[Cyrus43]

Lovely pictures salil!! especially the ones i took!!! My computer is still off. /will be back here by tomorrow...i hope!

[President]

Originally Posted by DHABHAR.BEHRAM

Dear President - I had fitted delite pattis only but they did not provide support at the extreme ends due to absence of bends at these locations so it was of no use, it would just come off. I don't want to drill on the body after paint and in any case lack of support would persist. So I removed them and fitted Padmini pattis. I have one original aluminium number plate light with me (the Italian one from maulana) but I cannot fit it till I find the other one. I have not really searched for the taillights but now that you say so, let me see if I can find them. There is still around 2 weeks of work left, then it again goes for a final coat of polish.

Best regards,

Behram Dhabhar

Great Behram!

I am now visualising your LHD with all aluminium Tail and number plate lights before I manage to brainwash you into painting the clip type SELECT wheels silver with broad white walls.
Hehe!

Please don't get upset with my recommendations. Its a desperate attempt towards bringing period ORIGINALITY to a wondeful and unique CLASSIC.

Cheers!
Rony

[Jaggu]

Thanks for the detailed replies Mr Behram, could you please give more info on the choice of tyres (cross ply vs radials)?

Thanks,
Jaggu

[SuperSelect]

Behram and president sirs, I'm a bit confused, please enlighten me: - In which year did aluminuim side patties, tail lights, and number plate lights make an appearance in fiats ? Which should be the correct ones for my '62 SuperSelect ?

[President]

Originally Posted by SuperSelect

Behram and president sirs, I'm a bit confused, please enlighten me: - In which year did aluminuim side patties, tail lights, and number plate lights make an appearance in fiats ? Which should be the correct ones for my '62 SuperSelect ?

Hi Ravi,

1959 - mid 1962 Fiats were called SELECTS which came in after the ELEGANT's or so called DUKKAR's. The selects came with steel side pattis with a particular pattern and no cut glasses. The front grille and bonnet monogram were also different than the later models. SELECT's also had an additional aluminium trim (thin patti) on the frames below the front and rear windshield rubbers. Selects had fish type orange side indicators.

mid 1962 - 1964 Fiats superceded the SELECTS and were so called the SUPER SELECTS.
These came with steel DELITE (straight) type side steel pattis and most importantly added Cut (Quarter) Glasses. The front grille and Bonnet logos were again different from the SELECTS and the side indicators got changed to the round aluminium ones in the later S Selects, continuing into the future delite shaped models.

Both the above models had Aluminium Tail Lights and rear Number plate lights
and had the same wheel discs with clips for the Steel or aluminium wheel caps.

Your car is missing the CUT GLASSES which I know you have already procured. However, the side patti profile is the period original type and the new steel ones that you have are also the correct type.
So take it easy and chill.

What say, Dr.Karl Guruji? Namaste, Please fill in................


FIAT 1100 SELECT


FIAT 1100 SUPER SELECT

[DHABHAR.BEHRAM]

Thank you Mr.President (oh ree jee null). Your points are well taken but as I pointed out, there is a practical difficulty in putting fiat side pattis.

