After fitting the new engine and gearbox, I had real fun lining up the gear linkage for each gear. If I moved it forward enough to get 1 & 3 ok, 2 & 4 were not clean enough for my linking and vice versa. Anyway, I finally found a point further forward where all gears were acceptable. However, to refit the centre console properly, I had to move the handbrake lever forward too on its adjusters.

Not good, as this required pulling off the handbrake cables and re-adjusting back the nuts and bolts through several applications of underseal on the bolt threads. Anyway, I finally had this all adjusted, and it was worthwhile as the handbrake cables have plenty of adjustment possible in the future, whereas they had very little before.

So, I jumped in, started it up and on the driveway I could select all gears, except reverse wasn't consistent. So start again , seats out carpet up, more adjusting and this time I often couldn't even select reverse. After checking everything over again, and giving up with the resignation of pulling the engine and gearbox again (it had all ready been out for a little bodywork adjustment for the exhaust) I decided to take it for a spin and see how the engine was running at speeds higher than the driveway and also gears 1-4.

So I went for a quick 15 min test drive. Everything seemed generally ok, the gear changes were not as crisp as I'd like and just before home I noticed that 2nd gear wasn't engaging as good as it should. So on the driveway, I thought I'd have a final go at selecting reverse. Again no joy, and as I was cycling through the rest of the gears, again I couldn't select 2 and 4 well and then suddenly the lever became very loose. A quick look underneath showed this...





It's actually come away on both sides. So I've ordered a new part. I thought I'd try Middle Barton in the hope that it's better quality than the replacement. Unfortunately, I can't fit the original as I binned that when I took the original engine and gearbox out as the rubber was looking perished.

A bit of a pain as I've finished everything else on the car and I was hoping to spend the weekend enjoying the car. Hopefully the replacement will arrive on Tuesday, and I can have a quick blast again that evening.

cheers, Steve

Doesnt bode well for me. I too have got a new one to fit and have binned the old one!

Well I have never seen one of those that fell apart totally. Plenty of good used ones here if you are nervous about new ones
I can't see from the picture but do you have the sprung shim washers under the bolt heads? Also do you know what the condition of the gear change lever box is like? When the rod support bushes break down it make gear selection difficult. Re new parts just over a year ago I rebuilt 3 gearboxes which have been stored indoors since then. I noticed last week that the new drive shaft gaiters had split without even being moved

Steve, that's a bit that makes me nervous as it let me down once "back in the day". they go soft with the gear-oil. I have a brand new one that I didn't use because the original looked so good; pity you don't live round the corner. That is the main reason why I like to stick to my original bits where possible...they are designed to last.
I am sure that you have the special bolts and washers in place to connect that linkage and that it is free to swivel at both points. But it is worth checking that it is fully independent to move.

PS. I also had to replace a gaiter for the gearbox after only a few thousand miles. The replacement one from Ricambio International was fairly expensive and looks no different but I am assured is top quality and made by Pirelli.

Paolo66 said:

Doesnt bode well for me. I too have got a new one to fit and have binned the old one!

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Hopefully this is just a one off and you'll be ok.

Toshi 975 said:

Plenty of good used ones here if you are nervous about new ones
I can't see from the picture but do you have the sprung shim washers under the bolt heads? Also do you know what the condition of the gear change lever box is like? When the rod support bushes break down it make gear selection difficult. Re new parts just over a year ago I rebuilt 3 gearboxes which have been stored indoors since then. I noticed last week that the new drive shaft gaiters had split without even being moved

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Yes I used the correct bolt and spacer, just changed out the nylocs for new. I made sure there was free movement, and as you can see in the pic both sides have drooped down as it has detached.

The gear shaft and bushes seem good. The movement is smooth, there is no movement or free play in the bulkhead bush and the gearchange was good with previous engine and box.

