Thought I had better put this on a separate thread and hope JumpJet sees it
Over the years I have come across 500 & 126 owners whose cars have lost the original engine under tray and they never realised that such a thing existed. They are often left off when the car has been worked on, Can be a pain to fit sometimes, can fall off if the self tapping hex head screws have been stripped Etc.
I had some spare ones in my garage one day and compared the 500 with the 126 and they were virtually identical apart from the exhaust end. I have always used a 126 ever since but never thought to mention it. Will get a picture in the morning

Toshi 975 said:

I have always used a 126 ever since but never thought to mention it.

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..I bet there's a load of other useful tips you " never thought to mention".

...but this one is particularly good.

Can someone measure those hex self tappers for me please that hold the under tray on? When I swapped engines I put them somewhere ‘safe’, probably in one of my many ‘safe’ boxes but I can’t find them now. They are in my garage somewhere but my filing system needs reviewing, as I can never find anything that I put in a ‘safe’ place.

I always take something off, think I’ll put it in there and I’ll be able to find it again. Nope! Took me two years to find the original chassis plate! It was in a very ‘safe’ place though.

What you need young man is a drawer entitled "A safe place". My wife Ann was a Primary school teacher for all of her many years of teaching, and she always had a drawer titled "a safe place" in her classroom! If any of the children asked where to put something, the classic answer was always "put in a safe place"

I think it would be better to forget the cheap and nasty self tappers.
Fit Rivnuts and stainless screws a much better job.
Alan

A picture for you.

plasticpig1972 said:

I think it would be better to forget the cheap and nasty self tappers.
Fit Rivnuts and stainless screws a much better job.
Alan

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This seems like a good idea to me, an invisible mend for the original unreliable ones which I have a picture of.

Interesting. And where does this affix to? Do you have any pictures of it in-situ? Thanks Toshi!

After much googling I was able to find this picture of a similar piece installed on a 500F undergoing restoration @ this site. Odd, I've never seen this piece before. I wonder how hard it'd be to get your hands on one. If not for the added cooling, then to keep it a bit cleaner.

Picture from the original 500 body parts book

JumpJet, they are available from most of the normal suppliers, ie Ricambio, Axel Gerst etc. I have not seen the louvred ones that Toshi has been talking about so will have a look round. I have just finished restoring my 500 F and attached mine using stainless steel rivnuts aNd bolts and washers.


https://www.ricambio.co.uk/engine-bay-protection-classic-fiat-500

https://www.ricambio.co.uk/n-s-left-engine-bay-protection-classic-fiat-500

Had a bit of a search, F D Ricambi show and list the 126 part but quite expensive at €89 and out of stock.
They are made from quite a light gauge of steel and are prone to cracks around the Louvre and rust.
The large shakeproof type washers I found hard to get and a tip for Peter they are fitted with a plastic strip between the panel and the bodywork on the 6 fixing screws. It was a pain trying to line up the panel, have the plastic strips in place then fit the screw and washer. Answer was to fix the strips in place on the inside of the panel with double sided tape , simples.
Also while we are on a roll seeing the parts book diagram reminded me that the heater ducting at front is different to the 126 but it is a fabrication of two parts spot welded together. On my 500 the lower flanges that screwed to the floor had rusted away. I compared it to the 126 one and the lower section was common to both models so just drilled out the spot welds and fitted the 500 top to a 126 base and hey presto good as new.

The Under tray is also different for the Giardiniera.
Alan

It is probably me being thick but I can't see how this would improve the cooling. Hot air should come out the back and this would seem to restrict that.

It may reduce engine bay temperatures in localised areas but looking at the location I would not expect so.

The louvres were probably punched originally to maximise the airflow whilst still offering as much protection as possible from incoming debris but removed when they acted as stress raisers.

When it comes to under trays, does anyone recognise this as being off a Fiat?

It's been in the garage for years long before I got my 500, I cannot see a place for it to go on the 600 and I did have a Giardinara that I never did anything with and sold, is it off this?

Paul A, It's funny you say this and I too cannot see how it would help with cooling but then if you take the 850 the under trays are key to good cooling.

I can’t say for sure what the louvred under tray does but I can’t imagine Fiat engineers of the day said let’s make it like this without having their reasons as it would be more expensive to make.

Toshi 975 said:

I can’t say for sure what the louvred under tray does but I can’t imagine Fiat engineers of the day said let’s make it like this without having their reasons as it would be more expensive to make.

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Didn't you say the undertray pictured at the start of this thread is the 126 version? Fiat seemed to have acknowledged the potential engine heat problems by the time the 126 was produced. So I'm sure you're correct and that this was part of an attempt to reduce that heat by making several minor modifications.

FR85 said:

When it comes to under trays, does anyone recognise this as being off a Fiat?

It's been in the garage for years long before I got my 500, I cannot see a place for it to go on the 600 and I did have a Giardinara that I never did anything with and sold, is it off this?

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Yes, that's the Giardiniera item.

giardini said:

Yes, that's the Giardiniera item.

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Ah super, I'll try ang get it to the current owner. Any pics of it in place? I can only assume that it is on the lower left of the engine below the fan/dynamo?