Hi, I'm in the USA and have what is supposed to be a 1948 500B Topolino. It is complete except for a starter. I purchased a starter off of ebay from Italy and it arrived and looked fine. Upon trying to install, I find that the hole in the block is about 45mm in diameter and the front of the starter is about 62mm. I've emailed a few sellers of starters and they all seem to be the 62mm variety and are for 500B & C. I have 3 blocks and they all have the 45mm hole, so I'm assuming that I have 500A stuff. Can anyone out there verify any of this? My engine has good compression and appears to be ready to run, all I need is a starter to see where I am... Thanks for any and all info!
Technical Topolino starter help needed
- Thread starter rstewart
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Technical Topolino starter help needed
There are several Topo experts on the Fiat Motor Club GB forum - might be worth a posting on there?
babbo umbro
Member
rstewart "Hi, I'm in the USA and have what is supposed to be a 1948 500B Topolino. It is complete except for a starter. I purchased a starter off of ebay from Italy and it arrived and looked fine. Upon trying to install, I find that the hole in the block is about 45mm in diameter and the front of the starter is about 62mm. I've emailed a few sellers of starters and they all seem to be the 62mm variety and are for 500B & C. I have 3 blocks and they all have the 45mm hole, so I'm assuming that I have 500A stuff. Can anyone out there verify any of this? My engine has good compression and appears to be ready to run, all I need is a starter to see where I am... Thanks for any and all info!"
Is it a side valve or overhead valve engine? If side valve it's a 500A. If overhead valve, is the cylinder head cast iron or aluminium? If iron, it's a 500B - basically the same body as the pre-war 500A - if aluminium it's a 500C - modified body. Are the shock absorbers/dampers telescopic or integral with the wishbone pivots on the front? I seem to remember - haven't had a Topolino for decades - that the starter is interchangeable - the very early ones were smaller and the axis was central on the hole on the flywheel housing part of the block, and later they had a larger motor that was offset relative to the hole in the block through the use of gearing gearing.
Is it a side valve or overhead valve engine? If side valve it's a 500A. If overhead valve, is the cylinder head cast iron or aluminium? If iron, it's a 500B - basically the same body as the pre-war 500A - if aluminium it's a 500C - modified body. Are the shock absorbers/dampers telescopic or integral with the wishbone pivots on the front? I seem to remember - haven't had a Topolino for decades - that the starter is interchangeable - the very early ones were smaller and the axis was central on the hole on the flywheel housing part of the block, and later they had a larger motor that was offset relative to the hole in the block through the use of gearing gearing.