To start things off I have to say that this car was my first car ever.
I have had it since I was 16, and it has never looked better than it does right now.

The car is a 69 #AS12487. It has sat in my dads backyard for the
past 20 years where it was parked after a fire.. "another story".
Last year I decided its time to either scrap or restore the car. "I considered this for a long time".

The car was in bad shape, Rusted out unibody, floors, doors, rear quarters, trunk, hood, shock towers.
It had no interior NONE! The engine still sat perfectly clean and shining on a stand.
"this was an all polished aluminum motor, which looked like crome"

I just did not have the heart to trash this vehicle, it had vast history,
and I personally owe my life to it.. It has belonged to a few friends of mine,
and had it’s share of punishment from all of them. It has seen over 135mph on several occasions,
and literally been off the ground on the twisted roller coaster we call, North Creek Road.

Needless to say this is an enormous undertaking. It will be obviously expensive and hard to locate parts for.
So then here we go with some big decisions.. on how and where to start.

First off i had to have a rolling chassis.. So I built a custom tubular frame with a channeled unibody..
Destruction of the old car was the first part of this.. I saved the front section where the windshield and doors attach
"this was welded to my frame later. Also saved the entire rear section from the quarter panels back.

This was welded onto the new frame as well.

I then built the frame to fiat specs for suspension mounts, e.t.c.

This took the better part of a year to complete. After attaching the "rescued" parts of the fiat it was time to start shopping..

Body panels were available from Bruce’s Parts Bin but not cheap..
2 fiberglass front fender sections $375 each.

2 fiberglass rocker panels $110 each.
2 rear quarter replacement panels $125 each
rear lower and upper valance’s $220
front lower valance from an 82 $80
exip 16" aluminum racing wheels $195 each
falken zeix 502 racing tires $110 each

Now the parts listing is going to by large and broken up in sections. "i’ll tally it at the end of the project.
I was forced to go to ebay for many parts as well..

My trunk lid arrived dented at the corner by United Package Smashers but was insured so I got
It cheap and repaired it.

No Hood! Oh dammit I was hoping to avoid this.. Making a composite hood from scratch is quite difficult..
So I went bondo crazy on an old one..

This didn’t have to last long but it did have to be perfect.. As I was making a mold of it..
I studied the process on the internet.. "you will find that I do alot of research on the net"
The process is very involved but I’ll highlight it here for you..You need a perfect part or a "plug" ..

This gets 50 coats of mold release wax, yes 50!.. The stuff is thick and hard to buff.
Then a spray coat of P.V.C. Mold release fluid.. "this has to be several thin mist coats as the stuff will bead up
on the wax if sprayed too heavy". Now the plug is ready,, I started by spraying on 3 heavy coats of marine grade
gelcoat, let it harden to tacky.. Hand layup of several layers of fiberglass matting and heavy toe. Alternating between
matting and toe to insure a great bond..

Added some 1x2 boards to the back for support.. "bonded with resin and matting".. Once hardened for a few day’s I
took it outside and wresteled a small section loose. This was flooded with water from the hose and when the section
between the two parts got enough water in it the whole thing just popped apart.

Here is a picture of the completed mold.

Now what type of hood to make.. After alot of research I decided on carbon fiber..
Why? Its strong, light, can be used in less layers then glass, and looks cool as hellThis is sort of a reverse of the layup of the mold.. Waxing the mold, spraying on release fluid,
but laying up carbon fiber cloth in epoxy resin instead of fiberglass in glass resin.

Here is the "Green" part right after releasing it from the mold and trimming the edges
with an air powered died grinder.. Never use electric tools on cf "another story"!

And again after some wet sanding and buffing.

Notice the few spots where the cloth bunched up on me.. "oh well first one and all" It could be painted and this would never show.. But I think I’ll put one of those little boost inside stickers on there to hide it.. "Did he say BOOST!"
Well I had to.. I mean why not..?

This was a big project as well.. A custom 4 into 1 header was built to mate the engine to a garret t3 hybrid turbo.
"notice the pickle in the middle below, I learned this from hooker header".

The block will be sent out for a freshening and a oring job for the turbo.. "clamps the headgasket"!

Wastegate is adjustable but these are nice to crank the boost when you need to.

Absolutly no lag will be tolerated.. BOV FROM HELL!

Fuel enrichenment will come via bosch l-jetronic multiport fi and a Megasquirt boost referenced E.C.U.

Another shot of the hood incase you missed it..

This is a custom spearco intercooler for the grand national.. It has had the tubes cutoff so that fater ones

could be welded on.. I’ll be ising it for a front mount system. This is why I got an 82 front valance, "it has a

big opening in it for this guy"

For the transition between downpipe and muffler a stainless flexi joint is used.

Here you can see how nicely the fi system polishes up..

Here is the beast.. Alot more work has been completed since this shot but you get the idea here, Right?

I have recently purchased some very cherry doors from a new friend I met on fiatspider.com..

Thanks Pablo! They cleaned up real nice..

The car now has aluminum diamond plate floors, trunk, firewall, inner fenders.

Also scrapped the stock fuel tank for a center mounted Jaz bladder type fuel cell.

We have a guy in Texas at spektr products who is going to make up those cool cat eye
Headlamp covers like you see on the Alpha’s and Ferrari’s e.t.c. email me and ill hook you up with Scott.
I expect this car to see the road this summer.

Come back for updates.

Dreaming in Full Color!