Author Topic: My 1987 LHD 126P  (Read 6863 times)

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Craig126

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My 1987 LHD 126P
« on: May 04, 2015, 10:00:48 PM »
Well I thought it is about time to start my build as I've had my little fiat for a few months now. This is my new project now that I have finished my kit car build. Needed something to pass the time as I enjoy building cars as much as driving them.

I've just finished this. A Mev Exocet 1.6 Turbocharged based on an mx5 weighing in at 680kg.


As for the fiat I bought it on a wim because I liked it because it was different, however that turned out to be a whole different story.






As you can see it has been modified in the past, welded on side skirts, rear spoiler, smoothed door handles, vents, locks. At some point in its past it has had a lot of time and effort spent on it but time has taken its tole.

I bought the car as a non runner as it had no igniton key just a switch and a push button, so after a quick mess around I got the engine up and running and driving under its own power.

I was going to go the restore route but once I found out how modified it had already been I decided that it wasn't viable so decided to go for a fully stripped car with motorbike engine. This may not be to everyones taste for the little car but should be a fun build and good fun to drive.

I started to strip the bodywork to see what I was faced with. However I was pleasantly surprised to find only small amounts of repair work to do, only one part on the drivers floor and the rest just some small holes.









Ive decided to go the smoothed route with the bodywork, so once it was ground back, rust treatment, then cut out and repaired, I have also smoothed the car.

I didn't like the front end where the battery tray made the bumper stick out so cut the battery tray out and support and smoothed off the bumper, I also filled in the sidelight holes and smoothed those. Smoothed off the aerial hole, side repeaters, wiper holes, and bumper holes.












Now with fitting the bike engine I removed the rear bulkhead to gain access. I am also building a full roll cage to stiffen up the chassis. I also bought a new bonnet and bootlid as I didn't like the modifications to the originals.




I have just bought some wheels for the car aswell but will now be fitting/making some wide arches to accommodate them, and need to order some different size tyres.





I have some time booked off from work in the following weeks so hoping to get a lot of work done with the bodywork and make a start on the roll cage. Il, keep this updated tho so all can see :)

1973/126

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Re: My 1987 LHD 126P
« Reply #1 on: May 05, 2015, 05:52:50 AM »
 Making some really good progress on this already  :thumbup
 Loving the wheels btw. Are they Fiat fitment?
1972 Fiat 500
1980 Fiat 126

Craig126

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Re: My 1987 LHD 126P
« Reply #2 on: May 16, 2015, 04:08:20 PM »
Yes the wheels came off a fiat spider, they are 13 x 5.5j with a +2 offset so stick out pretty far.

I have done some more work on the and got the wheels fitted. Need some modification's to get them too fit and needed to fit some new smaller tyres.

Ive now gone from 185/70/13 to 165/55/13 which look much better.





And a mock up with the new wide arches I will be fitting.







Craig126

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Re: My 1987 LHD 126P
« Reply #3 on: June 07, 2015, 10:48:31 AM »
Well I've been busy with the build so time for a little update.

My I started on my wheel arches and cutting the front wheel arch to make space for the wheels on full lock. I ended up cutting the front section and re-welding it by about an inch.

Mocked up and cut the steel trailer arches I had bought to get a rough shape for the fronts and an idea of what it will look like once complete.









I'm pretty pleased with how the are looking now and it certainly will be unique. I haven't really started the rears as I was waiting on another set of arches to be delivered.

Whilst I was waiting I also modified the rear crossmember and removed the old engine mount. Repaired a section which had been cut out and removed and plated the 2 bumper support holes as wanted it fully smooth. Smoothed off some small hole in the engine cover and smoothed the handle.





I decided I needed to make a start on the suspension and some welding to the body before I continued with the arches as I knew id need to be making some more modifications to the wheel wells.

So I decided to pull the whole lot front to back and basically go back to a bare shell.




Craig126

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Re: My 1987 LHD 126P
« Reply #4 on: June 07, 2015, 11:01:41 AM »
At this point I found issues.

Someone has modified both front and rear suspension and the front badly.







As you can see they have fitted BIS shockers to the rear by modifying the rear axle and welding on mounting points. And the same on only one side of the front. To fit the shocker they had then made a extension piece to mount to the standard hub ... not good but ill come to that later.

So with everything removed it was time to get inspecting. I knew the hole in the floor needed repairing and also the front chassis legs has 5 pence size holes in them so they were easy done, however I wasn't aware of the state of the drivers side suspension mount.

First things first floor.









So once welded up I seam sealed the repairs and the undersealed the full car.






Next up inside the front bonnet. I stripped it all back wired brushed and treated it. Then seam sealed the corners where I had modified earlier for the front wheels and undersealed the complete inside.
Once this was done a few coated of grey primer finished it off nicely for now.





Craig126

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Re: My 1987 LHD 126P
« Reply #5 on: June 07, 2015, 11:19:34 AM »
So at this point I was sick of looking at a multi colour mess lol. So 3 cans of pound land primer for now to give it one colour and also helps see the dents and imperfections for much much later on when I get it prepped for painting.




