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azzurro's 1969 FIAT 125 Berlina


azzurro

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poked the rust some more.

 

i should have left it alone   achuly I should have fixed it properly the first time.

p1000238lx.jpg

 

 

 

One ramp slammage.

 

Scraped out all the crud, replaced a bit lot of the inner arch and sloshed some rust converter up in there.

I try to keep it off where you are going to weld as it makes the metal funny

p1000240j.jpg

 

 

and outer skin made on the i beam with the hammer, formed and stuck on its done.

p1000241z.jpg

 

Well mostly done. Took my time and it didnt warp but welding outside in the wind makes shitty welds !. Nice to have clean steel but  its only backing for the bog really ill be slopping on the poop soon to bend it in with the rest, ive just slopped on some primer for now.

 

You can see the rest of the arch is pretty wonky already so i only really wanted it to be solid and lower or flush than the skim of filler already on it. Ill hit the high spots in the reverse curve on top of the lip with the power file (love that thing!)

 

I also rolled the guards a bit so hopefully a bit less rubbing on the wards, but its actually the side of the inner arch cutting in towards the boot quite sharply.

 

I want to adjust the front door door fitment on both sides next, which might mean some grinding, so ill respray all my patches in one go.

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  • 2 weeks later...
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while on the grinding and welding buzz I also had to sort out the front passenger door for two reasons:

1: this is rust coming though bog on the lower leading edge, and was bubbling on the outer skin as well.
Chopped it out, bashed out a new inner bit in and carefully put a section of new skin on top tapping it over to match the factory finish.
p1000258o.jpg

2: But mainly needed to shave about 2mm off about 100mm of the upper leading edge so it no longer binds on the fender when the door is adjusted properly.
This was the least-hard method (the other was doing the same thing to the fender, which would have made a hard to close hole in it).  
I put a wee bead down it again and flapped it smooth and the door fits much better now, and it only needs a smear of blade putty to hide it (and some blue paint of course).
p1000259y.jpg

I put the Wards on the front to remove the last of the hateful screw in stud extension/bolt things that held the meshies on (this is also a before of the door - you can see how the door looks like its not shut properly and the trim doesnt line up because of the mad camber i had to put in it so it didnt rub  :D
p1000254aa.jpg

I also knocked out about half of Waiheke out of the upper corner of the fender - no wonder they rust up there! :rolleyes:
The base of the door is a much better fit to the opening now too.

You can also see my new lower corner patch fits much better that the last repair... Better a bit more bog than warping the door skin.
p1000265t.jpg

And of course what shows up but a package with some spigot rings for both the Wards right after putting the rims on
20130607201910.jpg

I also got some rings for the Meshies and, some wobbly bolts 'for just in case I find some cool 4x100 rims'. (I know, I know Im a whore!)
20130607201755.jpg

And of wheel bolt issues I also have a plan for fixing the wheel stud extension/shanked bolt combo issues for the Meshies once and for all!

 

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Inspired by all the enginey stuff going on at the mo, i thought i would make a start on stripping down the original engine that came in the car.

Ive never done this (to a car engine) before so any tips welcomed! I have a few questions too.

I  wanted to see how this one looked compared to the one thats in there, that i painted on the outside only, and probably also needs a stripdown and new gaskets thoughout, so this is practice for that. Its also been on the stand in the corner of my too small garage for too long, so breakin it down into smaller parts makes it easier to lose them.

The actually engine did run fine, if a bit smokey and oily (ie no worse than my 'new' one) and i would have been happy to fit it back in and drive it if i didnt have that other engine that has lumpy cams and new pistons which tipped the balance that way.

Anyways, into it.
Head off, relatively clean on the outside.
p1000301m.jpg

But pretty coked up on the inside! Both the Inlet and exhaust ports were also grimy and carboned up.
p1000300l.jpg
p1000274r.jpg

Starting to clean it up a bit more my rag kept catching on something...Oh noes!
p1000305i.jpg
And a matching dent in the piston.
p1000325z.jpg

Is a bit of 2mm diam hardened blue steel, looked like the tip of a sparkplug or maybe the tip of a valve spring or something  :?

 

Looks like it bounced around and damaged the head but not so much the piston or valves before the sharp end went into the head.

The cams also seem to have these sections of flatspots (hard to photo but can feel them) but the lobes themselves seem smooth.. Both cams and all lobes are the same. Is it a casting issue or is a sign of something? The base circel seems like it hasnt been rubbing on the tappet surface.
p1000318m.jpg

In other things, the bores seem smooth, no vertical scoring or ridges, and no taper that i can see with a flat edge enyway, and the crank turns over pretty smoothly too.