I can see that in storage they might do that, unless connected or weight supported, the driveshafts droop quite a bit and crease up the gaiter and you can see this splitting over time when stored. Very annoying.

fiat500 said:

Steve, that's a bit that makes me nervous as it let me down once "back in the day". they go soft with the gear-oil. I have a brand new one that I didn't use because the original looked so good; pity you don't live round the corner. That is the main reason why I like to stick to my original bits where possible...they are designed to last.
I am sure that you have the special bolts and washers in place to connect that linkage and that it is free to swivel at both points. But it is worth checking that it is fully independent to move.

PS. I also had to replace a gaiter for the gearbox after only a few thousand miles. The replacement one from Ricambio International was fairly expensive and looks no different but I am assured is top quality and made by Pirelli.

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Yes it was free to swivel. Earlier today, I took the linkage off clamped it up in a vice and drilled it through to fit an 8mm bolt. Reconnected it and I could select all gears cleanly. So I'm pretty confident that when new part arrives I should be ok. I'll just have to be patient.

Thanks for the offers of parts from both of you. Greatly appreciated.

cheers, Steve

This is why you don't order from UK suppliers ....

So I order the gear linkage from middle barton...



Good shipping as it arrives by 1st class post, however, unlike pic it doesn't come with the new fixings too. So effectively I get the same part as I previously ordered from Axel, but at £13.20 not €2.60 a 695% mark up. I had expected to at least get the €4.60 equivalent from Axel with fixings at this price!

At the same time I ordered the engine cover heat shield, expecting the metal one pictured, as I thought it would look better than the cheapo green heat shield already on the car. (Vain I know )



Guess what arrives? Yes the cheapo green one that I already have and available new from Axel at €4.30, not the metal one (€14 from Axel) shown in their pic. Aaaarghh :bang:

At least I got the part that can get the 500 running again. Hopefully the last part was a one off, as it seems by MB shipping this one that there isn't a better quality part available. I also just looked on Malo SPA's site, as they normally supply better quality bushes etc. for the 500, but surprisingly they don't supply this part, just the gear linkage bulkhead bushes. So again, I assume from this there is not a better quality version available.

cheers, Steve

Since these repro parts rarely have packaging, it's impossible to know if they are from a common source. Hence there is no opportunity to compare quality, if there actually are different qualities.
The Austin club that I belong to had to take out liability insurance for the pattern parts they produce. I never see any guarantee or liabilities being offered by any UK or other EC company.
I think they reckon we are just grateful that the parts exist at all.

fiat500 said:

Since these repro parts rarely have packaging, it's impossible to know if they are from a common source. Hence there is no opportunity to compare quality, if there actually are different qualities.
The Austin club that I belong to had to take out liability insurance for the pattern parts they produce. I never see any guarantee or liabilities being offered by any UK or other EC company.
I think they reckon we are just grateful that the parts exist at all.

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I've noticed that some seem to have a common 7 or 8 digit part no. XX.XXX.XX or XXX.XXX.XX which would suggest a common distributor in Italy. For example the gear linkage that just arrived has 220.101.01 written on in marker pen. I've seen similar format stamped on suspension parts, on boxes etc.

I've also just had a response from Middle Barton, saying that they picked the wrong parts and are posting the correct ones today. So hopefully tomorrow I'll see what arrives instead.

cheers, Steve

stevehg said:

I've also just had a response from Middle Barton, saying that they picked the wrong parts and are posting the correct ones today. So hopefully tomorrow I'll see what arrives instead.

cheers, Steve

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The power of t'internet!

fiat500 said:

The power of t'internet!

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I did message them directly, so maybe it was just good customer service from them.

As Peter knows I had a short experience of working at one of the main UK suppliers. I won't name them but their excuse for charging such high prices compared to other European suppliers is because they only use branded parts so they are more expensive to source.

But in reality what they tell you to do before you package anything up for dispatch is to remove the manufacturers packaging so the customer can't see who made it and believe me most of it isn't branded. TBH as a past customer I was really gobsmacked that they would be so misleading but not surprised. I refuse to buy anything from them again having seen this practise.

