azzurro's 1969 FIAT 125 Berlina

[azzurro]

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...

[azzurro]

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!

[azzurro]

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.

[azzurro]

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

[azzurro]

working my way down my to-do list.

flatted and cut, and polished - i now know that my compressor cant push enough air to run the DA, so i tried a big pad on my grinder and it just about blew up after about 1/4 of the bonnet. So, i did it by hand, which was super boring and tiring, so of course i did a half assed job of it and the finish could be much better but Im ticking that off anyway

after that, soundz!

stole these out of my van, which are surprisingly awesome:

which are running off this:

it has lots of cool dials to twiddle and lots of lights, some that even go in time with the music, so i couldn't very well put it under the seat could I? It is sitting on the passenger foot rest and there is plenty of rear leg room so I will find a bit of black carpet to hang over the top of it eventually. It's set up to only run an i-pod (or similar - no head unit required), into the rear RCA input, and works much as i'd planned, but requires a switch on the remote wire to turn off, as for some reason my earlier 'head unit' wiring to the ignition doesnt seem to turn it off when the key is off - i bet ill forget and flatten the battery at some point .

Installed the 125T tombstone seats and my bargain bin blue fluffy seat covers to hide the rips in the drivers bum area. Very comfy and also very classy apart from the blue fluff that they leave on your clothes. (i like the cookie monster but not that much).

Installed some new blue hoses (brake reservoir and booster vacuum) in the engine bay and tidied it up again. You can see my lazy masking lines but I am planning on pulling the engine out at some stage to finish off in here, as well as tidy up some of the wiring etc. Considering putting the battery in the boot at the same time.

Replaceing the reservoir lines meant bleeding the brakes (which needed doing again anyway), which also allowed me to put on my 'warrant' wheels, which also rub less.

After that, nothing for it but to load the family up to go get an ice cream/test the brakes

Brakes where heaps better, but not 100% . This drive also confirmed that the front suspension needs sorting, so this week ill will be ordering all new tie rod ends (4 needed!) and upper ball joints, and have some Studebaker Lark front bump stops on the way - i have all the rest of the front bushes already and found some likely looking springs at pickapart from the rear of a toyota estima of all things, which have slightly thicker diameter wire and less coils (harder) but same free height as muy compressed ones, so hopefully the front suspension will be all sorted very soon.

Low is cool, but handling is better.

After that, new exhaust (current bitza bangs and rattles), screen filler stuff in and then WOF time (hopefully )

[azzurro]

have been in the south island which was lovely

southland actually looks like this!

meanwhile, received new boot rubbers (last seller in the world with some!) and a cheap but shiny mirror from europe, this is of it installed and also the last shot before raising the front suspension

went up to the storge unit mid week to drop some stuff off and pick up some bits and pieces, and went to the op shop. SCORE!

got these home surround style speakers (but they are all 4ohm ), an unused BMW side lift type jack that fits the 125 jacking points as well as the spot in the boot, and a cool steel toolbox full of old tools all for not much moneys

the centre speaker fits in the little parcel shelf under the dash on the passenger side, and i squeezed a surround one in behind the choke/maual throttle/bonnet release cables just need to get another rca cable splitter thing to listen to the front and rears at the same time now.

also installed the rear lap belts making 2 good ones from a few sets, as well as a lot of other little tidying jobs

and had picked up some springs (rears from toyota estima people mover) from pickapart and internal spring compressors scabbed of EURON8.

despite calculating that these would be perfect I ended cutting another 1 1/2 coils off to make them the same free height as the over-compressed ones, but with a higher spring rate the car sits about 2-3" higher than they did and much firmer too.

Left: original unmodified 125, Centre: Toyota Estima rear, Right: Over compressed 125

New bumps in and have good clearance, and lower wishbones are just above parallel. Test drive also shows that most/all the steering/noise/rubbing issues are now solved. i will still get all the bushes and ball joints done in one go once ive collected them all, as well as blast and coat the wishbones which a looking a bit shabby now relative to everything else.

