the hobbler said:

To give a better 'lead' for my No. 2 ignition lead, I found a slighter longer screw for holding the carb top-cover on, and used this to hold a small plastic covered 'P' clip onto the top of the carb. I lead my No. 2 lead through this 'P' clip---I have not suffered any chafe problems.

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Can I ask what this 'P' clip is?
The fiat brackets are a bit narrow and run a bit close to some hotttt bits

A 'P' clip is exactly that-- a retaining clip in the shape of a 'P'. They come in a variety of sizes and are normally lined with a plastic sleeve (to prevent chafe). At the opposite end to the 'P', there is a hole through which a securing bolt can be fitted.
If you would like, I will send you a couple that will fit around an ignition lead.

BambinoClassic said:

Can I ask what this 'P' clip is?
The fiat brackets are a bit narrow and run a bit close to some hotttt bits

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https://www.autosparks.co.uk/electr...er-lined-p-clips/rubber-lined-p-clip-8mm.html

Aha thank you kind sirs. Can't picture how the clip fastens with the top cover screw, but I don't have an engine in my hands to visualise... something to keep in mind for the future.

If you have a standard 500/126 carb, the top cover of the carb is held on with 4 screws---remove (I suggest) the right rear screw, obtain one of the same thread/pitch but slightly longer. Put the no.2 ignition lead into the 'P' part of the clip and the close the clip around the ignition lead. Put your (slightly longer) screw through the holes in both parts of the clip and refit the screw into the top of the carb. There are various styles to theses 'P' clips, some have reinforcing around the screw holes,some don't. If you need to have the ignition further away from the carb than the correct size clip will allow, go up a size (or 2) of clip and 're-tweak' its shape to give you a 'P' with longer clearance from the carb---simples!
,

the hobbler said:

If you have a standard 500/126 carb, the top cover of the carb is held on with 4 screws---remove (I suggest) the right rear screw, obtain one of the same thread/pitch but slightly longer.

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That sounds a bit of a faff and I would have thought there would be clearance issues with the method. If it's possible then it's certainly making things more awkward than necessary for future maintenance. I would be more inclined to use the two rocker cover nuts to secure two separate P-clamps; I found a bag full of another cheap type today. This is a cleat for securing armoured electrical cable; plastic with internal serrations to give a firm grip on the HT-lead.

FER_6306 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr

But if you use the correct rocker-cover, grommets and cables in the first place I can't see the problem?

Some media news concerning Murf:

I'm desperate to tell you that Murf's made it to the Axel Gerstl 2019 Calendar; he's Mr. April.
It's an image I took last year in Glen Etive. I've just received a copy and find that he's in the company of lots of other handsome Fiats.
Hat's off to AG for their good taste and also for the enthusiasm they show for the subject.

FER_6304 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr

My brother sent me a link to the October digital newsletter of the GRRC. My brother's car is naturally the headliner for Leg 4, Route 1 from Scotland, but further on the slideshow Murf shares the stage.

https://www.goodwood.com/sports/mot...oodwood Estate &dm_i=4GCB,DVHP,1JCWU0,1K6FQ,1

Thinking ahead to 2019 I'm considering a tour of Ireland in May or June and perhaps that elusive trip to continental Europe; plenty of photo-opportunities ahead. My brother and me will also be taking on an historic car event called The Flying Scotsman; unfortunately this seems to be aimed solely at cars with at least a six figure price-tag,....so obviously I'm just the navigator in a vintage Lagonda.

http://www.endurorally.com/pages/flying-scotsman-rally-2019

Your suggested method just goes to prove that there is more than 1 way to do the job in a neat and proper fashion. I have used the 'one P bracket' system on my FZD for about a year now---works perfectly. To use an old navy expression, ---"different ships, different cocoa"

Well done Peter for getting into the calendar. One month ahead of me! Does this mean we took out 4th and 5th place

timgarman said:

Well done Peter for getting into the calendar. One month ahead of me! Does this mean we took out 4th and 5th place

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Congratulations Tim, I hadn't spotted that. I suspect that I'm in 12th place but even that is quite an achievement given the number of 500s being photographed.

Just in case you thought Murf was sitting on his backside refusing to go out in the cold, I'm here to tell you he's loving the cold weather. A winter supplement of 15W40 oil has worked a treat for starting as the engine spins even better than it did with 10W60 and the engine fires straight away even at -4......the hardest test so far this winter.
Last night, as relayed elsewhere, we were out under the stars until 3 in the morning jealously wishing we could join the LeJog car rally. We covered a part of the route after the real players had passed us and with another 130 miles today that's a total of 230 for the week. We were at The Lecht ski centre looking at the snow machine...it's still not cold enough for the real stuff.; but white Christmas guaranteed there.
The only gripe the car has got with me at the moment is that I had no alternative but to buy a cork rocker gasket a short time ago; as Tom the hobbler has said many time, avoid and get the rubberoid ones.