Ive still pull the sump off, crank out or obtain a valve sping compressor, but will the head need welding up or that piston replacing? Whats up with those cams??

I was hopping for a 'clean up and change the gaskets' type thing, not really spending heaps on machining.

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Ive been pregressing the unnuesessary engine stripdown as its more interesting than hiding my bodywork repairs (bog, sand, repeat...).

When i bought the car from TradeMe, the storey the seller had been told/told me was that the engine had $500 spent on 'head work' before being parked up in the late 80's.

Well one of the cam/head gaskets has definitly been replaced, but the other one definitly hadnt (ie the leaky one right over the exhaust).I think what happened was the money was spent on the bottom end.

Maybe the car was parrked up after spending big money on the engine, and the body 'repairs' it developed a scary engine noise (thing in the head) and the owners lost faith?

The oily shiote on the head and pistons is from being started infrequently, rich running and maybe worn valve stems/seals.

Main bearings - this is the worst one - just bit of grit or something, no running wear really, possibly not even run in?
j5y.jpg
Crank - looks/feels nice enough:
nmwg.jpg

Also the pistons are Mondial ones, as best as i can measure they are 0.6 oversized (they have 6.1 stamped on top and 2127-5 on the inside), and this is as removed. Big End bearings are also nice and new
3cty.jpg
No signs of major blowby below the rings, ring lands themselves seem clean etc,

The cylinder bores while without evidence of cross hatching are smooth enough without any major scoring or massive ridges (there is a ridge just not a big one)
4ou6.jpg
ik59.jpg

So i cleaned up the piston crowns, 3 came up nice:
35wq.jpg
The other one perhaps looked better covered in oil, ash and carbon :( :
2vyo.jpg
I carefully planished the biggest lumps back down and a bit of file work followed by a wirewheel, I think other than replacing the pistons (not gonna heppen for this engine!) its as good as its gonna get.

Rear water jacket cover off :shock:
sutd.jpg

Block cleaned up, wirewheeled, rust converted and a coat of azzurro:
u0w3.jpg

After thinking about it, im just going to reassemble this with new gaskets instead of spending heaps on machining and new pistons + a rebore as its already at 0.6 over and it wont be any worse than before unless i break something, and its just for a spare/practice anyway

TBH id rather spend the same $ to get a newer/larger capacity engine, but first i need to pull the head apart to see how the valves are. #1 could be a worry but doesnt seem any worse than the other cylinders so I might be lucky.

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On the weekend i went and checked out HaymanRacings awesome little Delta as a possible engine donor.

It is a Mk1 Delta 1.6 Turbo with a blow through carb and lots of work. http://www.turbo124.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=10409

It is damn quick and opened my eyes to the performance potential of these engines/lack of performance ive had from mine.

As totally awesome as that engine would be, fitting that engine, particulalry the turbo and fuel stuff would require more pantsing around to fit in my older rwd setup than im willing to invest into, and has the addtional issues of certification for road use, which im not keen on as its not exactly what i was looking for (too much POWAAAAAAHHHH-pisssshh - Oh im gonna regret not getting it for ever, i know!).

 

TBH I want to keep it slightly more sedate and controllable, with a turbs it would be too hard not to be silly and im too crap at driving for that.

Anyway, later that day i followed up another engine lead and i think hit the jackpot of hidden Fiat Treasure, which pretty much checked ALL the boxes.

Headed home with a literal van load of FIAT booty! An engine, two gearboxes, steering column and i dont know how many other things.
5hc6.jpg

First up, a 2L late model 131R Block (131B2) with (apparently) a big valve Lancia head (Casting# 2992169),

Looks pretty crusty from being removed from a running car and plonked in a shed for a few years, but its not seized and the cams are in good condition.

 

The Weber DAT 32 carb stuck on the side is missing at least one or two screws but other wise looks fine too, but i really want the sideys to go on this.
6s32.jpg
x3p4.jpg
5dv5.jpg
n2si.jpg

I was pleased to begin the clean up by putting a couple of my 'new' cam covers on it :D
w9k3.jpg
 

i think this will also be the solution to lowering the front that missing inch :)

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Other stuff i got includes these  :cyclops:

o2ev.jpg

An exhaust drive cam box (can run the straight shot inlet manifold for the sideys), and a nice electronic cam drive dizzy (control box TBD)

bhvl.jpg

I also got lots of other cams and cam boxes, including 1608 124BC sport ones, which are the higest spec cams fitted to these older series engines

j3nz.jpg

I also got 2x 5 speed gearboxes.