Rides much better, not too stiff nor soft, with a nice and even sill clearance, perhaps a little nose high which is better i think than nose down like before:

also gave it its first wax, came up much glossier, the paint has almost a powder coated look to it:

i love the colour in this shot:

and one more just because (i wish id closed the door properly...)

very happy, as im much more comfortable driving it the fair distance (for service and repair) for the few jobs still to do.

They are spendy ones which makes me reliant on others, namely:

- remove blast and powdwercoat front suspension components, replace all bushes and tie rod ends (still collecting/saving), wheel alignment.

- install windscreen filler strips

- new exhaust, from headers back

[azzurro]

not much progress lately, been very busy with other stuff.

However, i now have all front suspension bushes, new engine mounts, ball joints and steering whatnots obtained and ready to go in:

but - i want to put all these into cleaned and repainted cross member and wishbones

so, in preparing for changing these over ive reobtained old blue's remaining front suspension from Testament (hes done the 124-125 hub conversion - updates or it didnt happen!) to use for refurbishment, but most of those parts, inlcuding the cross member are bent.

Ill have to take parts out of red oxide to make a complete straight set but that means that it might not be movable any more which will be a real pain - i should probably bring it home and strip it and get rid of it really.

alternative is taking lil blue to a garage to pay someone to do it all i was hopping to just pay to get the bushes pressed in.

also tried my sand blaster attachement - dissapointing as my compressor is too crappy, so might get a bunch of stuff blasted or dipped and then coated. any west or north auckland suggestions?.

there is also a small bit of rust in the engine bay that i need to get the engine out to access that i should do before WoF time. However if i do that then i may as well paint the engine bay and do the clutch and relocate the battery and deloom the bay and so where do you stop!

also, if im going to do that then I need an engine hoist to do it and that means imay as well use the suspension parts in the car already as the base, but then it will be immobile too.

so basically there is still a lot of messing about to do.

damn my small garage.

[azzurro]

started the removal process on the front suspension today,

but then on the very first (of 12 ball joints/tie rod ends):

arrrrrrrhhhhhhhhhhgggggg!!!!!!!

lucky ive still got this :

and yep, I need a replacement for my replacement. Stanley tools are not what they used to be (Supercheap ), so I think im going to get my money back on this one. You can see from the wear on the face that ive not exactly been thrashing it.

Suggestions on good ball joint seperators?

[azzurro]

Meanwhile, have been putting my nice new shiney and competent 'jonnesway' ball joint splitter from BNT to good use after work this week in prep for this long weekend (nice one JC ).

purchase price was 2x stanley one, but has done as many joints as 3x of the other ones, so thats actually (todate) 66% cheaper and 300% better quality in the long run.

have removed all front suspension gubbins, which are now cleaned, sandblasted, repainted and rebushed etc ready to go back in:

everything, except... the upper wishbones which the mechanic next door to the mrs work didnt get onto rebushing before COB thursday

fair enough, he had paying customers who wanted their cars fixed for easter

so ive only got this far with re-assembly:

only the upper wishbones (obviously) and radius arms to go back in and then everything needs to have an eye guage alignment and be tourqued up.

The front radius/castor arms are notoriously hard to remove on these, as they never ever get adjusted/greased or replaced after leaving the factory and the big 24mm nuts on M16 threads just rust togther over time. My radius arm removal method (grind opposite corners off the front nut (= less material to remove, i measured) then cold chisel to split the nut) was appropriate in the end. I refined it on the second one and this ended up being the better condition anyway. They have a steel spacer to protect the thread and prevent the bushes being over tightended and this was rusted solid to the first arm. unfortunately i took the rear nut off on the first one so i will never get a new one back on over the rusted bit without stripping it even if i could wind the bugger on. On the second one i only cut the front nut off, so the rear one can stay where it is. Ill order 2 new ones, but i could get away with just one if thats all that can be sourced.

so, anway had to make 2 new spacers in the mean time, what to do... handle of a busted trolley jack that i knew 'would come in handy one day' perfect ID and OD

ran a file down the inside too, and perhaps saved myself about $8 in parts. result.

