Early October, I went out to meet a buddy for a Tri Tip Steak and Rib dinner. Proudly, I washed the car quickly, and headed East into Orange County for a romp. The radio played, my mind was at ease, and the drive was another in a growing stack of memorable Fiat experiences.
My buddy Stephen, who leads a charmed life, had arrived earlier than me and came over to greet me. A few throttle blips of 1.5L nirvana and I shut off the car. Prior to eating, we decided to visit a Best Buy to review some radio and speaker options for Spiagga. Upon restarting the car, I noticed a small amount of metallic clang. The kind that is so slight it appears that you didn't hear it at all, but ends of being the velvet sledge hammer. The sound certainly wasn't there when I pulled in. Because it was so slight, I thought to move the car over to a place where I could put the car under a parking lot light, and get a better view.
In pulling out the car, the sound got worse, and ohh, there was a wonderful pile of parts sitting in the parking spot I had resided in. Stephen was polite when he covered his mouth to hide his smirk and laughter. I pulled up my sleeve and buried my hand into the hot rear engine compartment. I immediately noticed that the belts were off, and ohh, there is a crank pulley that is now loose and therefore, I was missing my main crank nut. Great! Just Great! Those little Italian bits don't just grow on trees. I swear I heard Steve Machette's English voice say, "Boys, we don't have another one of those lying around." Retracing the path I took to move the car, I did find the thrown belt, and best of all the missing main crank nut.
I went ahead and ate. BBQ is my love, but it is just not the same when you have a dead car in the parking lot. I did my best to convince Stephen to drive 80 odd miles out of his way to take my ass home. He did get a free meal out of it, but I know he would have done it anyway. We limped the car to a nearby hotel parking lot so that it wouldn't get towed, and I hoped into Stephens car feeling like a pimple on prom night. You are an excellent friend Stephen. MBDC all the way. (Mercedes Benz Drinkers Club)
The next day, a fantastic, and good friend, who shall remain nameless, was kind enough to assist with coordinating a tow from Triple AAA. She arrived in a sexy short pink skirt and a smile. It felt odd to be the dam idiot in distress getting rescued by the galiant turquoise BMW she drives. You know I'm getting to like her 330XI more and more. In fact just the other day I found that tuned 335 BMWs are running Mid 12s on the 1/4 mile. OMFG!
The shots speak for themselves.
To add to the embarrassment, I had the car towed to my warehouse, and it was on display for everyone in our business center to gawk at. There is a bus restoration company in my complex that does interior work. They have what seems like an endless stream of labor, and our parking lot is a mix of bravado and pecking order. As a tenant and business owner, I quickly surpassed some of the old guard employees who resent that I enforce my three spots allotted to me. I may be paranoid, but I think I saw them point and smile. I put the car in the warehouse and wanted no more drama for the day. I had my little Pitter that day, and I didn't want to lose the day by working on the car. I did get some grief from my Pitter when she endlessly asked, "Wheres the Fiat?"
So, current events, yes the car is running, and yes, I had some additional work done. I now have a lightened and balanced flywheel and clutch assembly. The car pulls cleanly, and has increased low end torque. The tranny is the 79 5 speed out of Zanardi my original X. That tranny has a slightly different gearing that gets me off the line quicker, and it had a very expensive rebuild on the syncros done about 10 years ago. Imagine that, getting to enjoy the work you paid for 10 years ago! I have a set of scrubbed Yokohama Advan A059 DOT race tires in a pile awaiting installation. They have a generous amount of marbles and clag on them, so I guess they shouldn't be balanced.
I am having a header and custom exhaust fabricated. I'm hoping to get some 5-7 extra horse out of that, and an improved sound. I'm into the car for what seems like an unreasonable amount of money.
Well, off to sleep, my daughter gets up early, and is bound to ask, "Where is the Fiat."