1 is a Low milage picakpart special Polonez box and the other is a 124BC? 5 speed box (same as 125 Special) but with a bad second. There was also a 131 ZF box as well but needs more tunnel work to fit

With these two I need 'just' to swap the bell housing and extension from the bung Fiat box onto the good Polonez one to make an easy fit (must raise the tunnel) or Swap the bell housing only and have the gear stick come up too far forward, but could add en extension with a big bend.

Fiat (posteriore)

Polonez (prossimo)

note the mirroed starter position (drivers side) on the Polonez

0y7c.jpg

Fiat (L) Polonez ®

tft8.jpg

Some work to do before that goes in (current 4 speed is fine so no rush) but looking forward to an overdrive gear for cruising.

Also got a collapsable and adjustable 132 steering column which will bolt in i believe (EDIT - need the 132 steering box as well, but with that, it will all bolt up):

h9bg.jpg

Unsure on using the switchgear for purely aesthetic reasons only, but i bet i could swap the plugs over and it would plug right into the 125 loom without fuss.

2o0v.jpg

Also got a couple of hub caps, a Fiat radiator fan, and all sorts of other possibly useful stuff :)

Like a kid in a candy shop

Exciting times ahead!

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  • 2 weeks later...

so no progress on the 2L.
Wof is now expired on the Fiat, (rear brakes leaking - need to swap calipers, oil leaks? bah!)

and i have a 1608 in bits all though the garage.

I want to reassemble that and get it out of the shed (in red oxide maybe?) before starting on the 2L.

I have also finally asked the landlord to cut a hole in the house for acceess to this space between the garage and laundry;
h0k2.jpg

Took a weekend to make a door and move all the crap and whotnot.

thats a heap more storage 'onsite' (our house is only 80m2) so progress on a few things might progress, Now that all that crap doesnt have to clutter up the garage!

My daily has also died - this is it in its glory days a few years ago:
eceu.jpg
SUZY

1998 Suzuki Baleno GTX, 1839cc, 16v, DOHC, EFI, tein springs and K&N fitler and to date, 369,000km of trouble free motoring (i got it at 192,000km)
Finally 'died' a couple weeks ago, seems to idle ok, but wont drive, I thought cam chain finally stretched enough to mess the timing or it had worn though a tensioner (been rattly for ages). It also has a bit of rust from living at the beach and had some electrical problems and wet carpet from leak ink due to the rust i guess. Its been parked up in disgrace for the last 4 weeks and ive been driving my Van the 75km daily commute.
That novelty has now worn off.

So I bought this from a guy at work. He has owned it since 1998.
As purchased: 1996 Toyota Corolla GL wagon, typical NZ new spec, (ie base trim, winder windows, AC, and fuel efficient engine), 229,000km (just been run in :) )
v1z9.jpg
popped into pickapart on the way home - no cupholders but i did get some new lights to replace the typically hazed OEM ones
81ek.jpg

typical NZ new fleet repmobile specification, (ie base interior trim, winder windows, AC, and fuel efficient engine)
uibt.jpg
This is after putting in a steering wheel i found in the boot at pickapart to replace the rolly one it came with - camry maybe?

Mighty 4A-FE, after a can of supercheaps finest engine degreaser and washworlds finest power sprayer on the way home - it was much worse before!
gmn6.jpg

And after an inspection and a vacuum, I swapped the wheels off the Suzuki, clenaed out the ICV (high idle - was sticky as per usual) and a good clean and polish its ready for its first 5 days of 80km round trip commutes:
6g9c.jpg
5ns9.jpg
RUBY


I also started stripping the Suzuki (wheels, stereo, etc) to send it away. Had to pull the carpet and the bungs in the boot :(
 Neighbour pops over to chat about new car and mentions collapsed cat as an unusual late 90s car thing, so i take that off while im under there.

And whatdayablardy know! Engine goes sweet, and J18A Sounds super badass on open headers. Suzy may ride again!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Have since installed some nice seats from a Trueno (in black and grey) and head unit and speakers from suzi so its much nicer now. Opened up the factory air feed a bit behind the headlight for a little induction noise (probably a performance loss, but sounds better). added factory roof rails from a G-Touring (drilling holes in the roof of the most rust free car ive ever owned  :shock:), flush radiator, new battery terminals, removed doddy late 90s alarm and associated miles of wiring and scotch blocks.
Still needs suspension and zaust, but that can wait.

the mrs had a 'rolla of the same spec in silver 4 door hatch flavour before she got the primera sr20ve (which is a great car even with the M6 CVT), so i know what im in for (boring but dependable), but it is perfect for my needs - long boring commute during the weeks and surf/parts wagon on the weekends. the 4A-FE Engine is due for a timing belt and could do with new stem seals, but i may just wait and plop a 4A-GE in when(if!) it ever blows up which seems unlikley as it runs like a swiss watch.

