Club126UK
Fiat 126 Chat => Your Restorations => Topic started by: Aaron on September 28, 2009, 02:35:44 PM
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Further to my post in the 'Introduce yourself' section, I've finally managed to clear the parts car out of the carport and have now had a chance to get stuck into the good Niki.
First task on the list was to attack the bodge rust repair below the windscreen that the previous owner had done.
Now I know that rust repairs usually end up being bigger than what you expect, but OMG!!!. Nearly the whole right side of the windshield support was a mixture of rust, fibreglass and cardboard. Having left out the drain made matters just worse as the water would run underneath.
So my planned task of repairing this panel changed to ripping it out and putting in the section I had salvaged from my parts car for just this eventuality. Took me three days of drilling out the spot welds, measuring and cutting and scratching my head on how to use the welder (i haven't used a MIG in 15 years) to get it to the swapped stage, needing a sand up and paint. I didn't get a photo post welding - sorry.
I'll post the photos here as I go along.
http://s934.photobucket.com/albums/ad182/aaron_massey/Resto/
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Bit of an update, after a day and a half of sanding I've finally got the winscreen section in primer. I'm planning on waiting the week before trying the top coat both because a lack of time and to let the primer harden properly. What can't be seen in the photos is that I've also resealed the gutters. Much harder to spot the splice welding now!
Higher res photos are here:
http://s934.photobucket.com/albums/ad182/aaron_massey/Resto/
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Well, as a further update, I've managed to get the windsreen channel area completed. Finished installing the winscreen, wiper motor and washer nozzles yesterday, considering the paint job was done with colour matched pressure pack spray cans, it came up pretty good.
I've also roughed out the dent in the left rear to the approximate shape, using a series of wrecking bars and hammer & dollies. As you can see I've stretched the metal a bit in the channel, which I'm hoping to fix with a shrinking disc when it arrives from the US in hopefully 2 weeks time.
While beating out the dent I found a bit for rust in the bottom of the guard, where the flanges of the outer guard and outer panel meet, or should I say met. So a little further work with the welder required...
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a good bit of work going there fella keep it up!
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A few days after purchasing my Niki, I noticed that the passenger's side window didn't close properly and that the glass looked to be set up for the driver's side. No problem I thought, this will be a flat pane like the Lada's I've previously had and all I need to do is swap the channel runners around. Advice from this forum was otherwise, turns out the glass is slightly curved :o.
So in my hunt for a new bit of glass, I came across a complete door that had the glass in it. $125 for the glass plus a removal fee or $200 for the door. The door turned out to be in far better condition than either of mine, being rust free, which would save a heck of a lot of fiddling around. Only problem was it was red. So yesterday I stripped, sanded and painted the door, leaving the section behind the door card red.
It's currently sitting out in the sun to let the paint get harder. I'm planning to use the best fittings from all three to put it back together next weekend.
Bigger pics at http://s934.photobucket.com/albums/ad182/aaron_massey/Resto/
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WOW , I just did the maths on $200 and with the weak pound that is equal to £113 :oops:
If parts are that hard to get in Oz then shipping from Europe might be an option for some parts
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Yup certainly makes buying bits overseas attaractive. Postal strikes and all!
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It been a couple of weeks, so the latest.
After painting the passenger's door two weeks back, I intended to swap in the existing door fittings. However upon removal of the quarter vent, the steel frame dissolved in a cloud of dust. Bugger :(. A quick check of my spare door by lifting the rubber showed a similar problem. Oops. Checking the driver's door showed the same. Damn! Amazing I have 4 Niki/126 doors and all of the quarter vent frames have rusted away! q quick ring around on Monday secured 2 used replacements from Melbourne. Ultimately I ended up with three as the seller sent me two right hand ones as opposed to one of each side, but after a hefty dosing of lanoin to stop these rusting, they fitted nicely.
So while changing the left door, I decided to attack the mall bubbles of rust in the right door. I should be learning by now, but this was worse than thought. It seems that the rust I am coming across may be a small spot, but it drills right through the panel, normally I'm use to seeing it travel across the interface between the paint and steel not bore straight down. So the small pin sized bubbles in the top of the door went straight through - how the heck does rust get on the top sides of the door?
Anyway, all fixed now - had to do what I don't like, use fibreglass filler at the top of the door though, so I'm going to have to keep on eye on that one. My shrinking disc has finally arrived from the US so next week end - hopefully - I'll finalise the dent.
