azzurro

Dude, just biff anything you want in there. The council won't know/care once it's signed off.

this is true

as a former low level council functionary i can confirm that the level of giving a fuck unless someone complains is an asymptote of 0

at worst they will make you remove it

your bigger worry would be insurance - they might not pay out if it fucked up/not installed with a permit etc

these are awesome, and this one is even cooler with all the super brown luxo-lounge options.

i have an e24 shape, (with bonus 5k orange-line rev counter and 'power window') but its just pretending to be cool. these dont even try, they just is.

vantastic

cheers guys, feels great to be bolting things on it, instead of grinding stuff off it

Im also very happy with the colour. was supposed to be a match but is slightly more blue than the old colour which has tunred out much better

apparrently windscreen chrome is same as gemini and torana so that makes it a bit easier to find!

50/50 call on bringing it to kumeu, should i pay $400 to the cops or towards getting it sorted? will be heading in back lanes from muriwai late friday night closely following the van and coffee cart if i do bring it. as a bonus 1000l of milk should sack it out nicely

i had a older beetle that was 6V converted to 12, pretty sure it was just a later model alternator (6V ran generators) and battery obviously, and then just replace other stuff like bulbs and points etc as/when they blew out. Most/some things are likley already replaced with 12V if it has been regularly used at all in the last 30 years.

someone with more recent experience will no doubt offer more practical and accurate advice shortly

So tis all painted now, and ive pretty much finished with putting it all back together again.

what a mission finding all the little bits and pieces scattered accross 2 sheds, one of which is 20 km away, the van (as a temp starage area) and all the smaller boxes and bins that all this stuff was stored in. However had not lost anything (well permanently anyway ) in this chaos so all is well now.

Not too many photos of progress as i was just concentrating on getting it together, but here ya go:

Masking all off and pushed into the sun for the first time, with a bit of shiny on for good measure:

Then putting it all together - most of it tis a bit grubby or 'pre-loved', but its functional and complete, so im more than happy with that.

Interior:

I will likley put the 125T high back front seats in as the blue ones are a bit wobbly and 'loose' feeling even though they match the interior. Scored some blue fluffy high back seat covers on special (ive had my eye on them for a while till they inevitably wanted them off the shelf theyve been collecting dust on ), so i think it was meant to be.

Boot:

Put all the bootlining in, petrol tank all bolted in and lines on (these plastic bits have been cobbled together from 5 different parts cars!)...

However. one of the rear bumper bolts requires the removal of the tank for access - gah - so its all gotta come out again.

Anyway, all the bolt on bits are now done (bar the rear bumper ), got the mrs to assist with installing the front and rear screens, and then there was nothing for it but to load the family and dog up and went for a visit to a friends around the corner - the same place i drove it to ours from after picking it up nearly two years ago. Went much better this time

So much so that i accidentally dud a skud on the driveway on the way out :rr:

Still a lot to do tho, in no particular order:

- flat and polish paint - plenty of lumps, bugs/dust, fisheyes, orange peel and runs to smooth out, but im pretty happy with it - a few chips to touch up too from door installation issues and etc.

- uninstall boot liners and petrol tank, install rear bumper, petrol tank and boot liner. DONE + fit new sender gasket and the fuel guage now randomly works - bonus!

- bleed brakes, i also think the rear calipers might be leaking/weeping

- Find chrome windscreen filler strips front and rear (DONE - ordered 8m to fit Gemini and Torana from rarespares.co.nz, was about 2/3 price of basisnz.co.nz and website doesnt take all day to load) awaiting arrival then install

- Trace and fix a few electrical gremlins (some lights are not going) - DONE - a wire had come off the back of the fusebox from fitting kick panels and some bulbs just needed a jiggle

- replace front springs (again) as the front suspension is too low (yeah i know - but sump is ~100mm from ground) - ive taken the bumps out, need some replacements as removal was terminal, and suspension has some give now, but the spring rate is too soft and ive bent the guards with the tyres already . Probably needs to go up about an inch, maybe a touch more, smaller/new tyres are also needed. The rear could probably come down an inch or so as well to even it up better.