In other fleet news, Van needs universal joints, and has wet carpet on the passenger footwell side, and more rust bubbles appearing, errwhrrrrr.

Primera needs a new radiator. sigh.

Anyway, back on topic:

1608 block cleaned up and bottom end back together:

57g4.jpg
nmds.jpg



Cleaned up all the valves - exhaust ones had 2mm of oily coking all over them with a small indent at the valve seat  :shock:
Ended up putting them in my 'drill lathe' and using razor blades to scape it off. came up a treat tho, no photos as my hands were very grubby!

Head: tidied up the casting marks in the compression chamber a bit, still pretty rough. #2 especially had very rough casting esp in the exhaust port, after the valve, tho it could be from water corrosion?
mnbh.jpg
lhvt.jpg

Cannot believe how much space an engine takes up when its in pieces! Especially when there is no room anyway!
ovbo.jpg

Really should have got new rings/rebore, but im sure it will run better than before (if i ever start i up).
I am pretty much reassembling this only to not loose any bits/take up less space/practice/for a spare for my current engine, that i will be removing soon anyway  :? Maybe I should sell some stuff instead of only accumulating it.

Once this is back together and out of the way, ill start on the 2L, as im pretty confident i can do that without breaking anything.
I would be more happy to spend money on that (if it needs it).

Next job - bog  on the wheel arch and door :(, then hopefully Wof and Burger Fuel
 

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work continues on azzurros fleet in preperation for the monthly wave of WoFs.

the offending article causing the apparrent death of Suzi Suzuki has been removed.
The ceramic mesh stuff had cracked and a big chunk was blocking the outlet from the cat.

Image indicating success in removal of said offending part in the traditional style:
4l5o.jpg

PS **** that fucking fucker. Made me by a new (not as good) car and strip sufficient bits from it and install them on my new car that im obliged to stick with the new one.

Went to pickapart and got an exhaust from a legacy wagon (2" factory pipe) and made two exhausts - one for Suzi using the front muffler to replace the cat, and the rear is the std peashooter exhuast from the Rolla. The 'diff back' exhaust from suzi is now on the rolla that can bolt off like factory.

That exhaust stuff is fiddly work and took way longer than i was expecting with much redoing.

Also fitted some NOS Monroe 'Magnum' shocks to my van, has much better handling now (has bargain ($20 incl shipping whaddup!) new KYBs in the front already and has new (for me)  tyres as well), needs new suspension rubbers all round up front still.
93nm.jpg.

However INOX/CRC on the UJs did not fix them and sea air has not been good underneath :(

 

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in FIAT related news,

have made some progress reassembling the engine:
8hdh.jpg
ra6e.jpg

the head is now in the yellow fish bin you can see amongst all this other stuff, wrapped in a towel.
Its all assebled with new cams. More on those below.
(this pic is really about showing off the new pallet storage platforms and bonus heaps of other shit now filling up the new space i made just last week! - all of this was in the (tiny) garage or (teeny) laundry which now seem spatious. I should have done this aaaages ago!)
6bti.jpg

So cams. I got a bunch with my parts haul and decided to contrast and compare and fit the better ones to the clean cam housings.

These are my original cams (two up top) and the two i decided to use (bottom two)
1f5x.jpg

They are (casting number: lift = difference(ish) between min/max diam on lobe 1):
4168702: ~7.9mm lift (from inlet - probably OE fitted, narrow lobe, worn)
4192028: ~8.0mm list (from exhaust side - probably later fitment/replacement, narrow lobe)

and the ones i refitted:
4192028: ~9.1mm lift (fittend to inlet, medium lobes)
4196856: ~9.2mm lift (fitted to exhaust, medium lobe, dizzy drive)

For the tainspotters you will note that the casting numbers on two cams are the same but their lift measurements, design and lobe styles are much different.
u78j.jpg

Ive also finished off the bogging and painted the bits. This took way longer than i had planned as well.
Peelling of masking after painting is very satisfying, even if its orangepeely.
 
Door - i shaved the front upper leding edge and rust repaied on the lower front
dx94.jpg

Fitted:
bg3m.jpg

Petrol flap that i forget to do when i resprayed the first time:
awbn.jpg

And arch:
wiex.jpg
3kw2.jpg

Phew!

 

After all that I was looking forward to just driving this damn car went for a blat to Caffine cand classics this morning.

Was sweet, some interesing stuff amongst the standard americana.

 

'new' old diff has a bit of back lash issue, so i might take the one i used/broke at nats to get a new pinion bush fitted and see if that fixes it up and can swap them back in.

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  • 3 weeks later...

