My 1978 Fiat 900T van. And the rest of my fleet...(3 years later!!! ...Updated 11/12/23)

[pandaselecta]

Vin, does your spare master cylinder look like this......

 

 

if so thats for a 900E like mine. You will need this type...

 

 

If you come to sell the 900E cylinder, let me know as mine is kaput and is needed so i can drive it to the welder.

[lovejoy]

Pandaselecta -- can you afford it ? I wouldn't mind 2nd dibs on it, if you don't have it....

[Vin]

Right, Master Cylinders.

 

I've done a bit of studying on this, going through the 900T/E microfiche copies I've got. A right ballache deciphering it all too...

 

Pandaselecta, you are correct that the top picture you have posted is from a 900E...You are also correct in that the cylinder in the bottom picture was used on the 900T, but only up to March 1978 according to the microfiche.

 

After that they used a cylinder that looks to be the same as on the 900E (according to the microfiche) but with formed metal pipes and plastic tubes joining it to the fluid reservoir...This is exactly what I've taken off my 900T (Sept 78)...here are some piccies...

 

 

And here is the spare cylinder that came with the van...

 

 

Now granted my van is an all drum set up, but it seems the records have a disc/drum set up (as well as the all drum set up ) for the 900T from November 1978 using this cylinder, until the beginning of 1980 when it becomes solely disc/drum and the 900E cylinder with the plastic outlets to the reservoir...

 

So it looks like I can use this cylinder with the 900E discs/drums I am going to replace the all drum system with.

 

If you aren't able to find the correct replacement for your van, there is a way of adapting an X1/9 master cylinder to fit. There is a 'how to' on the amigo and friends association site I think.

[Vin]

A bit more of an update. I’ve got quite a bit done since the last time I posted some pics. I seem to have a lost a few pics from my phone though as it packed up unfortunately.

 

Previously I’d stripped off all the front running and steering gear. I also took off the master cylinder, and the steering box.

 

I’ve also stripped down the front disc brake assemblies I got a few years ago. Here are some random pictures of said assemblies…

 

 

My main problem was the dismantling of the top suspension wishbones. I needed to dismantle them to repaint the arms and put some new bushes in. The big grief factor was that I could not budge the steel bar and the associated cotter pins from the alloy housing. I managed to remove two cotter pins without destroying them, but I ended up wrecking the other two and having to drill them out…Luck would have it that I have been able to source two NOS cotter pins from Italian Ebay.

 

My mate got the main threaded bars out the alloy mountings. I took them to his workshop and we used his gas axe and a drift and they were free in five minutes. Good stuff. Pictures of the dismantled bits.

 

 

The brute force used on the threaded bar didn’t do the ends of the threads much good, so my mate cleaned up the thread ends on his lathe and they are now as good as new.

 

These are the old bushes and the replacement ones (Italian Ebay again…)

 

 

These bushes are for the bottom suspension arm. The old ones and the NOS ones I got not long after I got the van. It’s good to be able to replace bits with spares that have been sat around waiting for the moment to come. In this case five years Ha Ha.

 

 

This picture was when I was taking the knackered tie rod ends off the steering arms.

 

 

The main job I have been doing and that has been taking the most time was cleaning the underside with gunk or white spirit, using paint and tooth brushes. This was because I wanted to stone chip the underneath and then paint it in the correct colour.

 

As I had removed quite a bit of the ripple effect factory coating from the wheel arches when I repaired the sills and welded in extra reinforcing plates for the seat mounts, I wanted something with the same finish in these areas. My mate suggested some 3M mastic so he got me some.

 

I masked off some bits underneath and then used some aerosol stonechip on the underside. The 3M stuff going just in the wheel arches and under the floor directly below your feet and the outriggers.

 

Picture of the masking off. The white stuff is aerosol stonechip.

 

 

The stuff.

 

 

You need a compressor to put the stonechip on. I’ve got one, but I have no hose so rather than lending me a hose, my mate lent me a spare compressor. It’s knackered but it did the job OK.

 

 

I’ll take some pictures of the stonechipped and painted front underside and also the parts that I have cleaned up and painted with POR15 paint for the next update.

[HillmanImp]

I would NEVER remember how all that went back together. Mainly because I would not have laid it out sensibly like you and would have instead mixed up all the bits in an upside down hubcap on the floor and will then have accidentally booted it resulting in most of the stuff getting mixed up with the all the bits from the other cars I have strewn all over the floor.

[Vin]

As promised, some more piccies that I took this afternoon.

 

A few pics of the front underside, stonechipped and all painted ready for bits to be put back on...

 

 

 

 

 

And here are some of the suspension components ready to go back on. Cleaned, rust proofed, painted and new bushes fitted.

 

In the past I would have used smoothrite but this time I used POR15. I like it, it goes on very well.