As usual higher res pics are here
http://s934.photobucket.com/albums/ad182/aaron_massey/Resto/
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Couple of additional pics
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This weekend I attacked the dent that was in the left rear caused by the previous owner being rear ended by a 4x4. I'd prevoiusly roughed this out using a hammer and dolly plus wrecking bars a few weeks back while waiting for the paint on some other section to dry. Unfortunately, in my eagerness to get this out, I'd managed to stretch the panel such that it now bowed out. After a bit of a hunt around the old internet on 'how the bloody hell do I fix this' - I came across a shrinking disc - basically this is a stainless steel disc you attach to an angle grinder which rubs the thigh points on the surface creating isolated hot spots which then proceed to shrink (help along by a bit of soapy water from a squirty bottle). If you look on youtube there's a couple of demos how these work. I came across a dealer in the US (wolfes metal fabrication) which does these for the 4" cheapy chinese grinders which I had (most are for the larger 9" units).
It took a bit of working out but the results are pretty impressive, not perfect but for an absolute numpty like me to get it pretty straight using only this, a pick hammer and filler I was happy. I estimate I put in about 150 g of filler of which about 2/3 was sanded off to get the final shape right.
I also took the opportunity to fix the previously discovered rust in the lower portion of this panel. Turned out only the outer panel had gone, which I plated up, the more complex inner was untouched.
So currently it sits in primer waiting for a rub back and top coat. That's for next weekend.
Then it's on the front hood and a touch up of the engine cover. The end of the panel work is finally getting in sight - may even be able to drive it before the end of the year!
Higher res and more pics here http://s934.photobucket.com/albums/ad182/aaron_massey/Resto/
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Bit of a quiet weekend - I wanted to actually give the trail bike a ride as I've been neglecting it a bit. Still, I put the top coat on the left rear quarter panel I started last weekend. The result is not perfect but a huge improvement on what I started with.
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I must confest you did a nice job! [-/
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It's been a couple of weeks since I last posted, however that doesn't mean I haven't been working on the Niki. The last couple of weeks I've attacked the "last" of the rust which was in the front boot lid. This was rusted where the reinforcing beam met the outer shell on both sides. The previous owner has a half assed go at fixing this with fibreglass, which just allowed the rust to go further.
So I just ground back to a reasonable thickness of steel and than welded a patch in its place. Otherwise filled the holes with weld (well actually burned the holes bigger until the weld would hold then filled the hole with weld). So the old grinder got a bit of a work out. I painted both this and the engine cover (lost of small stone chips and scratches) on Saturday (a 37°C day in Perth) so it dried really quickly.
I started in the afternoon to look at fixing a rattle in the fan shroud which turned out to be the top deflector plate being cracked right through. Looks like this has been this way for some time as somone had tried to bodge it in position with some brackets and pop rivets. I ended up using the welder on this in a very confined position. I also found why the engine rattled so much, I'd say about half of the nuts and bolts that should hold the fan shroud in position were missing...
Today, I cleaned out the oil filter, changed the engine and gearbox oils , changed the engine mount rubbers and spring, changed the air filter and fixed a fuel leak I found on the fuel pump inlet. Starts a darn sight easier now.
I also started painting the rims with the Oslo Grey paint I bought earlier foolishly following the paint code sticker on the car. While, not a match for the original paint (its more a green grey) it will do.
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Bit of a more laid back weekend this time. I blew rust proofing oil through just about every hole I could find, finished painting the rims and worked out a battery clamp arrangement.
The rims look good though from some angles the Oslo Grey is actually a green... oh well.
New tyres, wheel alignment and fitting seat covers next weekend then I'll be able to take it for a bit of a spin to see what else needs doing that I haven't identified as yet.
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Realy nice job Aaron, well done mate, seam as you went that far with the doors did you not did you not fancy de-triming and wapping some chrome bumpers on?
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Thanks for the compliment, it's finally good to see it start to come out of its cocoon of neglect. It's by no means finished yet, fair bit of interior work to do, tune up the engine, put a stripe down the side, etc... but it's at a point where I feel comfortable now driving it, and have a lower risk of the plod putting it off the road.
I'm probably in a minority here, but I actually quite like the plastic bumpers and fairings, it gives it that Eastern European Communist feel, well to me anyways it does. I spent a fair bit of time stripping the black paint off the rear bumper to get it back to the bare grey plastic, just to look 'right'.
Considering how much it costs to get things sent down here from the continent, I gather the chrome bumpers would probably cost more than the inital price of the car. Mind you, it would probably be only one of a very few in Oz with them...
