General Buying advice

[eamonnf]

Hi all,

I'm usually in the Punto section but with my Punto put to rest for the winter I am considering a new project. It has to be Fiat and it has to be small! Would you recommend a 126? and how plentiful are they? Work with quite a few people from Poland who tell me that 126's are as cheap as chips over there... would it be worth bring one over?

 

[Venters]

There's usually a few on ebay. They are brilliant fun, slow and i mean really slow but great fun. parts are not an issue neither is virtually any mehanical job the car mght require. Rust is the enemy on these cars. if you can find one with no or little rust you have a good one, no matter what else is wrong with it.

 

[eamonnf]

cheers venters,

Ive seen the on Polish websites equivelant of autotrader for as little as £60 for 1995's in excellent cond, there simply not appreciated there! I wonder how much shipping would be?? ive emailed someone for a quote just see...

 

[Venters]

Shipping then re-registered then the problems of buying a car unseen from another country. You can get uk spec cars for cheap.

 

[Nathan126]

Apart from rust, king pins are a major thing! This requires a special tool to replace, mine were fine before a garage had a poke.
Mine was a BIS and ran like a dream but rusted in diagonal corners, can't remember which now but it used to twist on corners and was cheaper for me to buy a modern Seicento and sell up. I wish i hadn't now. Also look in the front spare wheel compartment as water will often sit there on the older ones
Test each gear, on more abused cars they will tend to pop out of 1st if the synchro is damaged. Mine also rusted around a corner of the windscreen, which i think is a common place. Best bet, check everywhere If i had mine now after doing all the work and cutting back the paint a bit i'd be expecting £1500 plus, i bought it for £700 and ended up selling for about £250 with the work needed. If i'd have known the value i wouldnt have sold. But goes to say, there are bargains out there

 

[eamonnf]

Nathen i think yur right, I dont really fancy a major restoration just a few mods to keep me occupied over the winter... I'd to do something a little silly with it so i'll prob go for a cinq or Sie...cheers dude