Abarth Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Hey, 1. Check the firing order. 2. Check the accelator pumps are pumping petrol down the throttles. Get a small mirror and a torch so you can see down the throttle and push down on the throttle. You should see petrol squirt into the throttle. 3. Check the balance between the two carbs and the adjustment on the idle screws. My engine gets well grumpy when these screws adjust themselves. Cheers Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azzurro Posted December 10, 2012 Author Share Posted December 10, 2012 cheers chris, there is no point doing anything more untill i sort the compression issues out. Ill pull the head off and have a visual, and go from there. if the valves have recessed or maybe bent or something ill put the other engine in, if they just need new shims, then ill do that. Any suggestions for fiat workshops in auckland that would have shims and the tool? in other news, received some cheap NOS stuffs i found on ebay today, bonnet catch, side repeater and a cromodora boot lock, with keys - now noone can steal my battery! shipping was over half the cost Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abarth Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Sounds like the valves in number 4 are being held slight open with no gap between the shim bucket and cam. Giving the lowish compression reading. It should still run with that compression. Those head bolts are torque to yield too meaning they streach when reaching their correct torque. Ie can only use once, well properly anyways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
77magnum13hundy Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 unbolt the plugs and line then up connected to the leads (earthng them out of corse) and wind it over just to see if the are firing in sequence, 1342 or whatever it may be. Then take off rocker covers and check what the cams / valves are doing vs the pistons position, as inlet closes and exhaust opens etc vs the distributor spinning direction, where the rotor ends up, each 90 degrees should meet up near a point on the dizzy cap... tdc = no. 1 . turn by hand even just to see which cylinder is doing what at any particular time compared to the cams. You wont get a tru compression test if it isnt warm. If the valves are out or bent they'l sound like a sewing machine, but for my 2c's it should at least fire up. Did you mention theplugs are wet? you probly arent far off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abarth Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 I can come have look if you like? From the pic's it should run. I know a little bit about these engines haha. Italian Autos will have the shiming tool you are after. If you know Stacey he has one too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azzurro Posted December 11, 2012 Author Share Posted December 11, 2012 Thanks guys, Chris you are most welcome to come and tinker - i look at it too and ponder the unfariness of having a nice looking engine that doesnt go as good as its show. Compression test is more to see cylinder relativity rather than absolute, but the higher figures are what i would expect to see in a std Twink. i think 4 is definitly being held open, 3 and maybe 2 are as well, and all the cleances are below spec. Dont know if this is from valve recession, poor shim set up by PO, or bent valves. Car is in disgrace at the mo, but here is my plan of attack (panding the sourcing of shims and the tool) 1- increase spark gap a bit (currently 0.5, which is factory, but may need bigger gap for fatter spark, max is 0.9, ill try 0.7) 2- recheck firing order/timing 3- check accelorator pump/settings try to start. 4- try other carb/manifold try to start 5- take head off, check looks ok, if yes take to a shop, if no swap engines If i could get a box of shims and the tool, id set them all properly first and then do the rest of the list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abarth Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 Sweet man, I'm free tomorrow if you havent got it running already. Give me a PM when your free. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lincooln Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 This may have been asked, but I am not reading 5 pages. I need a head gasket set, cambelt, water pump, etc for one of these motors, where did you get yours and where do you reccomend? cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azzurro Posted December 16, 2012 Author Share Posted December 16, 2012 Thanks to Chris (Abarth) for coming over Saturday and getting this beastie running dissy was 180deg out (firing 1 when should have been 4), opened up spark plug gaps to .75, adjusted the time a bit, balanced the carbs up much better. Super stoked it was just something simple in the end and not fatal (yet!) Alternator is now dead (wont run without jumper leads) and need a new battery, but she runs, and like an angry bag of bees too needs, -new/spare battery, -find working alt/voltage reg in spares, -bleed brakes - fit air filters, - wof... I will try to get the family to BF meet Wednesday Lincooln, Mal @ www.fiatparts.co.nz should have what you need, OEM quality bits. or if you know what you need, need quite a bit (to make postage worth while), and can