1991 Fiat 126 BIS in Aegean Blue/Azzuro Egeo
Here we have my beautiful little 1991 Fiat 126 BIS first registered 30th November 1991, which after having quite a fair amount of both time (spent the best part of a year on it!) and money has been brought back to life. I originally bought the project back in November 2013 having being told all it needed was to be plumbed back together, well well... I was in for quite the journey! Needless to say it has been thoroughly worked on to bring it back into what we have before us today. It has very low miles at only 23000 and with the receipts + photo evidence to support the work carried out should prove to easily see that mileage again! The car was previously off the road for an unknown number of years (At least 10 as online MOT history has no recollection and that's as far back as they seem to go). The previous owner had owned it for 3 years and stated the previous owner had it garaged for 7 years previous and knew nothing about the car previously to that. When I received the V5 I discovered it had 5 previous owners.
I have given the engine a good running in after recent rebuild and it is a joy to drive. No oil burning, no smoke... just the purring noise of the 126's 704cc horizontal flat twin doing its magic.
I bought the car a few days after hearing that a 126 existed for the first time. I still have not yet seen another one in the flesh in person and the numbers are dwindling. They are quite the classic and can only go up in value. Always loved the classic Fiat 500 with its aircooled variant of the engine, to then hear that there was a more functional watercooled variant was intriguing. I had to buy it
.
The watercooled version does have its benefits to over the older aircooled variants of the 126 and classic 500 too. Awesome heating for one! I drove this through the dry days of winter and occasionally got caught in some rain and I was always toasty warm. Having bled and cleaned out the cooling system it behaves absolutely spot on and shows no signs that it will overheat as some owners report being plagued by.
Rear engined, rear wheel drive what more could you ask for!
Since owning the car I have carried out the following work to get her back on the road (and some just because shes worth it!):
Body + chassis:
Refurbished both steering kingpins on either side.
New leaf spring rubber stops.
Replaced Gearbox Mounts.
Had original steel wheels shot blasted and painted in Ford Diamond White 2K paint (still have original trims to fit to retain original look).
4 unused new original size wheels.
Applied Schutz under body protection to keep her well protected on the underside from the nastys on our roads (around 3 litres!). I refused to drive it on anything but a dry day and especially didn't venture out in her when the roads were being covered in salt.
Painted the wing mirrors and some of the plastic trim.
Replaced suspension top mounts.
Replaced negative battery terminal clamp.
Fixed radiator fan connection.
Adjusted wheel bearings.
Replaced washer bag as the old ones has some real funky luminous green almost glow in the dark organisms inside them. Followed by a good clean out and replace of some of the washer pipe.
Brakes:
Replaced master cylinder seals, inspected, cleaned and adjusted the brakes and handbrake.
New brake lines at the rear.
Engine + Fuel:
"Big valve" CC700 cylinder head with bigger (+2mm) inlet ports (35mm).
New headgasket + light skim.
New oil pressure pickup.
New timing chain kit + sprocket.
New valve stem seals.
New connecting rod bearing shells.
Connected up the vacuum system.
Pistons cleaned up, gudgeon pins replaced, valve job, new piston rings + cylinder bore hone.
Carburettor has been rebuilt and serviced, missing/broken linkages purchased and fitted.
New fuel hoses.
New fuel filter.
New condensor, points, contacts.
New water junction on the top of the engine which sends the water to the heater matrix.
Distributor thoroughly cleaned and regularily oiled, ensured that vacuum timing advance operates with strobe light and setup timing.
Replaced spark plugs.
Replaced the zelmot dizzy cap which was missing.
New HT leads.
New fuel pump.
Painted a few parts here and there to spruce them back up (air filter box, carb top, gearbox flywheel cover, interior handbrake tunnel, exhaust.)
New rocker cover + gasket.
Recent oil filter clean (if you've seen a dirty one you'll understand why!) + New Timing cover crank bearing.
New air filter + oil filter clean and seals.
Throttle pedal serviced and adjusted.
Recently had a new (used) exhaust fitted I imported from germany which I wire brushed down and repainted in high temperature black paint.
Gearbox:
Replaced phosphor bronze input bushing and seal.
New bell housing as the one on the car has a chunk missing near the starter motor.
New drive shaft rubber boots.
Replaced fluid and all gaskets.
Condition:
The seats are in immaculate condition, they did have seat covers fitted.
The body work isn't too bad and really gleams after a polish and wax. There is one dent on the front passenger corner which I feel would be PDR'd out with a slide hammer and some epoxy and glue tabs. There is one hole of rust in the bonnet which needs to be addressed, preferably cut out and welded up and painted.
I had many trials and tribulations with her along the way but mechanically she is there. Just needs a little TLC to really get her perfect. In particular the window leading could do with being replaced, the previously mentioned dent and hole and a little more trim preparation and the carpet would benefit from a thorough cleaning. I do have the original headlining which sagged but has been stored to try and warp it back into shape a little, I'm missing the plastic inserts that secure the headlining at the rear of the car. The front scuttle area will likely need addressing in the near future which will require the front window to be removed.
The plan was to carry on with the restoration and bring her back to showroom condition, I fell in love with the car... apparently I rid around in one as an unborn baby so perhaps that's where the attachment lies. I got distracted for a while and considered turbo-ing the engine, I even bought a spare to carry the work out on and a couple of potential turbo's... However, I have another project to complete this year and so rather than this sit around in a garage and not get the attention she deserves, I'm offering her for sale here and hoping someone wants to keep her as she is without doing anything unthinkable.
This is a rare opportunity to own an original RHD Fiat 126 BIS, I have receipts for the majority of all work undertaken and tried to photograph any work carried out on the vehicle.
Price is £2000.