2L block now looks like this:

85mb.jpg

Oil was in very bad condition and the PCV was coked up with a lot of carbon thoughout and outside, but underneath is low milage/late model 2L goodness. It appears to be rebuilt not long before being run with some problems for a while, probably related to the rebuild.
Head is a big valve Regatta 100s or Lancia one that looks like it will clean up very nicely but havnt got to that yet.

Pistons:
qi18.jpg

I guessed right - the top ring on #1 and #2 were snapped, you can kind of see a small bit of ring overlapping the other one  :?

On closer in spection it looks like the small champfer ledge on the ring which is supposed to go facing up at the top (to avoid rings hitting the ridge and you know, snapping) was fitten in the lower ring position, with the camfer facing down.

Accordingly the 2 out of 4 top rings snapped, the other two bores have a small but sharp ledge at top. I think this will be why the engine looks like its been chewing/burning oil.

The pistons themselve, bores and everything else seems pretty good and all std sized and looks near new, except this big end bearing  which is worn on the very edge like its been on an angle:
jrbi.jpg

the pistons seem to be able to 'wiggle' just a touch when they were bolted up too.
Could this be a sign that the bearings are slightly under sized (too much gap)? they look pretty new otherwise.
I think i can feel (my calipers are untrustworthy) the journals to be slightly higher in the middle wher the oil holes are so maybe its that?

This is the crank main seal - has a groove worn in it?
Also the main bearing has a slight hump where the oil passage is.
l0hv.jpg

Should i be on the lookout for a new crank or will that be ok? all measurements seem to be within spec, but i can feel slight notches with my fingernail, the 1608 ones were smooth as.

So Im giving iving up on that engine for a while.

I decided to cheer myself up by fittting the ajustable cam wheels in th emeantime, and replace the leaky cam housing gaskets on the fitted engine to reduce the flow of oil a bit.
18bb.jpg

It turned into a bit more of a mission than i thought!
cn47.jpg

THen i noticed something funny about the valve buckets, and there was flecks of metal on one
(OHHH NOES!):
idw2.jpg

Hang on. Wait what.
W.
T.
Actual
F.
5up9.jpg

The previous cheapskate engine builder (even cheaper and skatier than me!) used thin brass? sheeting cut out with scissors to build up the tappets for the ground cams instead of re-shimming. Now they are disintegrating.

So of the 3 fiat engines i have, all 3 are in bits now, including the one in the car.

So screw it, Im going to pull the whole head and use head I just cleaned up with the nice BC cams on it with nice new gaskets and seals so i can just drive it

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On saturday i got up early to pull the 'brass shim' head off and drop the tidied-up one on.
I was thinking i would just drop the other one i just rebuilt straight back on, and id be all done by lunchtime.
LOL.

Anyway, pulled the original head off, began stripping it for manifolds and thermostats etc to put on the new 'cleaned up one.
However, once the manifolds came off i realised that i should probably try to reuse this head  :D

I knew the posrts were smoothed a bit maybe, but i had nothing to compare it to before.
It has had soem pretty serious porting done, to match the gaskets, no idea if its the ideal shape or not, but its definitly been opened right up.

Inlet, ported head top, std bottom :shock:
yhpl.jpg
Exhaust, ported head top, standard bottom
4yia.jpg

Decided id better open up the exhaust manifold to make the most of the port matching on the head. Panda-eyes from the gasket to show where to grind to, i had to take about 3-4mm off on the worst bits, so that should flow much better.
jqv0.jpg
About and hour and many belts on the powerfile later (well one wide one for a belt sander cut up into lot of power file sized ones  :wink: ) the exhaust manifold was all opened up, including on the head side too. no photos but.
The next bit in the exhaust, the secondaries are already a good match to the gasket, and the inlet has already had a tickle from when i was mucking around with the carbs last time.

So now the eingine has 9,5mm lift cams, adjustable camwheels and a ported/gasket matched head and manifolds on new pitsons, rings and rebore.
h4zr.jpg
xqgp.jpg

Put the cam boxes with the BC cams and shiney camwheels from the 'clean' head onto the ported one, and matched as good as i could with the few shims i have - about 14 out of the 18 where all the same size. I briefly pondered reusing the brass sheet, but luckily I punched my self in the dick before i could.

The block cleaned up nice too, the new piston tops (ive only seen thir bums) came up nice and clean after a razor blade and a wipe, and has obviously been rebored, with no scoreing or lip!
Stoked.
g77c.jpg

Sepnt the day today puttting it all back together and tourqued up, and fired it up just before just to warm it up and check for leaks and stuff.
Goes great, much smoother idle and the exhaust seems grumblier. Its probably my imagination (and only mildy reving it in the garage) but it may be a bit less 'angry', on these factory cams but feels like it will drive much smoother. I guess we will see soon.

