Technical 1968 500F.... Serie 1 or 2?

[bb17660]

Greetings!
Trying to unravel a mystery for my 1968 500F in making various parts purchases, especially it seems electric related. Its got 4 bolt doors not 8 (quatro bulloni), which I've understood was the indicator for a 'serie 2' 500F.
However... for choosing some parts, it seems to line up with 'serie 1', at least for part offerings. For example:
- The coil is mounted on the left hand of the engine compartment, using a long high tension coil cable to reach the distributor on the right. No evidence anything was mounted to the right previously.
- The fuse block resembles the 'serie 1' offering with a thumb screw holding the cover on as opposed to the clip-on cover for serie 2 F and L/R models. Both fuse block and wiring look...*very* original shall we say.
Its first registration was in January of 1968 and the VIN (1679985) appears to line up with that. I purchased the car in Italy while living there and brought it over.

So what do I have exactly? Are there other indicators to look at? Is this just an example of supply chain management as per Fiat in the 60's?

 

[grubscrew]

On the series 1 , at the rear inlet vent with the (mesh gauze) has a raised rib running along the full length .
Also, the indicator stalk assembly is grey and black, but think that was crossed into the later mk2 as well.
And yes, the coil was sited on the left of the engine bay….a sod to get to unsurprisingly!
Mine was made in 1966.

 

[fiat500]

Greetings!
Trying to unravel a mystery for my 1968 500F in making various parts purchases, especially it seems electric related. Its got 4 bolt doors not 8 (quatro bulloni), which I've understood was the indicator for a 'serie 2' 500F.
However... for choosing some parts, it seems to line up with 'serie 1', at least for part offerings. For example:
- The coil is mounted on the left hand of the engine compartment, using a long high tension coil cable to reach the distributor on the right. No evidence anything was mounted to the right previously.
- The fuse block resembles the 'serie 1' offering with a thumb screw holding the cover on as opposed to the clip-on cover for serie 2 F and L/R models. Both fuse block and wiring look...*very* original shall we say.
Its first registration was in January of 1968 and the VIN (1679985) appears to line up with that. I purchased the car in Italy while living there and brought it over.

So what do I have exactly? Are there other indicators to look at? Is this just an example of supply chain management as per Fiat in the 60's?

Your car will definitely be a Series 1 and you're right to think there might not have always been an exact cut-off date for use of the parts bins. I also think that home-market cars may sometimes have had slight differences in detail to those for foreign markets, eg. the UK.

The book, "La Guida", gives a fairly accurate overview of the basic differentiations of the models of the 500. However, so many items from across the ranges and years appear to be interchangeable, and this often confuses the matter....body number would be the most accurate for dating a car.

 

[Bounding Bambino]

Welcome to the forum. I can also concur that the 500 F did a "soft" changeover from series 1 to series 2 between 67-68. When restoring my car (67), there were many things that indicated it was a series 1, but has the 4 bolt door hinges which is indicative of a series 2. Im fairly certain, like even most modern mfg's do. Is they consume up old inventory when doing a change over and then the cars are eventually fully changed over. Door hinge stamping was likely changed over as soon as the dies were in the presses ready to go. Wiring harness and other "longer lead time" items were likely built in bulk and consumed in batches as production ran.

My 67 500f is a 4 bolt hinge, but left side coil pack, and series 1 wiring system/fuse block.

 

[bb17660]

On the series 1 , at the rear inlet vent with the (mesh gauze) has a raised rib running along the full length .
Also, the indicator stalk assembly is grey and black, but think that was crossed into the later mk2 as well.
And yes, the coil was sited on the left of the engine bay….a sod to get to unsurprisingly!
Mine was made in 1966.

The unfortunately broken indicator stalk was grey/black which I replaced with the commonly available grey/metal lever that seems to scream “I’ve been replaced!”. Though my rear vent has a mesh, I don’t believe it has the raised rib you speak of I’ve seen on older years (pic)…. And yes, why shove the coil under and behind the air filter? Ok, it might be better for the coil than near the exhaust which came later but….

 

[bb17660]

Your car will definitely be a Series 1 and you're right to think there might not have always been an exact cut-off date for use of the parts bins. I also think that home-market cars may sometimes have had slight differences in detail to those for foreign markets, eg. the UK.

The book, "La Guida", gives a fairly accurate overview of the basic differentiations of the models of the 500. However, so many items from across the ranges and years appear to be interchangeable, and this often confuses the matter....body number would be the most accurate for dating a car.

Thanks for the information! Did you mean “La Guida al Restauro” for the book reference? If not a link would be most appreciated and Thank You!!

 

[bb17660]

Welcome to the forum. I can also concur that the 500 F did a "soft" changeover from series 1 to series 2 between 67-68. When restoring my car (67), there were many things that indicated it was a series 1, but has the 4 bolt door hinges which is indicative of a series 2. Im fairly certain, like even most modern mfg's do. Is they consume up old inventory when doing a change over and then the cars are eventually fully changed over. Door hinge stamping was likely changed over as soon as the dies were in the presses ready to go. Wiring harness and other "longer lead time" items were likely built in bulk and consumed in batches as production ran.

My 67 500f is a 4 bolt hinge, but left side coil pack, and series 1 wiring system/fuse block.

Thanks for the reply and especially the info on your ‘67. I was fairly certain of the car’s repair history and provenance, but one can never know ‘cento percento’ and this helps a lot!

 

[fiat500]

Thanks for the information! Did you mean “La Guida al Restauro” for the book reference? If not a link would be most appreciated and Thank You!!

This is the book; my copy was very generously given to me by a very generous fellow countryman of yours. There are interesting differences in models, including (I've just discovered) in the ashtray.
Your car will probably have the more decorative "Fiat 500" script on the engine-lid.
If not restored, there would possibly be a big hole behind the fromt badge where the sound from the horn emanates.

FIAT 500, LA GUIDA / THE GUIDE

Fiat 500

www.autolit.eu

 

[the hobbler]

This is the book; my copy was very generously given to me by a very generous fellow countryman of yours. There are interesting differences in models, including (I've just discovered) in the ashtray.
Your car will probably have the more decorative "Fiat 500" script on the engine-lid.
If not restored, there would possibly be a big hole behind the fromt badge where the sound from the horn emanates.

FIAT 500, LA GUIDA / THE GUIDE

Fiat 500

www.autolit.eu

One way around the 'coil-on-the-left' problem is to re-fitit on the right side of the engine bay (above the heat-tray ledge) and use a 'competition' condenser from either Swiftune or Shacktune. Both of these companies can supply condensers that have long 'feed' and 'earth' leads, which enables one to fit the condenser up by the coil and away from the exhaust/engine-cooling-air heat. Doing this also reduces the length of the ignition 'King' lead.