Practically Classics Forum

In April 2012, a good mate and I will set off on an epic road trip to raise money for the Cancer Council (Australia).

Participants in the Shitbox Rally 2012 must drive from Melbourne to Cairns (Far North Queensland) in eight days via outback roads, using a car that cost less than $1000AU (or about 600 quid). The rally is non-competitive, but each team must raise at least $4000AU in sponsorship to participate. The cars are also auctioned at the end of the rally, rasing further funds.

http://www.shitboxrally.com.au/

We are now on the hunt for a suitable car with classic credentials. I will start a build thread for the car when we get one.

Why this event? The Cancer Council is a cause we feel very strongly about. In the last ten years I've lost three grandparents and my father to Cancer. The majority of people know someone who has had or is battling this terrible disease.

If by driving an old car from Melbourne to Cairns we can contribute to cancer research in some way, then we are proud to be a part of the Shitbox Rally 2012.

So please dig deep as we seek to raise money for the Cancer Council and have some fun at the same time.

Donations can be made via the everyday hero website below.

http://www.everydayhero.com.au/hero_pag ... ink_we_can

All donations over $2AU are tax deductible to Australians and a receipt will be provided. Any amount, no matter how small, is appreciated. .

We would also be glad to hear from any corporate sponsors who wish to place their logo on our car in return for a donation.

Thanks,
Danny and Brett.
Team "I Think We Can!"

So the car search was on, but what to buy?

The idea is the car is auctioned at the end of the rally and neither of us particularly wanted to buy the car back and drive it home. We also wanted to take something a bit unusual, not the safe option of a Holden/Ford/Toyota like most teams.

Enter one 1979 Fiat 131 Supermirafiori...

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... 0663221294

Why this car?
- We are both lukewarm about it, so we are unlikely to get attached to it.
- It's a simple pushrod engine, weber carb, points ignition etc. So any breakdowns should be simple.
- It's been serviced properly it's entire one owner low km life and driven until recently, so the likelihood of mechanical issues is lower than something that's been sitting in a paddock for years.
- It's not what you would call immaculate and it's an pretty undesirable spec for a 131, so no qualms about damaging a good example of a rare car.
- We both like the challenge factor. Remember Clarkson's Lancia Beta in the Africa Challenge special? We are both raving Top Gear fans and see taking this car as a kind of tribute.
- It's an unusual choice, at this point the only Fiat on the Rally. We want to be different!
- A Fiat 131 won the World Rally Championship in 1980!!

We didn't want Automatic, but given the other advantages we decided we could live with that disadvantage.

Friday afternoon I conned a colleague into dropping me off outside the owner's house. Then I drove the Fiat home through peak-hour Melbourne traffic on an Unregistered Vehicle Permit (hence no number plates).















It runs well, no smoke, no rattles and is quiet and pretty comfortable. The autobox works perfectly. It handles okay and rides very well.

It was in better condition body wise than I expected too. It has a few dents and a couple of patches of rust in the left sill and front guard. Otherwise the paintwork is well looked after. The interior is very good too and the boot is also bigger than I expected.

The service folder is fat and includes every time the car has been filled with fuel or had any part replaced in it's entire life.

In the last year it's had a new water pump, radiator flush, front calipers rebuilt, new wheel cylinders, automatic serviced, points, plugs, dizzy cap, rotor and fan belt replaced. Some $1200 worth.

Issues:

- Most worrying of all - the charge light came on on the way home. But if the worst thing I have to do is change an alternator, I'm happy. The service record shows the Alternator was reconditioned in 1993 so maybe it's due some brushes!
- The steering is a bit vague at the straight-ahead position, but according to some online pages I found, that is normal.
- The fuel guage dances all over the place and the previous owner warns me it's inaccurate.
- The rust in the sills.
- 80's pioneer stereo is kaput.
- Heater controls appear to be non-functional, or else they simply defy logic!

Yep, I reckon it's damn good buying for $620! It should suit our purposes perfectly.

Cheers,
Brett.

A Mirafiori in that good a condition in the UK would only be seen in a Fiat club concours lineup. Sculpted, (Super Mirafiori) wheels on an OHV car though? That's just plain decadent.
Good luck with the event, though as old Fiats never break down, you'll be fine.

ISTR that the voltage regulators are far less reliable on these than on some, so maybe that, rather than brushes will be needed to get it charging properly but even if that's what's needed, you have a massive bargain there and many of us here in the UK will be green with envy.

I'm not 100% sure if it's a Mirafiori or a SuperMiraFiori?

I suppose it's possible the wheels were an added option.

The badge and paperwork says SuperMirafiori and I can recall removing the weber from an identical car in 1993 that was also badged SuperMirafiori. So maybe even the povo pack models were badged SuperMirafiori here.

Cheers,

for £400 that looks like a nice little car.
I hope it has comfy seats for your little jaunt!

Interesting!

In Europe the 'Super' tag was for the twin-cam cars.

bent8rover wrote:Interesting!

In Europe the 'Super' tag was for the twin-cam cars.

I believe the tag was "Engine Donor" especially for Morris Minors.
That has to be an Oz vehicle, as the British ones just dissolved when they hit the docks*

*Ok I know that rust proofing wasn't great on a lot of 70's cars, but fiats were especially bad

Yep, this car was sold new in Aus and has lived in a garage it;s entire life. Hence the relatively rot-free state.

I did some digging at the rot in the sills today and the holes got bigger. Not massive though, there's two holes maybe 8-10mm across. Not bad at all.

Now I have a moral dilemma. Do I take the easy option and just fill the holes to cover them so it will pass the RWC (MOT), or do I weld them properly?

Cheers,

Up here those holes would have run the full length of the sill once you started poking

Go on and weld them, you know you want to....

That said I had a Lancia Trevi in the early nineties with the twin cam mirafiori engine, it had rot that looked like that but actually ran about a quarter of the sill along the car. I picked that job to run out of welding wire and money, but a few pop rivets and skim of filler later youd never have guessed kind of feel guilty about that one but I was young, skint, and daft. Now I'm just older and skint

Good luck with it, hope it takes you there no bother.

Given what you want to do with it, I'd weld it but do it "shitbox" style - i.e. slap some plating on the outside and weld around the edges, rather than cut precision repair pieces, joggle them grind them flat, fill etc.

You'll get more strength that way too - these things are an MoT failure for a reason!

Cheers