Ownership

[City]

I'm thinking of buying a Fiat Brown like I had a few years ago. Slight problem though, is that I no longer have a garage to park it in. Do you think keeping it outside will end up ruining it and bring the rust on at an even quicker rate?

And I recall my car and its dodgy first gear where you had to stop before going down from second to first, otherwise they would crunch. Do the Bis vehicles have this hassle eliminated?

There doesn't seem to be very many for sale at the moment.

[Little Enzo]

mine has the similar crunch problem, but it can be fixed by rolling the car through 2nd on the way to 1st.

[ChrisRLewis]

Should be ok if kept outside. It will pay to give it a good wax and polish frequently and waxoyling also helps to keep the corrosion at bay!
C
 

[fiatfsm]

Its not a dodgy 1st gear, it was designed like that, no syncro on it! You need to double de-clutch to get it too engage smoothly. Just imagine if you had a 500 ALL the gears are like that :eek:

[paul harbinson.]

My 126 stay's parked in the street all the time.Just keep it clean and wash round the arches and sills (especially during the winter) frequently.Buy the best you can afford,no point buying one that's already rusty!!!

[City]

I sit next to a Sardinian at work and when I showed him some prices of Fiat 500s on the internet he turned to me in his chair and said I must never buy one of these. The reason for this was the double-declutching but he didn't know the English for this term. To explain double-declutching he decided to demonstrate how it worked. He began by bombing round the office pretending to drive his chair. Every now and then he looked at me saying 'look, look' as he sort of mimed the hand movements of putting the gear stick in neutral and kept showing me how often he was pressing the clutch with his foot. It was quite funny to watch.

Thanks for all your comments.

I'll keep you all informed about my search for a 126 and hope to be an owner soon.

[Chris Lakin]

haha hilarious, could just imagine that!

but the 126 gearbox has a synchromesh which is suposed to elminate this. am i correct guys? i mean, when driving my BIs is still double clutch coming down, to prolong the life of the gearbox.

seen many about that takes your fancy yet City? not many about at present because of xmas.

Chris

[ChrisRLewis]

Chris I think the 126's have synchromesh on 2,3 & 4th gear only and not on 1st!
One advantage of the 500 with no synchromesh at all on any gear is that it is still possible to change gear without the clutch, in emergencies like the clutch has packed in!

[Chris Lakin]

i see!! yes cant be synchro on 1st on the BIS, not by the sound of the grinding  

so did the 500 gearboxes wear out quicker?

Chris

[Lewey]

Non-syncro boxes are usually harder wearing and have less parts so last longer.  This all depends on the user double de-clutching of course.  I have had three series 3 Landrovers with all-syncro boxes and my first car, a 2A, with syncro only on 3rd and 4th.   Guess which one was the only one that I didn't wear out to the point gear changes were almost impossible?  The syncro rings wear out and then you're in trouble.  My 126 box has a bad change into 2nd because of the previous owners' bad driving habits, relying on the syncro to much.

[fiatfsm]

you can still drive without a clutch on a syncro box. Basically you just match the revs with the road speed and bingo. Once drove a Marina about 20 miles on B roads with no clutch after the slave cylinder gave out. Strangely it seems easier on older boxes than new ones. I know a guy who only ever uses his clutch when stopped or pulling away, youd never know it when hes driving, hes brilliant!

[paul harbinson.]

Steady there fella your showing your age

[fiatfsm]

oops :shock:

[Chris Lakin]

interesting, so would it damage modern box's by driving it like that?

Chris