Im going to get a shim tool and some more shims from my 2l engine guy to set the tappets perfect (closest match from the 16 i had is not close enough and shes a bit tappy!), but otherwise i think i will sit on this engine for now and take my time with the 2l build (pending a test drive of course!).

 

All going well should be at BF on Wednesday

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  • 3 weeks later...

Well, didnt make it to BF, cause of the weather and because the engine was pretty tappy.

 

I have also been a bit slack with this lately, with work and all, and i havent got much to show for what i have done either.

Mostly I have been trying to dial in the new head - shims and cam timing/timing belts.

It seems to be good, with the new cams it idles much smoother, tho i do miss the silly idle it may have just been the cam timing on the old ground ones was all out as I had them setup on the factory cam marks on the standard cam wheels when maybe they needed a different alighnment based of full lift degrees. One lobe (4 inlet, which i alwas had trouble with fouling spark plugs) was also a bit worn and sharp on the top.

I have mostly been faffing around with shims, trying to get them dialed in just right, which given i dont (yet) have a shim tool has been tricky.

I also messed up and put the wrong ones in when i borrowed a shim tool and some shims at my new fiat buddies place, so cam boxes have been off more than once to change them around, measure what ive got accurately and order teh correct shims (and a tool!)

 

Ive also regasketed the cam boxes and used some sealant as well to try to keep the oil in them (had another big oil blow out giving it some on the way back from swapping shims) and cleaned up some fancy lookin Lancia ones, as my old ones might be warped and not be sealing?

 

Anyway they look pretty cool.

nq4i.jpg

I also cut down a cam cover - seems daft that the radiator partly drained and then remove the hose to get at the cam wheels.

This means i can remove the cover really easy to just stare at the cam wheels, adjust the cam timing and stuff.  :D

2ck0.jpg

iof6.jpg

ssjd.jpg

Shims are pretty close now and ive got 4 new ones on the way to make them perfect, along with a shim tool so looking forward to getting rid of the tapapapapapapap from the couple of wide ones, so i can drive it without paranoia about the state of the cams.

 

_____

I managed to pick up a steering box with a short shaft to suit the 132 adjustable column, so thats all the bits collected to bolt that coversion on.

tzop.jpg

The standard 125 one has a long shaft that goes all the way to the steering wheel boss, which is

1: less than ideal in an accident, and

2: puts the steering wheel slightly off centre.

It also also a pain to remove, as you have to draw it out the bottom of the engine bay and remove the sway bar.

 

Looking forward to having a more comfy and safe drive Ill be getting onto that eventually, along with a buch of other 'while im there' stuff - new dash, heater, wiring, carpet etc.

____

 

I also took the Wards off for the recent WoF and enjoying the 131R steelies again which dont rub or wobble, but are heavy as all hell.

Repainted the insets whicn i think looks better, tried a couple different 'styles' but meh.

9oej.jpg
1rb1.jpg

pondering going darker grey all over like the 131R.

 

5ktn.jpg

 

perhaps with a bit of this thrown in too:

coih.jpg

 

Anyone got some 14" beauty rings for sell?

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  • 3 weeks later...

In my latest parts order, I got a shim tool a, a diff pinion crush washer, and a 2L gasket set and timing belt kit/waterpump.

 

And finally, on thursday (day after Burger Fuel :rolleyes:)  my new shims arrived too.

With the new shims the engine is much smoother and quieter now, and I also seemed to have fixed the high pressure cam box gasket oil leak (yay for hylomar blue), however i think the oil cap and cover gasket on the exhaust side is the source of the (minor) puddles in the spark plugs and valley now.

 

But, car is still not as rev happy as before i changed the cams from the ground jobs, i rechecked the cam timing, exhaust is spot on, but i think the inlet may be 5 degrees out (too advanced) , AND the carb (godammit!) feels like its got a flat spot on accelleration thats getting worse and has a miss (leaning out?) about 5000 - 5500 rpm.

Next job it to whip the carb off (again) and give it another clean out. Maybe its time to give the sideys another chance :oops:

Seriouly pondering taking it to a shop and paying some guy to get all the fiddly things (cam timing, ign timing, jetting) sorted, as for wahtever reason I cant seem to get it dialed in as well as im sure it should be.

Before i go to such crazy and drastic measure$ there are a few other annoying things to sort out first, cause even if the engine is sorted, the car wont be 100%

___

The original diff i put back in after ruining my 'new' one on the way down to Nats is shunty on overrun, noisy and shudderly at speed and clunky when changing direction/startng off, so i pulled the 'new' one out of storage to see if it is worth getting fixed up before the current one blows up.

