So me and the girlfriend have gone and done something a bit silly. After being around me and cars for so long, she's started to get the bug a little, and as we were looking through various car pics, she spotted a Fiat 126, which she fell in love with.
After a while, we both started looking for ones for sale, a lot of them being very clean, nice, and out of our reach. We then spotted a 90's BIS in faded blue, owned by an elderly gent. The car was originally bought for him to restore, but old age however has prevented him from carrying on with it. So we popped up to have a look, and aside from a fair bit of filler on the bonnet, all seemed ok (I find out later that this is not the case, but more on that in a little bit . . . ).
It's been off the road for a good 12 years or so, and has only done 25K miles. Looked around the car, heard it running (runs beautifully) but because the ground was wet, I didn't have a proper look under the car. I did have a feel for the jacking points and stuff, and all felt solid.
After waiting around for a bit for some neighbours to remove a skip that was blocking the car from getting out of the back garden, we went back to pick the car up.
Towed down the A38, wasn't a bad drive. Wheel bearings squeaking like mad though!
As soon as we got it home, I started having a good poke around and started messing with the car. To my horror, (penance for being a woos and not looking under the car properly, I found this . . .
In hind sight, I'm not sure whether I would have gone for the car had I known it was that bad. To someone who can't yet weld, it was a bit scary at first! But it's more of an excuse to get a welder and start practising. It also turned out there was faaaar more filler than I first thought. . . .
That rear light was filled and then glued on with bathroom sealant, it turned out. Very well hidden filler job, thought it was a bit of rust at first. Massive chunks came out. Ah well.
I didn't get any pics, but both front wings are mostly filler as well, from a previous repair job from rust and probably dents. The job was done very neatly though (one side at least), so I'll leave those for now.
I really like these 126's de-bumpered, so they came off, and won't be going back on again. ;D
Took the plastic wheel trims off
and the car's lines seem a little cleaner.
Yesterday I took out the headlining and all of the interior, checking for hidden rust patches and just giving it a good look over. I do love working on older cars, the interiors are so easy to remove!
Unfortunately, beneath the carpets were sofa foam (?) padding, which was mouldy and holding a lot of water. That won't be going back in.
and naturally, underneath the sound deadening, hid the jacking point rust . . .
but I did manage to get it on axle stands, and have a VERY good look underneath. All the chassis box section is very nice, with no rust poking through.
Whipped out the gear linkage for cleaning, re-greasing and re-threading the mounting holes. I'm alos in the process of machining an Ali gear knob that'll go on too.
That's as far as got, due to the weather now stopping play, aside from taking more pictures.
Road signs make excellent water-proof mats by the way!
So, after the initial "Oh S*** what have I just bought" panic, it's actually not too bad at all. Future plans will be:
1. remove sound deadening-fix all the rust
2. design a front wishbone set-up for him
3. do a front disc brake conversion
4. find/get some coilovers on
5. fit stupid wide 13s
6. fit wide arches
and eventually, in the far(ish) future, fit a bike engine in. That'll take a lot of time, money and planning though, so that probably won't be started until after uni.
This is what he could look like once 1-6 are done . . .
I hope to get him at least on the road again before summers out, so I can use him to get to and from uni and work. Approx 50MPG sounds great! Tax/insurance is very cheap, being 700cc, so it should be a great laugh!
I'll keep this updated with the happenings, thanks for taking the time to read the essay! ;D
After a while, we both started looking for ones for sale, a lot of them being very clean, nice, and out of our reach. We then spotted a 90's BIS in faded blue, owned by an elderly gent. The car was originally bought for him to restore, but old age however has prevented him from carrying on with it. So we popped up to have a look, and aside from a fair bit of filler on the bonnet, all seemed ok (I find out later that this is not the case, but more on that in a little bit . . . ).
It's been off the road for a good 12 years or so, and has only done 25K miles. Looked around the car, heard it running (runs beautifully) but because the ground was wet, I didn't have a proper look under the car. I did have a feel for the jacking points and stuff, and all felt solid.
After waiting around for a bit for some neighbours to remove a skip that was blocking the car from getting out of the back garden, we went back to pick the car up.
Towed down the A38, wasn't a bad drive. Wheel bearings squeaking like mad though!
As soon as we got it home, I started having a good poke around and started messing with the car. To my horror, (penance for being a woos and not looking under the car properly, I found this . . .
In hind sight, I'm not sure whether I would have gone for the car had I known it was that bad. To someone who can't yet weld, it was a bit scary at first! But it's more of an excuse to get a welder and start practising. It also turned out there was faaaar more filler than I first thought. . . .
That rear light was filled and then glued on with bathroom sealant, it turned out. Very well hidden filler job, thought it was a bit of rust at first. Massive chunks came out. Ah well.
I didn't get any pics, but both front wings are mostly filler as well, from a previous repair job from rust and probably dents. The job was done very neatly though (one side at least), so I'll leave those for now.
I really like these 126's de-bumpered, so they came off, and won't be going back on again. ;D
Took the plastic wheel trims off
and the car's lines seem a little cleaner.
Yesterday I took out the headlining and all of the interior, checking for hidden rust patches and just giving it a good look over. I do love working on older cars, the interiors are so easy to remove!
Unfortunately, beneath the carpets were sofa foam (?) padding, which was mouldy and holding a lot of water. That won't be going back in.
and naturally, underneath the sound deadening, hid the jacking point rust . . .
but I did manage to get it on axle stands, and have a VERY good look underneath. All the chassis box section is very nice, with no rust poking through.
Whipped out the gear linkage for cleaning, re-greasing and re-threading the mounting holes. I'm alos in the process of machining an Ali gear knob that'll go on too.
That's as far as got, due to the weather now stopping play, aside from taking more pictures.
Road signs make excellent water-proof mats by the way!
So, after the initial "Oh S*** what have I just bought" panic, it's actually not too bad at all. Future plans will be:
1. remove sound deadening-fix all the rust
2. design a front wishbone set-up for him
3. do a front disc brake conversion
4. find/get some coilovers on
5. fit stupid wide 13s
6. fit wide arches
and eventually, in the far(ish) future, fit a bike engine in. That'll take a lot of time, money and planning though, so that probably won't be started until after uni.
This is what he could look like once 1-6 are done . . .
I hope to get him at least on the road again before summers out, so I can use him to get to and from uni and work. Approx 50MPG sounds great! Tax/insurance is very cheap, being 700cc, so it should be a great laugh!
I'll keep this updated with the happenings, thanks for taking the time to read the essay! ;D