Author Topic: My 1992 126 BIS restoration project  (Read 46385 times)

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poxxxy

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Re: My 1992 126 BIS restoration project
« Reply #90 on: September 11, 2014, 11:27:16 AM »
Leafspring rubber stops got replaced yesterday :). Heres what was left of the others...



New pair:


Fitted:

My 1991/2 Fiat 126 BIS Restoration: http://club126uk.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=8559.90

poxxxy

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Re: My 1992 126 BIS restoration project
« Reply #91 on: September 18, 2014, 10:07:38 PM »
Ok so I decided its time to sort out my wheels and refurb them up (Although costs are ridiculous for a set of 4J steelies :( lol). After having quotes of £48 per wheel to blast and powdercoat I really didn't want to spend that much (but looks like I may anyway, :( i'll regret just not having em powdercoated i'm sure!). So I started trying to strip the paint and rust with a wire brush on an angle grinder... an hour later and not getting very far I decided i'd had enough and set about finding somewhere to blast the wheels.

I ended up taking them to a place called brocton park just up the road from me and left them there at about 2pm this afternoon. Fingers crossed i'll get a call tomorrow and can go pick them up.

Now i'm wondering what to do regarding finishing them... i'm leaning towards 2 pack paint but unsure on what color to go for!

I really like the look of a polished rim, and came across these "trim rings" in chrome/stainless steel that give the effect of a polished dished rim. I wonder how they'd look on the 126 steelies though and if the fit would actually be any good (Anyone came across them before?)!

I decided to open up photoshop and perform a quick prat around with a few combinations.

I think i'll also be looking at center caps!

I'd appreciate anyones opinions on the below :).









« Last Edit: September 18, 2014, 10:27:07 PM by poxxxy »
My 1991/2 Fiat 126 BIS Restoration: http://club126uk.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=8559.90

Scarlettkitten

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Re: My 1992 126 BIS restoration project
« Reply #92 on: September 18, 2014, 11:50:52 PM »
I like the black  8)
1990 126 BIS

poxxxy

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Re: My 1992 126 BIS restoration project
« Reply #93 on: September 18, 2014, 11:52:25 PM »
Straight black with no rim trims? :). I wish I had a big ass bath of sulfuric acid and huge anode so I could plate each wheel with chrome now :( lol.
My 1991/2 Fiat 126 BIS Restoration: http://club126uk.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=8559.90

poxxxy

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Re: My 1992 126 BIS restoration project
« Reply #94 on: September 20, 2014, 01:29:13 AM »
Ok well I had the wheels back from the shotblasters (turns out they used glass as the blast medium), ended up costing me £15 per wheel so £75 for the 5.

I'm trying to get quotes for powdercoating but looks like £25 per wheel for a black gloss coat is the cheapest i've came across so far...

I decided to spray some acid etch on the one wheel that had balance weights left on (removed them and wirebrushed what was left underneath) and tempted to maybe just have a go at painting them with some 2 pack acrylic. But maybe powdercoating would be best... I hear either way with this blasted finish that the paint should adhere pretty well as oppose to powdercoating fresh almost polished metal when it comes from the factory... I do hear some horror stories of rims collapsing from rust hiding beneath powdercoating where as paint will bubble up sooner to worn you off whats underneath... also easier to touch up...

Decisions decisions!?? Someone help me lol.

Anyway I got some pics of the wheels before and some after once blasted! I was impressed when I picked them up as I wasn't expecting such a finish!

Before:



After:

My 1991/2 Fiat 126 BIS Restoration: http://club126uk.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=8559.90

Henmiester

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Re: My 1992 126 BIS restoration project
« Reply #95 on: September 20, 2014, 06:26:12 AM »
Hi, thats a really good result. My steelies are a little rusted with being white it stands out even more. When i enquired about powder coating they mentioned having to put the wheels in an oven to burn off all the rust/paint then sand blast. Cost was about £40 each wheel. I take it sandblasting will do just on its own. Simon.

wsmitwil

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Re: My 1992 126 BIS restoration project
« Reply #96 on: September 20, 2014, 07:25:33 AM »

Well done on that polish, that car looks AMAZING,

the wheels came out really good from blasting

For colours I'm all for going traditional silver but you could go for something different like bright yellow but silver is good, my spare wheel is painted white and it looks quite good

fiats forever

Gadge

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Re: My 1992 126 BIS restoration project
« Reply #97 on: September 20, 2014, 10:16:58 AM »
Great stuff :D you now have a blank canvas to start from. I quite like the standard silver with black caps myself or perhaps a silver rim and black centre? :)
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poxxxy

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Re: My 1992 126 BIS restoration project
« Reply #98 on: September 23, 2014, 11:10:19 PM »
Well... over the past few days the wheels have so far been etch primed and had 2 coats of primer sprayed on :). I've decided to go for a white and will be getting some black center caps sent over to accompany them. If I end up changing my mind I can always paint the face knowing the rest is good but I think it'll look pretty good. To be honest I quite like the color of the primer in its off white state!

