It’s Christmas time and I have a bit of time to update my site. The work on the Iso Fidia is progressing next to the finish of the restoration of a 1955 Porsche (Pre-A) 356 Speedster. Here you can see how Ricky at disassembly concentrating on the wiring while I tackled the engine compartment. This is the original motor the car was delivered with: a 1969 March 21 casting Corvette L-46 350 V8. The Iso company used very good motors for their cars, this 350 horse L-46 is just one step down from the legendary (mechanical lifter) LT-1. (It only needs another intake, cam and carb – it still had pressed in rocker studs) The heads were the same 2.02 heads as the LT-1 and this motor could really open up!
Through the years several things got changed but nothing I can not reverse back to original. When I inspected the car in 2002 my main complaint was the lower end knock it had when seriously revved and yes – it still had it! 😎 But, it will be rebuilt with better internals than factory – the outside will stay fully stock. Fortunately major items like water pump, manifolds and starter were still the original 1969 units. The transmission is the original Muncie 4-speed and there was a noticeable hard spot in shifting which later showed explained itself once I had it open.
I had to cut up the exhaust system as it was fully welded so did not clear the frame and had the wrong mufflers welded into the wrong position. These engines do not come out easy, it takes 3 people and a LOT of tricks to do this! Especially in Fidias there are clearance problems with the distributor and clutch system, sometimes I ask myself how they did it in the factory. I am specifically showing the motor mounts: these are the original (worn out) units and because of the power steering Iso had to cut a corner off the LH one to make it fit. I found out the hard way 8-).
Once the motor was out, the true scope of what damage a quick paint job can do came out: the gloss black paint covered everything! Not only sheet metal but wiring, relays, brake system, steering – they just shot whatever they could reach. Fortunately, some of the original wiring colors could still be seen. Lots of Mickey Mouse “repairs” which are because original parts could not be sourced.
Now there is a lot of weight off the car, the next items that will be tackled are underpinnings, interior and wiring.