Dear Jaggu - I was meaning to reply to your query on cross plies v/s radials but got caught up in 100 other things. Here goes - this front suspension setup does not have ball joints. It has threaded spider assemblies. During jounce (tyre goes up) and rebound (tyre goes down) movement, the threads in the spider assemblies provide angular movement. Due to this, the friction in this suspension setup is very high (it is inevitable), which is not conducive to radial tyres due to their inherent construction of having relatively supple sidewalls. That's why this suspension runs relatively less caster @ 2 degrees with 330 kg payload. This suspension needs strong sidewalls which bias tyres offer. In any case speeds are not very high so it's OK from safety point of view also. Now which bias tyre ? I have tried all of them. I find that the Ceat Safety Drive is the only tyre which suits this suspension setup perfectly. It has good sidewall strength and a nice tread pattern having 7 grooves as compared to all other tyres which have 5 grooves, besides giving a good life. The shortcoming of MRF legend is it's outer diameter which is more and compound which is hard, the shortcoming of Goodyear Power Star is that the second and the fourth grooves wear out more than the other grooves, the shortcoming of MRF twin tread is that it's outer diameter is maximum so the tyre touches the wheelarch and it's tread pattern is not conducive to wet road driving and cornering, the shortcoming of Ceat C800 is that it's sidewall end breaks away. Also this car has 3.5J*14 wheelrims which are not meant to take 155/80R14 radials available in India for which actually 4.5J*14 wheel rims are required but the system can "tolerate" 4J*14 wheelrims but not 3.5J*14 wheelrims (this is as per the technical specifications manual). The wheelrim PCD is 98 mm (not 100 mm, but people fit and then suffer) and it's offset is +31 mm which is impossible to find in any aftermarket wheelrim (the 118NE is 37 mm). Besides I will never ever trust quality of aftermarket product in a critical item like the wheelrim. So deviating from OE specifications does not arise. Hope this clarifies.

Best regards,

Behram Dhabhar

[Stanher]

Originally Posted by President

Attachment 21847
FIAT 1100 SUPER SELECT

Hey this Super-select coincidentally appears to be the same colour as Behram's Super-select MRY 3112!

@Behram, thanks very much for the comprehensive info. on why not radials! I'll make it a point to try & advise any other fiat owner on the same.

[kavesh55]

Originally Posted by DHABHAR.BEHRAM

Thank you Mr.President (oh ree jee null). Your points are well taken but as I pointed out, there is a practical difficulty in putting fiat side pattis.

Dear Jaggu - I was meaning to reply to your query on cross plies v/s radials but got caught up in 100 other things. Here goes - this front suspension setup does not have ball joints. It has threaded spider assemblies. During jounce (tyre goes up) and rebound (tyre goes down) movement, the threads in the spider assemblies provide angular movement. Due to this, the friction in this suspension setup is very high (it is inevitable), which is not conducive to radial tyres due to their inherent construction of having relatively supple sidewalls. That's why this suspension runs relatively less caster @ 2 degrees with 330 kg payload. This suspension needs strong sidewalls which bias tyres offer. In any case speeds are not very high so it's OK from safety point of view also. Now which bias tyre ? I have tried all of them. I find that the Ceat Safety Drive is the only tyre which suits this suspension setup perfectly. It has good sidewall strength and a nice tread pattern having 7 grooves as compared to all other tyres which have 5 grooves, besides giving a good life. The shortcoming of MRF legend is it's outer diameter which is more and compound which is hard, the shortcoming of Goodyear Power Star is that the second and the fourth grooves wear out more than the other grooves, the shortcoming of MRF twin tread is that it's outer diameter is maximum so the tyre touches the wheelarch and it's tread pattern is not conducive to wet road driving and cornering, the shortcoming of Ceat C800 is that it's sidewall end breaks away.

Best regards,

Behram Dhabhar

Now I get your funda of Ceat safety drive ONLY !!

For all the members, I would vouge for tyre wear problem with Goodyear Powerstar.
But now it doesnt matter all my four tyres are close to BALD
& 4035 still runs.

[Jaggu]

Thanks a ton, this is something which one of my old time friend and i used to ague on, back in the 90's, when he was upgrading his 137 D tyres to radials. We saw the radial tyres wearing off faster esp with heavier engine upfront. I think ill give him a call now