- mask (cbf) and respray meshies a dark charcoal or silver colour - the gold doesnt work for me

- steering is a bit vague - definitely needs a wheel alighnment too but all front bushes, tierods and ball joints need replacing first as well as the ride height issues noted above

- find a lace on steering wheel cover to hide the cracks in the wheel and give it some heft, a drivers side mirror and some new bumpstops - these i will try to find at the hot rod show next weekend.

- get wof/reg

- install solid steel 'backing sensor' for bike rack, a-la sparkles

- install amp under seat and some box speakers (stolen from the van) on rear shelf for ipod

- fix oil feed line for oil pressure guage (ground through it ) and drill and tap radiator hose insert thing for water temp guage sender.

- find/make/buy new carpet, esp front/drivers, new dashtop, and a blue rear passenger door card

- find a 125 specific boot seal, to replace the draft stopper stuck on there fore now or fold the little lip down to fit a normal/every other car ever made boot seal

- drive the shit out of it till something inevitably breaks

just sprayed mine, never used a spray gun before, i would say its a good 6 foot job

was easier than i thought but having a good booth/setup to do it in would make it much easier to do and give a better finish

also

prep prep prep, then prep again

so that ^ was not the last icing session, oh no siree it most certainly was not.

anyhoo, this morning the 125 looked like this:

and about an hour ago it looked like this:

All the shuts/undersides/reveals are done with 3 coats and the panels pretty much ready to bolt on (a quick rub down still required on a couple) for the big over coating. I ended up doing the whole shell incl the inside of the boot and floors just to use up the paint.

Im very very happy with the paint i have, the coverage is really good (ive used 950ml of my 4l so far!) and finish is really good, especially as this is my first time (mind the run!) - a better operator would get excellent results i reckon.

the colour is real nice too - mrs reckons its much better than the original colour

should have it all painted up tomorrow (provided it doesnt rain ) and putting it back together next week - looking pretty good for kumeu, provided i can gets me some dodgy wofage by then - should be ok apart from most of the front susp bushes and ball joints need changing but im not sure ill be able to get them done in time.

Yeah, page 2 bishes!

Finished work on Friday, woot woot, so I have been child minding from the mancave...

Drivers side currently looks like this:

This is the last blade putty session before primer sealer, then hi-fill, sand, then more primer sealer,

and then this:

its a 2 pak commercial vehicle paint so it should be nice and hard wearing, supposedly easy to spray etc, etc, and while it will definitly take a shine, the colour will be quite 'flat' like the original paint (no need for clear) which i think suits the age of the car. Was also about a 1/3 of the cost of the more expensive options

Colour match is pretty much perfect too (blobs are new paint on old fender), as far as ive been able to find out Fiat called it 'Mediterrainian Blue', Autocolour just calls it 'Turquoise - Match'.

Simply can not wait to do this, but I will have to wait till after New Years to turn my tiny garage into a spray booth to reduce the excuses for messing up to the gun operator only. rather than a combo of operator and excessive haste.

However, I suspect someone naughty wont be waiting for aaaages, and will do a sneaky tester on the door shuts or something ASAP!

have finished off the prep on the passenger side and front pretty much, still a few spots to get more attention, but 1000% betterer than before.

got to turn it around so went on another trip up to the culde sac head and back, went very nicely too, will remember to take my dust goggles next time.

spray painting went ok too, got a few runs and a few missed spots, but im hooked on air! however need a water filter, and maybe an oiler thing for teh DA, some fans and some paint type filters for my mask

nice smoth paint also 'helps' to show up the flaws in the prep but man that blade putty/icing stuff makes a huge difference, reccomended!

pretty happy with the results over all - cant really see where ive been except for a few places but the odd wonky bit does stand out the more i look at these shots might not be pretty but at least its solid, and most of them will be covered up by trim, stonechip and or and road grime soon enough.

this paint is just to seal off the filler till ive finished off the other side to more or less this state and ill come back around and take all the trim and stuff off. put hi fill primer over the rougher bits and then i will probably throw some colour at the quarters and sills, window frames etc and chuck the doors etc back on so i can hopefully use it this summer (its too hot to work on cars!), and do a better respray/touch up next winter,

maybe...

