10589760_830397816985426_1556436975_n.jpg

Seicento Rescued Schumacher Edition Sei

Introduction

Hi all, returning to the forum after a long hiatus (other cars owned/moving house/bereavement/graduation, etc, etc).

My returning area of business is that I've just bought my Niece's Seicento Michael Schumacher Edition from her when she happened to post on her Facebook page that she was going to scrap it after it received a "poor bill of health" from her local mechanic after taking it for a check when she noticed it had been overheating and generally becoming unreliable.

She has owned it for a few years and I must admit to being a bit envious of it as I like the Sei and I like Michael Schumacher, so I wasn't passing up the opportunity. However, I was sceptical that it was a genuine Schumacher Edition, but the logbook seems to support this. I haven't actually seen the car to check for the edition number, etc. I hope to bring it to my lockup from where it is currently parked, a journey of ~240 miles. The poor bugger also seems to be having an identity crisis with its badging - the Fiat, Seicento and Sporting badges have been removed by an earlier keeper, a gigantic Michael Schumacher decal has been put on the back window (the factory fit one was too subtle for someone I guess) and there are Abarth stickers all over it. I know that the Schumacher/Abarth kit are the same, but I don't think the car left the factory with both!

The wheels have been painted black, although it is not possible to tell from the level of detail in the photos if it is a good job. The centre caps seem to have been painted over...

Here are the known issues with the car at present:

Niece's mechanic findings (his words)
  • Car overheating in traffic - coolant fan needed
  • fuel injection kit needed
  • starter kit needed

I'm not sure how much credibility to place in these findings- fuel injection and starter "kits"... :confused:

From past experience, heuristically, I would say it is more likely that:
  • The fan fuse, otterstat or fan wiring/multiplug is faulty.
  • 1 or more injectors have failed or that the car is in limp mode (see last MOT findings below).
  • I'm not sure what the starter issue may be, possibly starter motor earthing/battery contacts.

Last MOT Advisory Items (March 2014):

  1. OSR wheel bearing slight play
  2. OSF ball joint dust cover damaged
  3. OSR suspension arm bush deteriorated
  4. Engine management light on
  5. Sill covers fitted
  6. Slight knock from steering
  7. OSR knocking
  8. Lights and battery secured with cable ties

The MOT issuer is the same individual who came up with the items in the first list. It seems fairly likely that items 3 and 6 are related and that item 4 is related to one or more presenting behaviours. Two things amuse me from this - Firstly, "Sill covers fitted" (unsure if kick plates or side skirts are being referred-to). I would not have expected a factory-fitted item to flag an MOT advisory. Secondly "Lights and battery secured with cable ties". The previous MOT lists "battery not secured" and it is this garage who fitted the cable ties! My faith in this garage's competency is fragile at best.

Other items:
  • Possible speedometer inaccuracy (reading lower than actual speed). My niece noted this when driving the car on the motorway, followed by her partner in another car. She noted that the speed error was around 10MPH too slow. The standard wheels and tyres are fitted, so I must consider that the speed sensor or speedometer are faulty. I am wondering if this sensor could throw up and engine management light.
  • Front bumper tow-eye insert loose. it's difficult to tell from the photos, I am unsure if this is the insert or damage to the bumper itself. My niece has decided to secure it with highly covert black insulation tape.

I intend to the read the ECU fault codes when I get to the car. I must also consider that the car may have been cooked from overheating, possibly resulting in head gasket failure, which I will assess with a compression check and coolant/oil inspection. I shall check the speedo accuracy with a satnav.

I'm really looking forward to cracking on with this :D
My son is out for the day in his car so I will try and go the through the list tomorrow or Monday if I can and get back to you.

Thanks for your time and help.
 
Been at the Sei over the last few months, getting the back-end stripped-down with the intention of refurbishing the rear beam, replacing the arms (and disintegrated bushings), bare-metal etch prime and applying Dinitrol products to the chassis legs and underbody.

On the right, I disassembled the suspension, removed the backplate and loosened the rear beam retaining bolts. I then noted that I didn't actually have to do that and could drop the whole thing in one go. I moved to the left side and proceeded to loosen the large bolts too. I got a jack under the beam to take its weight.





I then noted that the petrol tank is suspended at two points on the beam and found reference online to these being two welded studs. I had given these lots of Plusgas but they both rotated when I started undoing the nuts. I thought I had broken the captive bolts and they were spinning in the beam, /so I decided to take a 7/16 imperial nut and started it on the bolt, holding the nylock nut still with a spanner.



The stainless 7/16 nut (which can be seen above) did what I wanted and bit into the metric bolt and started turning the bolt through the nut. I carried on until the bolt was as unscrewed as far as it would go. I then snapped the bolt. I had to repeat on the other side too. This took ages and when I finally saw that they were in fact regular bolts and not captive :bang: I could have just used a drop-neck spanner to hold them. I am unsure if they were always regular bolts, or had been replaced when the petrol tank was replaced (it is clearly not the factory original and possibly done in the recall - with an SPI unit!).