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Well with the rust work completed, I had a new set of tyres fitted to the Niki last weekend. Being 12" tyres, we don't seem to have a lot of choice here in Perth being only able find either Nankang or Durun tyres - so I took the cheaper option (being a tight b'stard and all) and bought the Durun at $60 each. Seemed a pity to put them on the car as they were indiviually gift wrapped in this shiny green paper. Needless to say the tyreshop staff were having great fits of laughter at seeing me turn up and asked me where the rest of the lego set was.
Fom my initial driving the tyres seem to suit the car well, although I'd like to get the alignment checked but finiding someone with a machine that can take a 12" wheel is becoming a tough ask.
This was the first real time I've had driving the car and as far as I can tell the gearbox is not as bad as I first thought. Sure it's whiney in first but the other gears seem fine until you go to engine braking where there is a whine present - but I'm thinking this is just diff backlash and it's just something I'll just put up with. I have noticed the gears (particularly 4th) do become difficult to shift out of when it is hot, so I'm planning on adding more oil stabiliser to the box as maybe the 20W50 I've got in there is as bit thin. There's also a hesitation on the initial acceleration of the motor from rest which I'm hoping a good tune will cure - so very slow take offs at ther moment.
I've also installed some cheapo seat covers to hide the threadbear polish fabric, installed the CD head unit into the dash but still need to wire it up and have relabelled the switches on the dash. To do the switches on the dash I got a set of switch stickers from the UK (these -http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/VWP-onlinestore/switches/warninglights.php - bottom of the page). I cleaned each switch up, sprayed wthem with plastic bumper primer, then a coat of satin black, installed the sticker and clear coated the end product. As you can see by the photo, they're not perfect but having said that they look better than the flash portrays.
Next task over this holiday period is to get the stereo wired up and the speakers mounted. I've got a LHD parcel shelf section I'm going to attempt to use to make a matching speaker on the right side of the dash so I'll advise how that works out.
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After spending the morning making a new head gasket for my father's Victa lawn mower, I got jacked off with trying to get the bloody thing run and decided to attempt to fabricate the driver's side speaker module using a LHD parcel shelf I'd had sent over from Poland.
Initially I was going to cut it at the speaker, discarding the box section but upon closer inspection this would have left a pointy edge at about shin level just waiting for a nasty bump to have a go at me. I decided to make a more intricate cut to retain the lower shelf lip and top edging. The photos below show where I made the cuts and the final result. Only the top right screw hole had to be drilled, the rest of the holes already existed in the RHD dash. Makes the dash look symmetrical now.
I left the right side of the box section on at this stage, just incase I find that I need to remove the lower lip. My initial stomping around with my feet on the pedals shows that I'm not going to have any real clearance issues compared to the original configuration with respect to the radio and the clutch pedal clash.
At this stage I've yet to install the speakers behind the mounts, that will be Monday's job and only 2 screws and 1 10mm nut to remove the section to do that.
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And more pics
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Well it's currently 39°C outside, so I'm inside adding to this post rather than sweating it out in the garage fiddling with the Niki. Since my last post, I've wired up the stereo and associated switch gear to make it run. Due to the lack of ACC mode in the FSM ignition switch, I've installed a separate circuit to handle the radio and power outlets. I've run this through a 6 place ceramic fuse box (ex Lada Niva) mounted on the opposite side of the front boot to the original FSM install. Coupled with this, I installed a Niva bank of relays complete with the original (stamped CCCP - 1987 build) functioning relays.
As the australian spec nikis used the BIS dash, we ended up with a couple of switch blanks where the fog lamps and rear washer wiper would be. I have installed a couple of spare switches I had in these positions, one to switch the relay to the stereo/power outlets and one for a planned driving light install (when I find the right ones). So now I can run my stereo without powering up the coil.
I have used 4" speakers all around in keeping with the small theme. I have mounted the front speakers (4" round) in the original mounts, using screws through 2 of the grille holes. The rears I've used Autolite 4" pods I had to get from the UK as no-one sells 4" mounts in Oz.
The head unit is an old Clarion CD I happened to have lying around, however I've stuck in a dual power outlet on the front of the coin tray to power my MP5 player (one of those SD card reader FM transmitter thingys), as most of the music I own nowdays is in MP3 format.
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Additional pics
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Well done! It looks really good! It's good to see some one doing some work on a Niki!
I can't wait till I find one, got offered one but it was a bit too expensive for me :(
Hayden
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Thanks Hayden. The old Nikis are still out there, just getting few and far between. They seem to either be in poor nick or in good nick but at rediculous prices. Seems you would have better choice if we were on the east coast.