however, without the wishbones I cannot complete the task and get it on its wheels again, and i have to order more parts anyway:

- 2x radius arms (hopefully can get some in nz, otherwise will get some drift/hot rod adjustable type ones), and

- 2x front wheel bearing kits for good measure 'while im there'

- and still to get the upper wishbones back with new bushes in (which will need blasting and painting)

so will hopefully be going in for a wof this month some time, fingers crossed, but unlikley to ready in time for next weekend

[azzurro]

Finally got all the bits needed to finish reassembling the front, (bearings and radius rods)

thought i had been sent the wrong wheel bearings or had odd hubs (woudnt be the first time) but i realised after a wee rage that the outer cases were still well stuck in the hub so no wonder the new ones were 'too big'

as i dont have a good drift and i didnt want to mess up or score the hubs ive cleaned and repacked the originals but used the new nuts that came with the bearing kit, which is all was really needed anyway as the existing bearings are still in good nick.

tis all now complete with the wheels back on, just an 'eyelignment' (have about 10deg toe out at the mo!) and some paint touch ups on the flat at the bottom of the sills that i missed while its on the stands, and a few other chips and so hopefully will be on the road (or at least have a list of what needs doing ) by the weekend, all going well.

Fingers crossed...

Semi related pic to make update not all lame:

i have rims same as those ^^^ that need sandblasting and repainting (and new tyres), which is what ill roll eventually, but this time i dont think ill black out the 'iron cross' bits, much as per this rotten potatoplop:

[azzurro]

yus!

But will you look at that smug face:

had to get a new exhaust and install windscreen filler strips to obtain the ok, which i was expecting, but otherwise testing garage was very happy/impressed. Car also looks better with the extra window chrome.

New exhaust is 2" from factory headers to a big dogleg muffler (not quite straight though) before the diff and a straight though 'mini cooper' after the diff. Has a 2 1/2 inch tip which has yet to grow on me, but im sort of surprised as its about the same sound as my cobbled together job, if a little more rev happy. Ill take a photo of it soon (before it gets all dirty) as they did a pretty nice job. Only concern is it might be a bit close to the diff.

Have been pottering around in it this weekend + the round trip to town for Wof and back and forwards to sort out screen and exhaust showed there are a few teething issues still to sort out. The car enjoys a spiritied drive and pulls strongly. However, I sense it has more to give.

The to do list

* Wheel alighnment - my eyelighnment seems to be pretty good actually, and car is tight and predictable, new bushes etc probably help alot.

Only issue is that the steering is now very heavy esp when slow, but that will be the new found negative camber, and getting used to rolling just a leetle bit before turning the wheel.

* related issue, need to trim back the steeling column plastics a mm or 2, as the steering wheel boss rubs on it and makes a very disconcerting noise.

* carburettori - the original solex seems to run ok, but there is a strong petrol smell in the engine bay after engine is off and seems to have hot start issues. Bad photo but you can see wetness on the manifold and carb body

There is also hesitation at load but could also be an ignition/electrical/timing issue

Ideal solution is twin 40 sidedrafts, but as ive blown the budget on the exhaust, second best option is a Weber DMS from a 1600 TC 132 which i have already. Only the linkage rotates the opposite way, and requires a fuel return, but i have the correct accellorator linkage from a 132 that will work, and a fuel sender in the tank already with a return from the same car. Will need to run the line tho.

* will reinvestigate ignition coil - am currently running an unballasted coil setup after previously misdiagnosing PO wiring debacles, so i should check that the points are not burning out/causing hesitation etc, and try running with a properly wired up factory system.

* engine developed a worrying metal on metal rattle that increased and decreased in line with revs, and voltometer was very jumpy (13-15V). Traced the rattle to a missing (not loose!) lower alternator nut and 120mm bolt. Alt was held on by top adjustment bolt only. That fixed the rattle.