Peter, I have a spare 'rubberoid' rocker-cover gasket---would you like me to post it to you? If I can get it away in the next couple of days, I may not have to use the bearded man with a sleigh!

the hobbler said:

Peter, I have a spare 'rubberoid' rocker-cover gasket---would you like me to post it to you? If I can get it away in the next couple of days, I may not have to use the bearded man with a sleigh!

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That's very kind of you Tom, (but you'll eventually need it yourself). I've found an unused one in my "stores department"......it was there all along.:bang:
Next time I place an order with a supplier I'm going to get a few of them. For things like this I miss the days I could go down to see Andy at the local Fiat dealership in Preston and could pick up any service part on the spot.

PS. When I came home this afternoon I removed the newly fitted cork gasket from the top of my rebuilt gearbox and replaced it with my favourite foolproof sealant.

I replaced the rocker gasket and found that the cause of the leak wasn't primarily because it is made of cork. The reason was that the gasket had shifted as the cover was being tightened down originally....rookie mistake! Having said that, in comparison with the one I have replaced it with, the cork gasket is slightly narrower in its bearing surface and in overall size is a bit bigger than the ruberoid one; it would be more likely to flop out of place.

FER_0127 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr

I think this is more likely with the cork because it naturally distorts quite easily. I've made doubly sure that the new one is centralised as possible and used a bit of sealant in an attempt to stick it in the right place. But it's tricky with the engine in the car as you can't see around the back. I think some types of car have locating tabs or studs in order to avoid this sort of thing. Lesson learned and also, to be on the safe side I used new nyloc nuts just in case it had slightly come loose.

It's been such a good Christmas day with dry and un-salted roads so we decided to spin over to Rosemarkie, which is a pretty little seaside village in an area called The Black Isle. There were no particular scenic locations accessible too the car and in each place we parked I ended up having detailed conversations with random car fanatics who were also out for some seasonal fresh air. One woman was definitely prompted to up the ante on a long held desire to own a Fiat 500.
This may have been the final journey on the current gearbox as I'm hoping to fit the replacement one this week.

Since replacing the rocker gasket I've seen a UK supplier selling a gasket which they claim is superior and yet it is cork-based. I wish Fiat had designed that area a little better because I had to nip the rocker-cover nuts up the other day because of a slight weepage of oil; I am always very cautious with the nuts as am aware that it's easy to cut through the gasket if the nuts are over-tightened.

Anyway, the car is working well and I've covered about 200 miles with the replacement gearbox; so that feels settled in now. We're into the grim, grey side of winter weather now, so the local scenery all looks flat and dismal. But I took this picture when we came across an unusual situation on a very minor road which I hadn't been down before; I had to do my own opening and closing of the gates on a railway crossing.

fiat500 said:

Since replacing the rocker gasket I've seen a UK supplier selling a gasket which they claim is superior and yet it is cork-based..........

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In my past.... when running a Lots of Trouble Usually Serious... as they were known by those with little knowledge.. I was told by an old guy that Mr Chapman was a fine engineer and when they designed things at Hethnel they knew what they were doing and modern sealants etc were of little use with old style cork and paper gaskets...
I remember a product called Wellseal that was used on cork and paper gaskets it literally glues the parts together with the paper or cork taking out any imperfections in the surfaces.... and the cork also allowing for expansion...
and a well built lotus engine never leaked oil....

So could leaks and such be a case of using the wrong "modern" gasket sealers?

perhaps over the years I have started doing things "the proppa way" they didn't list torque values for fun... and tightening something up till "yeahh that feels tight enough" is no longer done..

Bigvtwin996 said:

So could leaks and such be a case of using the wrong "modern" gasket sealers?

perhaps over the years I have started doing things "the proppa way" they didn't list torque values for fun... and tightening something up till "yeahh that feels tight enough" is no longer done..

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There's not always a need to supplement or replace a gasket on a Fiat 500 using any kind of goo, but when I do use it, the modern stuff is king.

There are applications where I have found the same type of goo is as good as using the original gasket and in some case more reliable, but never worse. It's just that the rocker-cover has that narrow swage on the mating surface and needs a thick gasket in order that this pressing can bed-in.

I use a torque-wrench on internal engine components which are precise and free moving, but the rocker-cover doesn't have torque-value, presumably because the cover still has some "give", even when tight.

After a bad experience with a suspension bolt when I stripped the thread because the torque-wrench never felt a resistance point, I decided that there was still a place for for the touchy-feely, instinctive method; trouble is that neither approach is ideal for the rocker-cover.:bang:

I put the rocker-gasket through its leak-free paces today with a 170 mile round-trip to Gairloch, on the west-coast. Halfway there I took a photo from a famous vantage point where Queen Victoria stopped to get her first view of Glen Docherty and down to Loch Maree; I hope she had a better day than this.

On the way back I pushed things a little and from my smartphone app I achieved a momentary top speed of 72.3mph..... a new personal best.

fiat500 said:

I put the rocker-gasket through its leak-free paces today with a 170 mile round-trip to Gairloch,......... a new personal best.

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Just want to double check... that 170 milies..
not 1.7.0 nor 17.0 miles?