Parts Fabrication.

[mick131]

I am going to buy a new welder soon so that I can make a strut brace, weld some turrets into the old 131 for the rollcage and make some strengthening plates for the chassis/floorpan etc.

If I kept the dimensions/patterns would anyone be interested in me making these ?.

[parrish]

Put me down for a strut brace.
How about some mounting brackets for a pair of cibies! need something to go through the slot on the abarth front end?
How about sump guards? (if you could make something light enough).
Steve

[Thotos]

I am sure strut braces will sell quite well. I am not sure about the sump guards though. The sump is too low on a 131 and a guard will decrease ground clearance. If the car is lowered then it'll probably be scraping the ground with the sump guard.  What you need is one of Guy Croft's 'big wing T-sumps' 

[curt]

Hi guys-I thought the sump guard was the front cross member 
Having jumped over a few bridges in my time in the welsh forests in my mirafiori sport the inevitable crunch from under the engine bay(yet again)reliably informed my brain that it was time for another sump pan and oil pump
The sump pans never 'holed'but the strainer arm always snapped off from the pump!Still as long as the engine was'overfilled'it didnt cause too many problems
I got the replacement time down to 20 minutes
Ahh.. the good old days

all the best
curt 

[mick131]

Thanks for the interest guys,

It may be a month or so before I can get a reasonably decent item together to pass on, is that OK Steve ?.

The strut brace that I would like to make will be adjustable, sit between the strut tops and would be secured by the existing strut top bolts. If anyone wants a different strut brace, like the 131 Abarth triangular version, then this could take a little longer and would require an element of DIY at the users end.

If I could get an idea of what types are required then I can get prices of tube, powder coating ( if required ), post and packing etc etc.

Steve, the brackets for the Cibies, can you send me a picture of the mounting points that you will use on the car and the configuration, ie two single ones ( one on the left and one on the right ) or a four spot configuration ?.

Cheers

Mick

[parrish]

Mick,
concentrate on the stru braces for now, ill need to do some detailed measurements for the light mounts and im off back to work (Qatar) tomorrow so no time just yet.
Triangulated braces would look better for me, however from what ive seen it would require some welding to the strut tops, so im happy to go with a more conventional design at the moment.
Steve

[mick131]

Had a rush of blood to the head and got a welder this afternoon so things can get going pretty much straight away.

I'm going to make one for myself initially so then I can get an idea of cost, should'nt be that much.

The only problem is that my car has no engine in at the moment and no bonnet, so can anybody think of any " clearance issue's " ?.

[Thotos]

... my car has no engine in at the moment and no bonnet, so can anybody think of any " clearance issue's " ?.

No, there aren't any (see photo below). And I wouldn't bother with an adjustable brace either. Since this is to be for 131s only a single solid straight bar will do. Having driven a 131 Sport without a strut brace and one with a brace fitted, I can confirm that it's well worth having; especially if the suspension is "stiffened up".

[mick131]

Cheers for the photo...nice looking engine that !!.

OK then, I will model the strut brace on that one. Anyone else fancy having one made ?. And if powder coating is required, any colour preferences ?.

[mick131]

Steve,

Just noticed something, on that picture Theo posted there are alloy " dishes " that sit on top of the strut top mount. I take it that this is a Series 2 131, is yours a Series 1 or 2 ?.

Mine is a '77 model and has no such additional attachments and that is what I was going to use as the securing point ?.

Mick

[Thotos]

... my car has no engine in at the moment and no bonnet, so can anybody think of any " clearance issue's " ?.

No, there aren't any (see photo below).

It just occured to me that if there's a standard downdraught carburettor and standard air filter on top of it, there may be a clearance issue and not possible to have a strut brace straight across the turrets. Maybe someone with a standard carb setup can check ? 

 

[parrish]

Theo is right and im sure a standard carb set up would be in the way of a straight across strut brace.
Pair of 45's going on mine next time im home so straight across would do me.
I dont have those alloy dishes (i think their adjustable top mounts) on my car either. Having said that they just look the same as mine in shape just colour coded to the body colour, maybe thats why those on Theos 131 look like alloy.
Theo can you confirm if those are standard strut tops in the photo?
Wish my engine bay looked as nice as that as well! still theirs time yet.
Steve

[Thotos]

Yes, I can confirm that they are standard strut tops on my car. There are two different strut tops on 131s; early and later type and the tell-tale sign is the number of mounting bolts seen at the top. The later type, like mine, have 5 mounting bolts while the earlier type had just 3 (or was it four?). I am not sure if the change started with Series 2 cars (which mine is) and in fact I think the change came after the Series 2 cars were introduced. 

Thanks for the kind comments on the look of the engine guys  

[mick131]

Thanks for the feedback fellas,

Havin' a bad week I'm afraid, my teams just got relegated and the welder has yet to arrive ( bought off E-Bay !!), amongst other things.

Anyhow back to the strut brace.

If I can lay my hands on some of the top mounts that mine doesn't have, then there shouldn't be a problem as I could possibly modify the part of the brace that comes into contact with them. As far as supplying a brace for a standard carb/air cleaner set up goes, then that would be different as I would have nothing to work around.

I'll have a think about this and see what options there are.

I'm off to get wasted now, I can here the call of the Peroni in the fridge !!.

[mick131]

Hi all,

Started on the strut brace finally today ( welder arrived Friday ). I have made initial mounting points to the strut tops, but cannot decide how high to mount the bar. Can anyone tell me the distance between the cam covers and the strut tops ?.

The easiest way for me to guage how high/low I can fix the brace is if someone could lay a piece of wood or metal across the strut tops ( at their lowest point if possible ) and measure the distance. As mentioned previously I have no engine installed and I don't want to send one off if it isn't OK.

Steve - If you still want one could you let me know your address at mick_131@hotmail.co.uk and I can get an idea of postal charges.

Thanks

Mick.