azzurro

have some stuff i brought up from nats for a couple duudes, but i have QOTSA/NIN to go to instead, sorry chaps... #gloat

looks good man, sweet photo spot

am realtively close to H-ville too, and if required can chuck it in my storage unit till whenever

Perfect. Better be lobbing the engine from the carpi in there

Since then ^ Ive got the engine and stuff back in time for for a shakedown run to Burger Fuel on Wednesday, seems to go as good as it ever did which means i didnt break the engine/clutch getting it in and out, so thats a bonus. Had to make a bit of a list of tidy ups as this was the first drive after quite a mjor overhaul and next couple of weeks pre nats will be busy: - ajust nut on steering box - no more slop - its also a 2.8 turn box (vs 3.6 from old one) still only has like 25deg of turn angle, but now i can get to it fast, lol - Drivers rear brake super hot - handbrake cable adjusted too tight - No Left Indicators - fiddled with column switches, majically works again - swapped secondary jets again, to 170 air and 160 fuel (from 160air and 155 fuel) - no discernable difference to drivability abd still seems to run out of puff at 5k rpm (should be ringing to 7ish) suspect ign issue as its also a bit missy on load and those jets are quite rich for a 1600 - fix light in water temp guage - bulb had somehow fallen out of holder into it? - fitted EURON8 special vacuum guage - such wow! - fix dash parcel tray - adjust bonnet SO it seems im pretty much ready for nats mission with time to spare! If i get some time i may try fitting the sideys with new jets, but if they dont work that will cost me at least 2 inlet gaskets, lopts of time and a whole lot of mojo, so i may wait till after I get back.

Woopsie, Missing update from 8th Feb ___ Todays job, Something ive been meaning to for ages - swapping the steering column over from the single piece 125 job to a late 132 one, which has the following benefits: - adjustable! up and down, but mainly also a bit side to side (125 steering wheel is positioned offset towards the middle) - collapsable! - hopefully will never take advantage of this feature, but being speared through the chest in a crash is now slightly less likely - steering box is ~20 years newer - "bolt in" (lol) upgrade Steering box is the same mounting bolt fitment, and column is the same assembled length and has same steering wheel fitment. 125 and 132 being otherwise basically the same car, I thought this would make it easy to swap but no, EVERYTHING else is different. In retrospect, for the effort involved, its probably worth going straight to rack and pinion. First things first, remove one piece steering box/column from 125. Hahaha. One manual suggests removing tie rods, another suggests removing the road spring and lower wishbone. I went with dismantling most of my recently re-assembled dash to swing the meter long hardened steel shaft towards the passenger side suffiently to clear the suspension. Fan box off the bottom of the heater is the main obstruction + i mangled the firewall a bit. I seriously considered chopping the shaft but as i dont have a spare handy, i resisted. That done, comparison time: 132 top, 125 bottom With them out i could do a proper contrast and compare, to note the many differences, some of which i knew about, some i didnt: - ignition/key are on opposite sides, and are different sorts/not interchangeable - column switches are close (lights and indicators wiring same) but 132 wipers are 4 position vs 2 (neding about 13 wires vs 5) - dash mounting different. - column switch mounting arrangements is different, including static column (46 vs 48mm) AND upper rotating shaft diameters (18.5mm vs 19mm) I wanted to reuse the 125 column trims (dont have the 132 ones anyway) and the ignition switching (relays) this meant swapping the ignition holder. chop both key holders off (snap off bolts), drill the 125 one Note 125 one needs the ID englarged by 2mm to slide onto the 132 column (which has a pressed lump as well) To mount the column i reused the top half of the 125 column clamp to keep the use of the factory 125 mounting holes, and to clear a hump in the pedal bracket it mounts too, and added a couple more bolts in the lower section to steady the (heavy!) adjustment mechanism to the pedal box brace. Lots of in and outing to ensure i could offset it to the right (centre of drivers position) a bit as well as adjust, clear stuff etc. Some minor trimming of the very solid 132 adjuster parts required, interstingly had been drilled out a bit before, maybe to swap from late to early 132 based on where i got it. Anyway it basically bolts up to the factory 125 mounts but I will probably improve it a bit eventually given the solid shaft/steering box bolts itself doenst assist in holding the steering wheel in position any more and the upper end is so much heavier. Nest job is to make the 125 switchgear fit on the 132 shaft. I would have used the 132 stuff if it plugged in to the 125 wiring, and I even made an honest attempt to figure the wires out but gve up mainly due to the wiper wiring (13 does not go into 5, 4 plugs vs 2 etc)), but also its been hacked about a bit before and was brown. As you can see my 125 stuff isnt in the best nick, but it does work, its black and it plugs right in. Main differnce is in the column mounting - they attach to the static part and extend over the rotating part between the column cover and steering wheel. After much humming and haaing, I eventually swapped them over, 125 needed some descrutive force applied to seperate teh spot welds and drive the shaft off, with a strip of metal to pack out the OD of the remaianing 125 lip, the 132 parts attached with some slightly bigger than factory screw. Have now got it all assembled/steering and plugged in, parcel tray needed a bit if a trim to clear the adjuster, and the top column trim will need a shave to clear the front of the dash when going up/down but thats pretty much done. Steering wheel is now much better located, and steering box feels a bit less sloppy, but TBH im not sure it was worth all the effort... The main reason for doing (collapsable in a prang) it i hope to never have to use.