The oil was transparent/cleanish still (should be after only about 1500km!) but with some powdery metal mixed though it, and that metallic crap shouldnt be there:
82y8.jpg

However, on removing the head a visual inspection nothing seemed untoward (ie no missing teeth or other visually obvious damage), so im hoping its just the pinion sleeve thing (which is a common failure apparrently?) and/or its in need of some readjustment, neither of which I can do anything about myself so ill take that in this week to GDS near my work, they did a good job of sorting my driveshaft, along with the new pinion sleeve thing  to get looked at.

If that doesnt work out or is going to be crazy expensive, I will look at upgrading to a Hilux or something similar for running with the 2L in the longer term + LSD etc
___

I have also cleaned up the 132 steering box for the adjustable steering and put new oil in, but it was nice and clean (on the inside) anyway, but now the outside matches:
n877.jpg

The 2 piece steering shaft that goes with is all stripped back of wiring and stuff and painted all ready to go in when im ready.

Ill install the new steering shaft/box, along with new carpet, fix the heater matrix/controls, put in my spare uncracked dash, replace the rear main seal (and probably the clutch :(), and fit a baffled sump (yet to make) when I install the 5 speed box.

Obviously theres more than a few weeks off the road there, so ill do all that after summer.

___

speaking of gearboxes:

5 speed is same length as the 4 speed (reuse the driveshaft) and looks like the mounts will be in the same spot so that good
yufu.jpg

only problem is the tunnel, which needs to be cut and extended to make room for the extension (vertically), but the stick remains in the same position/hole and i can reuse the orignial console (i think - the special had a slightly different one):
l1bg.jpg

Happy days, all is nice and clean in there too:
2g5a.jpg

 

I had to sawp the bell housing over from the fourspeed as the fork comes out the other/drivers side on the 125 (this box is from a 124) - I could have cut an extra hole (the casting are there for it, and the fork is the same) like the one in the fourspeed. Glad i didnt in the end, as the oil seal was in backwards on the 5 speed, and is bent up in the 4 speeds, which i would have never seen otherwise, so i need to get one of those, but otherwise its looking good to go once i chop chop the tunnel

Anyone got a spare 125 Special tranmission tunnel??  :D

Pictures would be a great help too, as ill probably end up constructing one

___

And today went to coffee and classics
gqh4.jpg

there were a couple of other Fiat group cars there too
cp06.jpg
dbe5.jpg
2uf7.jpg

took quite a lot of photos of all sorts that ill upload to the thread once ive had a tidy up but i quite like this one:

I reckon shes considering it  :lol:
9ivi.jpg
 

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  • 2 weeks later...

DIFF:

Dropped my diff off last week, and got a call today to say crown and pinion are worn due to insufficient backlash, so its not worth fixing really.

Stink! Only good news is that it wasnt actually me who wrecked it, it was who ever put it together last time.  

Diff currently in the car is also noisy, but also keeping the car mobile & drivable, so my other option is getting the (unknown condition) diff from Red Oxide, to drop off which basically means I should probably strip it right down and get rid of the rest (paging Army124!).

Either way its going to be a mission.

5 SPEED GEARBOX:
Meanwhile, gasket set for the 5 speed gearbox gasketset/seals and shifter bushings have shown up, so i can put that back together and its ready to go in when i get around to it.

CARBS:
Ive also pulled the sideys out of the spot they were 'carefully put' after OS nationals, to have another look over, and to put the rest of the full gasket set in i got a while back.
h7g0.jpg
pvuo.jpg

I cant see any reason why these should not work as designed, they are in all round exellent condition,
and are also now a bit shinier on the outside, which as everyone knows is a sure sign the internals are just fine.
ynwx.jpg

However, i am a stipid egg and went and done this removing the floats to replace the needle valves:
z3tu.jpg

I 'fixed it' with JBWeld, which should be ok (assuming JB weld wont be affected by petrol?) as this just holds the pin from wobbling,
 but I am now on the lookout for a spare cover.

Ive also been doing some reaseach on jetting for these emissions carbs - these are originally from a 2L Alfa Nord, and my last jettings were to richen it up (smaller main air corrector, larger idle jet) wjoich obviously was the wrong direction.
So ive ordered the Main Jet, Air Corrector and a slightly smaller idle jet to match the factory 1.6 Nord settings (but with 32 chokes instead of 30 as fitted to that engine)

j25a.jpg
 

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SUMP:
Ive also had a go at a baffle for my spare 1600 sump, as i have oil surge/pressure drop on left hand bends.

