I used the old foam gasket as a template and cut out the shape from my new foam. When I was finished with that I used a punch set to get perfect holes for my screws to go through. My cutting wasn't perfect, but it won't be seen and it will seal up the gap quite well, regardless. I think an electric carving knife would have been best for a clean cut, but I did not have one on hand.
Today I was able to pick up some one inch foam to make to make a new shifter gasket with. I recently purchased a new inner shifter boot and a new foam gasket didn't seem to be available. The old foam gasket was tattered and torn. Mice had their way with it and some lubricant splashed out of the transmission and onto the foam. I believe that had to do with the ripped inner boot seal. With the inner boot being replaced, everything should install nice, neat and clean and stay that way. I used the old foam gasket as a template and cut out the shape from my new foam. When I was finished with that I used a punch set to get perfect holes for my screws to go through. My cutting wasn't perfect, but it won't be seen and it will seal up the gap quite well, regardless. I think an electric carving knife would have been best for a clean cut, but I did not have one on hand.
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I'll have to buy a new heater core or bypass the current one. I'm looking at a core at Autoricambi: see here. Will need to research and see if I have to buy other parts for installation.
Today I received my inner shift boot for the shifter. I'm looking forward to finishing up the shifter area. Once that is done and the heater core situation is taken care of, I can begin piecing my interior together. Today was an interesting day. I feel like the theme song from Doogie Houser M.D. should be playing while you read this post. I learned many things today. I learned that you should clean off the threads from the gas tank studs after you paint, that you should test your fuel pump before you put it in, the fuel pump doesn't run unless you're cranking or running, that if you have a gas tank that someone else sealed, not only should you pressure test it (which I did) but you should make sure the liquid can flow out of all the holes. We had many issues with gas flow today. After back tracking through the fuel system we learned that the outlet of the gas tank was clogged. With what? We don't know. Will we find out again? Maybe. We jammed some wire down and broke it up. After reassembling all the fuel lines that I had to take apart for testing we were able to get the car to turn over and run for a few seconds. There was a problem. After testing the injectors and various other possibilities, I finally decided that the injectors must be clogged. I loaded some Seafoam into the gas tank. I ran the car a few times and each time it ran a little longer. I let the car sit a bit and went again. I was able to keep it running using the throttle. A little while later after running the throttle the car started hold up on its own.I was very happy that my car was running, but soon found out that the heater core was leaking. Not a bad day over all. Now I just need to replace that heater core (or bypass it) and getting the car squared away so I can drive it soon. While this isn't a Fiat Spider, this is a really great car. In this episode they go to Italy to buy a used Dino and fix it up. Watching them fix up the old car gives me ideas about fixing up my own vintage italian car. If you like car rebuild/fixer-upper shows, then check out the whole episode by clicking here!
Today I decided to install a filter in between the gas tank and fuel pump. The car is built with a fuel filter after the pump. But if there are bits and pieces of dirt or dust in my tank, they could be sucked straight into the pump. Doesn't make much sense to have a filter AFTER such an expensive piece of kit. I went to Napa and purchased a NAPA Gold 3299. This was advised by one of the forum members at www.fiatspider.com. I will be trying to start the car on Tuesday with some help. I have a few things to button up. I need to bolt down the gas tank, attach the fill hose to the gas tank and make sure all the wires are hooked up. I also need to take a battery out of one of my every day cars and use it to start the car. If everything goes well I'll be starting it on Tuesday. I may and try to take a video.
If you are a frequent reader, then you know I received two pieces of a Fiat in the mail a while back (check out the blog post "Chopped Parts Have Arrived"). These two pieces where the winged mounts that hold on the rocker panelsn (click the image on the left for a larger view). My car had lost both of its wings due to car cancer (RUST). Luckily the surrounding area was solid and just need to be cleaned up, media blasted and/or rust treated. I started out the job by drilling out the factory spot welds on my spare parts. This allowed me to use a cold chisel and some elbow great to pop off my much needed replacement part. After the wing (or ear) was removed I popped it in the blast cabinet and media blasted it. I wire brushed and ground out the area on the car that needed attention and used a flanger/punch to put holes in. I was all ready for some spot welding. After trimming up the piece and fitting it nicely I tacked it into place with a mig welder. In the images below you can see me dry fitting it with a clamp and then the final weld. I'm no welding expert. It's not pretty, but it's going to be covered with a rocker. The whole under side of the rocker will be sanded/wire brushed, cleaned up, and finally prepped with various rust proof paints and primers. I'm starting to assemble the interior. I don't have the resources to replace/restore everything at the moment. Most of the interior components are easy to remove and replace. Right now I'd like to get it on the road, so this week I'll be spending a lot of time getting the interior together and preparing to weld two parts on the exterior. Unfortunately I have a few work deadlines to take care of, so my updates will be slowing down for a bit. I really hop to get a lot of the car buttoned up this month. I have had enough of my car being apart. Now that my two coats of silver and two coats of enamel are on, it's time to pile in as much as I can. Today I started by installing the dash components. There were a few issues that had to be addressed before I could install the center controls and the glove box cover. The center part of the dash where the three warning lights and wiper controls are is missing one of the two wooden trim pieces. Rather than just replace one I decided to make two new place holder pieces out of masonite. While they don't match the rest of the console, they will at least match each other for the time being. I plan on having a full custom dash done with a CNC machine. I haven't decided if it will be wood or aluminium. The second obstacle I needed to deal with were two stripped out sleeves on the back side of the glove box cover. The medal sleeves are screwed into the wood and have a hole in the center that accepts the threads from the bolt that hold it on. Luckly the sleeves had just come out of their loosened holes and I was able to get the back in properly with a little help from some epoxy. Once I had the door in I just needed to install the latch. HOWEVER, that was a problem since I can't seem to find the latch in any of my parts piles given to my by my uncle. A phone call will need to be made in the near future. Hopefully it's hanging around. Outside of that one set back I was able to anchor down the wire harness, heating control wires and install most of the dash console. Next I will take a long hard look at the rug set that I have and decide if I want to wash it and dye it for now or just install it after I wash it. I'm low on money and patience so I may just assembler her as is for now as I can afford to replace and recolor parts. |