keen, got engine running again just now, just a couple of things to do tomorrow (bonnet & air filter) and we are there, hopefully without any oil leaks (lol who am i kidding!) - Chris, will bring cash moneys for that guage, chrur

greb in the seating area, worn seat from long gone greb in the seating area wrong nipple not sealing

Reinstalled the interior on top of the new carpet last week. Heater works, dash is uncracked, extra wiring is invisible and guages moved. Fells really nice in there now. Will need to get a better photo at some point, but you get the idea That job done, so onto the next. Was Waitangi Day on Thursday. Happy B-Day Noo Zild! Best part of Waitangi Day (apart from Rainbows, obviously) is having a couple days off, to lazily (in between other stuff) dig this lump of of this hole (after a can of degreaser!) Replaced 3 seals (front and rear crankshaft and aux shaft), put in 3 new gaskets for the seal carriers (front crank one had no gasket) and extracted 3 broken bolts (one being a sump bolt fixing to the rear seal carrier). Missing gasket and sump bolt were the cases of front and rear oil leaks respectivley i reckon, but new seals and gaskets wont hurt. Hopefully that should stop the oil puddle in the bell housing and greasy cam belt. Then Myte128 showed up on a 'free stuff from Fiat Nats Australia' swag delivering mission, (Cheers Bro!) I put my new merchandise to 'work' directly:

