Operation Resto Fiat 500 "Bambino" gets a vintage-style Roll Cage

First things first: Yes, that's our tow car on a tow truck... oh the irony. Thanks to the local NRMA boys from Moree for towing us in so we could make our workshop appointment, and Aaron for rescuing the trailer.

As our little Fiat 500 is destined to be used as a city car, some chassis reinforcement is installed so that Katy (pictured looking sad) doesn't get squashed by impatient SUV drivers. An original style roll cage is a good option because the modification to the vehicle is minimal. To return the car to stock, one need only unstitch 4 to 6 weld points on the body, and the cage can be cut out in 4 sections. We've opted to do the installation before the interior is painted, so the cage can be painted up as well. Intrusion is minimal and all interior fixtures will fit around the bars, although the sun visors require 1.5" extension rods which we'll cover later on. Aaron from DieselGas Moree shows us how to cage a classic in less than four hours!

Note the small-radius bends and pinch-mouth joints. Combine these elements with narrow, thick wall tubing and you get a nice 60's boy-racer feel.

Operation Resto Fiat 500 "Bambino" continued

Our little 500's looking much better now that the metalwork is properly sorted! David, our painter has been busy repairing the underside. He's applied sound deadening/stoneguard in a similar style to the factory. The underside, wheel wells and engine room have received a nice coat of beige paint, and some careful hand finishing. The rest of the body remains in white primer. We'll get to this when the mechanical work is well underway.

Andrew (pictured) has been busy re-fitting the rebuilt suspension and larger brakes. Some parts need to be made, like the rubber coil boots. We had aftermarket replacements (origin unknown) that simply fell apart when tightened down - so some industrial rubber was cut to size instead.

And here are some stills from our time in Italy (Sorrento) - I loved this little 500r (or L?) Arbarth replica. It had a matching scooter to go with it, but sadly I don't have a picture of it. (If you know the owner we'd love to know more about the car) Also, a sad little Bambino up in the hills above the city.


If you're restoring a 500 and have any questions I'm more than happy to help out, also, we'll subscribe to your builds if you have a thread going. Have fun!

Operation Resto Fiat 500d "Bambino"

In the build: 1961 Fiat 500d bare metal restoration + 650 motor

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Hey everyone, I'd like to share the restoration of our 1961 Fiat 500d with you guys. This is a big one! 650 motor with race girdle, comp lubrication and high compression internals, full length roll-top, period rally essentials and more. She's been kind enough to let us film the build for a new youtube channel (OperationResto) for publication in 2013 - hopefully.

I'll get into more detail, and share some of the harrowing back story (2 year battle, plus great Canberra fire) later on. PS, If I don't post every fortnight, it's only because we're flat out filming or editing. Also, I'll let you all know when we start uploading content to youtube, so if you want to subscribe to that, you can. Let's start with a trip to the Acid Dippers at ReadiStrip, Blacktown:

 

And then off to David Taylor's in Orange:

Please comment or ask questions and I'll try to help you with your own builds etc.

Merry Christmas! (singing hat)

CNFC Cuttings #1

 

 

 

Keeping active - Nat's CNFC Diary #5

Collateral Murder - Wikileaks - Iraq

Why Wikileaks is important, and Stephen Conroy isn't.
Tell a friend. (3:00 onwards if ur a lazy viewer)

Truck Crash - Nat's CNFC Diary #4

Disaster: Danger of my working holiday as a truckie

Flynny's truck is completely effed. Luckily, he's okay. This could have been any of us. CNFC update video to follow...

Nat's CNFC Video Diary #3 - The Farm

Nat's CNFC Video Diary #3 - The Farm
Jason might be back, but I'm away this week to help dad harvest wheat. All is not going well... Also, this video shows how to install broadband in a truck.

Nat's CNFC Video Diary #2 - Visit Jesse & worried about Jason.

Central North Fitness Challenge diary. (camera phone today, sorry). I visited Jesse Lee to see why she missed a training day and it turned out she was flat out just being a mum - so we decided to do some extra walking in our spare time. Also, Jason, my trainer has had to take some time off because of the stress of getting the challenge off the ground. We haven't been able to contact him for a week now, and I'm starting to get worried.

Fat Camp - Part 2 of 3

Nat's CNFC Video Diary #1 - Meet & Greet.

Central North Fitness Challenge 09/10 Underway

The Central North Fitness Challenge, based on Sportsweb and Now FM's Fat Camp 08/09 has begun in Moree, NSW. This 12 week health & fitness program aims to transform 8 people's lives, making them fitter, faster and stronger. To give you a taste of things to come, we've dug up unseen footage from old Fat Camp, back when Nat lost big kg's for Subway. Please enjoy Nat's Time at Fat Camp Part 1:

CNFC updates can be found in the Moree Champion newspaper. Remember you can leave comments and other feedback here.

Censorship the real sleeper in the government's $43bn NBN chaos

• Malcolm Colless
• From: The Australian
• October 25, 2010 12:00AM

THE political row over the future of the federal government's $43 billion National Broadband Network has been dominated by the cost issue.


Responding to calls, particularly from The Australian, for more financial accountability from what is the biggest and most expensive infrastructure project in the country's history, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has attacked suggestions that consumers may have to pay thousands of dollars to have their homes rewired to gain maximum advantage from NBN's high-speed fibre cable.