'little blue'

yeah!

i love the sound these make between gear changes 'neneneng-neng-neng' and then winding right up again to the next

Been getting into the filler this week after work and a full day today, ive pretty much done the passenger side and front to first coat of primer stage.

Im surprised how quick this is progressing, but as most of the car other than where ive been is very striaght so that might make it a bit easier than a full bare metal job i suppose.

Been a while (10 years?) since ive had to bog a car and it sure makes a difference to the finish having the right tools (and taking the time to use them) over a solid base. Power sanders make a big difference too!

ive used nutech over the welds (if any) and then 3m lightwieght filler over that (layer upon layer upon layer...), and it seems to be coming out ok.

excuse the grey, then white then matty b rattle can primer - it will all disappear soon. Ive got a compressor so once ive fillered the other side i'll give the air spray gun a go at spitting some primer at it to see if i should give top coating a crack. Cant wait.

Lost ount of the number of layers ive put on the c-pillar to get it 'just right', but its only about 3mm at the most

for a 'square' car its sure got a lot of fiddly curves.

I have been busy finishing off/redoing some of my earliest work, and have now undersealed all the arches and sills, wont be under there again for some time

Also went and picked up this 1608cc (125A***) engine yesterday expecting maybe a few useful spare parts and perhaps use as a dummy block. Current engine runs like a dream but can never have too many spare parts, especially for the 1608, which is the perhaps the sweetest but also one of the rarest/oldest versions of the fiat twink:

However, to my pleasant surprise,

It was a project powerplant for a ford popular rod, and has been tidied up about 20 years ago and hardly run since (as you can tell from how clean it is - this is as picked up still sitting in my van).

It has been fitted with "High Performance Road" cams, a Weber DCD with a nice custom stainless air cleaner, new fuel pump, painted block, new frost plugs, cool purple leads etc and aparrently also new oversized pistons (have the OEM ones in the box, and they look ok too) valve grind etc and a general clean up.

Also came with 2 sets of big end beranings as well so i should probably have a stripdown, or at least have a look at the bottom end suppose.

Cam lobes and etc look clean enough, and dont look like the ones in my current engine so i suppose they are what the guy said they where (not that i was complaining)

Came with the original cam spec sheet and etc as well, can anyone translate this into words?:

So pretty chuffed about all that, so change of plans for the new engine to be put aside as a wee performance project, insted of a boat anchor

Im also going to perhaps ask santa for an engine stand for xmas.

was someone selling some stuff that sold, as well as both a stand and a crane for a sweet price on here a wee while ago? couldnt find the thread again, but keen...

Also, finished of a couple of holes in the top corner of the windscreen surround:

The screen could theoretically go back in now - i wont, but its satisfying knowing it could go in

Finished stitching the rear quarter back on as well, which came out pretty good:

And then run out of gas, bugger. Only a few fiddly little bits to go (like that ^ little missing triangle ) and i'd have been done with the welder so ill probably just get a little disposable bottle and take my hire one back to BoC.

Now have a bit of a target date for (semi-) completion now - me and the mrs will be running a coffee caravan at the Kumeu Hot Rod Show so im pretty keen to roll old school

I will maybe start slapping bog on one day after work this week sometime for a bit of a change.

pictureless update, but a big milestone

finished a couple tidyups under the rear half of the sill including replaceing the jacking point and some ginding id been putting off in the rear arch. Ive primered and painted, just seam sealer to go on one day after work then its off the stands. That is ALL the rust gone ad replaced with new metal, and 98% of the welding and grinding done so im pretty stoked with that, and hasnt turned out too bad, underneath anyway.

Only thing to do after that underneath is re-underseal, but ill do the whole car in one go one sunny day, outside. Anyway, point is once i put the seam sealer on, and take it off the stands it wont have to go up on them again other than for service or mechainal repair

However, to hide where ive been up top, ive bought a supercheap compressor and some spayguns etc on special (as well as a wizz gun yeah!) and an air sander and some other air stuff, so im gonna get craking slapping on the putty, sanding and giving spraying a go in the next month or so.

go the ABs!

a great long weekend, used to full effect.

repaired and attached my left front wing and front valance which was the last major panel repair. only a few tidy ups to go now.