As an update, work on my little buzz box has now slowed both due to the heat and that I'm pretty much getting it close to the way I want. I had the immobilser box changed on Wednesday as the dealer said it was easier than to reporgram the existing one for a new touch key (immobilisers are required by law in WA unless you car is over 25 years). I've also taken it for a 100 km shake down run to work out what is left to be done.
There is a definite pull to the left when braking, but I've been unsuccessful in getting somewhere in Perth that can align the wheels. The Niki's track is too narrow to fit on the machines (I've tried three thus far). Also the carby has an abosulte flat / dead spot just off idle which makes taking off interesting. Considering that the carby also weeps fuel when the engine is shut down, I'm guessing an overhaul is probably required. I'm still tossing up whether to rebuild the current one or just chuck a new one on. 126fan's price would work out about the same as I think the rebuild labour costs here. I'm just having difficulty understanding what the EM idle is and whether my carby has it - 126fan lists 2 different types of carby.
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I also forgot to mention that I've found the handbrake has no adjustment left - have yet to work out whether it's an over stretched cable or something work out in the rear drums.
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Thanks Hayden. The old Nikis are still out there, just getting few and far between. They seem to either be in poor nick or in good nick but at rediculous prices. Seems you would have better choice if we were on the east coast.
Yeah, I've been looking for ages now, there's been nothing but wanted adds for them in the Quokka for months now :( . Honestly all I want is a crap one, as long as its complete, body/rust repairs don't worry me, mechanicals are easy. Something that would normally be considered a spares car I guess, around $300. And yes there does seem to be many more in the eastern states :( .
As for the handbrake, you can cut the little knob thingy of, cut a cm or 2 of wire out and solder it back on (or braze it if your careful). I've done that before (on motorbikes though), it worked very well, hasn't given me any trouble since :D .
Hayden
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I got mine via a wanted ad in the Quokka, just lucky to get a call within the first 2 hours of the publication. There turned out to be another one advertised that day for $500 but it had been sold by 0900 that day. I also got offered another later that week that was unlicensed and had been used as a paddock car - but it was in Collie. Do put a wanted ad in - I know that there's one thats been running in there for 3 weeks now - but they have worked for me.
As an update, I've installed a few parts that arrived on Friday from Slovakia (thanks 126fan). These being new door handles, replacement seat springs for the ones that were broken and a couple of the rubber stops for the bootlid which were missing. Now I can lock both doors, my bum isn't touching the floor and the bootlid doesn't rattle anymore.
I've alos been messing with the colour printer at work trying to decide what stripe I should put down the side. I found this locally made design below which I'm currently leaning towards.
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wondurfull work!
where plast pieces do you have from?
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Um.... I think I might be losing something in the translation here, so here's what I think you're asking:
Most of my parts that I didn't get from my parts car have come from 126fan http://www.126fan.sk/eshop/ except for the really big stuff which I've had to find within Australia. The LHD glovebox section I got from a fellow I found on eBay but I don't have his email address on this computer.
The stripe I showed above, which I'm intending to have fitted soon - that was just a computer print out to see what it would look like - came from here http://www.auto-grafix.com.au/Car-Stickers/Airbrushed-Graphics/Twister-72.htm#. These guys are about a 20 minute drive from where I live.
As a further update, I've swapped the gearbox oil to 80W/90 spec. I was finding after about 50 km of driving that the ability to shift out of gear was bleeding difficult with the 20W50. A quite intense internet search finally convinced me that what I had in there was wrong, as I found a 126EL handbook and a 126P handbook both in polish on the web. The former listed 80W/90. The later Oliofiat zc90. I've also had advice from separate sources in the east the manual states Tutela zc90 - looking that up listed it as 80W/90 oil. The main clincher for me was this reference I found here in the US http://books.google.com/books?id=bAEAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA35&lpg=PA35&dq=oliofiat+zc90&source=bl&ots=BUEi6QYPA7&sig=d6XVgb-iBepe1ihIai3IHNex0zQ&hl=en&ei=Yq1nS9ynBoGOkQXOysi5CQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=&f=false.
upon changing the oil I found that the effectively 300 km old oil was black and there were a few specs of brass/bronze in the pan - however these could have just been stirred up by me actually driving the car. I've put in Castrol EPX 80W/90 - mainly because I had this from my Lada days - which is both a hypoid oil and GL5 rated. So far after 60 km of continuous driving the shifting is much improved - no longer baulks at changes.
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Hey Sideways there has been a Niki for sale (in the Quokka) in Osborne Park the last couple of weeks. Unlicensed for $650.
