1991 Fiat 126 BIS (Updated 27/05)

[blacksaff]

So I got the opportunity to go and look at this little Fiat. I travelled up to Norfolk to see this car and fell in love with it immediately. It has an original 14k miles on it, with armfuls of history to back it up. The car had been sitting in a garage for the last 9 years.
Here are the pictures from the EBay advert.






So some money was very quickly exchanged and the little Fiat was loaded straight on to the trailer.

Once I got home I had the chance to look through all the paperwork and I was very happy with just how much history came with it.




So back at the workshop and it was time to start recommissioning the little Fiat. Off came the rear panel to make work on the engine a lot easier.

Jacked it up to axle stands and removed all the wheels and drums, yes drums all round! To inspect the brakes. The news is good, the shoes and drums are good and also the wheel cylinders aren't weeping so I'm happy with them.




Then it was a case of looking at the rear clip which is in great order. It has the original dealer stamps in the plates.


Spark plugs removed, air cleaner out and sump plug removed.

The sump plug is so massive it makes up 25% of the engine.

Then it was a matter of cleaning out the oil filter which is part of the front pulley. It's a centrifugal oil filter set up. It didn't look like it had been cleaned for a long time!



Here you can see it all nicely cleaned out from curse word and carbon crud!

Then I decided to drag out the interior, literally took about 10 mins!



As you can see the interior needs a really good clean and tidy. However I will see how it goes as to whether I do a nice retrim.

Hope you like it as much as I do. It's a really cute little motor and surprisingly nippy for two cylinders and 700cc lol!

[sotirisaccord]

My grandpa had a 650 Personal(Italian,not Polski) for 15 years..it was too slow but great fun!i wish it didn't have so much rust..

[k18nob]

Quirky little mootors, Always appreciated their style

[blacksaff]

sortirisaccord - Thanks buddy, luckily this one doesn't seem to have a rust problem at all. So i'm very lucky. I can't imagine what it will be like after 30mph though!

k18nob - Cheers mate I never appreciated them till now, I must be getting more appreciative in my old age.

[baggabones]

Lovely

[willemm]

GREAT love the 127's ...and also the ... minus one

Bookmarked !

Looks in a nice shape,giving her enough TLC and she will be nice to you

Ciao

[griffo20022]

Cracking little motor this! Never seen an oil filter setup like that before how strange. Is there no element or anything then??

[blacksaff]

Baggabones - Thank you very much

Willemm - Thank you for book marking. She will certainly be getting some gentle loving TLC.

Griffo20022 - Thank you. There is no element whatsoever, the oil comes down through the centre tube. There is then a removable direction plate. As that pulley is spinning in line with the Crankshaft, the centrifugal force throws the oil out passed the cone and into the pulley. The swarf and curse word in the oil can't get back in to the main supply. I'd never seen it before either but it certainly seems very clever and makes maintenance a lot easier.

[Kev]

Make sure you cut out the thermostat before the cooling system boils! Number 1 thing to do among BIS owners

[sotirisaccord]

Were they water cooled?our Personal was air cooled!!

[blacksaff]

Kev - Thanks for that, I'll look in to it as I wasn't aware of that. Are they fully removed or modified?

Sotirisaccord - Mine is definitely water cooled. Those plastic vents on the rear qtrs are feeds for the radiator.

[Kev]

When I had mine I drained the system, removed the thermostat, snipped out the insides and put it back together. The car takes a little longer to warm up but it's worth it as they are nutorious for failing to open and blowing up the system.

Head to club126uk forum, they're a great bunch. Kev.

[darrenh]

great car and very thorough job so far, i don't mind admitting (as expect most of us would) that we wouldve just stuck 10 quid of new petrol in it and driven it home

p.s nobody i know has owned one of these, not even my dad

[GT4ME]

Cool little car.

[blacksaff]

Kev - Thanks for that, I'll be dropping out the old coolant anyway so I'll have a butchers at the stat while I'm at it.

Darrenh - Thanks dude. That's playing Russian roulette right there lol. I like to play a little bit safer though. I also don't know anyone that has ever had one. I can't imagine who would have bought one new from a dealer lol!

Gt4me - Thanks.

Anyway, quick update time. I decided to go a bit deeper on the interior. So out came the carpet!


So out it came with like 6 screws and the seatbelt anchors removed. It needs a good cleaning to bring it back up. So I got the Hoover out and gave the floor a good old clean underneath the carpet.



The centre console still needs to come out for the last bit of carpet but it's getting there. So next was on to the wheels and tyres, the original Michelins would be a beautiful touch to keep. However they are cracked and perished. So check out these widea55 low profile rubbers. Boom!!!

Cheers for looking and all comments appreciated and welcomed.

[madmog]

Mar 7, 2015 17:13:34 GMT blacksaff said:

Kev - Thanks for that, I'll look in to it as I wasn't aware of that. Are they fully removed or modified?

Sotirisaccord - Mine is definitely water cooled. Those plastic vents on the rear qtrs are feeds for the radiator.

Most were air-cooled with upright engine, and the opening in the back revealed an engine and wasn't a hatchback. The BIS was water-cooled with the engine laid flat so it could be a hatchback.

In Poland where most were made they continued making the air-cooled variety up until about 2000.

I had a BIS from new back in 1990 or 1991, the only time I bought new as it was the cheapest new car out there at the time. i actually didn't understand the concept of buying anything on credit and wondered how everyone at work could afford such expensive cars. Within one week someone went in to the back of it while waiting at the lights and within a year someone smashed in the front in the work car park. Both times it was repaired as good as new.

Now I've had both, the BIS felt very much like a shrunk-down 911 that you could really throw about. Being so tiny there was plenty of room on any road to zip through and have plenty of space. Unlike a 911 you could get to the limits of the car very easily and really give it your all without breaking the speed limit. the back end jumps out suddenly too if you are over-enthusiastic. I do miss it and remember many times, rolling out of the seat onto the curb (which seemed higher than the 126's sill) feeling like I'd been in a spin dryer.

Eventually traded it in for a 750cc Fiat Panda

I think the water-cooled is a bit more powerful but the air-cooled a bit more robust. Certainly in Poland they never had the water-cooled BIS that they produced but only the air-cooled.

This youtube shows the air-cooled engine bay quite well

[blacksaff]

Madmog - Thank you for that, some really useful stuff there. I must admit I'm looking forward to throwing it about when it's on the road. I would have never compared it to a 911 but I will from now on

[dikkehemaworst]

I love them and gutted many of them to put the engine and box into the fiat 500 giardinera ( station).
Its a small lancia engineand you really need to take the thermostat out and make sure the radiator is not silted up. They eat headgaskets for breakfast. A good cared for engine goes for 80000 kilometres. Parts cheap as chips. Especial on allegro.pl .Gearbox is the most sought after so the most expensive. Good luck rebuilding the little fiat. The Bis from Stuey is the reason i came to this very forum. Ill keep track. Bookmarked

[bstardchild]

I learnt to drive in a 126 and I have fond memories of it

Later in life I worked at a Fiat Dealership and the BIS badging was supposed to be removed before sale

[blacksaff]

Dikkehemaworst - I'm hearing a lot about this problem with the thermostat so I'm thinking it really ought to come out. I don't intend to use the car in winter anyway so it won't hurt it. Thanks for the bookmark.

Bstardchild - What a great car to learn to drive in! Why did they make you remove the BIS badge on PDI?