i wish i'd waited at this step till after id collected my doors to check for fitment as there is now a 10mm gap at the front of the door , and a 4mm one at teh back. splitting the difference the whole door needs to move forward 3mm, oar the wing panel back 6mm. but then it woundnt fit at the front cant really fill it with bog either as it would always crack off.

this is a tricky bit as the panel has lots of reverse curves to create the recess for the door to swing into (which is why they also rust so bad i suppose)

went and got all my front doors, left side fits ok, right not so much with hinge scraping the b-pillar and a massive gap by the wing.

bent hinge? no. tried my two other spare drivers doors but they are the same and have a later style door swing catch which would require more cutting and welding, as well as a heap more tidying than the originals.

tried carefully adjucting the hinge points with w BFH which didnt achieve much as this is one of the most solid parts of the car now.

also, silly 125 hinges only adjust on the pillar (in out towards the centre only not forward and back) and are somehow spotted inside the door with no inspection holes - cant even replace the pins - gah

best thing to do is drill my recently ground back plug welds in the wing recess push/pull this panel out/back a bit and reattach, plug, grind yadda yadda but i CBF at the mo. im spent...

so fitted the and lights to test this ends fitment too, bit of fettling theyll be fine, bonnet will need spacing up. anyway, looks much more like a car without a void where the doors should be.

and all icy up in yo grill.

the matt finish on the front panels also seems to highlight the 'hammer head' front design which ive always liked about these cars

gave it a vacuum and a wipe down, and put it away. started and ran nice too, so im quietely chuffed.

defintley need to fill a few lumps and hollows which seem more aparrent with all the panels on! will proably pick up some bog and hi fill primer this week some time from autocolour, and will get a panel colour match from them in due course for the top coat.

my neighbour is lending me his compressor so will get some air sanding tools on the job and maybe some paint ones eventually. liking the rat look for now, but the front and rear halves look disconnecedd they are so different in shineyness.

altezza front end driving the rear wheels with a corvair rear end driving the front wheels? (oversteer much?)

looking good but:

- the front springs are too short want it to sit about an inch higher at the arch to be even with the rear - you can see there is a bit of rake, but it could be my driveway - perhaps an 1/2inch ally spacer between the rubber spring top thing and the strut top? i am really gonna need to replace them tho as they will continue to settle even more they can stay in there for a while tho - the driving position/visiblity seems much better with the bonnet a bit lower!

- want meshies to be silver - they also need drilling for the wheel posts, and the shank on the piece flat bolts that came on red oxide/wards is too small - will have to run them (if i do) with double ended bolt and shank nuts which i have, but i just dont trust them

- wards are growing on me too, but they will rub on the rear arch with the tyres that are on them but running no spacer might give enough clearance

however, the 131 steelies are still my faves and require no mucking about with special nuts, (re)painting, new tyres or spigot rings...

EURON8 who i borrowed special internal spring compressors off wants them back (fair enough!) for his/Chickity's Humber project, so that was all the motivation i needed to give up welding for a while to slap in my new setup - his timing is good as the wing/a-pillar/outrigger is all stonger than ever now.

Got the fronts in first - as i suspected the springs have ended up a bit too low (is such a thing even possible?!? ) - the lowest point of car (exhaust mainfold below drivers feet) is exactly 100mm above the ground, sump is about 130mm so is border line legal.

OEM v Compressed

KYB to suit 124 vs OEM 125 shocks

@ full droop with top hat inverted

the lower wishbones are parallel, but appear to be resting on the bump stops - i hanvt investigated fully if they are just 'touching' or they are carrying some weight - hopefull the former as there is still some give in the suspension, and in the shot they dont appear to be squished - fingers crossed, however i was hoping for about a half inch higher at the bump:

However, rear has turned out pretty much exacly as i wanted, after a bit of cursing and a lot of strainaing to get the centre retainaing bolt in (calmly loosening u-bolts and adjusting did work better tho)

reset leaves on bottom

14" 131R steelies fit well (my gold meshies are exact same offset, width & tyre size ):

My 13" Wards have a lower offset and the tyres are a wee bit too wide/baloony and will rub (185/65R13) so will need to change the tyres to run them. Suggestions on tyre size welcomed!.

