Bigvtwin996 said:

I will try to post a pic at some point.. .. very rare accessory... that allows you to drive the car roof open but protects you from the scorching heat

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...want one, want one!!!!

fiat500 said:

...want one, want one!!!!

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Unfortunately you need to be a member of the "Early 500" club to have one of those sun shades...
But there is an accessory that allows you to open the sunroof about 3-4cm and lock it so it does not blow open...
I'm sure they made one for these more modern 500s....

If this D has not been restored (other than the interior that looks toooooo unworn) it does look a nice unmolested car..
nice dash with no extra holes... Original chrome switches...
as per other thread on hot engines etc.. you should try to get the exhaust shield that fits above the exhaust in the engine bay
and some alloy wheel covers and two original rear wheels (although the covers would suffice to cover up the later wheels)
can't believe it as 73k on the clock....

I do like a nice un molested car....(other than the arghhh bolt throughs for the seat belts in the upper pillars)
I would drive this D without doing much.. perhaps new bumpers and tidy the door cards.. and a basic mechanical overhaul...
perhaps try to get any chips or scabs touched in....
Interesting to see how the paint had burnt in the rear on the engine cover!!!!
and that for a 65 or earlier car it does not seem to have an extra fuel filter.. my how it has gone this long and still seems to have the original engine

It does seem to be missing the Alloy id plate (located where the two holes are above the chassis number)..

This roof thing is sounding more and more tempting, though may be a bit sinful given she is largely untouched. Was sitting for 15 years with the last owner and thought to be sitting mostly still for quite a while before that.

The interior was touched up but not particularly well and I am tempted by the avio blue cotton interior covers. Just a nice classic car colour there.

I'll have to look into this exhaust heat shield from the other thread. Once the new old exhaust is in of course.

I think I must still have the original hubcaps too. They were off as I was meaning to polish them, as they look to have a good 50 years or so of patina on them!

Bigvtwin996 said:

perhaps try to get any chips or scabs touched in....
Interesting to see how the paint had burnt in the rear on the engine cover!!!!
and that for a 65 or earlier car it does not seem to have an extra fuel filter.. my how it has gone this long and still seems to have the original engine

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Yes I'm wondering if it just got so hot that the old matting / cover on the inside of the engine lid just melted?!

Someone did kindly put a pic up of their online fuel filter. So far it hasn't seemed necessary so hoping I can get away with leaving it alone!

BambinoClassic said:

Aha well my little one arrived on a crate too! with thanks to the forum for pointing me in the direction of trademe NZ and looigi for his inspection from afar. I've never managed to spot one on the road here, even the old 2CVs or minis outstrip them. And so I feel v lucky!

As for the roof, it sure is tempting! I read somewhere on here someone's de-roofing project. Got a long way to go from replacing brake hoses and polishing metal to that though!

Next step is to see if I can change out the exhaust myself, and trouble shoot the knocking while running ?bearings and tapping when brakes applied ?brakes.

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My car had a knock knock sound that was a lack of grease on the splines of the drive shafts.

1500500 said:

My car had a knock knock sound that was a lack of grease on the splines of the drive shafts.

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That shall be something I look into thank you!

Very few Full sunroof D's were actually made from what I can gather (now having to extend knowledge on D's...)
The noticeable thing being on converted cars the bolt holes in the roof along the sides of the opening..
and also the sunroof mounts either have to be moved or additional ones created at the rear (easy to see where if you look inside..)

I have only got one picture of a D which does not have the bolt holes in the roof, but without seeing it before paint they could have been filled....

It is quite a common conversion...
It's your car... you choose....
I think there is more enjoyment with a long roof so few cars are driven in the rain, and even so... my N has sat out side in Snow without a cover.... they are cars.. that is what they are designed for....

Away right now but still thinking fiat and planning jobs for return and a shopping list for Passione.

The sunroof will have to wait
For now One is to remove and polish the external door handles, rather than buy new. The drivers side exterior handle is very loose and wobbly so I may need a shin of some sort to sort it, though I'm not sure that will work.

The passenger interior handle also has the tendency to lock on its own. Not sure why but I'm hoping that if I remove it and give it a grease then put it back it might magically fix itself! Unless anyone has any better ideas?

Reading through some threads I assume removal is a case of unscrewing the interior handle and that's it?

Also is there a particular coil bracket I need to use to fix the coil to the chassis? It's just sitting loose right now and I can't find a bracket from the usual sources online

BambinoClassic said:

Also is there a particular coil bracket I need to use to fix the coil to the chassis? It's just sitting loose right now and I can't find a bracket from the usual sources online

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The brackets come with a new coil. They are not Fiat specific.

Back from travels and straight back to work. Thanks to the incredibly generous Chris Bambino I had a beautiful replacement exhaust awaiting my return.

I've just pulled off the old one and you can see how tragic it was. Pipes completely detached from muffler, and brackets both cracked. Unfortunately in the process of trying to undo the nuts from the exhaust to the manifold, the bolt sheared right off. So it looks like the shopping list will now have to include a new manifold (or 2, though the current one looks pretty good), a set of gaskets and brackets. Regardless, I'm proud of myself for getting this far given my novice status.

I also 'fixed' the horn problem. It just wasn't working and before fiddling around with detailed stuff, I decided to wiggle the fuse around - PARP! All good. Strange though as the guide suggests the same fuse also accounts for the windscreen wipers but they were working fine, hence i hadn't suspected a fuse issue.

Now to work out where to get the exhaust stuff - a cheaper euro seller that requires patience awaiting delivery, or a local option!

