Fiat 126 -73 restoration [ Now: It's ALIVE...!!! :) ]

[Tate]

Ohhh I like that a lot, please tel me you not gonna scrap it. That thing is so rare, it would make a great Fiat service van...
 

Yes.. I will scrap it. It's so rusty that there is no sense restoring it.. You can come to Finland and pick it up for free 

[Tate]

Today I removed the 903cc engine from Fiorino.

No mercy! 



After removing drive shafts, hoses, wiring and bolts it was time to lift the 903cc engine + gearbox from the car.



Then I made the first test to see how the engine fits to the engine bay. Looks good

[Tate]

Nothing special has happened.. I have been designing and fabricating the fastening points for the Fiat 127 engine and Fiat 600 gearbox.

[Tate]

Asked if my friend would make one sleeve for me with lathe but he made four of them:



Parts from laser cutting company (design by me):



Universal rubber supports for Fiat 600 gearbox:

[Tate]

Today I started to make the fastenings for the engine and gearbox. Gearbox is now already attached but unfortunately didn't remember to take any pictures of it..

For the engine I fabricated this kind of support plate:



Some welding...



More welding..



This is how I left the car today. Engine mount needs still some work to be finished.

[KAL SPL]

Deffinately unique !

[Tate]

I dont know about unique but when you do stuff by yourself - you get what you deserve!   

Today I continued fabricating engine mount.



Welded it together:



I tried to fit the engine and gearbox so that nobody could not see it from outside but it seemed almost impossible. So I had to make some room for it and chop the orginal rear beam.

So I cutted it until there was just enough space for the engine and made this kind of frame:



Then I started welding sheet metal:





And here it is after welding:



Engine sits quite nice there.. as it would be ment to be there? 

[Fiatos]

It looks like good with your 903ccm engine. I did it in 2006 with the original Fiat 126 gearbox.



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[Tate]

Bought today a used exhaust silencer... Yoshimura 



Engine fits quite nicely but starter won't fit to its place. In Fiat 600 it is in top of gearbox so I had to make some room for it.

Here we go....



I decided that I make so much room that it is possible to remove the starter without removing engine/gearbox.



Hole from inside the car:



Next step is to fill that hole and make some reinforcement arouind it as I cutted quite important structural element from the car.

[Da Londo]

Very nice work, it's inspiring.

[Tate]

Thanks for the compliments! Gives me more energy to work with this car. 

This evening I made some progress because I filled the starter hole from inside. Next step is to fill 2 holes from under the car and make some reinforcements.

Now it is possible to remove the starter without removing engine/gearbox. Makes service a lot easier.

[Tate]

Last couple of weeks I have been just finishing the body before new paint. There have been so many small things that they are making me crazy.. 

Today I fabricated a place for the radiator which is from Vauxhall Nova. I hope that my design works as I am going to use the orginal air cooling duct to lead the air from the side ducts to the radiator. Then I lead the air from radiator to the orginal holes which are in the engine lid.

This is where I started from:



Then I bought the radiator:



Two new fans:



Fans installed to the car:



Radiator installed:

[KAL SPL]

That's thinking outside the box !

[Tate]

Thanks.. but thinking outside the box also means that you have to face all the new problems.. As now I'm thinking how I will solve/implement radiator expansion tank as there is not so much space for the tank   

[Tate]

I think that I have solved the problem which I told about in the last message. I will install in-line coolant filler neck to the upper coolant hose and add a overflow resevoir tank. That seems to be the best solution.