Cinquecento Orkney Cinq

Hey Xylaquin-

you're certainly battering through the jobs!

I can't believe you got that result 'by hand' on those wheels!

It was certainly looking quite ace; when I tracked you down last week!!

(sorry; I was working in St Magnus 'next door', and went for a walk on a break)

Paparazzi'd! That's not a bad photo actually, considering I have yet to give the car a thorough detailing.

By the way, how to I covert this thread to a member's motors type thread?

hmm...

not something I can answer...

Although I drove the Cinq across the UK when I bought it, October has been the first time I've done my monthly Orkney > Central Belt > Orkney trip in it. Since the drive back is during the day I decided to take a handful of shots of the trip.


Whilst I refilled my tank in Brora I spotted a 126 in the garage showroom and it turns out it's not the only one in the village... the pub owner has a red one too. What are the chances.

Ha!

Like a mini-A9-126-road-trip! More pics like this!!

you've got me into a groove of A9-photography, Xylaquin!

I love that road; and I seem to photograph The Mound, every time I come up; I duplicated your exact shot in July this year!

Yes; Brora ALSO has a 126 round-the-back of Victoria Garage on the main street.
You can JUST see it as you approach the village coming South, on the right. Just after the Clynelish distillery turn off.

It's just a shell, but beige, if I remember correctly...! (in fact; you can see it on Google-maps; in Streetview)

Well since October the Cinq has had more work done...

• 63k service
  Since the previous owner had always taken the Cinq to a FIAT dealer for service, I decided to carry on with this. Makes the service history look even better! Unfortunately the nearest one is 3 hours south of me in Inverness, so on my way back up the A9 I dropped it off and carried on the next half of the journey by bus. Returned a week later to go collect it.
  
• Fixed leaking coolant
  The coolant would gradually go down over the course of a few days, so one day outside the local Lidl I had a good look and deducted it was leaking at the pump. Whilst in for its service I asked the garage to sort out a leak and inconveniently they diagnosed that the radiator was leaking too (which I'm still skeptical of but hey ho). The Cinq now has a brand new pump and rad.
  
• Install PowerFlex bushes on the rear
  Got the garage to do this too. The clunking is largely gone now!
  
• Rear brakes overhaul
  The rear brakes starting making noise. Had McConechys in Kirkwall look at it and had them fit new drums, cylinders and shoes. Whilst the Cinq was in there a certain forum member spotted it; I later met Mr Giacosa and had a mini Fiat rally in a car park
  
• New headlight bulbs
  Whilst down in the central belt for Christmas I noticed one of my lights was only working on full beam. Fuses were ok, so checked the bulb and although it didn't look bad, replacing it with a new set fixed it.
  
• New front tyres
  I also noticed that my front tyres had suddenly lost most of their thread. So had to buy a pair if I wanted to pass my MOT which I'd booked over Christmas. Fitted 155/65 r13 to get a little more width. The rears are still on 145/70. Dante noticed they were manufactured in 2007... yet they still look fine, have plenty of tread and haven't deteriorated.
  
• A spotless MOT
  Something I haven't had in a while! No advisories or minors. Flawless MOT on a Saturday morning before driving off up to the isles.

Forgot to take photos, a habit I'm trying to resolve this year!

major work Xylaquin!

good to get this stuff under your belt as soon as possible with a new car. There are always inherited issues...

Been an interesting year 2020...

Went to collect a discontinued IKEA product all the way down in Nottingham.
I do remember longing for cruise control on that journey, it strangely felt longer than the initial purchase journey.

I think I've got a tradition going now...
Mk2 Panda - IKEA single bed
Fiat 126 BIS - tumbledryer
Cinquecento - bookcase

Replaced the radio aerial, as I accidentally snapped the old one. Sourced an original style one from REGMOT in Poland.

Gave the cooling system a flush. Must be a pretty clean now with it's new pump and radiator a few months back and now a flush with new coolant. Heck it was to get new coolant again at the upcoming service. The temp gauge tends to sit at the mark below 90 when driving about.

Dropped off the car in Inverness for it's 72k service and returned to Orkney in the meantime (they had a 2 week waiting list at the time). Again I'm continuing the previous owner's habit of dealership/Fiat specialist servicing. Sticking to the official schedule, the transmission fluid got replaced, quite possibly for the first time! I should've asked for a before and after comparison ha.

Then lockdown began, the garage shut and the Scottish government clamped down on the ferries.

You're only allowed on the boat if you've got a valid reason- and they're doing well to be strict about it (for example, you need a letter proving your case for travel, even if it's a funeral you're attending). Personally I'm supportive of this measure, we've only had 8 cases up here.

I ended up borrowing a vehicle from some farmer friends... a 2.5 litre diesel Mitsubishi Warrior, which felt like an absolute tank compared to what I'm used to (only picture I have of it is one parked next to the 126... but you get the idea!)

Whilst dropping off work laptops to council staff around the island, I went up a driveway and turned round the hedge to discover this member of staff used to drive a Sei! It's sitting just outside their door feeling a bit neglected from the moss that's starting to form.

To get the Cinq back, I ended up using Shiply and got it delivered to the ferry terminal on the other side of the water. The ferry company drove it on and delivered it to me waiting on South Ronaldsay, I then drove it back up to the main island.

Now back in the more fuel efficient, freshly serviced door wedge, the only thing I've done since is replace the rusty wipers...

Hey Xylaquin-

if you were going to start a TV channel of Northern Isles Cinq' ownership- I'd subscribe!

That image of the Mitsubishi and the 126 is priceless...

Well done on these service items; it's going to roll forever!

Mini they said..

lol, one of the main reasons I refer to pre-2000 Minis as "real" Minis.

Fiat themselves are making variants of the modern 500 that are HUGE, and still calling it a Fiat 500xyz... then again they do have a knack for reusing "500" as a model name (*cough* Cinquecento)

Small cars are a lost art these days.

Yes.. they are becoming MASSIVE

Apparently thats the price of 'going green..'

Farcical isnt it..

Personally I would love a 1994 uno with 2007 1.3 td
Nippy and 100mpg..

But of course they wont make a modern car unless it will do 130mph..

Keep at it.. you are doing great