the rear seats. Someone apparently thought you could comfortably fit four people in a car the size of a small go-kart.

We're pulling those seats and keeping them out. Eventually we'll put some nice ones in, I have the old ones from my OBS still laying around somewhere.

Here's Will investigating the full-size spare. Incredibly, all but one of the tires are still fully inflated and holding air.


This was an unfortunate surprise. Not only are the seat rails welded to the floor panel, but the floor panel has completely rusted through. Fortunately there's enough of a frame intact to weld a new panel in, but seat rails are going to be an issue.
And yes, this car is in a filthy place right now.


The paint was originally a very deep blue, similar to 555 Blue Mica. Now it's...well, not.
I don't know if the flowers are OEM or not.


This is the motor. It's a 600cc (.6L) water-cooled, carbuerated 4-cylinder. The carb is long gone. It puts down 21rwhp and about 11ft-lbs from the factory.


A better look at the paint after being hit with a lot of degreaser and a hose. I decided to clean the car up while Will hit the rear bumper with a hammer to get the engine free.


Another shot of the motor, but this time it's darker and soggier.



Thanks for following along so far!

[GTScoob]

How's your WRX swap going?

This looks like a fun project but I've seen too many people spread themselves thin over too many projects and then end up having to sell something at a loss just to finish up another car. So what I'm saying is be careful and good luck with the build!

[.gauge.]

Looks like it has positive camber in the rear? I'm guessing it may just be the angle of the picture. Looks like some good work so far.

[Me86Rob]

Bad ass man. I have a pretty nice IDF down draft 40mm webber if you wanna purchase it. Will has seen it. He approves

[Total_Blender]

Looks like it has positive camber in the rear? I'm guessing it may just be the angle of the picture. Looks like some good work so far.

Most cars that small do have a little positive camber in the rear. It goes out to neutral when the weight of the driver is added.

[.gauge.]

Most cars that small do have a little positive camber in the rear. It goes out to neutral when the weight of the driver is added.

Oooooh, thanks for the enlightenment.

[RollaAce]

I know where one is and it's actually on the front porch of a building, lol. Have always liked them. Have any idea what later model engines will swap in? Vw looks like the way to go, hell that's a big jump 21 to 65 hp WOOT!!

[SleeperWRX]

OMG DUDE! I HATE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm jealous of your car. I wanted one of these for a project for the LONGEST time, it's been 5 years lol. Where'd you get ours?

[RutRoe]

So awesome man...love it.

[XanRules]

How's your WRX swap going?

This looks like a fun project but I've seen too many people spread themselves thin over too many projects and then end up having to sell something at a loss just to finish up another car. So what I'm saying is be careful and good luck with the build!

It's going. This is just a tiny side project while I keep pack-ratting parts for my swap. You know how I am

I know where one is and it's actually on the front porch of a building, lol. Have always liked them. Have any idea what later model engines will swap in? Vw looks like the way to go, hell that's a big jump 21 to 65 hp WOOT!!

We're doing a Subaru EJ18 from the earlier Imprezas. I'd like the 1.6L EJ16 from the Loyale, but it's so friggin' old and hard to find that the EJ18 is going to be the way to go - plus I'm very familiar with Subaru Motors.
105hp from 21hp is gonna be nice

OMG DUDE! I HATE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm jealous of your car. I wanted one of these for a project for the LONGEST time, it's been 5 years lol. Where'd you get ours?

Fiat Autoserv in Duluth - it had been sitting there for years. Looks like RollaAce knows where one is!

[oneSLOWex]

LMFAO thats awesome!

[bam-bam]

The 843cc engine from an 850 will fit right in there. There used to be a pretty good aftermarket for these (25 years ago when I had one ) Abarth parts- Erson cams and such. Check out Bayless Racing for parts- I think they're still around.

[XanRules]

The 843cc engine from an 850 will fit right in there. There used to be a pretty good aftermarket for these (25 years ago when I had one ) Abarth parts- Erson cams and such. Check out Bayless Racing for parts- I think they're still around.

but where's the fun in that?
Why not just use a bigass EJ18?

Thanks for the info, though, I'll check it out!

[SleeperWRX]

Fiat Autoserv in Duluth - it had been sitting there for years. Looks like RollaAce knows where one is!

Haha nice, lucky! And my buddy thinks theres one by his house in the woods, I'm going later to check it out!

[SubiStokes]

putting next to an excursion FTW! haha it is so tiny! cool little car

you could put that thing next to my miata and it would still look tiny as hell

[0\s accord]

For how small that thing is it looks like u stilll managed to take up 2 parking spaces haha

[DVSRX-7]

car is nice man!!

[XanRules]

So here's the plan. We're taking all my swap junk out and using what we can. We're going to dump in a Subaru EJ18, SOHC, and bolt it to a super beetle transmission so I can keep it rear-engine and rwd. Will wanted to make it mid-engine, but that puts the entire block inside the cabin - no good.
The beetle transmissions bolt right up to the Subaru EJ series motors.
We're going to redo the dash and interior as a custom job.
Suspension, we're still working on, but may just have to keep checking around for a good set of struts for this thing.
We're also going to try to see if the brakes from a Fiat Spider will fit onto these, since I'm not comfortable cramming 115hp onto four tiny little drum brakes under 11s.

[roscoe]

Nice build should be sick with the swap!

[BoRi_8]

Nice!

[DVSRX-7]

Hey mofucka. Where the pics at? we need more