My 131 abarth (never ending) story - 2017 season updates

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TR-Spider
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Re: My 131 abarth (never ending) story 2008 end of season update

Post by TR-Spider »

Hi Walezy

maybe not everybody is as talented as you are and "just makes it from scratch"...
But, I admit your reproduction comes very close to the Abarth in terms of geometry and function.

However, just for the fun of it I "mounted" an E30 axle into a 131, and I must say it looks tempting... (not for me, as I have an E30, but...) it seems to be possible to use the original 131 upper shock/spring mounting with some modification to the axle parts.



Red Lexus, I did not mean to be offensive...just accurate...
I thought a lot about that in the past for my 124Spider, maybe an (expensive ) option would be the Lancia Integrale, if necessary sligtly narrowed. That would mean you "stay within the family", and in terms of function are close to the Abarth again. By the way there was a Prisma Integrale with the same Axle hardware, just a cheaper diff.
Funnily the rear axle of the Mazda 323 4WD I once drove had a similar setup, but even wider than the Integrale.




Thomas
Last edited by TR-Spider on February 19th, 2009, 9:37 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: My 131 abarth (never ending) story 2008 end of season update

Post by RedLexus »

TR-Spider wrote:
Red Lexus, I did not mean to be offensive...just accurate...

Thomas

No offense taken , we're all friendly enthusiasts here! Thanks for explaining with pictures as you did . I don't have much experience with BMWs to be honest .
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Guy Croft
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Re: My 131 abarth (never ending) story 2008 end of season update

Post by Guy Croft »

If any of those pictures are copyright to Fiat (or other) they will have to be removed. If you have copyright permission I want to see it by email.

I take the issue of copyright extremely seriously. So do Fiat and this is a very widely read site.

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TR-Spider
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Re: My 131 abarth (never ending) story 2008 end of season update

Post by TR-Spider »

If any of those pictures are copyright to Fiat (or other) they will have to be removed. If you have copyright permission I want to see it by email.
I take the issue of copyright extremely seriously. So do Fiat and this is a very widely read site.
GC
You are right.
Pictures were from Fiat workshop manual.
I removed the pictures.
Sorry!
Thomas
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miro-1980
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Re: My 131 abarth (never ending) story 2008 end of season update

Post by miro-1980 »

Guys,

look at this ...

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=524

Miro
www.Fiat-abarth-rally.com
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Guy Croft
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Re: My 131 abarth (never ending) story 2008 end of season update

Post by Guy Croft »

Yup, sometimes they slip thru the net..

Removed now. Thanks Miro,

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tmvolumex
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Re: My 131 abarth (never ending) story 2008 end of season update

Post by tmvolumex »

Miro,
Great looking car very nice transformation. Did you source the bodykit from a seller in Poland. The panel fit looks great on your car were there any issues to be aware of for the installation? How did you attach the rear flares? Rivets, epoxy and fiberglass?
Thanks,
Tom

Fiat 131 2 door, (Fiat Abarth Stradle body kit in a box right now)
Fiat 124 sport Coupe
Lancia Scorpion 2 liter
Lancia Scorpion 2 liter VX
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miro-1980
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Re: My 131 abarth (never ending) story 2008 end of season update

Post by miro-1980 »

Tom,

Actually , I bought an unfinished project from a guy that has the only original a 124 abarth in Poland and gave up of building a 124/131 abarth set. The panels were already installed, but I believe they came from Walezy ( Tomek , did you supply Skwara with the panels of did he buy them from Guy M. in Belgium ). The car when I bought it had a 131 racing spoiler on the boot. We only installed new rear boot spoiler, roof spoiler and front hood air vent.

The parts were riveted and glued and than finished off.

The biggest problem was making sure the roof spoiler fits. When I bought the spoiler from Walezy I made some unnecessary alterations to it and it was hard to fit. After several failed attempts I got upset (to put it in a diplomatic language) and got one more 131, cut off the rear part of the roof and over the winter season made sure it fits perfectly. Top spoiler is both screwed on rubber bushing and glued.

The installation requires some manual labor and time but does not have too many tricks. I am sure Walezy can be of great help in installation instructions (tips and tricks) .

Miro
www.Fiat-abarth-rally.com
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Re: My 131 abarth (never ending) story 2008 end of season update

Post by RedLexus »

Thats a relief to me..thought I was the only one who struggled with GRP!
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miro-1980
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Re: My 131 abarth (never ending) story 2009 end of season update

Post by miro-1980 »

Gents,

The season went quite well with preparations for the big jump.

The Jump consists of three elements :

1/ CGRE newly build engine - completed : (currently awaiting dyno testing)
GCC 006.jpg
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MM 2 liter crated 007.jpg
MM 2 liter crated 007.jpg (110.79 KiB) Viewed 33588 times

2/rebuilding of a 131 Abarth Stradale rear suspension to fit the original 131 Abarth diff. (98% parts collected)
diff prj small (40).JPG
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diff prj small (34).JPG
diff prj small (34).JPG (79.57 KiB) Viewed 33588 times
3/close ratio gearbox conversion and an LSD

All work will be documented and I will very gladly share my experiences on the GCRE forum.

