Hello from the North East

[Craig126]

Hi everyone i'm Craig and i'm a new 126 owner.

I have just purchased a 1987 126P. It is an Italian registered LHD which I bought off ebay and took the 400mile round trip on sunday to get it. Ive been looking for something different that stands out and this fits the bill.

Im a BMW/MINI tech as my day job and spend a lot of my spare time working on car. I recently finished my kit car build which has took the last 3 years to build so was looking for a new project.

I bought this due to the fact that it stands out from all other 126's maybe this is a good thing or maybe not, only time will tell.

Here is a couple of pictures of the car along with some questions I have which im hoping some of you will be able to answer.















As you can see from the pics it needs some work but this not an issue. My questions are as follows:

What is with the side skirts, ive searched online and cannot find any the same, they are actually metal and as you can see, rubber jacking points underneath.

The roof spoiler is metal and moulded into the roof panel, again I cant find anything on this.

The bonnet scoop isn't for show, it is piped into a heater motor which feeds into the cabin, is this normal?

The decals on the side GO!!!!!!! is valentino rossi's race team logo

The rear bumper seems odd for the age of the car and again cannot find another one online.

The centre console has been modified and the ignition switch removed and switches and push button start fitted.

There is a heater motor in the centre console behind the front seats, is this a standard heater motor?

Sorry for all the questions guys one of the more puzzling purchases ive made haha. Is there anywhere I can get a wiring diagram from as need to look at the ignition switch as its all been messed with due to the centre switches so trying to trace the wiring to try and start the thing.

[Pete126]

Hi Craig  to the club, the roof spoiler, side skirts, bonnet scoop, rear engine cover and auxiliary fans are all non standard, someone has fabricated these parts and by the look of things hasn't done a bad job except for the rear engine cover, but that personal preference all the manuals, handbooks, parts lists etc are all in our subscriber section to access this go to shop and for a fiver or more you can download all the info you need, Looks like it will make a nice modified motor with a bit of TLC anything your not sure of just post    

[laners99]

Is this the same one I saw on eBay a few weeks ago?  Definitely stands out!  As for the battered rear bumper I know that you can buy body kits from ebay (Germany) unless you are going to do a repair.

[wsmitwil]

Welcome to th club

Great looking 126, as Pete says everything you mention is fabricated, someone's took there time on this one even the side repeaters are different, as for the rear bumper it looks similar to a fiat panda bumper don't know if it is but defiantly not 126

Do you know if they Have they modified the engine in anyway

Good look with the project

[Craig126]

Hi guys, thanks for the warm welcome, the little 126 is all very new to me but very easy to work out.

Yes it was on Ebay, I bought it on a whim really only due to the fact that it stands out and looked so different from the others.

As for modifications so far I've noticed quite a few

rear spoiler
side skirts
smoothed rear air ducts
smoothed door handles
recessed rear quarter panels to allow access to modified door handles
bonnet vent linked to heater motor
additional heater motor on centre console
smoothed rear tailgate and grill cut outs
rear bumper
centre console, no ignition key switches and push button start on console

so it looks like at some point in the cars life it has been modified highly and has been done pretty well, its just now showing signs of age really and neglect.

When I bought the car it did not start, after a few checks and a few loose connections to the starter and dizzy, I found the ignition coil faulty, so temp wired in an mx5 coil and the car fired up. It sounded pretty good and ran well.
As for the other electrics I managed to get the washers, wiper, blower motor and left hand side lights to work, that's it... There are loads of wires pulled out of the fuse box under the bonnet and wires disconnected inside.

So what's the plan for the little beasty  , well as it currently stands the car has been fully stripped inside, all lights removed and bumpers add-ons, and full wiring harness removed.
Next will be engine and gearbox removal and then start on a couple of welding repairs. The car is surprisingly solid which was a nice little bonus, need to work out the suspension and steering on the front and fully strip/over hall that.

I'm currently unsure after that what direction to take with it. I cannot go full restoration as the car is so far from standard its not worth it, so ideas are full strip of bodywork and repaint to tidy it up externally, roll cage and seats with very minimal/stripped interior, wide arches and wheels. Which leaves engine...

I really like the idea of bike engine, but being put off from the cost of the rear chain axles, auto grass drive box is an option but not cheap, other idea is a tube axle like a reliant with prop driven bike engine. I've seen people upgrade to 1.0 and 1.2 Punto engines but not overly fussed on the idea.

Well Its going to be a fun little project which I will try to keep updated regularly. I have recently finished a mx5 based kit car build called a MeV Exocet, which has a 1.6 turbo engine and weighs 680KG so my time now is going to be focused on my new project to keep me busy

I've had fun so far reading through other build threads to get a better idea of these little cars and they look so much fun, If anyone knows of other specific bike engine'd build threads maybe on here or elsewhere that they could point me to for some info that would be much appreciated.

Cheers for looking

Craig

[mintex]

  to the club, im new here to and only just got a 126, good luck with the build what ever direction you take