Polski fiat 126 restoration

[maxb]

Hi all,

I've recently bought this lovely polish rust bucket from a polish friend of a friend.

Although it is still in Poland it will soon be transported to me in Somerset where the hard work can begin.

Looking at doing a full restore back to factory settings as it were and then decide what to do with it , either as a rally car but keep the original air cooled engine or make it into a "beach car" with lowered suspension, cambered wheels, and chrome everything, both ideas appeal to me.

I am fully aware that this is a long way off yet but its nice to have a plan.

Any help and advice would be most welcome but luckily i have some experience repairing and restoring lumps of eastern European steel.

To start there is the bodywork to repair and replace and then need to stop the engine from kicking out thick clouds of blue smoke as it runs.

Cheers

Max

[maxb]

After unloading it at midnight in the middle of town and towing it up a country lane shes finally home.
2 days of repairs later it goes and stops a fair bit better than it used to.

have noticed a few things with it that are not original but will probably stay;
The headlights are xenon lights from a bathroom 
It has a rather beaten up pair of racing bucket seats which make it near impossible to see over the dash
The ignition is from a seicento but it seems to work, might replace later on in time
Disk brakes on front from an unknown origin are a welcome surprise
and it has a very strange air filter arrangement using 2 cone filters, one of which sticks out from the side of the car.
When ikt arrived the back of the car was filled with spares, repair kits and gaskets which im certain will come in handy... also included was a NOS gearbox.

currently think that there is a hole in the exhaust as its louder than hell and that the carb is blocked somewhere because i have to put my foot down very slowly otherwise it stalls .

more pictures to follow when the sun shows its face.

all in all ,very happy with the car, went from a shell destined to the scrap heap to a lump of polish steel requiring minor modification and repair in 2 days.

[Gadge]

In all my years I've NEVER heard of a car using bathroom light bulbs  great project though look forward to seeing it's progress 

You say you think the ignition is from a seicento how do you mean?

[maxb]

It didn't look like anything original so I asked the previous owner,  apparently it's quite common in Poland and once its set up its more reliable than the late electronic ignition.  Will take pictures soon,  it's a bit of a mess in the back

[maxb]

Bit more progress this morning between showers.
Cleaned through all the fuel lines and stripped, re'jetted and adjusted the float on the carb, runs much smoother now.
Noticed a lot of blue smoke so a change of piston rings is in order i think but that can wait until everything else is running smoothly
While testing the carb noticed a sudden oil leak through the RH engine cover spitting oil all over the exhaust so that'll be looked at after the rain.
this will also allow me to have a close look at the exhaust and make repairs where necessary, hopefully nothing to serious.

Carb being re-built.




Seicento ignition, no idea how it works or how its been bodged to work, some form of Polish gypsy magic.

also note the hole cut in the side to allow for the cone air filter to stick out




top notch welding there ..... looking at getting one of the sports exhausts when i do the piston rings , should add another 75 horse power XD




Cone air filter , the pipes run from the top of the carb to out side of the car , roughly 30mm of air filter sticks out. also the bucket seats that allow you to see nothing



And finally for now the xenon lights from a bathroom fitting, there are a set of original light fittings in the box of spares but growing fond of all the little things on this car.

[NathanMcM]

Love how weird and interesting this car is hahaha.

[Club1n]

Now this thing is cool, I love it when people have the mind of function over looks:')

[maxb]

Even more progress today,  found that the reason of it being so loud is that the back cylinder doesn't have a gasket and wasn't tightened. Took the exhaust off and apparently it's been over tightened in the past... Also the tapped holes are larger threads to the front.  I've tried my best to seal it it with the bolt that still works and have filled the rest with a gasket and as much exhaust gasket sealant that I could fit onto what gaps existed.

[maxb]

Good news,  after yesterday's effort the exhaust is now far quieter,  my bodge of am exhaust seal has worked,  also the throttle is far more responsive.


Bad news,  oil is now leaking from around the rocker cover and from somewhere at the back of the engine and throwing the oil all over the exhaust.
Also even with the engine revving flat out,  the second the clutch is brought anywhere near the biting point the engine stammers to a halt and struggles to move the car even a yard...

