With Added Body - Part V

Here, sooner than certainly I expected (!) is the next instalment in this rather snowballing series.

The picture on the left (click to enlarge) shows the new front panel that we made for the car. As I explained at the beginning of the series, the car really was very rotten. I had made attempts to fix the front, which in any case I had intended to modify and finally I threw in the towel and decided that there had to be something new.

I was never impressed with the small headlamps on the Fulvia and was determined to have the "standard" 7" units. Anticipating increased power and planning a cross-flow radiator I wanted a larger "hole" at the front which would also provide good flow to the oil cooler. The panel was made in two mirror-image halves and welded together, with the headlamp pods made separately and welded in place later.

Although not shown in the picture, the radiator is supported in the modern way with a couple of rubbers that fit into small fabricated mounts that are welded to the sub-frame. Sharp-eyed readers will notice that the ends of the front cross-member (sub-frame) have been cut away and welded up - a bit more space and a little less weight!

Above is a shot showing a headlamp pod in place and also the very scruffy-looking spoiler. The spoiler was for me at least, a happy accident: in 1989 I was working for a Porsche specialist, working mostly on pre-1973 911s (interesting to build those engines). The owner of the business was a keen racer and quite often there were bits that were not quite "as new" lying about. At this time there was a S III Fulvia coupé in the workshop that I was welding away at. Seeing a damaged 911 spoiler lying about I thought that the "bumper" profile looked vaguely familiar... Of course I offered it up and realised it might be a potential replacement for the rotten front valance on my Fulvia. A fair amount of "cutting and shutting" was necessary as may be seen from the picture, but the results were acceptable to me in the end...

The main mounting of the spoiler required I remember a bit of thought. In the end, I used a second pair of bumper irons welded to the first pair which worked out perfectly, the fixing to the fibreglass spoiler being made with coach bolts.

As I have quite a stack of pictures, I shall be writing a bit more about the project. In the meantime I shall be happy to answer questions or provide more information if required.

À bientôt