Hi hear is my 1972 500 L . Bought it on Ebay from down south and I am in Blackpool. It was completely stripped down .The shell was in a sort of zinc primer with no rust at all and no additional welding. I picked it up in a hired long wheelbase merc sprinter, yes I checked it would fit. First job underseal and i used a two pack which I could add body colour to (white).The next was sorting out what was missing. The first thing it was a 126 engine but the wrong gearbox so on to Ebay. when I was under sealing I rolled the shell on is side to make it easier . I replaced all brake lines cylinders and shoes. I started the engine on the floor of my garage as I didn't want to find a fault when installed but it was ok. When built and painted I took it for a MOT and found the steering horrible and I could no dial it out at the box. So then converted it to rack and pinion and oh what a difference a joy to drive. Apart from a few small niggles its been great. Now what to do next and it has to be narrow because of drive.

Hi! Martin here from the other side of the pont: Rotterdam.
My Vignale Gamine was sold by Frixos Demetriou in the UK to its first owner. The second owner shipped it to Australia. I found it there after it had been sitting -probably with a dead battery- for the past six years.
Flew it to Amsterdam & worked on some minor stuff (brakes/lights) to get it registered in the Netherlands. Drove it for 25 years & then did a bare metal restoration to her original color in 2017.

In 1997 I started a Gamine homepage (vignalegamine dot net) in order to find out about productions numbers. Unfortunately, that data was lost after Alfredo Vignale sold his company to De Tomaso.

Last year, with international help, we started a Gamine register, in order to find out how many still exist. I will start a seperate topic in order to find UK owners. So far, worldwide already 75 RHD Gamines were found on a total of 530! Amazing & to be continued...

+ 500 regards,
Martin

Wednesday drive!

Before:


Now:

Well done---it is amazing what a wash and clean along with a new set of tyres and hub-caps can do to the appearance of a car

Hello,
This is my 500F from 66’.
I have it since a couple of months. It lived in Spain since the 80’s so only a couple spots of rust. I started working on the engine since it was a bit rough. Still dont know if it’s a 500R engine or a Fiat 126. The engine code is 126A000 and has a sincromesh box

The 500R had the Mk1 '126'engine (594cc) and gearbox. The main difference is the carb---the 500R had a smaller carb then the '126' to slow it down. Fiat found that, due to its lower weight, the 500R was quicker than the '126' with the same engine in it. Being that they were trying to 'sell' the new car (the '126') and the 500R was built to use up 500 bodies (never came into the UK in RHD form) . , they had to make the 500R less attractive, so slowed it down. The "126A.000" engine number is the SAME as the '126', so when you buy engine parts, look at '126' and NOT 500.

the hobbler said:

The 500R had the Mk1 '126'engine (594cc) and gearbox. The main difference is the carb---the 500R had a smaller carb then the '126' to slow it down. Fiat found that, due to its lower weight, the 500R was quicker than the '126' with the same engine in it. Being that they were trying to 'sell' the new car (the '126') and the 500R was built to use up 500 bodies (never came into the UK in RHD form) . , they had to make the 500R less attractive, so slowed it down. The "126A.000" engine number is the SAME as the '126', so when you buy engine parts, look at '126' and NOT 500.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the replay.
Yes, i have been ordering parts for the “126” and seen that a lot of parts are the same, but not everything.
I have the 28 IMB Weber thats the reason I guess the engine is from a 126.
I attached a couple of images.
One thing that I can’t realy undersand is why do I have side play on one of the rocker arms. I’l try to post a video somehow. The rest Of usual problems I have fixed.

https://youtube.com/shorts/bxxox4GgmdE?feature=share
This is the side play that the rocker arm has.

BucsaBogdan said:

Thanks for the replay.
Yes, i have been ordering parts for the “126” and seen that a lot of parts are the same, but not everything.
I have the 28 IMB Weber thats the reason I guess the engine is from a 126.
I attached a couple of images.
One thing that I can’t realy undersand is why do I have side play on one of the rocker arms. I’l try to post a video somehow. The rest Of usual problems I have fixed.

https://youtube.com/shorts/bxxox4GgmdE?feature=share
This is the side play that the rocker arm has.

Click to expand...