In any case, I got the tank separated and moved the jack backward slightly to clear the beam lugs. I then set about splitting the bake lines from the flexi-hoses and, of course, they were corroded and started to twist so I decided to crush them to retain as much brake fluid in the system as possible and then cut them. I will replace them later.

Finally:



I will strip the arms off and find a place to have the beam bead blasted and painted.

While I was under the left-hand side, I found some more rot in the boot side and arch roof that will need addressed :eek:.



While I was doing that, my other half was making the most of the highly-rare Caithness sun and kindly painted the new drums which will go on as one of the last jobs on the car. I think she did an amazing job.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
So, I did a bit of work on the car today. I got the rear beam stripped of arms, bump stops and all the little clips it has prior to being blasted and painted.




For those wondering, the underside of the car now looks like this:



There is some surface rust around the mounting points which I am eager to treat and then Dinitrol inside and outside the chassis rails.
 
Last edited:
Nice one I too only just bought a cinq sporting after a good few years of not owning one welcome back
Thank you
 
Micro-update:

I got replacement end caps to replace the destroyed originals and put new spring seats on.
IMG_20190614_203926b_Medium_.jpg


I'm currently stripping the old trailing arms down so I can have an engineering firm transfer the ABS sensor aperture positions and drill/tap the new ABS arms, which have not been processed at FIAT.
 
Lots has happened since the last update, best just to post some update pics.




Underside of car surface rust treated and Dinitrolled, rear beam reattached and built up, front brakes upgraded with Marea calipers, vented disks general engine bay tidying, rear inner arch, rear panel and rear bumper mounts welded/fabricated and painted, back bumper re-attached.
 
You're doing a lovely job there. I was reading through the thread and noticed the mention of the Polish parts supplier.
Is it a bit of a hassle ordering and do you get hammered on tax / delivery? Do they supply genuine parts?
Only ask this as I am looking for a genuine Cinquecento rear badge and they seem to have them. I thought I'd tracked one down from Italy, only for it to take a month to arrive and turn out to be a 3D printed badge, that cost me over 30 quid.
Is it safe to order from their website? Flagged up as vulnerable on my browser.
 
You're doing a lovely job there. I was reading through the thread and noticed the mention of the Polish parts supplier.
Is it a bit of a hassle ordering and do you get hammered on tax / delivery? Do they supply genuine parts?
Only ask this as I am looking for a genuine Cinquecento rear badge and they seem to have them. I thought I'd tracked one down from Italy, only for it to take a month to arrive and turn out to be a 3D printed badge, that cost me over 30 quid.
Is it safe to order from their website? Flagged up as vulnerable on my browser.
Thank you for your kind words on my build.

Regarding your question - there is an extra step with the supplier when compared to ordering things from a UK company, and that is the requirement to use a site like WeTransfer to send the total funds in Euros after they issue the invoice for the order (in that sense, you don't have to give any credit/debit card details to the supplier directly if that is a concern). My own bank wanted to charge a horrific premium and I found that this intermediary was very inexpensive by comparison. My last dealing with the supplier was pre-Brexit, so I cannot say how that has affected tax, import duty or their company operations. All of the parts that I have ordered have been genuine Fiat parts. I have had a couple of issues with ABS things, like factory machining work not being done, despite correct part# stamping. I think that speaks more to Fiat's QA and the relative obscurity of those particular parts, rather the supplier. In these cases, the supplier has been beyond very good at resolving the issues.

I would order from them again, but of course if you choose to do so, it is at your own risk.
 
Thank you for your kind words on my build.

Regarding your question - there is an extra step with the supplier when compared to ordering things from a UK company, and that is the requirement to use a site like WeTransfer to send the total funds in Euros after they issue the invoice for the order (in that sense, you don't have to give any credit/debit card details to the supplier directly if that is a concern). My own bank wanted to charge a horrific premium and I found that this intermediary was very inexpensive by comparison. My last dealing with the supplier was pre-Brexit, so I cannot say how that has affected tax, import duty or their company operations. All of the parts that I have ordered have been genuine Fiat parts. I have had a couple of issues with ABS things, like factory machining work not being done, despite correct part# stamping. I think that speaks more to Fiat's QA and the relative obscurity of those particular parts, rather the supplier. In these cases, the supplier has been beyond very good at resolving the issues.

I would order from them again, but of course if you choose to do so, it is at your own risk.
Thanks for the reply. Good ol’ Brexit - what a pain in the arse. I will probably drop them a line, as I take it that they speak / understand English?
Thanks again. 👍🏻
 
Back
Top