Voltometer is now less twitchy but still not solid. I have a new solid state external regulator, and the alt was refurbed as well but there are a couple of things that it could be/should do anyway:

* considering also obtaining an AU?? Falcoon alternator as a 95Amp more or less 'boltin' modern upgrade to the 40A extrnally regulated OEM job if i stumble across one at Pick-a-Part.

* Water pump pulley - is installed behind mounting face to obtain correct offset when i conveted to electric fan, but ive never been that happy with it. The front face of the pulley mount boss has a wee hub to centre the pully which isnt present on the rear of the boss AND i had to cut holes for the puller when i removed it once before, which bent it, and so the belt pulley is both not centred on the pump shaft and bent/unbalanced - this is shaking the alternator (hence loss of bolt and rattle + wonkly output?). Its also no good for the water pump. I have a spare pulley that i will get pressed on but with the mount reversed. But this also means removing the radiator...

* Ignition switch is dodgy - wobbling the key has all kinds of bizzare electrical side effects, however adding Relays to the headlights and ignition circuits (which runs all load for these though the switch contacts!) + a clean and fiddle should resolve most problems im thinking. This ignition has a bit of sentimental value as i managed to cut a new key for it myself so id like to keep it (and im cheap).

* Under sill trim clips - still searching and pondering alternatives.

* Clutch/gearbox - seems ok, not slipping but there is a thrust bearing whine in neutral/peadal out, and GB is very grubby/oily. I think also that the driveshaft might be a bit out of balance as the stick is wobbly (increasing with speed) and rear has a bit of a wheel blalce wobble feel at same time. Could be the pillow block or spider i suppose too. Anyway, all To do when engine removed for engine bay tidy up. 5 Speed Bolt in GB suggestions welcomed.

* have a tow bar to clean up and put on for bike racks and a roof rack to pick up and make fit as well. These along with its massive boot will make it an ideal family missioner.

I also had a breakage - the manual throttle control cable (needed when cold or for driving without legs) which is actually a stiff wire, snapped just inside the engine bay at a kink. So what else but #8 wire?

works better than it ever did!

[azzurro]

So hanvt done too much on the list in the last post other than fix the steering wheel noise and fit a Weber DMS during the week.

This latter job took blardy aaaages as the action required was the opposite to the original carb and also passes though a greater arc.

These cars have a rods and linkage set up and the bits between the go pedal, fire wall and the cam box/carb is (mostly) interchangeable between models.

Luckily i have the right linkage from the car that ran the carb im installing (a Weber DMS from a 1600 GLS Model 132), but it you would not believe how long it took bending up the little adjustable rod to connect the 125 firewall bit to the 132 engine bit so it rotated without fouling or binding while also pulling though the full arc required between idle and WOT.

Proof of a Weber powered vehicle:

My custom rod is between white plastic swivel behind the spring and the black metal arm (which is actually connected to/part of the go pedal all the way back to the otherside of the engine)

Spent quite a while tutuuing with the mix and idle and could not get it right, decided to check the timing and putting my hand on the dizzy, got a nice HT shock and did the Jitterbug. Still gives me the willies putting my hand down there even with the car off.

Dizzy must have been chasing a trace in the cap, so pulled it out, and got my box of spare dizzys from the lock up.

Ended up using a later model one (on the right right) as the the couple i had of the slightly newer version (centre) were all a bit rubbish, and all the OE ones (left) all had huge end play due to a missing collar (missing on all 5 of these dizzies ive got, so i never picked up on it),which would have been messing up all sorts of shit inside the cap and the advance.

The later model one (actually from an X19) fits and runs and is very steady on the timing light - the old one hunted all over the shop. I will probably also get a Pertronix Ignitor system rather than a new set of points.

Also repainted my 14"x6" 131R Steels and got some new 195x60 tyres

I likey.

So does this guy who came out for a look:

However even shiny new sports shoes and an appreciative audience could not convince this cantankerous elderly italian gentleman to run quite right.

