1987 Fiat 126 Aircooled / Scotland

[j60dnl]

Hello,
Have spent hours lurking, looking at everyone else's amazing projects so thought I'd post my own up.

Bought this little '87 Air cooled 126 sometime last year with the idea of bringing it back to life and by pure chance, while researching them - I found my exact car on advertised on RetroRides...
http://retrorides.proboards.com/thread/48200

(borrowed these photos from the original ad)

So at the time of that ad (2008) it had just been MOT'd for a year (Bringing it up to October 2009).
What happened between then and now - I have no clue, because it came to me on a trailer as a rolling shell, no engine fitted (though 1 and 1/2 engines supplied!), doors off, all trim removed, interior stripped... All supplied but for some reason dismantled (Would love to know what the owner was planning!)

Time for her new home!


So first job was to put the engine in and fingers crossed for an easy(ish) ride!
Quickly realised this was not the original engine so after a bit of head scratching (wiring not remotely matching up) - she turned over (eventually!) and - we have a winner!



Next job, body work :

Multiple shades of white :


Little n large


Looking bare in there!


Almost ready for painting







Drying time



As she is today...


Wasn't a huge fan of the alloys that were supplied (the same 1's in the Retrorides ad) so on went the original steels (which at some point had been powdercoated, really well done but personally don't think the red suits - so toying with the idea of change)

INTERIOR photos to follow but now has :
Retrimmed original seats in black leather,
New red carpet,
Red seatbelts,

MECHANICAL :
New kingpins (worryingly, because according to the Retrorides ad, that was also needed for its 2008 MOT!?)
New Driver side rear wheel bearing (Again, stated in the old ad as being done in 2008)
Welding to the passenger floor,
Electrical wiring (Still an ongoing issue!)

PLANS :
MOT soon! Hopefully within the next few weeks,
Planning red and green side stripes,
ENJOY!

In dreams, I'd love to put a Fire engine in but that is far away - want time to enjoy that wrath of the 650cc!

And Bonus pictures :

became

[shielsy]

very solid looking wee car , didnt like the alloys too owen nw

[Kowalski]

Hello,
Have spent hours lurking, looking at everyone else's amazing projects so thought I'd post my own up.

Pretty much my own story here 

Multiple shades of white

will do mine whiter 

PLANS :
MOT soon! Hopefully within the next few weeks,
Planning red and green side stripes,

sounds good!

In dreams, I'd love to put a Fire engine in but that is far away - want time to enjoy that wrath of the 650cc!

Easy horses but keep weight balance on track!

And Bonus pictures

all too kind. Ford goodness 

[j60dnl]

Sun shining today so decided to get to work on some jobs...

First up... Wheels!

The original steels were powdercoated at some point, and were nicely done, but to my eyes there were just a little too dark for the theme.

So 8am they looked like this...



Masked of the leading edge, wanted to keep a little of the red purely cause it was so well done (didn't want to say goodbye to it entirely  ), sanded back, primed, sprayed and nice new hub caps...

[j60dnl]

A few new photos, including interior.





Interior :
New red carpet,
Red belts (yet to decipher if they will actually pass an MOT?? Follwed a flowchart on the DVLA web that said for this cars age, they'd be ok. So fingers crossed - rather like the red!)
And original seats, reupholstered in leather by myself - many nights of cursing and complaining that I never listened to the teachers enough in Home Ec classes! If I ever see a sewing machine again...!)


OTHER JOBS DONE :

Wiring sorted -
Became a Subscribed member and with the help of the guides - got it in all order. Though still have a gremlin hiding in the headlamps - all lights work apart from the dipped beam - made a post about it here >
http://club126uk.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=8823.0 .

Engine -
Struggled to turn over in the past few days, 2 week old spark plugs were covered in soot and dripping in petrol... took leads out, left for a while, clean back the spark plugs, put back together - started first time! Fingers crossed tomorrow morning is the same success though 

[Pete126]

Car looks sweet man, Well done

[Scratchski]

Really nice, best of luck and health to drive 

I like the wheels in the ad  so hard to come across suitable sized alloys for these, they stand out amongst all the cinq alloys out there. Like the carpet too 

[j60dnl]

Really nice, best of luck and health to drive 

I like the wheels in the ad  so hard to come across suitable sized alloys for these, they stand out amongst all the cinq alloys out there. Like the carpet too 

Well if anyone is looking for some alloys - they're available 

Almost finished my list of things to do for MOT, but still to do :

Rear fog.
Rear No. Plate lamp.
Front No. Plate fitted (Leaving to last minute cause she looks so cute without a big ugly No. Plate!)
And will remove the steering column stalks to figure out if the wiring is ok or has it melted - because STILL NO logical reason behind the haywire Full Beam situation. Relay ok, wiring ok, bulbs ok... Grrr - will kill or cure it soon!! 

Decided to keep the original "Grady Bros" number plates (In good condition too) and leave on the original Grady Bros Dealer sticker on the window.

[j60dnl]

Little (BIG) update - the little 126 just passed his first MOT in 5 years - FIRST TIME
Delighted.

After ages of not getting anywhere with the headlamp / wiring problem - decided to just opt for new column stalks (it was the only thing left that it could be) Ordered from Nathan @ Fiat500Classic http://www.fiat500classic.co.uk/store/ - Really helpful, good advice and fast delivery!

Fitted the new unit, and just like that, headlamps working.

Next job was to fit my new exhaust. The old one was like a large, slightly flattened cylinder with hard edges. For some reason, everytime i went to reverse - the exhaust would clang of the rear bar. First few times was hell of a scary!! So, in my parts bin, found a neat little bubble ecxhaust which I'm guessing came from the original car set up. Or was bought, but for some reason not put on. Either way, went on but still a slight clang at certain moments. Nowhere near as bad though.
So decided on some gearbox rubber mounts and a new engine mount... Bought but as yet not installed.

(Sorry, terrible at taking photos along the way. Must try harder!)

So it was down to the last little niggly jobs like securing battery (of all my many parts, a battery brace was not one of them) bulb check over... then MOT time.

Expecting the worst (The MOT tester wondered if he'd even manage the little 126 on the ramps) got a phone call a few hours later - all done and clean bill of health. Was shocked but not complaining!

Now on to the fun parts - making it look the way I want!

Side graphics getting put on hopefully by this weekend.
Would love to put a slightly more bolstered seat in the front (driver & passenger) but will need to do lots of research on that, any advice on what seats would fit? (Ideally Fiat group, standard car type. not into buckets etc)

Till the next update...