Did quite a few jobs over the weekend, as i received a parts order: Got a new heater valve from Mal at Fiatparts.co.nz (note heater valve is the same as on milletrecento (1300/1500) and early 132), and a fuel sender float. along with a 125 Special Clutch Cable and some 2L flywheel bolts, All the 2L+5speed conversion parts required are all collected now excepting tunnel, which i have a laed on a car for a tunnel chop, still need to follow up on, and will do after nats. Will try to get it sorted to use OS pony express to bring it up from Chch to nats. Fuel Guage swapped the fuel sender's 'sink' out for a float and put an earth line in too, fuel guage works well and stays solid instead of waving around and reading low. bumped the tank a wee bit further forward, all the boot linings seem much happier. Wiring Much tidier, all fits on my bit of wood, moved the amp back onto the top of it too which will be hidden by carpet. Most surprising thing is sverything still seems to work! Heater Reinstalled matrix and valve, seems to work well and no leaks. Thank god because getting it in is even harded than getting it out, esp with my new wiring i routed without the heater in the way Fan i had tidied up ages ago started squeaking, swapped out for the old one (after a clean). Test fit parcel tray, realised the heater levers were installed upside down Managed to get them off, reversed and back in without pulling the whole thing out again or breaking anything. Fingers crossed its job jobbed. Carpet New Carpet from AutoDec turned up today, so got straight on it. Old Stuff out: New Stuff out of its packet to compare: And in: Pretty happy with that, ordered Wednesday am and was at the Mrs's work late Friday. (she didnt bring it home till today) Not bad for a custom made bit of kit for a pretty obscure vehicle. Fitment seems good, (they even chalked the bits they left for me to cut which were also pretty spot on) and i think there is sufficient slack on the tunnel that its made for a 5 speed, so yay. My only complaint is that I paid $100 extra for loop pile to match the OEM stuff i yanked out, but the carpet feels really cheap which i did not expect given the price premium over the 'standard' cut pile, and that they could have used a nicer carpet as they sewed it rather than moulded it, but for the work thats gone into it, and speed of delivery etc, the price was still very fair, and otherwise im a very satisfied customer. My shoes wont be complaining about it anyway, and certainly looks 100% better!

Hopefully I have a lead on a donor tunnel, im happy to wait to do the 5 speed conversion till later on if i can get one, so its both easy/neat and is as factory as possible. Been busy today, Auckland Anniversary Day, woot. Clean and working Heater assembly assembled from a 132 matrix up top, just change the control levers to 125 type including the cables, otherwise the heater exactly is the same as 132. Its ready to go in but ill see about a new valve just in case before i install it - may as well while its out eh. (note - 132 and Millicento heater valves are same as 125 - 124/lada doesnt fit) Got the new dash in and moved the guages up to the stereo hole. Because they are mechanical and have long oil and cooland filled pipes (and im lazy) i had to push them out the hole from inside the dash out so the holder got hacked up and bent a bit. Its pretty haggard but they still work and that will do for now. I think if they are going to live there then i would want nicer guages anyway. Silver Veglia ones from a 124 to go with the clock and dash. You can also see my new passenger foot rest Rest of the day was tidying up and extending, shortening, rerouting and whytfdidIdothat?-ing my various electrical addins to get them to the new footrest panel. I had semi planned this when installing these various mods (the 'Brown wire replacment', Headlight relays, Ignition switch relays and extra ACC fuses/supply) The whole lot is fed by a (fused) 4Ga wire from the boot to a distribution block under the choke cable - the alternator & starter hot wires connect though the firewall and one goes to this: CW from R: Main feed from dist block and relay trigger wires from Ignition Switch: Ignition switch relays and fuses (Starter, Coil, Main Dash, Headlights & ACC Circuits), Then to: ACC Circuits fused distribution box (Electric Fan, Amp, Headlight Relay Supply) Headlight relays are now tucked up above the fuse box out of the parcel tray. Tucked the Cross-overs in there too. Will put some yoga mat or something down to stop it shorting, but nothing touches. Way tider than it was before scattered though the dash and parcel tray, but still ugly! Gerd I hate wiring/being under the dash.