So we assumed the position again:

After advancing the timing a wee bit (you can/t trust those timing marks? ) it seemed to run a bit better, pulling well till about 4000rpm (but sometimes 5000) and running out of puff. Befoare advancing a bit it always ran out of puff at 4000rpm and took longer to get there too.

Ive also swapped from the Lucas coil i'd replaced the original MM Resistor one to this beefy Magnetti Marelli one, but that didnt do anything much either. I was going to put the original resistor one on, but i dont feel it will achieve anything much:

I now suspect its the carb as it surges and hunts around, runs sweet then wont idle, that kind of thing. I supect some dreg in there somewhere 1/2 blocking something up, and only sometimes. A number of hearty 'Italian tune up' runs didnt seem to fix it either.

So Ill need to take off the carb again for another clean out + an air blow, check the jet sizing ( i heave acouple of spares as well) and try order a new rebuild kit for it this week.

Its a bit frustrating as while its all legal, its still not really relible enough to take very far.

It has also started leaking a bit of oil, either from the front of the Gbox or the rear of the engine.

Anyway, at least it looks really nice on the driveway

I also have a side draft manifold and the rams which might solve my fueling issues good and proper, but i'd want a decent set of crabs to put on, so that will have to just wait.

[azzurro]

No progress on making it go better, other than getting in touch with Murray at Weber Specialties to order a rebuild kit for my carb. I had to remove the carb to check a few things so as to get the right kit, so going backwards really, but that guy seems like a walking encyclopaedia. Bit spendy, but the dude knows his shit.

However in anticipation of future actual use/missions i finally went and picked up from 73crownwagons place some roofracks he kindly brought up from nats for me (fanx mang), that id purchased off shavenyak way back in february. Based on teh measurements yak had given i thought they might have needed some cut and shut to fit properly, but they fitted on pretty much perfect:

Only issue is the original clamps to hold them on had been lost in the Yaks shed somewhere, so, i had to make some, which i have sort of done before to fit an OEM Nissan Terrano roofrack onto my Homy van.

A random Prorack fitting kit from supercheap provides the basic parts - just bent, cut and ground a bit. They are made of very hard stainless steel so they wont rust, but are a reall bastard to drill (with my blunt bits):

Also had these random stainless allen shank nut things which have been in my bolt bin for ages - fitted perfectly inside the clamp pipey thing:

Ive cleaned off the tape and hardened plastic on the base of the feet, cut up some black silicone vacuum hose to replace it, wirebrushed off the rust and painted the ends silver so it looks nice and tidy like the rest of ithe rack, just need to get a couple more bits of hardware after wook next week sometime to complete and shes all good to go back on.

I can see that it will end up being filled up with crap all the time as a storage area in the shed, so ill only be rocking them when needed. Looking forward to chucking the bikes up there as this might save me putting my towbar on (for a bike rack) which is as heavy as all get out.

[azzurro]

ended up picking up my rebuild kit from weber specs late friday so today, being a bit shitty outside, I got cracking inside.

Was not permitted on the kitchen table in the sun, but worked out well in second choice location anyway

Had some some bleg in the emulsion tubes, and you can see the state of the rest of the fuel bowl in the background, and found a few other blocked orifices as well:

part of taking it apart was to check all the bits were within spec (i used the specs for a 1600 base model 132), as ive got 1 1/2 spare DMS as well as 3 other webers to steal bits from - ended up changing just about every thing, including the blocked tubes for the 'fluted' ones on the top:

the new needle valve was also quite different!

Changed the accellorator pump and the choke diaphrams as well.

I was stressing about messing it up, but I followed this guys http://tedperkins.com/carb_rebuild.htm advice and found it all quite theraputic, key is to take your time and be organised - i had a parts tray thing with heaps of dividers and did a component/barrell at a time, and it even came out looking much better:

set it to base settings, chucked it on and once the fuel pump had built up some juice the engine fired up almost straight away on a fast but smooth idle.

