New memebr with questions about wheels, in particular bolts.

[Bruce57]

Hi folks, My name is Bruce. I have owned a 126 Bis for over 20 years, It has been sitting in a garage for the last ten. I drove it in there after it had been MOTed and serviced, but had the use a newer/bigger car. My situation has changed and it looks like I may have to start using it again. It is covered in dust and the tyres are flat and has some other problems related to lack of use, ageing, and the action of a "mechanic" not aware of this model.

So long as the engine is not seized I am pretty sure it can be brought back to life. Thing is the standard wheels and tyres looked a bit sad, so I got hold of some Cinq Sporting wheels and tyres, they came with a set of bolts. While the wheels fitted, when I tried the bolts they would not tighten; too long or wrong thread?. So I used the standard 126 bolts.

While they could be tightened by standing on the wheel brace and hold the wheels on, I am worried the bolts are not long enough to be safe (car has not been driven on these wheels yet). I am pretty sure alloys need longer bolts, but what size. I though all Fiats had the same thread on the wheel bolts (M12 1.25), but according to the factory manual i have, the front wheels have M12 1.25 bolts and the rear have M12 1.5.

Is this right or is it a misprint? The alloys are a bit thicker than the steel wheels, but they have a steel insert where the bolts go so are not much thicker. Will it be safe to use the 126 bolts? Can I use the Cinq bolts (possibly cut down so they fully tighten), or do I need some new bolts with different threads for the front and back?

Hi again, and thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[rallycinq]

hello,

My first port of call would be to check the thread on the existing bolts front to rear. If they are the same then check against the Cinq bolt you have.

That should tell you whether the car has different pitches or its a missprint.

Then take a cinq wheel and pop your bis bolt through it. measure how much is poking through. have a look at the bis hub and measure where the thread starts in the hole.

You should, in an ideal mechanical world have 1.5 x the thread width, so basically 18mm of bolt in the hub.

Also make sure you can get a full lock to lock turn without any rubbing with that size of wheel/tyre combo. Any rubbing will be an MOT fail.

Report back if you need more info.

D

 

[Bruce57]

Thanks very much for your answer. Seems to make a lot of sense, should have thought of that myself.

As for the tyres/wheels, the fronts fit inside the arches really well. They seem to have a similar offset so only stick out a little further and they are slightly smaller (7mm diameter). The rears are little different, as the car has not been driven. When the wheels are changed they have a horrible amount of positive camber (same with standard wheels). By the time the suspensions settles as far as the arches there is a lot of negitive camber so the top of the wheels are inside the aches. Needs to be driven for them to settle. Trouble is the rear swing arm suspension, like a 911 (and Skoda Estelle) you get lift off over-steer in corners, just not quite as violent.

 

[rallycinq]

Lift off oversteer in a 126 can be quite violent due to its short wheelbase, well avoided.

Should be a fun car when its on the road though.

D

 

[gadge]

I don't think there's any danger of any sort of oversteer in a 126

 

[rallycinq]

I don't think there's any danger of any sort of oversteer in a 126

Really?



D

 

[gadge]

Yes really ..... none whatsoever

 

[rallycinq]

Never Diss the Bis

D

 

[gadge]

Never Diss the Bis

D

I've dissed mine a few times! :bang:

 

[rallycinq]

I've dissed mine a few times! :bang:

When on the hard shoulder...with a broken wire?

D

 

[gadge]

When on the hard shoulder...with a broken wire?

D

And many other times after that