Author Topic: Fiat 126 Bis restoration  (Read 24662 times)

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dadandlad

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Fiat 126 Bis restoration
« on: March 05, 2015, 10:30:09 PM »
Here are a few pictures of the Bis I bought from my son in law
I cannot believe it but there doesn't appear to be any rot even after crawling all over it
Still not sure what year it is as still haven't got the log book
I have boxes and boxes of parts with it which I have taken home to start and clean
The car is being stored at a friends where I can work on it

















DeVilleChris

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Re: Fiat 126 Bis restoration
« Reply #1 on: March 06, 2015, 09:04:31 PM »
Looks in a really good shape.
1979 Fiat 126 DeVille
1979 Fiat 900T Amigo

dadandlad

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Re: Fiat 126 Bis restoration
« Reply #2 on: March 12, 2015, 04:43:03 PM »
Bit of a update, I have now got the car at home which makes life a lot easier
This evening dropped all the front suspension in preparation for shot blast and powder coating and all new metalastik bushes
Love the simplicity and ease of working on it  ;D

dadandlad

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Re: Fiat 126 Bis restoration
« Reply #3 on: March 13, 2015, 08:34:41 PM »
Just got the log book and she was born in 1990 in Somerset
Got a load of old receipts, MOT certificates etc
Unfortunately the engine is in boxes and quite a lot of it is missing ie pistons and rods camshaft etc etc
So possibly on the look out for a spare engine

dadandlad

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Re: Fiat 126 Bis restoration
« Reply #4 on: March 14, 2015, 08:25:07 PM »
Dropped all rear suspension and got it all stripped down into component form
Replaced all the brake pipes with Kunifer
What a job stripping one of the king pins but got it to shift eventually, king pins need a good polish in the lathe and will also make some new bushes out of phosphor bronze

dadandlad

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Re: Fiat 126 Bis restoration
« Reply #5 on: March 16, 2015, 09:57:58 PM »
Front spring stripped down de-scaled new eye bushes fitted and rebuilt
Master cylinder removed ready for new one
Steering rack removed ready for painting

dadandlad

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Re: Fiat 126 Bis restoration
« Reply #6 on: March 21, 2015, 08:27:57 PM »
Well got all my suspension parts back from the powder coaters [Less than a week brilliant service]
New king pin bushes fitted
Still need to press all suspension bushes back into housings
Decided to do a little work on the gearbox so fit new inner drive shaft seals and also input shaft seal
The clutch release arm was partially seized in the bushes and proved to be a real nightmare to remove but got there in the end

Gadge

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Re: Fiat 126 Bis restoration
« Reply #7 on: March 22, 2015, 09:07:30 AM »
Great work  :D I'm thinking of doing the very same with my rear arms. Did they blast them first before they powder coated them? And if you don't mind me asking what sort price was it?
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dadandlad

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Re: Fiat 126 Bis restoration
« Reply #8 on: March 22, 2015, 09:33:13 AM »
Cheers Gadge
I had the rear arms and mounting brackets, four back plates, rear springs, all front suspension (not spring) blasted and coated for £70.00 inc VAT
The firm I used and can highly recommend is

Specialised Coatings Limited
Mile Cross Works
Gibbet Street
Halifax
HX1 4JQ
01422 356752

Yes everything is blasted before coating
The trick to getting a good price is to have them put through with other batches of the same colour thus saving them changing colours
I also masked everything I didn't want blasted with a good thick layer of Duck tape
I will try and get some pictures of the completed parts later on today

Gadge

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Re: Fiat 126 Bis restoration
« Reply #9 on: March 22, 2015, 09:39:10 AM »
Pictures would be great :) £70 is a lot less than I thought. Ild like to do the rear arms and just the front upper wishbones. I have a powder coaters just around the corner from me so I'll ask them what they think but I'll use the £70 as a bench mark
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dadandlad

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Re: Fiat 126 Bis restoration
« Reply #10 on: March 23, 2015, 09:47:22 AM »
Here are a few pictures of powder coated parts I didn't want to unwrap everything so just a sample












Gadge

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Re: Fiat 126 Bis restoration
« Reply #11 on: March 23, 2015, 10:15:10 AM »
Great job! They look fantastic :)
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dombooth

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Re: Fiat 126 Bis restoration
« Reply #12 on: March 23, 2015, 10:27:45 AM »
Wow! They look amazing! Did they do all the prep work aswell for £70?

Dom

dadandlad

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Re: Fiat 126 Bis restoration
« Reply #13 on: March 23, 2015, 11:01:19 AM »
Yes took a pile of rusty parts and that's how they came back  ;D

dombooth

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Re: Fiat 126 Bis restoration
« Reply #14 on: March 23, 2015, 11:33:22 AM »
Awesome! I'll give my locals a call then, bugger doing the work myself and painting them for £70!

Dom