Bit of fiddling and it seems to run much much better now, even could put the static advance back a bit too to where the 10 deg mark is, nice and steady dile and rock solid on the mark. Havnt had a road run yet, but feels very promising

[azzurro]

Did another job today (after making coffee, pancakes with fruit salad and cream, and doing the dishes ) which was relay the headlights. Wow what a difference!

I decided to use 4 relays (one for each light) as i had 4 and this allowed me to have some redundancy as well (each one has 2x 87 (power out) pins) in case one of the cheap ones blow. I also retained all of the factory wiring (IMO its the loading through the ignition, cloumn and dash switchs that is the problem with this circuit, not the wires themselves) and i have already installed modern lamp plugs at the bright end.

The only extra wire is between the relay 86 pin and the old fuse box outs (for switching), a ground for the relays (85 pin) and + from my fused distribution block for a solid power supply (30 pin). The hot supply to the lamps is the old fuse box to lamps wiring but now plugged into the switched 87 pin on the relay.

The point of all this is so now, the only load on the the fuse box, ignition and dash and column lights switches, is that needed to trigger the relays, which is milli-Amps not big Amps x resistance through 40 year old switch contacts that could hardly cope when new.

Still have to get 2 more bosch relays and mount them on something less agricultural, and tidy up the wires more but it works very well.

Also went for an italian tune up, to check out the state of my newly rebuilt carb, and the car goes much much better, but still has a big hesitation on mashing the go pedal, otherwise its fine.

I popped in to my boys mates place to pick up his bike that he left there the other day, (good excuse to test the racks) and his old boy (a mechanic) thinks maybe the accellerator pump jet is still a wee bit blocked or it needs a slightly bigger jet - i tend to agree.

I also think that I could maybe be a bit more aggressive on the jets in the secondary for a bit more pep on WOT.

All in all its only a minor issue (not a break-downy one) and now im happy to start to drive this around more and go a bit further now

While i was out, we stopped for a couple of shots that were not on the driveway:

not sure if i should put the shorter (by about 1") rack feet at the front or rear, currently at the rear -

I like how the rake complements/highlights the reverse wedge shape of the car, but maybe its supposed to be the other way around?

My boy also took some 'in car video' so ill try to get it out of his i-pod soon.

[azzurro]

couple vids for ya from my boy from yesterdays test runs:

this one features a cool blue car

siaSHFAI1dM

and this one has some not very sustained loss of traction and 60mph like a boss (seperately of course)

35lcC0ci7y8

[azzurro]

hanvt had much time for this lately, but I have used it in anger a couple of times, including picking up the mother-in-law in it. She was stoked

Carb Issues - took the carb off and gave it another cleanout/change a few bits to try and fix the bog on accelleration, got a bit more greb out and changed the accelerator jet for another one that looked a bit cleaner. Have so far ended up with a larger (70 instead of std 50, or the 45 i tried) primary idle circuit jet, and seems to be going much better now without having to open up the secondary all the time. Still a bit missy on foot mash, but i think it is related to the accellerator pump circuit which is all cleaned out and has new diaphram but is supplied via a ball valve from the float chamber, which i think is a bit restricted with grot or a bung/rustly spring or whatever restricting the fuel supply to the pump - however this particular part cant be accessesed as its buried in the wall of the carby and held in with a blind drift so ill have to live with it now, or at least untill i get twin sideys

no photos of all that, but there was a lot of this:

Tow Bar - Tidy up. Will be used for taking bikes up the road to woodhill, rather than picking up parts cars Ive had the bikes on the roofies a couple of times now but they create a lot of drag and i dont really want to scatch the roof (again!).

Also stupid camera battery wont hold a charge now so no photos of the car loaded up and in use or beyond my driveway, but here are some of the tow bar being renovated.

rust converter doing its thing:

paint doing its thing:

Meshies Repaint -

To make these a more viable fit, and before i bothered painting them, I needed to clearance for the wheel hanger bolts that help hold the rim on the hub while you struggle with the wheel bolts, but they also hold the factory 5mm spacers on and fix the brake rotors to the hub. Previously ive run these without and its dodgy x10.

That done, then to the masking...