See makes me much happier.

Onto the next part. The welding to the front suspension mount. This was not as bad as I feared once the old was cut out. I ordered a new repair panel as set to it. Once the old panel was removed the metal behind also needed replacing as it had lost is shape at the bottom and sides. So I first made a repair panel and replaced this, then welded the new repair panel I had bought onto that.









Again once repaired, it was seam sealed and then undersealed the 2 remaining arches and gave the underbody a second coat.






So that is pretty much where the car stands at the minute with the underseal drying out, the shell is strong again, rust free and also well protected for future use.

Which bring me back to my little issue with the suspension. After much searching through different online companies and looking at my options I have decided to just replace the lot. Not my plan however the power I intend using in this little thing having new parts should help longevity.

So here is my list...



Ouch... Well on the grand scheme of things no not at all. In total around £300 including shipping. All new rear arms, rubbers, springs, shocks, interior parts and seals... There is a hell of a lot of parts on that list and I'm certain if I was to do this with another car it would have cist 3-4 times that.

So next on the to do list is the suspension rebuild. Strip and clean the front hubs (of which I had to buy another due to the bad modification on the old one), top arms, leaf spring, rear drums and backing plates, the rest will be new.

Ill keep the updates coming :) any comments welcome or maybe ideas for the build too!


DeVilleChris

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Re: My 1987 LHD 126P
« Reply #6 on: June 07, 2015, 01:28:16 PM »
Wow good work! You are not messing around with this are you!!

Looking forward to see this progress  :D

Chris
1979 Fiat 126 DeVille
1979 Fiat 900T Amigo

sunriser81

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Re: My 1987 LHD 126P
« Reply #7 on: June 14, 2015, 11:02:55 PM »
Nice job mate  :D

Craig126

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Re: My 1987 LHD 126P
« Reply #8 on: July 17, 2015, 10:01:51 PM »
Well time for an update on the little car, been busy getting things sorted and new parts fitted. I've cleaned and painted all the old parts now and rebuilt the steering, suspension and brakes.

I've done a front disc conversion which was very easy and came in about £100 in total. That's with used calipers and carriers and new discs, pads, mounting brackets and I also used punto brake flexi pipes and modified to fit. All new brake pipes have been made and now bled up.

The car is now back to a rolling shell and I've started on the interior. I've got a week off soon so will be making a start on sorting out the interior and making my roll cage.





Well time for an update on the little car, been busy getting things sorted and new parts fitted. I've cleaned and painted all the old parts now and rebuilt the steering, suspension and brakes.

I've done a front disc conversion which was very easy and came in about £100 in total. That's with used calipers and carriers and new discs, pads, mounting brackets and I also used punto brake flexi pipes and modified to fit. All new brake pipes have been made and now bled up.

The car is now back to a rolling shell and I've started on the interior. I've got a week off soon so will be making a start on sorting out the interior and making my roll cage.












So that's the underside all done 3 coats of underseal should help with protection from the elements.
The cars now looking like a car again :)






Now for the inside...





Ill update soon :)


nathanfiddes

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Re: My 1987 LHD 126P
« Reply #9 on: July 18, 2015, 05:58:26 PM »
Great work you move fast! Keep the updates coming


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Craig126

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Re: My 1987 LHD 126P
« Reply #10 on: October 25, 2015, 05:27:59 PM »
Hi guys, sorry for the delay, here are some much needed updates.

Current progress has seen,

Full 6 post roll cage made and welded/bolted in,
Custom dash made,
kawazaki ninja zx9-r purchased for engine swap,
custom rear chain drive diff machined and made,
full fibreglass wide arch kit ordered and mocked up.

So the little projects coming along nicely :)

Donor Bike




Roll Cage






Dash Board








Rear Diff










Body and arches












Well ill keep it updated when I can but its all coming along nicely. The rear diff bearings were replaced from taper bearings to sealed bearings and I had the diff casing machined to fit the zx9 sprocket so it makes changed sprocket to sort gear ratios easier.
I had some custom spacers made to fit the bearings into the bearing block as they dont make bearings to fit.

Lots of fab work to start now in building the diff carrier and supports then ill be able to start fitting the engine to line up the chain.

Wish me luck :)

dadandlad

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Re: My 1987 LHD 126P
« Reply #11 on: October 25, 2015, 08:10:29 PM »
Coming along very nicely
Looks 100% better than when you started, be nice to see it completed  :thumbup

Craig126

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Re: My 1987 LHD 126P
« Reply #12 on: October 09, 2016, 09:40:55 PM »
I have not forgotten about my project and if anyone is on the 126 facebook page, they may have seen some updates. The engine is fully fitted and plumbed in. And had a milestone of moving under its own power the other day. Here are some pictures of recent, need to have a proper run down on a track locally to me before continuing with the making it look semi reasonable and things for mot.
Having trouble uploading pictures as they are too large but will try and sort something or a link to view them.