I messed up the slot  for the dipstick, but otherwise im pretty happy.
6wzw.jpg
c7s9.jpg

Based on my extensive fluid testing (ie some water and 'white guy doing the hula' dancing with my sump), i think the 'pot' at the bottom is the most important part (for my application/problem), to keep the oil that is in the sump around the pickup as far as possible, instead of slopping away uselessly into the far corner way under the oil pump on left handers. Any oil that is over there can return to the pot via the gap on the right under the factory baffle (on right handers/straight). I am thinking of sealing up the base of the pot to the sump slightly better, (but not 100%) but not welding it, as i have only used about 6x spot welds on the sump wall itself so far to minimise warping.

The other factory baffle extensions are more to direct most of the returning oil into the pot, and act as a bit of a crank shield, and thats what other ive seen have, so I did that too.

Suggestions welcomed, as version 2 will be going into the 2L sump (which has a badly repared hole, and many dents so may receive more drastic alterations).
 

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smashed 'buy now!' on these on friday and picked them up today.

tuge.jpg

Five 13" x 5 1/2" Ward Alloys as fitted to the 125T, originally fitted to a long gone T if the seller is to believed, only one cap tho.

Also came with 6x 13" steelies, so im quite keen on making a set of widened steels from them, one day when i get a lathe.

Cleaned up ok with a bit o scotchbrite but i will probably get these ones polished up properly before fitting them.

xezd.jpg

They are in much better overall condition than the other ones I have (from red oxide), and they have much more detail in the lips and face than the other ones too.

I also suspect they are a bit lower offset and 1/2 an inch narrower, so should not rub on the outer arch like the other ones too.

Yay, new shoes :)
 

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  • 5 weeks later...

Car has ben parked on the driveway for the last 3 weeks in disgrace after having a major oil blow out on the way to Burger Fuel last month.

 

This is having a look and pondering turning around at rosebank after another 10km or so from the initial stop. Bit hard to tell but there is oil all though the cam valley around the spark plugs and smoke from oil burning off the exhaust:

 

3shg.jpg

 

and this is underneath after about 2 minutes sitting in the same spot:

rw94.jpg

 

So we wnt to BF lincoln on the way home. Cool solo meet :(

 

n37v.jpg

 

Anyways after a bit of discussion on the Fiat forum, it seems that a good mod/old school race mod is to add oil restrictors to the head feed, vasically where the cam jounal feed makes a bit of a kink in the diagram below:

 

0cob.jpg

 

Fiat twin cams run a lot of oil in the head and in my case for whatever reason (over filled oil, blow by, worn main bearings, worn cam journals, blocked pcv valve, blocked oil drains or more likley a combination of all of the above) meant there was too much oil in the head and it exits from the cam cover seals and oil filler cap instead of retunring via the drains..

 

So im gonna do that, ive made the restrictors, from some M8 grub screws with a 3mm hoole drilled in them.

0nmp.jpg

 

This will mean more oil pressure in the lower part of the engine (big ends, mains) where it needs it, and a bit less, but still plenty in the head

 

they will go here, where it says 'oil feed' which in the head between the cam boxes, which is an easy tap in the ally 6mm hole. Ill also open up the oil drains a bit internally (i wont lower the oil level in the head tho which is also sometimes done)

rcq5.jpg

 

This means pulling the head off (AGAIN!!!) but hoefully thats the end of it.

 

I also want to recheck the cam timing, replace the valve stem seals  and fit the sideys too, which is easiest done with the head off, so its not all pointless.

 

I also need to sort the diff out, I will try the one in the red shitter, as im keen to have this going good for a DRAG, cause all going well i reckon i could get into the upper 20's WOOT!

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

In other news, Ive got the 125 going much better, tweaked the cam timing a bit and went on a run to Burger Fuel meet, took it easy on the way in and had no leaks, got cocky and gave it a bit of a blat close to home, and yep, splurt.

As it was a quick test, when i got home its obvious that its coming from the oil cap. Engine is quite smoky as well, both at idle and revs, so I think that theres somethiing going on with blowby and/or valve seals.

But, good news on that front, picked up ANOTHER 2L engine and bonus 5 speed gearbox today:

Lo-rolla doing the business:
1w5n.jpg

Another 131B2 Block, ex 132, same as the other one I got a while back:
4rdv.jpg

Head, 4371507, has funny later model cam top covers ive not seen before, lots of studs and recesses
6sb1.jpg

And would you look at that, yum yum yum.
3x9u.jpg

Did not have spark plugs, but i put some CTV fluid down there before trying the crank nut, and shes smooth, so hopefully thats me sorted.

I will pull this down to check it out and regasket, and probably put the big valve Regatta head on this block with these nice clean cam boxes and unworn cams :)

I also saw this 132 the other day, first time ive seen one in the wild/not under a cover or on blocks
uwk8.jpg

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