Need to look at the fuel/mix and if that's okay then I think the Piston ring issue might be worse than I thought.

[maxb]

After a few hours playing with the carb and ignition today a new course of action has been decided.
Rather than trying to polish a turd, the engine is going to be taken out, stripped and totally re-built, this will hopefully put an end to the lack of power, oil leaks and the cylinders burning oil.

While this is being done i will also improve the remainder of the car with fresh wheel bearings all round, handbrake adjustments, re-building the old air ducting (Might keep the cone air filter just because and run it in conjunction with the original), welding on a new LH front wheel arch as the old one is rusted and bent (The only bid of bad rust on the hole vehicle). Complete re-spray (Going for a rally look so stripes and decals all round), new flexible joints and shocks to the rear, anything else that looks like it needs adjustment/replacement and if funds permit then chrome bumpers and a better looking roof rack will be added. ..... Also as a long shot, there is an old motorcycle oil cooler somewhere in the garage that might help cooling that little bit.

So that's the project laid out, probably going to be posting lots of photos just so i can remember where things go and what I've done, any help, comments or criticism would be most welcome.

Now for stage 1, tidying the garage 

[sitzke]

Hi, what Kind of seats are in this car?

greets

[maxb]

Bucket seats xD that's about as much as I know,  there isn't a brand or anything on them,  they aren't on any runners or anything either, the studding has been put through holes in the floor pan and welded in place

[maxb]

After a small amount of struggling the engine is now out and ready to be re-built from the sump up.

got a few images just so that i can remember where certain cables and pipes go once i put it back in again.







Who dares wins Rodney   



pretty certain this is meant to be attached to something and not slotted in behind the fan



does everyone have 1 set of tapped holes and 1 set of studding or is this another "modification" to this one?



Nice and rusty 



Might want to fix that at some point



and that perhaps



No worries, found the source to all the problems



The engine is out, special "axle stands" are still in use



And finally for today the engine in the garage awaiting parts for a rebuild

[maxb]

Got a bit more stuff done while waiting for parts.

Fitted the bonnet/boot strap thing fitted only took 30 mins and 2 bloody thumbs.



old gasket had been put on at a funny angle causing the oil leak from earlier , one of the corners had almost no gasket between the faces.



cylinders off, need to clean the piston heads before putting the new rings on , a fair bit of carbon build up on them



cylinder head after a quick clean. going to be giving most of the engine a good clean and possibly a paint before putting it back in. spare gasket is already on order



Nice dirty cowl with snapped off bolt, put the socket on and it just popped off



The bolt in question, will probably drill it out and weld on a fresh bit of studding



Alternator and cowls off, absolutely nothing what so ever to this engine



Not much meat left on the clutch, luckily already ordered a replacement



Checked the bearings and they look near to new so wont need replacing just yet, also i might look into getting a flywheel bottom cover, currently open to the elements hence the build up of oil and pup.



sump off, no grit or metal filings in with the oil so its looking promising on the engine wear side of things.



Lots of parts are being taken into work (Small engineering workshop) to be cleaned, polished and welded where required. Not going to be a show car but would still like everything to look nice


.

Anyone know of anywhere to get replacement ducting from the cowls to the 'heater' . would be nice to be able to get some hot air in there in the winter. is there a specific type or can anything really be used? my supplier (small auto-garage in Poland) didnt have any in stock.

[maxb]

SHE LIVES

after replacing the piston rings, giving everything a good de-coke and re assembling the engine runs like a dream ...... until i got 2 miles down the road and the air cowls shook themselves off ......
all is fixed and nylocked into place now though.

have noticed a few things while driving over the past day or two;
the seats are far to low (2 cushions required to see over dashboard)
i have a choice between "xenon" dip beam or yellow/orange rally lights as full beam
1st dosnt sound to healthy
due to it being slavic-ly lowered i cna feel literally every bump, crack and cover in the road

next the front left wing is going to be replaced, followed by a pre MOT examination to check everything over before the polish one runs out in FEB

some images to follow of the new engine in the morning