I wanted to do them white but i didnt have any suitable white paint, so silver it was. 'Aluminium' Wattyl Killrust on with a brush FTW

Again no exciting 'town and around' pictures to show off the new shoes but i think i still prefer the steelies, and I possibly even prefer the meshies in gold

[azzurro]

Got around to putting the freshly painted rims on the drivers side and went for a bike ride while its not raining, and the camera even worked this time too:

the meshies are growing on me

I will attempt to put the tow bar on tomorrow as the bikes scratch the roof

[azzurro]

After rubbing the roof with the bikes a little bit yesterday, I decided to solve this problem by denting and scatching up the rear valance as I fitted the tow bar

It mounts by going between the rear leaf spring shackle mount and the floor, and has an upper hole to attach to the bumper mount overrider bolt. So, as i had to remove the shackles anyway, I decided to move the spring mounting holes up for a bit of extra stiffness (less arc of movement as the leaf flexes) and a wee bit of extra lows.

I also had to bend the tip of the exhaust down a bit to avoid any rattling on the towbar, but the SS tip covers the dirty cut and shut weld

after all that messing about, this is what it looks like on. Its FUGLY!

however, having fitted does mean i can bolt this abomination on:

only bonus is that all that weight hanging way off the end + the shackle modifications also dragged the ass down a bit more:

I think its gone down about another inch. The rear passenger side wheel was rubbing on the arch before (the one i replaced), so, i think ill try to pump it a bit with a scissor jack, + a ticle with the grinder as the new arch line is a bit wonky.

It is (is it?) possible that the diff is off centre a bit too, by about an inch to the left (pass side) - only way i can think of to correct this would be by adding a panhard rod? I also want to replace the guibo and universal joints and engine mounts. There are quite a few creaks vibrations and moans from that general area.

Anyway, after the drive yesterday, and a fettle today, I think I have a combination of rich running + weak spark (a viscious circle).

So I swapped the idle cicuit jet back to the 50 size, and i have 2x 150 size air corrector jets to swap in after work one day this week, may also try putting the matching emulsion tubes back in as well? The corrector jets are a bit smaller than what is in there at the moment, which should hopefully address my rich running issues, which have been proven by my sparkies:

After cleaning those, I also checked and closed the spark gap a bit, and ill order new plugs, as well as a new cap, rotor and condensor for my new dizzy as well, so hopefully it should be just purring soon.

Im going to go get my overriders to put back on to see if they help to hide the tow bar a bit.

[azzurro]

finally fitted the last bit of trim to the car post refurbishment - the sill trim. When i bought the car these were long gone to the extent that the holes had been bogged over.

I managed to score these trims from MF131 who had got them off old blue for his 125 racer project, but they were dead weight so were not required.

However ive been searching for the factory plastic clips:

ever since and as far as i can tell they are NLA, so I took a punt on these, being 1 3/4" wire spring clips:

http://www.rarespares.net.au/rsnz/Produ ... oduct=2347

I knew they were too big, (trim is ~1 1/2" wide) but as they are metal i thought i could make them work.

They turned up yesterday, and so last night a lot of pissing about with pliers ensued, but by the 16th one i had it down:

As supplied (bottom) vs customised (top)

fitment check (i cleaned and polished the trim before fitting and got rid of the worst bends):

and on:

I had to put a small SS screw in each end just to hold them on secure and as they were a bit bent + my wonky panels, but im stoked. Covers up the row of 8 holes in the sill and you can't have too much bling on a 125. They also stick out a bit more than i imagined (like side skirts almost) and so seem to square off the car nicely and balance the chrome up top.

I also changed the air correction jets (150's, which were smaller than the 170 and 180 in there) and emulsion tubes (F61's which were the same as before but i think the ones i originally installed had been drilled out, hence the fluting?!) so carb is now to 132 1800 GLS spec (rather than 1600 GL), and car idles a lot slower on the previous settings (which is a good sign) but still stumbles on throttle a bit. :/

However, going to see a guy tomorrow about some twin sideys and electronic ignition