Location: Cannock, Staffordshire
Here we have my beautiful little 1991 Fiat 126 BIS first registered 30th November 1991, which after having quite a fair amount of both time (spent the best part of a year on it!) and money has been brought back to life. I originally bought the project back in November 2013 having being told all it needed was to be plumbed back together, well well... I was in for quite the journey! Needless to say it has been thoroughly worked on to bring it back into what we have before us today. It has very low miles at only 23000 and with the receipts + photo evidence to support the work carried out should prove to easily see that mileage again! The car was previously off the road for an unknown number of years (At least 10 as online MOT history has no recollection and that's as far back as they seem to go). The previous owner had owned it for 3 years and stated the previous owner had it garaged for 7 years previous and knew nothing about the car previously to that. When I received the V5 I discovered it had 5 previous owners.
I have given the engine a good running in after recent rebuild and it is a joy to drive. No oil burning, no smoke... just the purring noise of the 126's 704cc horizontal flat twin doing its magic.
I bought the car a few days after hearing that a 126 existed for the first time. I still have not yet seen another one in the flesh in person and the numbers are dwindling. They are quite the classic and can only go up in value. Always loved the classic Fiat 500 with its aircooled variant of the engine, to then hear that there was a more functional watercooled variant was intriguing. I had to buy it
.The watercooled version does have its benefits to over the older aircooled variants of the 126 and classic 500 too. Awesome heating for one! I drove this through the dry days of winter and occasionally got caught in some rain and I was always toasty warm. Having bled and cleaned out the cooling system it behaves absolutely spot on and shows no signs that it will overheat as some owners report being plagued by
.Rear engined, rear wheel drive what more could you ask for!
Since owning the car I have carried out the following work to get her back on the road (and some just because shes worth it!):
Body + chassis:
Refurbished both steering kingpins on either side.
New leaf spring rubber stops.
Replaced Gearbox Mounts.
Had original steel wheels shot blasted and painted in Ford Diamond White 2K paint (still have original trims to fit to retain original look).
4 unused new original size wheels.
Applied Schutz under body protection to keep her well protected on the underside from the nastys on our roads (around 3 litres!). I refused to drive it on anything but a dry day and especially didn't venture out in her when the roads were being covered in salt.
Painted the wing mirrors and some of the plastic trim.
Replaced suspension top mounts.
Replaced negative battery terminal clamp.
Fixed radiator fan connection.
Adjusted wheel bearings.
Replaced washer bag as the old ones has some real funky luminous green almost glow in the dark organisms inside them. Followed by a good clean out and replace of some of the washer pipe.
Brakes:
Replaced master cylinder seals, inspected, cleaned and adjusted the brakes and handbrake.
New brake lines at the rear.
Engine + Fuel:
"Big valve" CC700 cylinder head with bigger (+2mm) inlet ports (35mm).
New headgasket + light skim.
New oil pressure pickup.
New timing chain kit + sprocket.
New valve stem seals.
New connecting rod bearing shells.
Connected up the vacuum system.
Pistons cleaned up, gudgeon pins replaced, valve job, new piston rings + cylinder bore hone.
Carburettor has been rebuilt and serviced, missing/broken linkages purchased and fitted.
New fuel hoses.
New fuel filter.
New condensor, points, contacts.
New water junction on the top of the engine which sends the water to the heater matrix.
Distributor thoroughly cleaned and regularily oiled, ensured that vacuum timing advance operates with strobe light and setup timing.
Replaced spark plugs.
Replaced the zelmot dizzy cap which was missing.
New HT leads.
New fuel pump.
Painted a few parts here and there to spruce them back up (air filter box, carb top, gearbox flywheel cover, interior handbrake tunnel, exhaust.)
New rocker cover + gasket.
Recent oil filter clean (if you've seen a dirty one you'll understand why!) + New Timing cover crank bearing.
New air filter + oil filter clean and seals.
Throttle pedal serviced and adjusted.
Recently had a new (used) exhaust fitted I imported from germany which I wire brushed down and repainted in high temperature black paint.
Gearbox:
Replaced phosphor bronze input bushing and seal.
New bell housing as the one on the car has a chunk missing near the starter motor.
New drive shaft rubber boots.
Replaced fluid and all gaskets.
Condition:
The seats are in immaculate condition, they did have seat covers fitted.
The body work isn't too bad and really gleams after a polish and wax. There is one dent on the front passenger corner which I feel would be PDR'd out with a slide hammer and some epoxy and glue tabs. There is one hole of rust in the bonnet which needs to be addressed, preferably cut out and welded up and painted.
I had many trials and tribulations with her along the way but mechanically she is there. Just needs a little TLC to really get her perfect. In particular the window leading could do with being replaced, the previously mentioned dent and hole and a little more trim preparation and the carpet would benefit from a thorough cleaning. I do have the original headlining which sagged but has been stored to try and warp it back into shape a little, I'm missing the plastic inserts that secure the headlining at the rear of the car. The front scuttle area will likely need addressing in the near future which will require the front window to be removed.
The plan was to carry on with the restoration and bring her back to showroom condition, I fell in love with the car... apparently I rid around in one as an unborn baby so perhaps that's where the attachment lies
. I got distracted for a while and considered turbo-ing the engine, I even bought a spare to carry the work out on and a couple of potential turbo's... However, I have another project to complete this year and so rather than this sit around in a garage and not get the attention she deserves, I'm offering her for sale here and hoping someone wants to keep her as she is without doing anything unthinkable.This is a rare opportunity to own an original RHD Fiat 126 BIS, I have receipts for the majority of all work undertaken and tried to photograph any work carried out on the vehicle.
Price is £2000.
Location: Cannock, Staffordshire
. I do miss it