General Bambina 1966

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General Bambina 1966

timgarman

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Oct 8, 2012
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Location
Wanganui, New Zealand
Hi Folks. Just wondering where I might get hold of a 650cc engine to put in my 1966 Bambina. I'm in New Zealand and there are still quite a few Bambinas around. But 126s / Pandas are much rarer.
 

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Thanks for responding Chris.

I have a supplier in Napier called Ant Freeman. Was just hoping to save some money and try to source an engine myself.

As to the Ozzy/Kiwi thing, I can't comment – I'm a Pom.

Now if you were French....
 
Hi Tim
If you are unable to get your hands on a 652 engine you could do what I did with one of my engines and have the crankcase bored out to take the larger barrels. You just need a 1cms spacer to go under the barrels and you can then retain the original equipment & appearence of the engine. There are other mods like Head , Carb , Cam etc, just depends how far you want to go. You have got the Horopito yard just up the road from you . Last time I was there I found 4 Bambinas rusting away. You might be able to get a spare engine or crancase there and build up an engine at leisure then do a swop.
Wanganui , spent a day there , nice place :)
 
Thanks Toshi. All good advice. Have been to Horopito. Got a quarter light and 2 speedos there. Only trouble is I'm working from zero mechanical knowledge.
Still, I've stripped the Bambina down. Doors are off, windows are out. Just tackling engine now, manual in one hand.
 
Hi Tim;
Did you go to 'Castlecliff' primary school (in Wanganui)?--if you did, there's a fair chance you got taught by one of my wife's best friends! I am in the process of (slowly) turning a 1971 500L into an Abarth 595 replica. In my youth I worked for Radbourne Racing in London where one of my regular jobs was converting new Fiat 500s into 650s--smashing little 'around-town' buzz-boxes. If there is anything I can do to help, feel free to contact me direct if you want. Shut yourself away for an hour or two, scroll through the various pages in the forum and you will learn a lot (y):)
 
Hi Mr Hobbler
Sorry but I've only been in NZ for 7 years, sodidn't go to school in Castlecliff. Did used to work in London though.
I need all the advice i can get so I would be pleased to get in touch.
Cheers
 
Hi Tim;
Feel free to contact me--will be very glad to help. There are a number of people in New Zealand who are doing superb restoration/renovation jobs--might be worth while contacting them and possibly going to meet them; the old adage of 'a picture is worth a thousand words' could never be truer.
All the best(y):)
Tom (aka The Hobbler)
 
Hi Tim, I thoroughly recommend you have a chat with John Collins of www.fiat500.co.nz John was THE fiat 500 guy in NZ for many years, and while his workshop is now closed he remains a wealth of knowledge. There is a great little Bambina community here in NZ, with plenty of helpful advice available from a number of people.
Cheers Roger
 
Hi Folks
it's been a while but engine is out and being reconditioned. I decided to go for the 600 upgrade, being the cheaper option for the moment. Maybe if I get tired of crawling along I'll look at doing something in the future.

Gearbox is out and I've got a spare that looks to be better than the original one.

Wiring is all out and I've just got the cables out too. Glass is all out.

Car is now on it's side (see pics) and to be honest, I'm not quite sure what to do underneath. No serious rust problems but I need to remove surface rust etc. I'm guessing things need to be cleaned up and sprayed but could do with a little guidance.
 

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Hi Tim,
Welcome from another (ex) NZer! good luck with the project- John Collins is a wealth of information and largely responsible for the survival of many of the remaining 500's left.
You might want to look more closely at your floor as the front box section should go the whole way across the full width of the floor and it looks like the floor itself might have been repaired on the drivers side as it is missing its reinforcing ribs.
Good luck with the project- well done on saving another (small) part of NZ motoring history!
 
Thanks Damon. The repair seems to be quite good and I can see there's been no attempt to re-create the ribs. But not sure what you mean about the front box section? Which area?
 
I think I know what you mean now. The missing ribbing is where the patch weld has been done. it's a pretty good job though.

Just been taking the doors apart. Glass is now out and all weather strip. Just wondering if I should re-use the clips that hold the aluminium window surrounds in place. All the ones on the outside are rusty.
 
Engine has now been rebored out to 600. Found a good second hand gearbox. Just fighting with the brake drums.

Car is down to one wheel and is on it's side so also thinking about attacking the underside.

Loving it.
 
Everything out of the car now. Flooring has been welded, with ribbing replaced. Great job.
Whole car has been sandblasted (except the doors and boot lid) and primed.
Have new rims and tyres.
Upgraded the rear axle to thicker ones and replaced some of the gearbox gaskets.
Engine rebored to 600 and licking tidy.
Next job is to replace gaskets in steering box. Currently can't get the pitman arm off the bottom of the steering box, but I might try to approach from the other end of the box and leave it on. There's a big nut on the box with a castle-like top which I can't get off. Any ideas anyone?
Also need to finish undersealing.
Just had the brake pipes remade.
Will soon start to re-build the underside and think about the body work – not that's a long job.
 
Hi Tim,
Sorry I missed your earlier post- great to hear the project is progressing well! The Pitman arm is going to be difficult to remove as it is on a tapered spline. You can either use a pitman arm puller or if you don't have access to one and the box is out you can 'shock' the arm off by loosening off the nut then placing one side of the top end of the pitman arm on a vice and hitting the other side firmly with a large hammer- (1 big hit saves 6 small ones!)
I would not advise dismantling the steering box and also remember to mark the position of the pitman arm relative to the steering shaft and the lower seal carrier- the position of the lower plate controls the backlash in the steering box. Not too difficult with care but in summary unless the box is leaking significantly you are probably best leaving alone!
 
Hi Damon500
Thanks for advice. I looked at a pitman arm puller but the grips look to thick to fit under the arm. There's a bit of play on the spline but not enough to get the grips under.
Have taken the top of and replaced the gasket, that was easy, and the box is out. There are a few other seals and a gasket under the pitman arm that In wanted to replace, since there was a leak from one of these. I'll leave as much together as possible. I'll try the hammer.
Incidentally, I've managed to break 4 ball joint removers so far, until someone told me to try some heat. Heat didn't work on this one though (broke number 4).
Also can't get the castle-topped nut off, but I'm thinking I'll have to make something to slot in and twist.
Once the steering is done, the re-build starts, so this is holding me up.
 
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