Diff went it pretty easy, im getting pretty good at it now! This is the original one, dont let its apprearance fool you. It has a bent shaft and or bearing on the way out and the nose seal leaks, and clunks & whines down. The towbar fell off. While its real good and solid one, its visually too 'chunky', so back to bare bumbums for now. Test drive was all good too. Smoother and quieter all round, a bit surprisingly so. Since its all going so swimingly, it must be time to ruin everything! Pulled the front carpet, dash and heater out. This is for a few reasons: 1: Tidy random non factory wiring that some stupid egg has left all up and through that. I plan on putting most of the add ins where the white polystyrene footrest thing is on the passenger side, replacing it with a bit of ply to create a electrics box as the poly bit is about 100mm deep- they will be easy to access and all in one (hidden) location out of the way. Ill also move the guages (Volts, temp, oil pressure) up to the stereo hole to line up with the clock, as the tunnel mods wont allow them to stay between the console and heater. 2: Heater Box - I think i found why its not very stong fresh air inflow despite the fan working well: The valve is seized (closed!) too, as are the ones on all my spares but one. Will see if i can buy a new one, else the one freed up one will have to go in. 3. I also have a tidier dash to install: Guess which is which. Ive also decided that I will pull the currently installed 1608cc engine, and replace the crank seals for the nats run. I know it runs and runs well, and is worth having a good blat on the factory fitted engine. Will try fitting the Dellortos for extra last minute dramas. While its out i will also do 4. 132 Adjustable steering column and matching box swap. Have the all bits for this for a while, its just a bit easier without the engine & dash in the way. 5. 5 Speed Gearbox - have all the parts for this too, except a longer (more common) clutch cable, which im ordering next week. Only the tunnel needs modification, raised about 50mm at the shifter hole for 300mm forward, to make room for the remote shifter, but otherwise bolts in. Im totally dreading cutting the perfectly rust free tunnel, and may not quite get onto it before nats! 6. New carpet? Old stuff cam out on 5 bits and is pretty much nonexistent on the drivers side. Autodec has a pattern for $310. If i get all that done thats pretty much the end of my mods list, and If i want to run the 2L engine later on i only need to swap the bell housing if/when the 1608 engine comes out

such puppy! she would rather come and sit in the car than be tied up at home. shame she will never be able to heel-toe

cheers chaps, diff issues hopefully resolved for now, but have added "escort lsd" to my tme favourite searches. SiR, stoopids more likely!.when it goes good, it seems to make up for those, um, other times.

First Pre-Nats job a success! Popped in to Dr Trans to drop the diff from the red car and pick up my other pronounced dead one: Yerp, shes toasted alright: Must have timed my arrival very well, because Egan had a look over the one from Red directly and promounced it "mint, chuck it in mate" and charged me only small change, including the strip down & inspection of the other one and gave me a bucket to take the bits of the other one home in as well. So got home early and popped it the already ready axle thats been sitting under the house, along with new o-rings and seals, ive had for a while which only took a minute to do as well. Pretty happy as it came up nice and clean, and even has the factory original stampings on it too Even took special care to properly touque the bloody bolts this time too, with an actual touque wrench even instead of just goodntite Done & ready to fit. No more whine, clunking and leaks (maybe!)

FUCK I think/ thought 124 and 125 diff parts are the same, just the mounts are different (coil vs leaf) - the diff head can be removed from the front. (i hope) you may be thinking late 131/132 diffs which are bigger and 'rear loading'??? Ones a banjo and ones a sailsbry, but i can never remember which is which cause those words dont relate to anything that makes sence to me. --- dipstick chat: are you sure you dont need a super long one with a long tube extension so you can check oil without burning your face off?

Air filled bag? (oh no you didnt!)

Wrong. Bouncy Castle wins. Ratty green F100, in 'Best Air BagS' category, maybe. Judges Decision is final.

Best ITBs: Best: Best Mecedes Interior: Best Norks:(not really) Best Yellow Pickup: Best Accessory Mounting: Personal Fave/Judges Choice gets twice the pixels. Much Want:

was good. heres proof. Best Russian Plates (not best sunburn, not even a contender) Best Spirit Animal Painting: Best Glitter: Best Chrome and Black engine bay i took a photo of: Also Best Air Bag: Best Under Construction: Best Trailer Queen:

Duuuuuude. your an ideas man. also thought i could put the 'correct' volume of oil in and make my own marks. Hoping some Fiat pervert will just tell me which one to use (Pro Fiat tip: Its probably neither)

was plenty of piners and droolers and number takers at Kumeu whenever we were dropping stuff back at the Fiat parked next door. Am half tempted myself!

