The Broken Fiat Club

I've lusted after Shaggie's titanium and carbon fiber wing for many years, but when Bryan from NGEN called and said he was selling it my initial response was "That's complete overkill for the Pop". 15 minutes later and I'm scheming to figure out how to get the deal done.
We agreed to a do hatch swap. I would sell Bryan my Pop's hatch which has the ACS AC style spoiler.
Bryan would give his hatch to Shaggie, so he had a nice clean Abarth hatch, and I would buy Shaggie's rear hatch which was pre-drilled for the wing.

After shuffling schedules for a while we finally agreed to meet one Saturday afternoon and knock this out!

First challenge, none of really knew how to take off the hatch and put it back on. Bryan pulled the official instructions, but they looked a bit cumbersome. Basically removing the interior to get inside the B pillar where everything connects. After removing the interior cover on the hatch it seemed easier just to disconnect the hatch release, window wiper, brake light and ground and remove the hatch leaving the wiring connected to the car.

The hatch itself is connected via the two hinges and the two pneumatic props. The props pop off with with a small screwdriver to remove the retaining clip (don't lose it). The hinges were easy to remove by accessing the 13mm nut between the roof and roof liner and loosen those. Multiple people were definitely required to hold the hatch as you remove and reattach it. You can also remove the hatch with the small Allen key/hex fittings on the top of the hinge but we found it much harder to line the hatch up when putting it back on that way.
Putting the hatch back on needed 3 people, two to hold it steady and one to tighten the bolts. Although our method of removing the hatch made it quicker to remove, running the wiring back through the hatch proved much trickier. Using metal coat hangers and zip ties to hold the wiring together we managed to get all the wires pulled back to the right places and everything worked.

We also had to switch all of the handles and licenses plates to the right cars to avoid embarrassment.

I'd planned to do a much better job of documenting the work, but got distracted by the fun we were having and the constant jokes about who was holding who's nuts.

Needless to say I'm thrilled with my new wing. It works much more effectively that the old one, making the car really squat down when you get to the right speed. It's also adjustable so if I want to attack the twisties I can add a bit more wing to the setup, makes me feel like a proper driver

That little Pop is definitely like an orphan that's been adopted into royalty.

Changed a bit in the last 7 months.

looks awesome!

Ya it was definitely fun and an experience for sure!

So I also grabbed the hood from Shaggie's car too. Put it on the Abarth.

HOLY CRAP THAT HOOD LOOKS AWESOME ON THE WHITE!! 10/10

You're seriously making me want S4 taillights... not gonna lie.

That pop has come a long way, really looks great. Oh and the Abarth, prob one of the meanest looking abarths I've seen.

Jonohhh wrote: ↑Wed Oct 31, 2018 10:50 pm Oh and the Abarth, prob one of the meanest looking abarths I've seen.

Well it’s a Demon so.... ya. Just ask texanbrit. He’ll tell you.

NGEN wrote: ↑Thu Nov 01, 2018 11:08 pm

Jonohhh wrote: ↑Wed Oct 31, 2018 10:50 pm Oh and the Abarth, prob one of the meanest looking abarths I've seen.

Well it’s a Demon so.... ya. Just ask texanbrit. He’ll tell you.

It's possessed for sure. Baal-Barth is the demon's name. He has to be beaten into submission regularly. He normally is strongest a couple of weeks prior to Twisted Sisters. I thought I had him exorcised this year but he snuck along for the ride, hiding in the form of an electrical issue that has caused me a lot of headaches.