Cheers
Jaggu

Originally Posted by DHABHAR.BEHRAM

Here goes - this front suspension setup does not have ball joints. It has threaded spider assemblies. During jounce (tyre goes up) and rebound (tyre goes down) movement, the threads in the spider assemblies provide angular movement. Due to this, the friction in this suspension setup is very high (it is inevitable), which is not conducive to radial tyres due to their inherent construction of having relatively supple sidewalls. That's why this suspension runs relatively less caster @ 2 degrees with 330 kg payload. This suspension needs strong sidewalls which bias tyres offer. In any case speeds are not very high so it's OK from safety point of view also. Now which bias tyre ? I have tried all of them. I find that the Ceat Safety Drive is the only tyre which suits this suspension setup perfectly. It has good sidewall strength and a nice tread pattern having 7 grooves as compared to all other tyres which have 5 grooves, besides giving a good life. The shortcoming of MRF legend is it's outer diameter which is more and compound which is hard, the shortcoming of Goodyear Power Star is that the second and the fourth grooves wear out more than the other grooves, the shortcoming of MRF twin tread is that it's outer diameter is maximum so the tyre touches the wheelarch and it's tread pattern is not conducive to wet road driving and cornering, the shortcoming of Ceat C800 is that it's sidewall end breaks away. Also this car has 3.5J*14 wheelrims which are not meant to take 155/80R14 radials available in India for which actually 4.5J*14 wheel rims are required but the system can "tolerate" 4J*14 wheelrims but not 3.5J*14 wheelrims (this is as per the technical specifications manual). The wheelrim PCD is 98 mm (not 100 mm, but people fit and then suffer) and it's offset is +31 mm which is impossible to find in any aftermarket wheelrim (the 118NE is 37 mm). Besides I will never ever trust quality of aftermarket product in a critical item like the wheelrim. So deviating from OE specifications does not arise. Hope this clarifies.

Best regards,

Behram Dhabhar

[SuperSelect]

Thanks a ton, President ! One more thing, in the Super Select picture you've attached, the bumper overriders appear different. In fact these don't look India spec. Right ??
I'll keep bombarding you with more queries, thanks again.

@Behram: Thanks for that very enlightening bit on tyres. Every day with this forum, is making me more and more educated !!

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by SuperSelect

Thanks a ton, President ! One more thing, in the Super Select picture you've attached, the bumper overriders appear different. In fact these don't look India spec. Right ??
I'll keep bombarding you with more queries, thanks again.

Well, technically that isn't a Super Select, but a 1100 103 Export. These models were built in Italy for export markets like the UK. The most noticable difference were the bumper and guard design, the side indicators cut into the side patti, and the option of split front seat. Being manufactured in Italy, many cosmetic components were of a far superior quality to their Indian counterparts. The grille, side trims, bonnet embellishment and front and rear monograms etc were much thicker, and of much better quality even to touch. The difference is indeed remarkable. How do I know? I recently bought one. But Ill save that story for another day.

[President]

Thats right Ravi. Those were Bumpers offered on FIATS sold abroad as Karl mentioned.

However, they really look exclusive and have a "VOW" factor, and I can proudly boast of having one very clean and original set myself, on one of my Fiats, which we managed to procure from a 1962 Super Select Imported used Fiat here. Believe me, and jokes apart I paid a BOMB for them as I had a fetish for the same since childhood, but was able to own them very recently only. One could buy at least 5-6 Brand new sets of Indian Padmini Bumpers if the price is compared. You can see the same types on Gogi's SPECIAL also. And, they are very rare to find anymore.

All the Best,
Rony

[DHABHAR.BEHRAM]

Rony - I showed you a photograph - there is a car in Goa having these bumpers. I know the guy. The car is not for sale, neither are the bumpers. Sad.

Karl - what is this "I recently bought one ?" I think we are all in contention for the post of "Fiat Craziest Bawaji". What say you ?

Best regards,

Behram Dhabhar

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by DHABHAR.BEHRAM

Karl - what is this "I recently bought one ?" I think we are all in contention for the post of "Fiat Craziest Bawaji". What say you ?

Behram thats one LOOONG list!

I hope to write a book on car crazy bawajis some day. I look forward to your cooperation for the same.

[Stanher]

Originally Posted by DHABHAR.BEHRAM

Karl - what is this "I recently bought one ?"

I'd like to know that too. Karl, chalo, spill the beans- are you going on a spree again??!