IMG-0348.jpg

500 (Classic) "Sophia's" Restoration

Introduction

I have finally begun the process to start the restoration on my wife's cinquecento "Sophia"

Original Introduction Thread

She is a 1966 F with a 650 motor that has a synchro gearbox, electronic ignition and a dynamo.

When I purchased the car from Bring A Trailer it looked to be in much better condition than when she showed up at our home in December. I knew that I was going to have to do some work to get her to where we wanted to be with the car, but I didn't expect to need to "fix" so much. I'm not necessarily mad about this, as I will be able to learn more about the car as I go through it.
The car was originally blue, but was repainted to green at some point. We plan to bring her back to blue, but not for a few years. I'm certainly in over my head on this, but that's part of the fun!

When I started to look her over, I noticed that the exhaust was severely cracked, the seller stated it was "new"

IMG-1884.jpg


Here's how the engine looked after the first test drive. You'll note that the engine is covered in oil, as it turns out, the car has a major oil leak that sprayed over the whole engine from the belt and pullies. I thought we had a fire with all the smoke!

IMG-0348.jpg


The wiring is also quite a mess, with lots of splices and things not working as they should. I ordered a new loom and will be rewiring the whole car.

IMG-1886.jpg


IMG-1885.jpg


IMG-1894.jpg


Gas tank out to begin the wiring removal process. I think I'll repaint it with the colors of the Italian flag

64220810349-43-E1094-E-D6-CB-43-D1-883-A-A850-B1-A7-BE8-B.jpg


And now the process of removing the bits from the engine in preparation to pull it out to fix the oil leak, paint shrouds, swap oil pan and rebuild carburetor. I'll be replacing the bonnet, starter and accelerator cables as well.

Interesting "fix" for a shorter starter cable...

IMG-2258.jpg


The accelerator cable just runs without a housing for the full length of the car

IMG-2253.jpg


Electronic Ignition. If anyone can give pointers on how this needs to be wired into the loom, it would be greatly appreciated.

IMG-2257.jpg


Can anyone tell me what this is? Voltage Regulator?

IMG-2256.jpg


Air intake hose needs to be replaced...having a hard time finding this part, any leads?

IMG-2254.jpg


And here's how she sits for now

IMG-2252.jpg


The dynamo does not appear to be working, so I will need to rebuild it. I have a spare so I may send it off for refurbishment.
If you can't get the loan of the correct 'riv-nut' fitment tool, that seems as good a system as any. Let me know if you have any problem obtaining riv-nuts (I think that I used 5mm riv-nuts) I will send a few over to you.
 
Well done---that kit should suffice! 2 tips spring to mind--(1) use the largest riv-nut that you can; the bolt takes a bit of a load as you throw the roof open and then shut it (2) before you screw the roof down, put a good gob of sealer round the riv-nut head so that the roof will squash it down between the nut and the roof, thus preventing any water seepage under the roof and into the body.
 
Suddenly thought of something else---I have often noticed that the roof will take paint off the body of the car where the front corners touch the body--I have got round this by putting a couple of layers of the clear protective on the roof of the car where the corners of the roof sit. I was able to get hold of some of the clear protective sheeting that Porsche and Ferrari use on the front of their very wide rear wings (to prevent stone chips).
 
Thanks as always Hobbler for your insights and tricks.

Can anyone recommend a decent quality rear badge that fits the profile of the boot? I’ve tried 2 that have both broken when attempting to attach the clips to the pins. Does anyone make one with a slight curve to fit properly?
 
What sort of badge and where are you trying to fit the Ryan? When fitting the badges on the side of my replica 695, for each badge I got 2 long screws that would fit them, ran an appropriate sized plain nut down each bolt, then "JP Weld" them into the bosses on the back of the badges, having run the screws as far as possible into the bosses. When the JP Weld had fully cured, I cut the surplus amount off the bolts which turned the into studs. Taking the nuts off the 'studs' cleaned the thread up. I then fitted the badges with washers and nyloc nuts--the badges did bend very slightly, but I tightened them in gentle stages.
.Being that my engine cover is permanantly open I fitted a bigger "Abarth" badge where the handle had been, so it also became a 'hole cover'. I also put about 3 layers of insulating tape on the back of all the badges so that the badge wasn't metal against the paintwork.
 
