Hi there from Howard and Athena. We own a 1963 Fiat 500 Nuova with suicide doors and live in Harare, Zimbabwe. The car is in good condition and runs well, and probably one of the last, or close to the last, 500 in Zimbabwe. Can anyone help?? The oil dipstick as either been broken at some stage but at present is too short to measure the oil correctly. If any owners have the original dipstick for the 500 Nuova air-cooled, could you please post a photo of the dipstick next to a ruler so we can get the correct measurement from the o-ring to the end of the dipstick. Any help would be really appreciated!! We are also looking to get tail-light lenses and front indicator lenses - the tail-light lens has been glued together and the front indicator lenses are off a Yamaha motorbike!!!! ......and don't look out of place...... But as we are serious car collectors and owning in the region of 35 cars of various makes and years (vintage and classic), we'd like to have it right! TIA

Hi there and a very warm welcome to the forum.

We'd love to see some pictures, if you have them.

If you look onto the web-sites of "Van der Laan Fiat 500" and "Axel Gerstl", between them you will probably be able to obtain all the lights and lenses that you require. "Passione" is another good site as is "F D Ricambi". Any of these suppliers will be able to supply a new dip-stick. There is plenty of gear available, but I will concede that some of the quality is "variable". Welcome to the Forum, to the best of my knowledge you are the first from Zimbabwe. 35 cars?--that is a SERIOUS collection---anything of great interest?

Hi, yes do have pictures but each time I try and upload, the photos are on their side!! Will have to learn about getting them the right way up!!

Anything of interest?? 1930 de Soto, 1965 Sunbeam Tiger, Scimitars, Model As, Model Ts, Metropolitan, Mini Park Lane, 1963 Ford Consul Capri, Porsche 944, BMW Z3s, BMW Minis, 4CV Renault, Renault Caravelle, Pull Handle MG, MGBs, just a few!!

You have a very interesting, and diverse, collection there. The 'Tiger'--very good car, very quick for its day but sadly, very underated. Unfortunately, when Chrysler took over the Rootes group they didn't have an engine that could fit into the Tiger's engine bay, (to replace the Ford unit) so canned it! The Renault 4--despite the 2CV being often described as "the archtyple French car"--the Renault 4 was made in much greater numbers, with many more variants. What is a "pull handle" MG? Thank you for letting us have a wee peek at your collection.
If you would like to contact me direct ( [email protected] ), I will happily go through my list of suppliers and help you source the parts you need, but contact David (Toshi) 1st and see what he can help you with. All the best with your Cinquecento

Hi there, once I get into the garage today, I can probably help you out! I have a nuova engine that's disassembled so I have the dipstick readily available.

Thanks so much, greatly appreciated!!

A pull handle MGB is the first of the MGB series, where to open the door, you pull the chrome handle. The later models had a button to push to open the door. It also does not have a folding soft top - it has a frame you pull into 2 pieces and store in the boot/trunk. It is has a 1800cc engine with 3 main bearing crankshaft and no synchromesh on 1st gear gearbox. It is a Renault 4CV commonly known as the 750 with suicide doors. We have 2 of them. It was Howard's first car which he got when he was 15 years old!!

Sorry for the delay here! So from the bottom of the rubber stopper, it's 98.25 mm (or so) mm. From where the bottom of the rubber stopper stops on the block 136.17 mm.


See attached photos. Hope that helps!

That looks like a 126 rubber seal fitted to a 500 dip stick. I just measured a 126 dip stick and that measures about 160mm to the tip from the base of the seal.

Here is a pic of an N/D dipstick...
the part that goes into the tube on the engine is steel with a rubber O ring...
it looks like it is silver soldered at the top to stop it moving....

from where the steel "stopper" touches the tube on the engine it is about 196mm
the min mark is 11mm from the bottom
the max mark is 40mm from the bottom
(Ohh and all the ones I have are angled in a similar way)
Compared to an Early F engine I have, they are the same.....

I stand corrected! Now I think I need a dipstick!!! Thanks Peter!

Thanks very much indeed. Ours has a metal stopper with an o-ring but the measurements will certainly help!!

ZimHoward said:

Thanks very much indeed. Ours has a metal stopper with an o-ring but the measurements will certainly help!!

Click to expand...

From the Rubber O ring
to min - 145mm
to max - 180mm

ZimHoward said:

Thanks very much indeed. Ours has a metal stopper with an o-ring but the measurements will certainly help!!

Click to expand...

Let me know if you need part numbers for anything on your car! I just got books that may help out! Books for Nuova's aren’t nearly as easy to come across!