match your engine to the US Spider model years, then these guys are pretty good. www.autoricambi.us. Dollar is high at the mo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dell'orto Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Good to see it almost there! Need video clip of full noise on the motorway or something Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vintage Grumble Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 My golly you get shit done! Its looking and sounding awesome! Jolly good work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azzurro Posted December 30, 2012 Author Share Posted December 30, 2012 Cheers chaps, pulled the plugs today, one with a touch of wet (petrol + oil) fouling the other 3 with dry carbon fouling, cleaned em and back in and it starts and runs fine, so thats nice i guess. fiddled with the carbs some more to even up the vacuum as best i could by ear, and also lean the idle mix right back (2 1/2 turnsish on the idle bypass screw), seems much happier/smoother now. Have Fiat Nationals at Hampton Downs on the weekend of the 5th & 6th of January that i want to attend (the Saturday), will take some spare plugs i think! Anyone else going along? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ul9601 Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 This may have been asked, but I am not reading 5 pages. I need a head gasket set, cambelt, water pump, etc for one of these motors, where did you get yours and where do you reccomend? cheers i get most of my stuff (new, like head gasket set or used) from italian auto at otahuhu auckland. if i cant get stuff there i go elsewhere but they are local and reasonable in price. ask for glen(n?). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ul9601 Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 i see x 3 125 parts cars came up on trademe. x 2 from that place i had a look in hunua - funny that fellow bought them, taking them down all the way to tauranga and selling them within a few months. hope he cleaned up the car, they were absolutely filthy, covered in bird poo and sitting amongst horse poo etc etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lincooln Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 i get most of my stuff (new, like head gasket set or used) from italian auto at otahuhu auckland. if i cant get stuff there i go elsewhere but they are local and reasonable in price. ask for glen(n?). Cheers for the tip. I have now sorted my parts i needed through various sources. Had to get a couple of things from fiat parts NZ, they seemed well priced and friendly enough too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ul9601 Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 Cheers for the tip. I have now sorted my parts i needed through various sources. Had to get a couple of things from fiat parts NZ, they seemed well priced and friendly enough too. i think mal does have a lot of body parts etc and - italian auto will probably just do stock parts (mainly mechanical stuff) rather than aftermarket fancy stuff, im guessing. i'll have a read at your build writeup, looks interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azzurro Posted January 14, 2013 Author Share Posted January 14, 2013 ha, tempting to 'upgrade' my present parts car to something that is more likely to both yield useful parts and made mostly out of metal. Looks like he is making a move overseas. Not sure if doing a 125 resto or mining in Aussie is harder work. Lincooln good you found what you needed, Fiat twin cam era engine/drivetrain parts are pretty readily avaliable ive found, its the body type stuff thats a problem, which is dumb as those are the bits that need repairing/replacing the most. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneo Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 I have a carb balancing tool for my carbs if you want b to use it but IO will need to get ur back fro down south Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lincooln Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 Hey man, I need to re set the valve clearances again on my motor and I was wondering how it is best to go about it? Thought I may as well ask you as you probably have real world experience Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azzurro Posted January 19, 2013 Author Share Posted January 19, 2013 I have a carb balancing tool for my carbs if you want b to use it but IO will need to get ur back fro down south Hey man good to see you today, be much keen on a hoon with that carb tool, ill pm you you to discuss further - happy to pay postage etc + beer tokens Hey man, I need to re set the valve clearances again on my motor and I was wondering how it is best to go about it? Thought I may as well ask you as you probably have real world experience Sorry bro, this i have not done - the Fiat Twin Cam uses a shim on bucket setup (set and forget) rather than an adjustable nut type thing and you need a special tool (or a specially bent screwdriver) and a box of shims.to swap in/out to gain the correct cleances neither of which i have. I may have a guy lined up to do mine for me but i need to take my car to him he wont lend his tools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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