Silver does look good, but I think white might make the wheels and the effort i've put into them show off better :D. I would of gone black but the detail would probably appear lost, however it may of suited the car better... i'm unsure yet! We will see :D. Hopefully i've put a fair few years of life back into the wheels!

Some pictures...

Old tyres:


New tyres:


Etch primed:







1st coat of primer:










1st coat primer after sanding:




2nd coat after sanding:










Hopefully get the a coat or two of the finishing color on there tomorrow but feels like i'm coming down with a cold from the missus, :(. I lasted a while but finally its getting to me lol.
« Last Edit: September 23, 2014, 11:12:31 PM by poxxxy »
My 1991/2 Fiat 126 BIS Restoration: http://club126uk.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=8559.90

poxxxy

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Re: My 1992 126 BIS restoration project
« Reply #99 on: September 30, 2014, 09:34:50 PM »
So today after wrestling with tyres and wheels and pulling some lovely new valves through the rims... we finally have them on the car! I was unsure on them at first, but after staring at them for a long time and letting the yellow light of day disappear they started to look better to me. Will help when I get the side trim reapplied after painting it black again! They look a little too new for the car perhaps to at the moment :D. lol.

I've not upped any pics in a while... but now I have quite a few more to put up with showcasing the makeshift wheel painting rig setup over the few days!

Car is insured from the 1st of October so I really need to book an MOT, I have to sort out the battery clamp still which is missing but other than that I can't see any reason why it shouldn't fly through after all this work... pretty much feels like i've been on this solid for many many months to get it to this stage :D.

Anyway some pictures:

The car on the seicento sporting alloys that came with it for the last time... (while the steels were being taken care of!)


Also did a little spraying of some of the plastics to restore the black color:


Primered and hung via middle of rim to stop them swinging around during spraying:



Color layer pictures:





There was a flying insect that got attached to this one... but after a few hours of it setting... he had managed to break free :O. I was shocked. One leg was missing and I think his wings were stuck together as he just kept walking (limping) around the wheel until I blew him off... I wonder if he ate his own leg!?



Here they are next to a rough wheel:


Rough wheel pics to show what they pretty much came from :D:





And now for the grand finale! I appreciate peoples honest opinions on the scheme I decided to go with... today my polski fiat center caps arrived from Ludevit at 126fan.sk. When they were put on the car... I just couldn't make a decision of whether I liked them or not at all lol. But as the yellow light of day disappeared and after staring at them for so long... I think I like them, but the original bis trims don't look bad either. They suit the car very well... perhaps i've been looking at those too long! lol.

I'm quite happy though... but the best wheel (paint finish wise) got a little beat up attempting to get the damn rubber on the wheel, and is going to get prepped back up for another paint so there will be a matching awesome looking spare. :D.

Pictures:

Rubber on but not blown up (first test to see how they look off the car, and they look pretty damn good!):




Pulling valves through:


On the car:


And for comparison:


And now the shot of the center cap to top it all off:
My 1991/2 Fiat 126 BIS Restoration: http://club126uk.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=8559.90

shielsy

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Re: My 1992 126 BIS restoration project
« Reply #100 on: September 30, 2014, 10:25:03 PM »
friend of mine got me 4 front and 4 rear bump stops in poland for the massive some of £15 delivered to him in poland , he then brought them back to me with him when he came back owennw

Pete126

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Re: My 1992 126 BIS restoration project
« Reply #101 on: September 30, 2014, 11:04:11 PM »
Looks fantastic with the steelies, Well done man :thumbup
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poxxxy

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Re: My 1992 126 BIS restoration project
« Reply #102 on: October 01, 2014, 12:46:17 AM »
Cheers Pete!

I keep thinking "perhaps should I of had them banded" to fill the arches out but I guess small tyres = greater MPG.

Perhaps spacers might be on the cards and possible that I may end up flipping the leaf and chopping springs like most but standard has always been the plan for now.

Best to see how the factory geometry behaves though!

I just realized the car is insured now :o. I wonder if I can get an MOT slot somehow tomorrow anywhere!
My 1991/2 Fiat 126 BIS Restoration: http://club126uk.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=8559.90

Gadge

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Re: My 1992 126 BIS restoration project
« Reply #103 on: October 01, 2014, 05:38:37 AM »
Excellent work :D they look soooooo much better than the sie alloys. Looks like all that hard works gonna pay off after the MOT. Keep up the good work :)
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stuey

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Re: My 1992 126 BIS restoration project
« Reply #104 on: October 01, 2014, 08:13:17 AM »
Much to like here keep it up!  :D
one resprayed and another arrives- double trouble BIS style!!