As I am getting on a bit in years, have always run and restored classic cars and this being my second incarnation with a Fiat 500, I feel very confident to repair my own car. I am delighted when a little advice can help a fellow owner to overcome a problem.

Although there are certainly people around here with a more detailed knowledge of the foibles of the 500, I know the basics very well and whenever I make suggestions or explanations I take care to make sure that these are based on real experience of the car.

Just lately there have been a couple of times where subsequent to being offered advice from others and from me, some members have experienced issues which may have been related to their attempts to carry out maintenance or repairs.

I am becoming more reluctant to advise since I don't want to mess things up for people. Maybe we should all start contributing to the "Guides" section as problems get asked about, where our advice could be easily seen and added to or corrected?
https://www.fiatforum.com/500-classic-guides/

Now that is an excellent idea, there are many sections of this forum which contain a wealth of information but very few guides. As these cars get even more rare the need for accurate guides will become essential.

Great idea Peter,
It really helps others to have a good guide to follow as Haynes manuals can be a little misleading and poor photos. Although I understand your issues around giving advice to possible novices and this could lead to possible accidents, you are not responsible. If the person carrying out the work is not qualified or experienced then they should make sure their repairs are carried out properly by a mechanic before using the vehicle.
However the only way others can learn is by having a go! That's pretty much how I learnt to repair vehicles and led me to find out as much as I can about repair methods. At least this 500 section seems to have some very sensible & helpful people sharing their experience.

Yeah I am pretty much with Sean on this one. I only advise people on things I have experienced myself and know how to resolve. I wouldn't go advising anyone on upgrades like brakes or engine upgrades that I have no knowledge of, hence I don't post on them.

If I have an issue that I haven't come across before I usually search on this forum or the Fiat 500 UK club for keywords related to that issue and normally you will find someone else who has experienced it and a possible solution.

Its really down to each individual owner to know their own capabilities and if they don't feel confident they should seek professional help. Although TBH there aren't really many garages around that you can turn to that you could say confidently they will know much about the workings or a classic 500.

Having said that I used to use a 500 specialist 20 years ago (that still exist) before I knew much about the 500 and since then I have discovered that some of the work they carried out on my engine was not up to the standard that I would expect. I am very meticulous though in everything I do in any engineering sense, it's just the way I was trained.

Vitesse said:

Having said that I used to use a 500 specialist 20 years ago (that still exist) before I knew much about the 500 and since then I have discovered that some of the work they carried out on my engine was not up to the standard that I would expect. I am very meticulous though in everything I do in any engineering sense, it's just the way I was trained.

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At the risk of completely contradicting myself, for many of us, doing it yourself is the only way to go for lots of reasons.

fiat500 said:

At the risk of completely contradicting myself, for many of us, doing it yourself is the only way to go for lots of reasons.

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Yeah but we are both old gits that have been around these cars for years.

You could setup "Nairn Classic Fiat 500 Solutions" but I suspect you would only have one customer.:idea:

Vitesse said:

You could setup "Nairn Classic Fiat 500 Solutions" but I suspect you would only have one customer.:idea:

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Yes, I desperately need that "new" wreck. At the moment I'm finding myself trying to work out why the gearlever gaiter fixing collar makes a rattle at speed..I mean, why would that matter in a 500?

I need some proper rust and corrosion and quickly...

Little knowledge can be a bad thing, but it is also the starting point for a lot of knowledge.

When I did my car up 30 years ago, I had no idea. I wish back then I had the ability to tap into the wealth of knowledge that this forum provides now. Sometimes you just need to be pointed in the right direction to start.

Now,when I push or pull or turn something, my minds eye can picture what is happening along the line of that action. When I hear a noise or rattle I can think through what it might be because I have stripped the car a couple of times. This simple detail I can pass on.

Others have a knowledge that goes waaaaaay past this and again is borne out from experience. These guys know the very technical detail like the precise workings of a kronkle valve and what the optimum working temp is, or how the carby works when you change the tharnak volume. Have a look at the nature of all the responses from Chris (aka bambino). He is a prime example of providing terrific input on both a practical, technical and even theoretic level.

I have had hot start issues and resolved them. Ask me how and I still have my doubts because normally if you do the same series of end to end checks 5 times and it doesn't work but on the 6th time it does it is a difficult to say with confidence what the fix was. I therefore try and steer clear of providing advice on that matter. Ask me about door handle angles though and I will be in my element...

The recent advice given to lubricating the distributor was pretty well correct and a simple task in itself. I suspect if Chris (aka christopolous) went through the process all should have been OK. Now our challenge is to help get the car going again. When we do, the knowledge base that Chris has will have gone up a notch. Who knows, he may find that he touched something that was on the brink of causing an issue anyway?

Ultimately it is up to all of us to put a reasonable response forward in good faith and the reader to look at the sum of our responses and determine if he or she is comfortable going down a particular path. I think as a group we are pretty good at that.

Joe R

Good post Joe.

I think we are very good as a group passing on our experience. There are things I have learnt from yourself on your rebuild that benefited me on my refurb. I can recall one in particular about the fuel pipe entering the engine bay and how much copper pipe should be left before the rubber pipe to the fuel pump is added and others on brake pipes.

We all love the 500 and our collective knowledge can only help others going forward. I must admit there are times when I would love to jump in a car, plane or train and see if I can help out others with problems but in reality we all know that's not possible, so we have to do our best from afar.

It's quite interesting though as the impression I get is that a lot of the guys who post on here are 40+ or 50+ and have some nostalgic memory of the 500 in its heyday?

Some good commonsense replies there to put my mind at rest...particularly Joe R. Even so I think I might stop and reflect a bit longer now, especially when replying to questions about those mysterious, long-running, nebulous sorts of problems that could be one of many or possibly a combination of things.

Off to Barcelona now and I know there's at least one Fiat 500 to look out for.

All of the advice I have gotten on this forum, such as advice you have provided me Peter has been incredibly useful. Any advice or ideas on troubleshooting and maintenance is infinity better than none, and pouring through pages and pages of dry documentation is not always easy, that's where the forum shines, being able to ask directly for advice or search for past conversation on similar issues.

There is a ton I've learned about cars and engines from here. I've learned to rebuild a carburetor and a starter motor, with my fore into distributors being my latest fun. Eventually I'll be dabbling with ignition timing. Not being a mechanic or gearhead, there is no way I'd be able to accomplish any of that without an active forum of experienced 500 owners. Breakdowns are my own responsibility and own risk. I must say there is no better car to learn about cars than a 500.