Fiat 126 Bis restoration

[dadandlad]

Thanks for all your kind comments
Finally got some me time and made some forward progress but unfortunately  no pictures

Stripped and got the front and rear windscreen washer pumps working
Fit new speedometer drive cable after finding it was damaged behind the heater when i went to connect the washer jets.
Sorted out bad earth on rear lights
Fit rear number plate surround and plate
Bled cooling system
I have one problem that is taking some resolving, the carb setup

the tick over could be that the mixture screw needing to be turned out a few turns. If your happy with the mixture then try the idle speed screw

I can get her to tick over but not smoothly, the mixture screw doesn't alter anything at all looks like i may have to try Petes boil in a bag trick

Dad, let us know if you get any rubbing on the arches at the front with those 145/70/13's.

No problem, although there does look to be plenty of clearance as she is now sat with weight on the suspension

 

[dadandlad]

Removed the carb today and stripped it down once again and put it in a pan of boiling water 
Very little dirt came out of it, I also blew all the galleries and jets out with compressed air

I may have found the problem but cannot be sure until I refit it, the top gasket was on upside down so the cut out for the accelerator pump jet was bleeding air across into the wrong venturi ,bit of a long shot I know but it is the only thing I could put my finger on

[dadandlad]

Well boiling and blowing out with airline didn't cure it 

Removed carb again and made two new base gaskets, refitted the carb and still no improvement

As a long shot i removed the jet with the large flat head from the side of the carb and replaced the O-Ring with a copper washer and low and behold it is a different engine now
It now ticks over nicely and the idle mixture screw does have a effeect on the running

Snap the throttle open and it picks up nicely

Hold the throttle mid position and it seems to be misfiring 

Seems like a bit more playing about is in order

[dadandlad]

Just browsing the forum and low and behold my restoration has been owned at one time by another member on here, great stuff I can add a little to its history

http://club126uk.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=3628.msg23139#msg23139

[mintex]

Nice, That was good hunting   

I bought mine from a forum member but i dont think they had it long, i might take a look if i can find any other owners of it on here, the 126 place to be 

[dadandlad]

Well I was supposed to change the coil springs on the front of my Fabia today but weather was awful with sleet and snow so played with the 126 in the garage instead

Managed to get quite a lot done and she is now nearing completion

Picture of her sat on the skates I made to stop her getting the new boots dirty  no I really made them so I can shift her about easily


 

[Bar Vitelli]

Looks brilliant, Mark, can't wait to see it on the road this summer. The skates look cool as well, will have to get some of those myself! 

[Madd]

Wow! Your Bis looks very good, but one thing I don't like 
Wheels would look better in gray 

Color of the car is beautiful.

[dadandlad]

Getting there

[DeVilleChris]

Looks good Mark.

[mintex]

Looking well bud 

[dadandlad]

This car is driving me bonkers

Thought I had sorted out the rough running problem only for it to raise its ugly head again

In frustration I bought a 1-4 psi Facet electric fuel pump and fitted it a few weekends ago, bloody thing never knocked off and duly pumped engine full of fuel

Removed the Polish carb out of frustration after buying a overhaul kit and not using it and connected my Weber up loose on the engine block to make sure it wasn't going to flood the engine with fuel again

Fit the Weber and turned ignition on and it once again flooded the engine with fuel

So after changing the engine oil twice

Removed the electric pump and refitted the mechanical one and hey presto she was up and running on the Weber carb I had so many problems with.

With it running really nice I drove her up and down the street a few times and she behaved brilliantly

Putting her back in the garage I noticed a water leak coming from the radiator filler cap, so gave filler cap a tentative twist and it is under quite a lot of pressure but not overheating according to temp gauge

So looking like the head gasket has blown which is rather annoying

The engine block was new and the head when checked before fitting was within 0.001"of being flat so can only assume the gasket is a cheap and cheerful

So I have thrown the cover back over her for now

[Gadge]

Oh no they can be so fustrating  I have a facet style pump on mine but I modified the top of the carb with a return spout so fuel can vent down the return pipe and back into the tank as I was sceptical about the pump filling the bores up with fuel.

A compression test would confirm your head gasket but it does sound like its gone. My old engine blew its gasket 1000 miles after I fitted a new one! It never overheated on the gauge but the coolant would be under pressure as soon as I started it (the cooling system was filling up with exhaust fumes!!  ). I put it down to me not retightening the head bolts after 500 miles like I was supposed to do 

[Bambino126]

You've gotta wonder why the electric fuel pump didn't switch off when the float valve shut the supply of fuel? Either a faulty pump or the float needs adjusting?

Gadge, I've got a compression tester but I've never used it on my Bis - What would a healthy reading be? And what would you expect to see with a blown head gasket?

[Gadge]

Bambino, I don't actually know as I've never done it either  but I guess the way to look at it would be to test both and see if one is lower