I'm assuming you know that the apparently loose rocker arm is missing the adjuster for the tappet....that's why it's wobbly. A small amount of play is normal.

fiat500 said:

I'm assuming you know that the apparently loose rocker arm is missing the adjuster for the tappet....that's why it's wobbly. A small amount of play is normal.

Click to expand...

Hello,
Yes, I am aware that the adjuster is missing. I took it out. I understand that play seems normal, but if you took a look at the video the play is quite large. I will messure it next time, but it’s around 2mm. The rest of them dont have this play, and I checked them the same way. I plan to messure all the rocker arms to see if they are the same.

BucsaBogdan said:

Hello,
Yes, I am aware that the adjuster is missing. I took it out. I understand that play seems normal, but if you took a look at the video the play is quite large. I will messure it next time, but it’s around 2mm. The rest of them dont have this play, and I checked them the same way. I plan to messure all the rocker arms to see if they are the same.

Click to expand...

With that out of the way, , I would say that you're right. It looks like it's actually more than just side to side....maybe a bit of rocking in it.

I would start a thread in the main part of the forum and let everyone come up with suggestions there. In my experience, it's very important for the smooth running and maximum quietness of the engine to get the fit of the rockers just right, so you're right to be concerned about it.

fiat500 said:

With that out of the way, , I would say that you're right. It looks like it's actually more than just side to side....maybe a bit of rocking in it.

I would start a thread in the main part of the forum and let everyone come up with suggestions there. In my experience, it's very important for the smooth running and maximum quietness of the engine to get the fit of the rockers just right, so you're right to be concerned about it.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice. I will start a thread.

Just about to send Little Ava off for a service at Middle Barton Garage Oxfordshire.
Hopefully they will stop the backfire every time I switch her off after a 15 min drive

Thanks for the pictures of your car---all the best at MBG; Anton knows what he is doing. Is that a cross brace I see in your front compartment? do you have 'coil-over' front suspension? If you do, is there any possibility of you sending me a couple of pictures of how it is attached please? I am fitting 'wish-bone'(aka coil-over'_ suspension to my car this winter and looking at various ways of fitting a cross-brace. I know that they are obtainable commercially, but want to see if there is a better way to do it. ([email protected])

Hi Tom yes I fitted the cross brace just after buying the car, I made up 4 rectangular 4x6” thick steel sheets roughly 2mm thick then drilled them with the same size hole as the shock absorber placed one plate above the the shock absorber then the other on top of the wheel arch sandwiching the wheel arch between, I had to shape them to fit the arch shape, then two bolts bolted through the wheel arch 2” towards the front of the car, this allowed me to fit a straight bar (clearing the fuel tank by 10 mm) to the other side at the same time. The bar believe it or not was an extruded 2 1/2” x 1” aluminium old very strong spirit level, (you can just see the cut out where the bubble sits) it is much sturdier than the round one advertised on the net & looks tidier which I would think has some flex in it (that could be good though. It makes the suspension much harder obviously, as you are connecting both coil overs together. I will try & send some photos this morning before the car is transported off to MBG.
Hope that makes some sense. Barry

Hi Tom please see photos of my spirit level Brace Bar

Well, Ava is on her way to Middle Barton Garage to give her a proper service.

Thank you for the pictures of your cross-brace Barry, and the explanation of how you made it (and what you made it out of!); very helpful and much appreciated.

BucsaBogdan said:

Hello,
Yes, I am aware that the adjuster is missing. I took it out. I understand that play seems normal, but if you took a look at the video the play is quite large. I will messure it next time, but it’s around 2mm. The rest of them dont have this play, and I checked them the same way. I plan to messure all the rocker arms to see if they are the same.

Click to expand...

Hi BB, I would advise you to strip the rocker assembly completely and check for wear on the main shaft - the movement you have is abnormal to my eye!!!
Ian.

Bleeding Knuckles said:

Hi BB, I would advise you to strip the rocker assembly completely and check for wear on the main shaft - the movement you have is abnormal to my eye!!!
Ian.

Click to expand...

Hello. This is my plan as well. After I sort out my rust issues this is the next on the list. Since my post I got a second parts engine and that one as well has the exact play in the same area. Just my luck). Thanks fot the advice