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<\/a>Sprint as photographed by Ben on the Melee.\u00a0 Amazing how good a quality camera makes it look!<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n TI Tidy 25:\u00a0 Mitch has welded me up a great new exhaust and I talked him into doing a little floor repair for good measure.\u00a0 It was all in an effort to get the car Melee worthy but it just didn’t work out.<\/p>\n I also took the TI to Jaan and got the carbs balanced.\u00a0 It’s becoming quite a car.\u00a0 I need to tighten up the advance return springs in the distributor, adjust the brake pedal position and a few other little things but it has been uncomplaining in its duties as daily commuter.<\/p>\n What to do now with the garage full… some thinking out loud.<\/strong><\/p>\n So with the Melee behind me and the TI running pretty good I have to think about my next move.\u00a0 I am waiting on some documentation to get the 69 GTV registered (a statement from Georgia that it never had a title) so, since I can’t drive it, I’m not very interested in doing much to it, not that it needs much other than a water pump swap, booster (s) rebuild or omission and some cosmetic fiddling.\u00a0 Anyone know a good DMV expediter?<\/p>\n In the mean time I also have a torn down Fiat 124 engine waiting for me to repair a rod knock in and put back together.\u00a0 This car is registered and insured so I should make it a priority but my shop is a big mess and needs a good 8 hour organizing session before I dare contribute further to entropy.<\/p>\n Okay, here’s the plan:\u00a0 This Saturday I’ll organize the shop which mainly entails moving a desk and some shelves around then organizing a huge amount of parts; what to keep organized by car, what to sell, and what to throw\/give away.<\/p>\n Over the next two weeks I’ll finish a few little details on the TI: distributor advance springs tightened so it will idle down, tires mounted on the original 15″ rims and put on car, seat belts installed, and maybe if I’m really adventurous the hole in the passenger floor welded up.\u00a0 After all this is done the first cat to come by with $7500 can drive it home.<\/p>\n While tire kickers and joy riders poke and prod the TI I’ll swap the waterpump on the GTV, balance the cost effectiveness of rebuilding the boosters against getting stainless braided brake lines and vented rotors, a supposed way to get brake feel back when the boosters go away, and start fixing little as yet undiscovered problems that would keep it from serving as my winter of 2009\/2010 commuter.<\/p>\n I’ll make getting the Fiat done my goal for November.\u00a0 It also needs the windshield replaced and some front suspension bushes replaced, so maybe by Christmas is a better goal.<\/p>\n If I can get the Fiat fixed, the TI sold, and make the GTV reliable by the end of the year I can get down to business on the two cars I really want to be working on: the Giulietta Spider and the Sprint Speciale.\u00a0 I have gathered a bunch of parts for both of these and have been pondering the potential fun of a side by side simultaneous comparison of 1300 and 1600 rebuilds.\u00a0 What could possibly go wrong!\u00a0 Stay tuned.<\/p>\n<\/a>Not many guys can throw an exhaust system together like Mitch can.\u00a0 His business is in El Cerrito and you can reach him at (510) 526-5003.\u00a0 Note the rust hole in the picture above.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/a>This was all gooed over with roofing tar patch.\u00a0 I scraped it until the blishers on my hands became unbearable and now the floor is nice and clean with the rust exposed and ready to repair.\u00a0 That’s original paint your looking at.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/a>Mitch buzzed out the cancer pretty fast then got distracted by some visitors and a phone call.\u00a0 I was due at a party about when this picture was taken and wondered if I was going to drive home with it like this.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/a>Never fear, Mitch got back to it and welded a chunk of an electrical box lid into the floor.\u00a0 He did a great job considering how crap it looked before.<\/strong><\/p>\n