Race Engine Forum UK

So long since I updated this! Too long in fact . After spending literally hours on the 'phone , to absolutely everyone I could think of who could possibly have any knowledge of the Abarth engine...I drew a blank . So upsetting , as I hate leaving a job not "right" . Sadly due to other commitments by the owner , I had to refit the old , incorrect drive gear , so he could take the car away .

Until....an absolute outstanding gentleman , familiar to some members here , Mr. Mick Wood stepped in and supplied the correct gear . What a true Abarth ebthusiast . I cannot thank you enough Mick , I hope some day if you're over here in Ireland I can do you a favour too .

Anyway , back to the mill....
By this stage the car was running , albeit with the slight rattle from the Distributor (pre Mick Wood intervention) . On driving the car however , I had an intermittent , louder rattle , when it was there it would be at a steady beat , then could disapear for miles . It seemed most common on overrun . Much headscratching later and I removed the fuel pick up pipe from the petrol tank .


As you can see , the gauze was sucking itself in.. and coupled with the pulsing effect of the fuel pump , the (steel) pick up pipe was tapping the side of the fuel tank . A real peculiar one . I removed the gauze completely , fitted an Inline filter just before the fuel pump , and gently bent the pick up pipe away from the side of the tank .

Another thing that puzzled/worried me , was the noise from the LSD! while driving in circles , it really clunks and bangs...or well it did . After a few hundred miles it has "softened" up a bit , still locking nicely under load , but not rattling as much whilst turning .

After all that interesting work was done , it was back to more mundane things like checking and tidying the wiring , getting all lights working , I added a 2nd , stronger Earth strap for the battery and basically made it a properly legal and useable car for the road . My Dad is a better man with carbs than me , so he played with the settings of the Webers , and got it ticking over and responding nicely .


Look out for the next instalment in a couple of weeks when I have this lovely car back to properly set up the chassis , Fit a custom made ITG Foam air box , and play with the Carb jetting some more .

The owner also dug deep and restored the car to its full spendour , tidying up a few stone chips and cracks in the GRP panels . Bear in mind this is a classic that really gets driven , and driven well .

here it is in all it's glory with 2 brothers-in-arms.

Redlexus,

I am rebuilding the Abarth suspension. One of key parts I am missing are the springs ( front and rear) as well as all the parts that go on top of the struts to fix them to the chassis.

Any hep advise you could offer?

Miro

I think the fronts are very similar to 200TCs , the rear I honestly don't know .I've never worked on anything other than Abarths! I'll have a look around and come back to you .

Sorry for ignorance but what is 200 TC?

Miro

Sorry for my ignorance , I meant 2000 TC! the 131 2.0 Twin Cam.