Classic Fiat 850 Abarth restoration – Episode Three

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We’ve followed Nick & Bob from Yorkshire to Oxfordshire in their challenge to fully restore a classic Fiat 850 Abarth. They’re loving every minute of trawling the net, driving half way around the country and enlisting the help of industry experts. We caught up with them earlier this week. What’s this phase involved Nick? “It’s been great actually. Bob’s found all sorts of really good spare parts on eBay. Every day he was bidding on something else. All individual lots but he’s so keen he managed to get everything we needed.” What parts did you find Bob? "Well it started with a Weber 36DCD 14/F23R carb. Then I spotted a deep finned Nardi aluminium sump which was ideal really. I managed to source a Hausermann flywheel and it was Nick who found the trigger timing belt kit one night. So we blew quite a bit of the budget but it’s worth it." Are you going to fit all these yourselves? “We’d love to, but we’ve found a bit of an expert who specialises in this type of car and he’s based in Middle Barton Garage in Oxfordshire. So we took it there. It was a bit of a trek from Yorkshire but what a place! They had loads of restored cars and two were just like ours. We had a little tour which was fantastic and picked up loads of tips that we wouldn’t have thought of ourselves.” What restorative work is the garage taking on Bob? “We left the cylinder head to be worked on. It’s going to take a few weeks but they’ll remove the valves from the head and pressure test it. They’ll also sort the beadblast and face valves, recut valve seats triple angle, repair stripped spark plug threads amongst other things before rebuilding the head with new valve springs. So quite a bit of work really." Did you pick up any other parts while you were there? “Yes, we bought a reverse eye front spring and two rear coil springs which I’m really excited about because it’ll give the car a lower profile. We also ordered an inlet manifold, reprofiled cam and a Coupe valve spring set for good measure. How’s the engine coming on? "We’re too far along the path now to cut corners, so we decided it deserved to be a real powerhouse of an engine. That’s why we called in the experts. A local guy from Huddersfield was recommended to us and he really knew his stuff. What a job he did. It sounds fantastic". Caption three: The motor laid bare in Huddersfield So where are you at now with things? "Well Bob’s been back on eBay and sourced us an Abarth front grille from Italy. I found great second hand wood steering wheel from Germany and Bob picked up an 850 Coupe dials set from over here. So it’s all coming together really well." Remember, to keep up to date with the latest information surrounding this restoration, then visit CVI’s blog (see here) where you can find a more detailed breakdown of each stage of the restoration