looks real good man, looks like its pretty much set up already. good to see more fiats on here too. is that paint worn off from the car cover?

keen, maybe last drive of the car for a while - hopefully its going again by nats

Hope everyone had a nice break, havent been doing too much with the Fiat, have been speding a lot of time in teh Van which is great. \Oldschool.co.nz nationals coming up in March (omg is like 6 weeks!) , so hoping to get a few things sorted before then. Im undecided abount doing the 2L swap before then as the 1608 (apart from oil leaks) is running really nice FINALLY. Pretty sure im going to try to get the 5 speed in before then which means i need to pull the engine anyways, so which engine to put back in? Devil you know or??? If i pull the engine i may as well do the bottom end seals (as i should have before i put it in!) as i know it runs well. OTH why not drop the newly built 2L in instead? (and see if the Dellortos work on it?) and take a high risk high reward strategy? ____ The 1608: It still had the wierd miss at 4000rpm from the drags after swapping out the fuel pump and i found this: That will do it! it was a small bit of rubber, totally blocking the needle valve inlet hole, and also being held in place by the needle valve. Kinda lucky as if it had got into the carb passages it would have never come out. Also i had the inlet and oulet pipes around the wrong way on the fuel pressure regulator (i think after testing bypassing it at the drags) - but dont tell any one Seemed to go much better after that, but still a bit meh, so tried slightly smaller air correctors, to 170 on P and S from 180s, which is way better, then main jet from 125 to 132 even better. Just top end remains a bit stumbly, but my next sized airs are 150 which is a bit of a jump, and the secondary jet is a 155. I have chucked the 150 air in and will see how that goes on Wednesday, but i suspect that air size < jet size is bad? I have a 160 jet to try if its no good to run with the 170 air but access to it is way more of a pain. At the same time I also reduced the plug gap to factory 0.6 from 0.8, and pulls much better especially pulling from down low. However it now runs on a little (started doing it just before drags), and the BP5EY which before jet change where also a bit glazed, after jet change they were a little sooty but still ok (compared to teh oily crap that was on them pre- valve stem seals!) I wonder if the seal job has reduced the need for the sparks to work through an oily mess and now are too hot? I also fitted a K&N Filter which may be increasing air flow (lean) over the old & dusty paper one thats been on it for ages (would havebeen full of bog dust and shit) I have bunged in a set of BP6EY and see how they go. _________ Diff: Finally pulled the diff from my red car to check, I think it may be worn as well Will drop it into see, and pick up my other dud one. If its also no good then an alternative may be in order, or maybe just a new CW&P which will probably be a similar price. Aparrently Ford Escort diff head very nearly bolt up (4mm spacer + bolt pattern change required - shafts are same splines and diam) so that could be an option too. Lada LSD would be good but with me needing a CW&P as well, shipping becomes a drama (over sendinfg CC deets to the Ukraine!) Interested in any suggestions or spare parts (WTB Cheap ESCORT DIFF!) to assist on this issue _________ ive also polished up the 'correct' Wards and swapped the tyres over, dont know if im becoming a purist, but I reckon they look much better than the other ones, which will be for sale soon. in case anyone is interested. Just need some Ward centres now...My swappers trawling at Kumeu came up nix. before & after polishing (OMG soooooo boring! blew up my drill too) Now ive got lierally nothing to wear! yep, those ones ____________ In 2L related issues, I got a few more bits, mainly a new clutch, but a ferw more things to make the shipping worth while. Was still cheaper, even with heavy itme shipping and the extra bits than getting just the clutch locally which is a shame, but $ is $. Clutch Kit incl Bearing, manifold nuts, clutchcable nuts, shims, dipstick rubber thingees, fuel pump blanking plate & gear stick gaiter for the 5 speed. I also have 2 dipsticks, both came with the 2L engines, both completely different readings: Low on One is full on the other! Which is the correct one for a RWD/2L?