Oh and there was a Bambino and Niki in the Sunday times for $15,000 for both. :o
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Little bit of a further update as my Niki is nearing what I would call completion. It's just spent a week at the local FIAT specialist getting a few things done which I don't trust my abilities to get right. It's had a full tune with a new carby fitted supplied by 126fan, the front end finally aligned, the wheel bearings repacked and the brakes fixed. Turns out that my previously mentioned handbrake problem was due to FIAT 500 shoes being installed by the previous owner in the rear, which were just too small for the 126p handbrake to cope with under standard adjustment. He also found all bar one of my wheel cyinders were siezed which would explain the pulling to the left.
So she's now purring properly and suprisingly far less noisy in the engine department, plus a bloody lot easier to take off from the lights now without the flat spot kicking in.
Only drawback is the outer housing of the speedo cable broke away from the black sheath such that the cable is now able to float in the sheath and disconnect from the gearbox drive unit. So no speedo at the moment. A simple fix, just waiting on the parts to get here in the post. :-
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Well the speedo cable turned out to be snapped off, the last inch (25mm) in the gearbox output. I only worked this out when I tried inserting the new one and it wouldn't go in. >:(
As usual with most people have now found messing with the speedo output, if the cable snaps off inside, you can't easily clear it as the output points upwards. And you can't fully withdraw the drive unit as the petrol tank gets in the way. However, considering that all I wanted to do was get the broken bit of the cable out, I found if you remove the left gearbox mounting bolt and loosen the right, you can lower the box sufficiently to allow the speedo gear to be pulled over it's locating bolt and rotated enough to point down. Then it's just a matter of scooping the cable bits out using a jeweller's screw driver.
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Well it's been ages since I've posted on this. Not much has really changed on the Niki, I'm still procrastinating whether to stick the stripe down the side and probably won't end up doing it.
I've added a pair of fog lamps to the front, not that we get much fog in Perth (about 2 days per year), but I do prefer the look of the yellow lamps over the white/blue on a white car.
I've also mounted my voltmeter and tacho on top of the binacle. I wasn't impressed with what I found on offer from retailers, all seemed just too large to fit in that position so ended up making my own out of PVC pipe, some blanking caps and aluminium flat bar. The pipe had to reamed out to accept the gauges which was a bit fiddly, and the whole lot is mounted to the top of the binacle by industrial double sided tape.
Unfortunately the tacho has turned out to be a random numbers generator, so I'm looking to replace it with something else, preferably a tacho but 52mm tachos which can handle 2 cylinder engines and a wasted spark ignition seem as rare as rocking horse do-do. Anyone got any other suggestions for a suitable gauge?
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Looking good [-/
I bought a digital oil pressure gauge that also turned-out to be a random numbers generator :oops:
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Hi Aaron,
I used a rev counter out of an a old 4 cyclinder car (Triumph) and changed the resistor that suits for 4,6,8cyclinder engines and made it suite 2 cyclinder. I think it's about 4 inch in diameter though. I can give more details if you require as i forget what ohms resistor i used but i can take mine apart and photo it and measure the resistor if required. [-/
Unfortunately the tacho has turned out to be a random numbers generator, so I'm looking to replace it with something else, preferably a tacho but 52mm tachos which can handle 2 cylinder engines and a wasted spark ignition seem as rare as rocking horse do-do. Anyone got any other suggestions for a suitable gauge?
Steve
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Thanks for the offer Steve, would be handy to know the step down then I suppose I could apply to any tachometer I prise from the local wrecking yard. Most of the guages I'd probaly be able to get my hands on would come from Jap cars down here, though I do have a nice early Niva tacho sitting on my garage wall.....
Would be a shame on your part to pull apart you nice dash though, but if you're willing and it doesn't put you out much, I'd appreciate it.
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I was thinking of using a diesel tacho, with one that picks up from the alternator. Has anyone tried one of these?
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Well its a bit of 3 steps forward 2 back..... ::)
I finished installing the Buell Tacho today and changed the 2 52mm gauges for better quality VDO items. The VDO gauges were volts and oil temperature, with the oil temperature being sensed using a VW beetle dipstick sensor. And that's where the 2 steps back came in, the sensor doesn't seal the crankcase and the engine decided to dump a fair amount of oil out before I realised what was going on. But the gauge got to 70°C from cold before I noticed this. I'm going to try to fit a 126p dipstick rubber bushing to the sensor to solve the problem. They're only 0.4 euro each from 126fan so it'll be a cheap fix.
The tacho itself has been mounted to a suction camera mount on to the windshield as I detest drilling things like dashboards. The tacho is really an interesting thing to watch when driving the Niki, it's amazing how much you rev the engine without trying..