How can anyone justify nearly £20 incl P&P for that heat shield????

Vitesse said:

How can anyone justify nearly £20 incl P&P for that heat shield????

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I don't even think that is the correct, original heat-shield anyway.
The least that these suppliers ought to do is to qualify when the pattern part makes no attempt to reproduce all features of the original.I have had loads of big letdowns such as the front wing indicators which had horrible, thin anodised rims rather than the heavy and thick, chromed originals, kingpins which are not fitted with the correct drillings so that grease is unlikely ever to reach the bushes, gearbox gaiters that lasted for a couple of thousand miles, a battery retaining bracket made from thin steel insufficiently angled to grip the corner of the battery, a plastic boot lining made from jokily thin plastic and reproduction pressed steel wheels with the wrong profile and very obvious welds.

In fairness, most items can be sourced very inexpensively if bought from mainland Europe. But this still doesn't excuse things being more or less unserviceable or lasting for only a brief amount of time.

The most worrying matter for me is that if this poor quality is also found in safety-related items such as brake and steering parts their ultimate failure could add up to something more than an irritating letdown or a spoiled appearance.

having at one time in my life built VERY quick racing cars (Can-Am) I used to occasionally have to make jigs from the original part, so that further copies could be made. It wasn't a difficult job as long as one TOOK CARE. What really jars me off about pattern parts (and that is the polite, in public, wording) is that with just a bit more care and attention to detail, they could be so much better. I had a (pattern) door where one of the hinges had been welded on 30 degrees (yes, 30) out of alignment. Sure, we sorted it, and ironically it is now the better fitting of my 2 doors, but a bit of care and quality control would have rectified that fault at source. A pair of engine cover supports---only 2 of the 3 legs on each support could initially be made to line up, and when I did eventually get the legs lined up, I had to cut partially through 2 of the legs on each support to re-align the feet, then have them re-welded, in order that they aligned with the body. A bit of care in making up the jig would have obviated that problem. Sadly, it would seem that, unlike MG (British) and VW (German) where the aftermarket parts are generally speaking of a high quality, the Fiat after-market parts suppliers seem to have the attitude 'you're lucky to have anything at all--like it or lump it'
Notwithstanding that venting of my frustration (1-1/2 days to build up 1 door!) the help and friendliness of this Forum cannot be faulted and makes for a great, worldwide family of mates--thanks everybody.

Well parts turned up. The gear linkage was the same part, but with fixings this time. I'm not sure why they didn't just ship the fixings

The 'metal' heat shield is nothing more than a foil backed sheet of something similar to thick cardboard. So Axel are slightly liberal with their metal description on their site. In the flesh, it makes the green one look and feel high rent So it's definitely not worth getting that. I'll send both heat shields back to Middle Barton.

So overall Middle Barton have been quick to ship, quick to correct their mistake. So if you don't mind their prices or need a part urgently they seem to be good for ordering parts from.

Cheers

Steve

My experience with Tony from Middle Barton over the past 20 years has been top knotch.
Sure cheaper suppliers exist but their experience etc makes working with them invaluable

Done a fair bit of business with the people at MBG--always had good service--Tony Castle-Millar is a font of advice and information. Tony has set his stall to provide 1st class service with the best quality he can lay his hands on--if you get the (accessible) back-up, paying a bit more up-front can often be the more cost-effective route

Buy the best and then only need to buy once......

AndrewHarvey said:

Buy the best and then only need to buy once......

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That would be our ideal I think Andrew..it's very hard to do it when none of the parts appear to have any accreditation and contributors are showing that neither price nor source are necessarily an indicator of quality.

There does need to be trust between the niche suppliers and their relatively small domestic market. MBG have always been straight with me.......something that I cannot say for my experiences with different marque specialists
Tony built a 124 Abarth engine back in the day and was great to work with. He has been commissioned for a small works on my current project and has been most informative whilst making no money from me....

The worst marque for dodgy spares was the period 911 market.....the fit was laughable of thousand pound panels..,