General OK, so now show us yours!

Idleboy08 · Mar 16, 2016

Hi Hobbler

As promised, here is a quick picture of my log book. Can you tell me if Florence is a 72 or 73?

Luxe · Mar 16, 2016

1st registered in 1973. This link will help you and others identify their car by Chassis number. http://nuova500.free.fr/Telaio.html

the hobbler · Mar 16, 2016

the information GIVEN is above the printed line (if that sounds sensible)---'omologazione' means when was it 'homologated'? As the 500R ran from 1972 to 1975, it means that the car details were finalised and authorised (homologated) in 1972. as 'Luxe' said, it was built in 1973 (anno 1a imatr)

Idleboy08 · Mar 16, 2016

Thanks Luxe and hobbler

So she's a 73! That'll do for me. She's not looking bad for 43 years old.

Cheers guys.

Idleboy08 · Mar 16, 2016

Hi hobbler

I forgot to mention that I live in a little village called Idle just outside Leeds not far from Leeds/Bradford Airport. I can be up in the beautiful Yorkshire t'Dales within 20 mins from our house, simply stunning! I've had hours and hours of fun buzzing around Gods own County in the mini and can't wait to do the same in the 500.

Bend the rules - rule the bends! Bring on the better weather.

enzothe500 · Apr 7, 2016

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this forum. Last November I took delivery of my first classic, a 1970 FIAT 500L, named "Enzo". He had a mediocre restoration attempt about 7 years ago I'm told, and the previous owner had put in a FIAT 126 650cc engine and gearbox.

As soon as I took delivery of the car it had a major engine failure, and I cobbled together a motor to keep it running for a couple of months of the Australian summer, and now it's off the road and i'll commence a resto-mod project with him.

I don't have a lot of spare time to post a detailed build thread on here, but I'm hoping to learn from the community here on a few key parts of the project, and hopeful that my experience in Engineering and motorsports may be able to help others.

PMF500 · Apr 23, 2016

Hi, thought I would introduce myself. I have a 1969 Fiat 500F which was imported from Italy to the UK at the latter half of last year. The car had been subject to some restoration work in Italy. The car was from the Modena area and was apparently a one owner vehicle. The photo is from Italy just before she was transported over. She is now MOTd, and on the road up here in the north east of Scotland. Had a nice drive today and she ran very well. Ive wanted an original 500 for years and looked at restoring one but decided to get one that was pretty much ready to enjoy, although that hasn't gone to plan. She or possible he still to decide on that one, is in original spec and I plan to keep her pretty much original.

IanEmery · Apr 23, 2016

PMF500 said:
Hi, thought I would introduce myself. I have a 1969 Fiat 500F which was imported from Italy to the UK at the latter half of last year. The car had been subject to some restoration work in Italy. The car was from the Modena area and was apparently a one owner vehicle. The photo is from Italy just before she was transported over. She is now MOTd, and on the road up here in the north east of Scotland. Had a nice drive today and she ran very well. Ive wanted an original 500 for years and looked at restoring one but decided to get one that was pretty much ready to enjoy, although that hasn't gone to plan. She or possible he still to decide on that one, is in original spec and I plan to keep her pretty much original.

High, and welcome to the forum. That's a lovely car with, what looks like, a fantastic panel fit and in a great colour. Hope you enjoy it after wanting one for years.

Ian

fiat500 · Apr 23, 2016

PMF500 said:
She is now MOTd, and on the road up here in the north east of Scotland. .

Nice to have company in this part of the world.

Welcome, Peter

COR_1272 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr

PMF500 · Apr 26, 2016

IanEmery said:
High, and welcome to the forum. That's a lovely car with, what looks like, a fantastic panel fit and in a great colour. Hope you enjoy it after wanting one for years.

Ian

Thanks for the welcome, and enjoying her so far even though she has already thrown me a few unexpected issues and I'll post some photos of repairs Ive already had to carry out in the main forum shortly.

Peter, I'm not as far north as yourself, I usually still get postage at the normal rates. Once I'm a bit more confident I may venture further north in her and perhaps see Murphio on one of his meanderings.

Peter

widemouthfrog · Apr 26, 2016

When I was at uni (more years ago than I care to admit/remember) I learnt to drive in my mates 500D. It was a very early UK RHD car in pale blue with suicide doors and the weedy halfshafts & splined sleeves (a source of continual worry at the time). It was an 'A' reg, I think with the letters APA. Just curious - does anybody here know of its whereabouts nowadays?

Pete145 · Apr 27, 2016

So I've never really felt compelled to contribute to this thread before, but here goes!

Some of you might remember the Classic Car Rescue show on Channel 5 a couple of years ago. Well, I was the lucky bugger who won the 500!

I'll be diplomatic here and say that the car wasn't in the best shape mechanically when I got hold of it. Mechanically it was pretty unreliable (I have two breakdown service pickups in the first two weeks), and quite a lot of 'trim' (some functional and some aesthetic) was just missing. Anyway, I fixed what I could and Middle Barton did some very quick fixes, but I've never felt confident enough to drive it any great distance.

Cut a long story short I pondered selling it earlier this year, but after a lot of thought I decided the 'throw the book at it' instead and commission some extra modifications and upgrades.

It had already had some cylinder head work (skimmed and ported), high lift cam shaft fitted, Webber 28 carb, but the bottom of the engine hadn't really been touched. After weighing up some options, and seeking advice from Hobbler (thanks Tom) I commissioned Middle Barton Garage to do a complete engine re-build and suspension overhaul, bringing it up to Abarth 595 SS specification.

Full engine strip and soda blast clean, bored to 595, new pistons and barrels and barrel plate, new pushrod tube, new main bearing and con-rod bearing, new crank/crank-shaft, Dellorto 34 side-draft twin choke carb, alloy sump, and electronic starter motor.

Along with the original mods this has pushed her up to c.35BhP, which has made a huge difference to the practicality of the car.

I pondered the re-badging issue for a long time before deciding to re-brand her as an Abarth, but with the authenticity of the upgrades (including suspension to Abarth standards) I eventually decided that she was far more of an Abarth SS than a lot of tributes that are out there, and certainly more Abarth than 500L!

Anyway, a few images attached, I hope you like them and approve of the work!

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Pete145 · Apr 27, 2016

I should add, I'm still not there yet, as there are still a couple of things that I'd like to do.

Specifically disc brake conversion (front only) and the addition of a binnacle/instrument cluster. The car now has retrofit oil temp and pressure gauges (VDO), but I'll pull the pressure gauge in to an authentic Abarth cluster, along with a new speedo, rev counter and petrol gauge.

the hobbler · Apr 27, 2016

To borrow a phrase from you former colleagues, what a little ripper! Well done Peter, she looks really good and now that Tony (and Anton) have waved their little wands over her, she should bring a bloody great grin to your face---go and enjoy her!

Hugh Jarce · Dec 20, 2016

Hi Everyone, happy Christmas to you all and here is Bella, showing off her new hat as she made the December 2016 Fiat of the Month on Axel Gerstl's site.

Cheers
Hugh Jarce :slayer:

Oliveoil · Dec 28, 2016

NZ owner here. This is my first classic car, originally known as Fifi but I've affectionately renamed her Olive. I'm getting to know her and my confidence is growing. She was restored in 2011 and seems to run just nicely. Rather loud and a bit squealy in 4th but understandable. Looking forward to taking a look at the forum!