The “Fiat 500” badge on lower left side of the boot lid. See the darker area in the photo below. I’ll also be making a bracket to attach the “no drilling required” luggage rack
 

Attachments

  • 29B95DD9-C01B-4483-A5B9-6978D91EA780.jpeg
    29B95DD9-C01B-4483-A5B9-6978D91EA780.jpeg
    3.5 MB · Views: 58
Been a bit quiet on the resto but I’ve gotten the new roof fitted (with the addition of Rivnuts to secure the corners.

Is there a proper way to “adjust” the sunroof? It seems one side is not sealing as well as the other.

Ignore the garage clutter. I’m trying to reorganize, but my 7 month old keeps interrupting
 

Attachments

  • 42285C35-6EE1-483F-AB65-67C76B5B8367.jpeg
    42285C35-6EE1-483F-AB65-67C76B5B8367.jpeg
    2.7 MB · Views: 54
  • CA65C0AD-F8A5-4355-9DD7-D19F1EDB5AD5.jpeg
    CA65C0AD-F8A5-4355-9DD7-D19F1EDB5AD5.jpeg
    2.5 MB · Views: 60
Pre COVID my 3 year old granddaughter used to help me :)
Start the training now.
 

Attachments

  • F3E13349-FA2D-4932-9640-F07A58893F24.jpeg
    F3E13349-FA2D-4932-9640-F07A58893F24.jpeg
    1.7 MB · Views: 45
Strewth David, you belive in starting them young! 'Child labour' was banned years ago. Still, better to teach them how to out a 500/126 engine together than to send 'em down t' mines!
 
I was probably around 7 when my father had me help pull the motor from his 1967 Corvette. I had Luca in my carrier when I was setting the rivnuts. He didn’t provide much help and got annoyed quickly.
 
Last edited:
Got to cleaning up the carb today. Looks like I have some pitting in the bowl. The base needed a little “skimming” to get rid of the wobble. Some of the screws have been overtorqued at some point and are looking a bit rough. Other than that it looks in good shape and will get rebuilt from the kit I have soon.
 

Attachments

  • E66799BB-E675-4147-BD2F-A848CCF4C280.jpeg
    E66799BB-E675-4147-BD2F-A848CCF4C280.jpeg
    4.5 MB · Views: 46
  • 4393002F-1047-4683-8BE1-20DCC1C8463E.jpeg
    4393002F-1047-4683-8BE1-20DCC1C8463E.jpeg
    3.9 MB · Views: 45
  • 491CA8CA-976D-4950-8DF8-A4371B3E8293.jpeg
    491CA8CA-976D-4950-8DF8-A4371B3E8293.jpeg
    4.4 MB · Views: 47
  • 044F4DBA-0085-41DF-8352-249564E57F51.jpeg
    044F4DBA-0085-41DF-8352-249564E57F51.jpeg
    3.2 MB · Views: 44
  • 1CC2B2A4-3E56-4B25-AC9E-2A65374A1BB8.jpeg
    1CC2B2A4-3E56-4B25-AC9E-2A65374A1BB8.jpeg
    4.1 MB · Views: 47
  • AFF65036-5D04-4B4D-ADB9-D871274A8C6B.jpeg
    AFF65036-5D04-4B4D-ADB9-D871274A8C6B.jpeg
    6.2 MB · Views: 49
  • BF481C67-A429-4267-AA21-D05AE0818B80.jpeg
    BF481C67-A429-4267-AA21-D05AE0818B80.jpeg
    4.1 MB · Views: 46
  • A926B213-C680-4C4F-ABC3-2C5B96D2F464.jpeg
    A926B213-C680-4C4F-ABC3-2C5B96D2F464.jpeg
    3.7 MB · Views: 48
Last edited:
Do you mean the 4 screws that hold the top cover onto the carb body?
 
I will look in my collection of 'bits' and see what I have got---I might just be able to help you out---let you know later today
 
Back
Top