Ive also realised these are not the actual 125T style ones which are a bit more angular/flat faced and have more ribs on the rim, like this:

moar photos when its not raining

tis a low amp draw, so any current would turn it on (works like a relay).

you could run a loop from the + amp power supply via a wee switch on the dash or whatevs and then back to the remote?

but, yeah, amp will always be on otherwise => flat battery in 30 mins or less.

still plugging away at this.

however my fiat time has been interrupted by servicing the rest of the fleet - the mrs corolla (oil/filter, pads all round, alt belt, wipers, rear wheel bearings), my suzuki (oil/filters), and the van (oil/filter).

after doing all this, my suzi took itself for a roll down our driveway across the road and down the neighbours driveway, ending up stuck on the level difference between that drive and the other neighbours (mean grind bro!).

amazingly no damage to the neighbours property at all, but suzi needed a new rear subframe and exhaust unbent - sooo lucky, if my other neighbours boat had been touched i would be in traction!

$100 at pickapart + some quality under car time and we are rolling again, better than before

anyway, enough with the cheap dailys already, on to the garage-queen folly:

scuttle panel repair panel repairs

then on

then outer a-pillar skin made and on

so the inner arch is all now painted up and seam sealed and (hopefully) water proof for probably the first time ever

im currently working patching the outer sill and forming an end cap, and once thats on & primered she'll be coming off the stands for the first time in ages for some lowering (and a vacuum)

list of welding related stuff to do is getting pretty short now!

alfa and lancia wheels will bolt on but they are (mostly) fwd offset and will likely rub on the shocks

lada rwd rims will also fit, but only steelies

4 stud maserati (biturbo) will also fit but you will be in a bidding war with every other fiat/alfa/lancia/lada owner

all these use bolts (not nuts on studs)

just wait around, 4x98s do pop up every now and again

- there is a set of ward slots on t-me at the moment (125T wheels)

also, build thread pls

nice work

the only surprises in that will be pleasant ones!

my mrs has a thing for humbers, me not so much, but i do reckon they have a touch of this about them

(but more rat obviously)

cracking on so i can get this off the stands and put the new suspension in

popped the rivets and cut the underseal holding the repair on to reveal this tasty sight

nice solid steel to rivet to!

which quickly became this

chopchop

which then has taken bloody ages to become this

weldweld

bangbang

grindgrind

take that you rusty fucker!

still got plenty to do, like:

- finish scuttle/windscreen surround and the wing support flange type bit

- repair & attach sill

- finish the a-pillar second skin

- close off sill/a-pillar base

- chassis repair below front bumper bolts

- tidy up/patch replacement wing

- front valance patch/tidy and maybe insert later model one with air inlets - in two minds about this (better cooling or more cool? tough choice!)

- plus assorted do-overs and missed bits

wierd how this just seems like a small list of minor cosmetic tickles after getting this far!

the end is (nearly) nigh!

what about this roller painting thats all the rage on teh interwebs?

any one given it a go?

can ya get a suitable 'coach' paint in nz?

seems to me the trade off is lots of drying/sanding/flatting off time between heaps of thin coats but using cheap material/equipment vs a quick result using expensive materials/equipment. but both need good base prep to turn out well, so...

is it as simple as the old time or money conundrum? or is it balls?

picked these cart springs up from snell springs on friday,

less 2 inches in the rear, and asked for 2 1/2 inches less in the front (which would have been ~ 1 1/4 inches shorter in the spring) but it looks to me like it might end up sitting a little more than that in the front (the spings i got compressed were from the red parts car) so i hope it doesnt end up toooo low - will look cool for sure, but the suspension geometry/feel in these is adversley impacted by too much drop

pretty keen to get all them in for a gork, but gotta finish the a-pillar first, which will take another couple weekends i think. (hurry up, hurry up!)

this is how they size up with my new shocks (shorter ones for a 124 coupe)

according to the manual, standard springs are ~415mm free length, these are now ~315mm but they will still be captive

mean

my mum had a GT hatch one from new exactly like this:

i remember it as being pretty trick at the time, and it handled better than the old boys v8 calais of the same vintage - she eventually traded it in for the newer shape but she reckoned it was nowhere near as good as her old one