Fiat 500 recreation

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Attention is paid to the areas of the shell that will not be seen when
once the car is rebuild, this included areas such as the engine
compartment (the superb engine that is planned needs to live in a
nice space!).

In addition, we felt that areas such as the wheel housings offer and
opportunity to increase sound proofing, so after these areas are
repaired and painted, they are coated in stone chip to increase noise
reduction.

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after primer, a control coat is used to identify
imperfections, these are addressed.
As can be seen every last fitting has been removed. Areas
such as engine compartment, floor underside and interior
and luggage compartment are cosmetically treated with
as much importance as the outer shell.
Finished is Fiat Bianco Pack (FIA1) 249 base coat with a
Glasurit clear coat. Basecoat supplied by Central Auto
Paints - Kettering.

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The refit

Long before the project began, I had wanted a project using all new parts (where new parts were as good or better than the original). The
vast majority of the parts had been sourced from suppliers in the Netherlands, Germany and Italy).

With the shell painted the shell was returned (minus elements - doors, boot lid etc) on it’s rotisserie. This allowed for various components to
be fitted with relative ease. These included: All cables (handbrake, choke, accelerator, starter cable, clutch), brake linings upper suspension
arms, sound proofing, air duct hoses, the rear wiring loom and the dual circuit brake master cylinder (a much easier job when the car is
upside down).
The rotisserie was then removed allowing the suspension, wheel hubs etc to be fitted and now the car is on it’s wheels and beginning to look
something like a classic 500.
All mechanical parts, tinware, petrol tank, guards, wheel hub backing plates, suspension arms new, but the paint finish from the manufacturer
for many of these parts was not of a very high standard (normal for car parts), so these parts, along with some original parts, such as the
pedal set, steering column choke and starter levers, leaf spring etc, where stripped down and taken to Unique Powder Coating in
Northampton, where they where shot blasted, zinc coated and powder coated in RAL 5012 Blue (some parts such as the rear suspension
arms where shot blast by our fabricator and then shot blast again before coating).

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Suspension & braking components
similar to other metal parts on the
car are shipped in ‘Transit Paint’,
this is simply not good enough to
prevent corrosion. So all parts
were powder coated in zinc then
RAL 5012. This was particularly
relevant with regards to the leaf
spring. Nothing was overlooked -
as can be seen even the pedal box
& the gear selector were rebuilt

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Re-Powercoating new parts

The work of stripping parts down and degreasing so that they could be blasted and cleaned took some time. The rear suspension arms as an
example had their hubs stripped out and discarded (replaced with new), the handbrake cable assembly stripped out and discarded (replaced
with new) and the old bushes pressed out prior to being sand blasted, zinc coated and colour powder coated. Once done new bushes were
pressed in (carefully) and new hub assemblies and handbrake cable assemblies where used.

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The engine

As with all of the project, I wanted the engine to be a little special. So a ‘new old stock’ 595cc engine was purchased and stripped
down, to be tuned and blue printed. The key features are: Crank Balance to a balance factor of 50% (tried and tested on this engine
format for best results). Crank was balanced along with the flywheel, clutch assembly, front pulley (& bolt), piston rods which were
also balanced together and end to end. The ‘breathed upon’ approach was taken with the cylinder head, which was ‘ported’ and
‘gas flow drilled’ for great flow of gases along, the head also had a light skim to increase the compression ratio and valves were
‘tricked up’. A steel 35/75, 75/35 warm camshaft was used along with a 28IMB carb which would be ‘jetted’ on the rolling road. A
number of timing chains were sourced to find one that fitted (not too loose. not too tight) and in the end an anti-vibration chain was
used. For improved heat dissipation, an aluminium sump (Giannini) and valve cover were used. For the final set up a premium
electronic distributor (123 ignition from Albertronics in the Netherlands) was used. The air cowling was powder coated in RAL 5012,
to compliment the other metal components. All ancillary items were sourced new including Fiat 500 R alternator (meaning that the
regulator needed to be bypassed) and a new starter motor and new fuel pump in addition to a new stainless steel exhaust to
complement the higher performance and give better longevity. All engineering work was carried out by Automotive Services in
Northampton, who have re-engineered countless numbers of Fiat 500 & 126 engines having experimented with various specs to
attain the best performance (for example the right balance factor, the amount by which the head would be ported etc).

I was running a similar restore project to a 1970 RHD 500 built a 650cc engine alongside this one, very similar specification only, with
an Abarth sump and valve cover.

This all works very well with the new 650cc synchro gearbox.

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In line RAL 5012 powder coated
parts (tinware, springs, rear
suspension arms, brake back hubs,
fan splashguard, air ducts,
handbrake, choke / starter handles,
steering column and ignition,
peddles, fuel tank, engine
centrifuge & alternator pulleys),
after initially overlooking the toolkit
and jack, these were stripped, sand
blasted, zinc coated and colour
powder coated

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Tool Kit sandblasted and powder coated to match

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It’s the subtle upgrades / changes, that transform a ’70s
cinquecento from a slow and crude car to drive, into a fun
car, that will safely keep up with modern traffic. The
attention to detail in the engine compartment and
underside are exciting to look at. Upgrades include New
Engine (balanced crank, warm steel cam, ported GFD
head, 123 electronic ignition, stainless steel 70mm CSC
exhaust, aluminium Giannini valve cover and sump,
powder coated tinware, jetted carb), New Dual Circuit
brake master cylinder conversion, H4 Headlamp
conversion, laminated front windshield, progressive rear
springs 30mm lower, 30mm lowered sports front spring,
alternator conversion, Borani wheels, 45 micron chrome
bumpers, aluminium chrome number plate lamp (replaces
original plastic), improved sound insulation

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During the refit of mechanical parts and dry fit of
interior / exterior trim, a few imperfections that
remained from the original coat were addressed.
The car is partially stripped and sent back to the
paint shop. These pics show the car with a guide
coat, before going into the spray booth.
Final colour and clear coat has been applied. Now
the final refit begins

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Borrani

The working Borrani hub caps are fitted here: A new set still wrapped with be supplied with the car.

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