Neither Conroy nor the head of the government-owned NBN Co, Mike Quigley, who has also pooh-poohed these claims, will say what the extent and cost of rewiring will be. But this debate over cost is masking the sleeper in this project: the degree of control this government-owned monopoly will be able to exercise on the flow of information into the homes of all Australians.

After all, if things go according to plan, NBN Co will be Australia's communications gatekeeper, owned and driven by a government that favours internet censorship.

The consequences of this in a democracy raise potentially disturbing issues affecting the free flow of information that go well beyond dollars and cents. In effect, the NBN rollout gives the government the ability to determine what content is suitable for delivery into the home -- a situation not dissimilar from that which operates in China.

In the face of mounting hostility [read on after the jump: The Australian]

What can I do? Contact Senator Conroy here, and announce your intention to campaign against him next election.

U seen JoJo on YouTube yet?

You've probably heard Danny Disk Jockey at some point, he's every jock who tries too hard when "putting the wattage in the cottage" or "playing the phrase that pays".

I think many of the try-hard presenters (myself included) are suffering a cultural hangover from the Early days. Example: D'Robb puts "the power in the tower." To be fair, Robb has more talent than I could hope to expunge from a full family reunion, but his style simply wouldn't work today.

There is one early FM maverick from this period who get's the balance right, and can (in my opinion) show some way forward for Top 40 radio, despite being long out of date. The following video came my way via the loosely affiliated facebook jock's network. May I introduce: JoJo Kincaid. Music structural knowledge for the win! Just nutty. It's certainly inspired me to try to work within the music rather than between or on-top of it. Just to clarify, this would never work today, but of the period DJ's I've seen, JoJo does it best.

I asked him about the video, he said he'd forgotten it was ever filmed until a YouTube resurgence this year. The format was called 'Flame Thrower', and introduced Top 40 to 'Q' FM stations in US coastal cities in the 1980's. These days, you'll find him on Q105 Tampa Bay, FL. "I look forward to every airshift with a sense of recreation instead of occupation." he said.

Here are some more American airchecks I enjoyed:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-DYaOBq_40
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWPgI25aFHU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEajwfV-3SA

Top 5 Creepiest Moments in Children’s Television

Remember watching Rainbow as a kid? Of course you don’t, it was a spoof.
Truth is, real children’s television is stranger than comedic fiction, and these ones are bone fide TV disasters of the creepiest kind.

The Top 5 Creepiest Moments in Children’s Television


5) Slim Goodbody
Creepymeter: 2.5 / 5


4) Somewhat disturbing Kinder Surprise advert from the 80s.
Creepymeter: 3 / 5


3) The Wiggles DVD special: Marionettes
Creepymeter: 3.5 / 5


2) Yogie Okay-Dokay (Yoga farm guy)
Creepymeter: 4 / 5

And now, a winner of criminal-creepworthian proportions:


1) Creepy Game Show Host
Creepymeter: 5 / 5 and then some

So stop and ask yourself: What are your children watching when they get home from school? Moreover, how did the individuals responsible make the jump from misguided concepts to TV?

Apple vs. Google

Apple vs. Google gets personal: 'Steve Jobs simply hates Eric Schmidt' (video)
By Thomas Ricker Mar 16th 2010

http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/16/apple-vs-google-gets-personal-steve-jobs-simply-hates-eric-sc/

Tim Bray, the architect behind XML, who wrote a blog post yesterday announcing his new role as evangelist to software developers for Google's Android platform. He had this to say about competing with Apple: "The iPhone vision of the mobile Internet's future omits controversy, sex, and freedom, but includes strict limits on who can know what and who can say what. It's a sterile Disney-fied walled garden surrounded by sharp-toothed lawyers. The people who create the apps serve at the landlord's pleasure and fear his anger. I hate it." He then adds, "Apple apparently thinks you can have the benefits of the Internet while at the same time controlling what programs can be run and what parts of the stack can be accessed and what developers can say to each other. I think they're wrong and see this job as a chance to help prove it." [More] - Image: Ghetty

Starion VS BOSS V8 - Crazy engine swaps all the rage in Moree

Ever wanted a Jap-Rod? Sick of the endless debates about which RB/2JZ/V-Tech/13B & BS engine is best? How about an '82 Starion with a Ford GT V8?

The 'BOSS' started life as an American Triton 5.4 SOHC V8, Ford Australia added twin-cam, 4v/cyl heads and trick manifolds with high-revving(ish) internals, and there you have it - a 290kw car with rear wheel drive and no weight. Not to mention quirky looks, rarity, and the opportunity to tell people at parties that the 'Starion' was so named because Chairman Yummymoto couldn't say 'Stallion'.

Thanks Aaron at Diesel Gas Technology & Exhaust (Moree, NSW) for this one.

[more exotic engine swaps - Merc 190 Turbo Diesel]

Mercfix - buy parts online and save.

May 2010 Harvey Norman Morning Dump Secret Revealed

At last, the $820.00 prize in Now FM's "50 Thousand Dollar Morning Dump" thanks to Harvey Norman has been discovered. Congratz Barb the prizedigger! Now she can be my sugar mommy.

MP3 - Listen here