In the meantime, would anyone be able to advise if I can drive it as is, just 50-100m? I'm going to have to move it from my neighbours garage soon

Also, I notice Axel Gerstl sells a manifold that states fits both 500 and 126. Meanwhile passione has them as two separate products.
Is there a difference?
Thanks for any advice.

If you, your neighbour and everyone else in the district can stand it, you won't harm the engine driving a short distance without an exhaust.

While the exhaust is off and I'm trying to find replacement parts for it, I thought I'd take a look at the brakes to see if there was anything obvious that might be causing the knocking issue - present while driving, worse when braking and oddly seems louder when riding the clutch though could just be quieter engine.

I noticed that the rubber boots over the drive shafts were off and one had no grease at all on it. At least that's what I think the first two photos are of. So as 1500500 posted that he'd had some knocking due to this, I greased them up and pulled the boots on.

Then to the brakes. Well I think they're ok, for 55 year old pieces. I couldn't pull off one of the back ones. And then made a rookie error of depressing the brake pedal while the front was off - the shoe and part of the cylinder popped off, leaking brake fluid! Now I think I have air in there as the brakes are softer but go firmer with pumping.

Thoughts on if I just need to bleed that one brake to fix it?

One of the front brakes that seemed to be a source of knocking / grating shows some fresh looking wear on the front of the left adjuster. It can be seen in the pic, where the metal has worn down a little. I'm wondering if the shoe wasn't seated properly and that was the cause of the noise. The nut that I'm pointing at wasn't very tight when I opened it up, wonder if that could be a cause?

Problem is it's too hard to assess now as the exhaust being off means I can't hear anything but the roar of the car!

I took it out for 100m to get the brakes to self adjust, forward and reverse. And then...

Oil! It seems to be spraying from somewhere. Off to the right wheel (when looking from rear) and around the chassis basically straight through the space the exhaust would have been. Im wondering if removal of the exhaust has either opened up a space that the oil is coming through, or it has changed something internally and caused the engine to spray it?

This car sure is an adventure....

Hi BC. That nut is not meant to be particularly tight; the important thing is that it should have been peened (chiselled?) into the groove and not be able to move from that position. If you grab the top and bottom of the brake-drum it should rock almost imperceptibly; more than that then it is loose and you will probably need a new nut.

The bottom return spring on the shoes should be under that tab rather than over it , as it is. That might make for funny noises and unusual wear under braking.

I can't see how removal of the exhaust would cause that oil leak unless it has revealed that you already had a serious head-gasket or pushrod tube issue. Chances are that it's something simple like you have disturbed an already damaged rocker gasket. Best to clean it up and run gently for a moment to try to find out where it's coming from.

The things you're experiencing are par for the course with a 500 and relatively easy to fix. I'm sure you'lll keep us posted.

Eagle eyes! Thanks Peter fiat500 I can't believe I didn't spot that. I have a feeling that's the cause of the issue, and when I reassembled it I did put the spring behind the tab and it all seemed much more secure. Yet to confirm the noise is gone, exhaust still absent but I really appreciate the help, looks reassuring.

I've run it slowly and can't see any oil leaking at idle, it must only come out with some revs applied. I'll have to pull out the 'cruise control' handle and see what happens at faster idle speeds. If it is the rocker gasket, is that a terrible job for an idiot to replace? Fingers crossed it isn't.

Love the car, the most frustrating part is access to parts. Looks like it will be a couple of weeks at least before my exhaust stuff gets here

It might be worth taking the rocker cover off anyway, if you can get a gasket, because then we can talk you through the advanced technology of adjusting the tappets.... always worthwhile. Rocker gasket itself is a doddle.

There's a new posting, by Phoenix1, that coincidentally might explain the reason for the oil leaking onto the right rear wheel. I hope Phoenix1 won't mind if I paste his posting here? :worship:

"I had a worrying amount of oil in the engine bay on the right hand side near the coil etc. Found out because I was running without the exhaust box mounts for a short trip ,oil was squirting up the empty bolt holes. They are not blind as I thought but go through to the sump.Mounts now fitted everything now ok."

So, it would seem that, that is the explanation for BC's oil spray.

That will definitely be the problem. It didn't cross my mind because actually, they are not or shouldn't be bolts but rather should be short studs. But obviously they do unwind and although I haven't encountered that problem, Tom the hobbler recommends a little fix to prevent it happening when the engine is back running again; he might pop up and explain it. (I would just use threadlock fluid.)

Yes!
Indeed there was one exhaust bracket mounted to the sumo via a bolt. The rest were all studs with nuts. So I'm guessing that one is the culprit as there lies a hole where it used to be.

Still might take the rocker off, I've read a few threads on here about adjust the tappets being an important step in tuning. Is that the same as valve height clearance?

BambinoClassic said:

adjusting the tappets Is that the same as valve height clearance?

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Yes. The tappets are like little see-saws that push the valves open at the correct times to let fuel and air in to be burned and then let out the waste gases.
If they were adjusted to be a perfect fit, touching the ends of the valves, then when the engine warmed up and the metal expanded they would be too tight. The effect of this is to keep the valves slightly open when they should be shut which leads to ineffficiency, bad starting and eventual valve damage.
So a minute, measured gap is left which is calculated to perfectly close up once the engine is warmed up, at which the valve will be operating at optimum efficiency.
Over time, the clearances can change; generally they close up, but they can also become too wide with the result that the valves do not open enough which means that the gas-flow into and out of the engine is impeded
The Fiat 500 seems particularly prone to the gaps closing up and it will pay you dividends to become confident in this adjustment.

Thanks for the detailed explanation, hopefully I can get my head around it. I recall there being quite a good guide on here.