Miro

PS this is to prove the car was actually rallying in 2009 (this is on the prestigious 43-rd "Zubry Rally" in late October 2009
zubry rally 2009 .jpg
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miro-1980
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Re: My 131 abarth (never ending) story 2010 season update

Post by miro-1980 »

Please see my initial (first post) on this thread for 2010 season update.

Enjoy,

Miro
www.Fiat-abarth-rally.com
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miro-1980
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Re: My 131 abarth (never ending) story 2010 season update

Post by miro-1980 »

Here is more pictures ;

The car just went to Wojtek and Robert (my expert mechanics).

Initial stage is striping.

Seats went first, some interior second , than the shaft.

The gear box and engine are being prepared for removal.

Some of the parts will no longer be needed and some will not be needed for some time so Tomek (my co-pilot) takes it all away to storage.

More pictures as progress is being made.

Miro
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miro-1980
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Re: My 131 abarth (never ending) story 2010 season update

Post by miro-1980 »

Here is another follow up of the initial, "deconstruction" stage.

Several “hot” comments.

The George Polley muffler will stay, so will the center resonance box.
George Polley muffler stays.jpg
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center is a resonance box.jpg
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The whole rear suspension goes : bye-bye stiff bridge, drum brakes, my rear sport Bilsteins , ...
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bye bye drums.jpg
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The dash will stay for this season as I do not have the tome to do all electrical work required , but 2011 - the Gr 4 dash goes in.
Dash stays for this season.jpg
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The gear box also stays. I want to see how does it work with the new powerful engine. Depemnding of the problems I identify I may move into a close ratio conversion.

Next season I ( or later this season) I will move to original Abarth gearbox.
gearbox stays for some time.jpg
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Interesting is the fact that all the mounting wholes and molded spaces for installation of complete rear suspension is present in my chassis ( anybody knows the reason ?)

One key challenges we expected was to locate the proper mounting spots and drill the mounting holes for Abarth arms and for the support cross member holding the Abarth diff in the right places.
abarth body.jpg
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Well it turned out that my chassis has all has all these mounting spots/holes and molds already in place. It looks like the 2-door structural chassis was exactly
The same for a civilian 2-door and the 131 Abarth. As the 2-door was one of the original 131 line offered by Fiat it looks like Abarth simply used the differential used for 121 Abarth and designed the rear diff mounting as well as the rear suspension around it to match the existing standard mounting points.

Initial thought that an a 131 Abarth chassis was used as a base for all 131 2-doors does not seem to hold water as it appears the civilian 2-door were produced before the Abarth versions. I will nevertheless try to investigate it as it si not very clear to me. 131 was Abarth designed between 1973-1975. This would follow the 2-door chassis was redesigned by Bertone using basic 131 coupe structure following Abarth technical suggestions to make the car fit for sports The production of the 400 of 131 Abarths begun October 13, 1965 and ended in march 1976 in a Bertone factory in Grurglkiasco near Tuirn (the same place 124 Abarths were built). Homologation was secured on April 1, 1976. It is plausible that the 1980 racing body was actually following the Abarth/Bertone design of the Abarth rally version, rather than the original s-door civilian saloon. This remains to verified as soon as I get access to pre 1975 body of a 131 2-door saloon.

Another interesting thought is the roll cage. People often ask what is the proper historical FIA homologated roll cage for 131. The answer is strange. The rool cage at that time were not required by FIA , or at least they did not have to be homologated. So, the only roll cage homologated by FIA is a half cage.
1 half cage.jpg
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My cage is more advanced , based on FIA non model specific homologation.
1 my cage .jpg
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I am, thinking about strengthening the case by adding one cross bar ion the rear and two support bars also in the rear. I also will very strongly think about welding the cage , which now is only bolted in.
planned cage addition.JPG
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Other issue, which came apparent after taking some of the interior out is that I will need to properly arrange all the wires and lines to make sure they are the least exposed to accidental damage and do not crate a fire hazard. Also they need to be arranged to accommodate the fire extinguisher to be located in the rear of the cockpit, o leave space for helmet storage box, and other required accessories.
need to properly arrange all wires and lines .jpg
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More to come ...

Miro
www.Fiat-abarth-rally.com
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miro-1980
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Re: My 131 abarth (never ending) story 2010 season update

Post by miro-1980 »

Progress is made more quickly than I expected . the mounting points fo Abarth suspensuio0n are exactly the same as standard suspension.

Pictures should be self explanatory.
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miro-1980
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Re: My 131 abarth (never ending) story 2010 season update

Post by miro-1980 »

Because the suspension progress is made so fast I am not thinking about the brakes and this is something my new friend from Austria - Frantz has already made. Le us see how much of it this can be implemented in my car for this season. Probably the twin pump no serve will be for next season , but the hydraulic hand brake will have to be implemented before this season starts due to the ATE rear calipers I have.

Please look at these beautiful pictures.

Miro
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