An RSS Feed from v8fiat.com v8fiat.com Blog http://v8fiat.com/programs/weblog.cgi e-commerce Copyright v8fiat.com en-us Wed, 08 Apr 2026 13:14:38 EST webmaster@v8fiat.com (Web Master) Wed, 08 Apr 2026 13:14:38 EST webmaster@v8fiat.com (Web Master) e-commerce-inc.com sitebuilder blog press <![CDATA[Getting Started]]> The V8 fiat at this point is just a dream in my head. Having always has fiat spiders from the 850 up to the 124 and even the 2000 I am a big fan of the cars. As special as they are in my heart, they all lack one thing, horse power.

I enjoyed my 850cc rear engine car in high school, but go carts were fun back then and my taste has matured. I like a little bit more than 42 horsepower in my cars today. Granted the 4.8 gallon gas take was a pleasure to fill and at 40mpg it did not need to be filled that often.

The high point for the car was when I opened it up on the highway on a 2 mile steep downhill grade and reached a whopping 65mph top end. Since the speed limit was 55 and I was just 18, it seemed like a decent feat. But come on, even I know that is slow even back in the 1970's.

Still, that car was amazing and what a blast it was to drive. I would not have traded it for anything except a 1967 GTO with a 389 with a Tripower. Talk about an upgrade! I went from 42hp to about 420hp. You just cannot compare the two.

I have owned almost a dozen fiats since then and have loved them all, but they get laughed at and mocked and made fun of by almost everyone.

I have decided to fight back for my favorite car and make one that makes the hot rodders cry. This blog is about how I am building a 1970 Fiat 124 spider with a V8 Chevy engine that will tear up the dragstrip and run circles around cars on the street.

With the horsepower and speed in the modern cars it will take quite a bit of work and expense to accomplish this. I also do not want to loose the fun of the fiat and stay true to the style and design.

I will be competing with Mustangs that are just one big aftermarket parts bin. With kits to bolt on that add 1000HP I will have a difficult takes making my car the fastest on the street when I have to fabricate everything from scratch.

To make matters worse. I am building the car in a one car garage at my house, so I don't have the tools and resources I would like, but that will make the project more rewarding in the end.

So now it is time to get started with the build. The first obstacle it to find an old fiat body that is not completely rusted out and does not cost me an arm and a leg. So off to craigslist and ebay I go looking for a project car.
]]> http://v8fiat.com/weblog/1294334089_Fiat-Project.html http://v8fiat.com/weblog/1294334089_Fiat-Project.html Thu, 06 Jan 2011 12:14:49 EST <![CDATA[Found a FIAT Body]]> I finally found a fiat body to build my car. After missing all the cheap rusty cars that were for sale I finally found a project that the owner has given up on.

Best part is the car is just $200 because the owner needs it gone as he is moving out of the country and can't take it with him.

The car is perfect, southern car, no rust, complete with no missing parts. Unfortunately, the floor and firewall and from suspension have been cut out to fit in a 150hp V6 Alfa Romeo engine, a BMW transmission and a host of other scarp parts.

What a mess this thing is. It is completely dissembled and most of the important stuff is cut off or out completely.



You will notice in the photo there is no cross member for the front suspension and no steering, so this is really just a body and not much else. I am not sure I realized what I was getting into.

I am confident I can do it, but it might take more time than what I had budgeted as usual. I always think it will be easy and then I take on some crazy project like this. At least I do have a body to get started with.

The truth is, I have not really thought this through at all. I don't even know if the engine will fit between the wheels or behind the radiator. But if I realized it would not, then I would never try and this is going to be a great project if I can complete it.





This is actually how I got the car. The outside of the body is great but the rest of the car is a mess as you can see by the photos. At least I wont have much to cut out but I will have a ton of sheet metal work to do to get the body back together.
]]> http://v8fiat.com/weblog/1297900898_Fiat.html http://v8fiat.com/weblog/1297900898_Fiat.html Wed, 16 Feb 2011 19:01:38 EST