What would you do?

[Grantb]

Hi all, I'm about to collect my 126bis on friday and I think the first job will be to remove the engine and replace worn parts and so on but what would you do whilst the engine is out and what should I consider doing to improve performance??

Thanks' in advance.

[Rusty's Uncle]

That's a "how long is a piece of string" question 
It all depends upon your ability and/or your wallet size. If you are not used to fixing motors I would say get the car on the road and drive it then think about how you want to go forward.
If you are a big player in the restoration , tuning & custom business then you will know what you are at. Either way if you take the time to search back through the forum you will find a full spectrum of cars and ideas 

[dajwid]

Ditto:

get it running and on the road. Enjoy it first.

[nrg19uk]

Buy a diffrent car if you want performance

[Blonde126]

Believe me, it's fun to drive the way it is, try it! I think it's quite nippy anyway... from 0-15mph

And watch cars disappear in your rear view mirror as you go round corners (made me laugh today when a Ford Focus was tailgating me but when I went round quite a tight corner he fell wayyy behind).

Have fun!

[Hazey-n-Marc]

They out corner almost everything on the road, I've left a WRX Impreza behind (very twisty bit of road). The guy driving asked me what litre the 126 was, my reply of 0.7 didn't cheer him up much   .  Also very good for annoying superbikes on the twisty stuff .
You can overtake, but you have to plan for a mile or two in advance   ,but when you do get someone, the look on their face is priceless.
The 126 is so much more fun than my old Senator GSI (tuned), 2.2 vtech accord, V8 range rover, 1.8 zetec focus, 1981 twin cam celica (tuned), All of my sciroccos, golfs and passats (tuned), 1984 polo (heavily tuned),or my e36 bmw (slightly tuned).
I have no desire to increase the power, I enjoy planning how to embarrass other road users with it as standard too much.

Marc

[Amateb8]

I agree. I would not have my bis in any other way. I have managed to squeeze out of tight situations in London traffic. There are many drivers that when they see the 126, they think it is a slow car - fair enough. But if you drive smartly and use the car's momentum, even I was surprised by what the car can achieve.

There was a Range Rover (seemed like a giant next to the 126) who drove quite aggressively, like some 4x4's. The lane up ahead was merging into one lane because of cars parked (resident parking) on one lane. The driver knew I had the lead (slightly ahead), so normally, in that situation the other driver would allow me to go ahead by slowing down. The Range Rover decided to race ahead of me knowing I could get squeezed quite badly. But because of the 126's small size, I managed to get through through a small gap, to the surprise of the other driver who had to stop suddenly as the car in front decided to turn right. The irate Range Rover tried to chase me but as soon as he got close, I simply turned left. Hehehe.

[Grantb]

Ha ha, point taken, although it runs ok, I think i'm gonna strip out the engine and replace everything and whilst the engines out I'll clean the engine bay.
I also plan on replacing the whole interior and and getting it up to a nice standard, just can't decide what to do with the outside, weather to keep it original or de-badge it n stuff and have it look slick (ish).

[Hazey-n-Marc]

If you want to go smooth, check this out.
http://club126uk.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=1022.0