 

 

[walk]

Hey Vin

 

Looking good fella, that's some impressive progress - I look forward to seeing this at Stanford Hall in 2 WEEKS! Go on, you know you can do it.

[pandaselecta]

Might go down the X1/9 route then, not only is a genuine new Magnetti Marelli one around £35, i have heard you get a better pedal feel too.

[pandaselecta]

Might go down the X1/9 route then, not only is a genuine new Magnetti Marelli one around £35, i have heard you get a better pedal feel too.

[Mckenzie]

What a wonderful Job.

I recently managed to get a 900E pandora which i love but i think its going to take a while to get it onto the road, Have a little fiat 126 aircooled which is mint also.

So happy i found this thread as i know nothin about the 900e pandora but just fell in love with it,

I was looking for an owners club , any ideas guys??.

i will add some pics asap.

I will need advice as its actually my first project but i just had too have her

[Vin]

Another update of what I've been doing for the past month.

 

I started to re-assemble the suspension, but then realised that I needed a centre spring compressor as what I had wouldn't work. I got the right tool for the job and it all went back together fairly easily.

 

I also ended getting some new front shockers off Italian E-bay, as one of the old ones appeared to have stopped moving...

 

 

New shock absorbers (green) and old (brown)

 

 

 

Some new front discs

 

 

The rubbers on the tie rods were shot, so I replaced the rubbers themselves. The rod ends are right and left handed threads, so you just, in practice, turn the bar to adjust the tracking and then tighten up the clamps. Ideally you should be able to spin the bar with little force, just your hand say, but that isn't happening. The threads in the sleeves probably need further cleaning, but that will have to wait. For now, as long as it's back on 4 wheels and the wheels move together, it will do.

 

 

Track rods and bars back on. Ready to put the wheels on.

 

 

I haven't done any of the brakes yet, or put the steering box and main linkage back as that will wait till the winter. The important thing is I can now put it down as I need all my axle stands, as I am going to re-commission the 126 and get it ready for an MOT - it needs a new choke cable, front wheel bearings and a brake overhaul.

 

After that, I will do what I've done to the front of the van, to the rest of the underneath....

EDIT...After looking at this again, I notice these pictures are the ones where the caliper holder is on the wrong side. They are 'handed'. Although they will fit on either side, they will foul the steering if they are not on their respective side. The caliper holder should be pointing upwards, rather than down...

[Vin]

Right then folks, bit of an update...

 

Well I started to recommission the 126. Got it on stands and put a new choke cable on. Started to have a look at the brakes and noticed a hole near the front top wishbone mount This will need welding up before I even do anything else for an MOT. To repair it properly I need to remove the suspension - but if I'm gonna do that, I'd rather strip the whole lotas there is a bit of surface rust on the body underneath, weld new metal in at the hole and repaint all the suspension components... I need the garage for that though and the van is in there at the mo...The 126 will have to wait then...at least you don't need two people to start it now - it was one starting it and one stood at the back holding the choke in....

 

The van...

 

Aborted 126 activity meant that I could jack the back of the van up and get stuck in dismantling the rear suspension ready for refurbish....

 

 

The next two pictures aren't really very exciting - what they are are the enclosed sections either side of the gearbox. The only reason that I took a picture of them was I was surprised how solid they are for 34 year old italian metal - I assume they might get a bit of engine heat in there...Pleasantly surprised at the state of them though

 

 

All the bits are off...

 

 

Ready for further stripdown on the bench. Then wirebrushing with the angle grinder and repainting in POR15 as per the front suspension...

 

 

As I replaced the front drums with the disc set up from a 900E, I intend to fit the rear hubs from a 900E also. I have two R/H set ups and a L/H set up to plunder bits off. I also have a set of panda rear hubs which appear to be the same, so should be fairly straight forward...

 

Got to get underneath with my cleaning gear now though....

[Burnside]

Great progress on this Vin I've never seen a real 900T van before other than the odd camper version. Though saying that back in 1999 when I was 15 growing up in Tamworth a guy had a 900T Ice cream van but only took it round the more upmarket side of town. So when I stopped at my friends house one weekend and he was on his round I spoke to him about the van. He said he wanted to sell it so I asked how much an he said £1500! Sadly my £15 I had saved up wasn't nearly enough.

 

Sadly I don't know what became of that van, hopefully it still about somewhere as I wouldn't have thought there be many about in the UK?

[Vin]

As my last update was August, I thought it was only right that this thread was given a deserved update...

 

Well, since the last update and the removal of the rear suspension I've made a bit more progress. Before Xmas I removed the Panda hubs/back plates from the rear omega axle that is stored behind my mates workshop. The intention was to use the rear hubs as the set I have from a 900E had badly rotted dust covers on them. Only when I got the panda back plates on the bench did I realise that they were identical in every way except the holes were too small, so the wheel bearings wouldn't fit So...I had to use the 900E back plates, but I chiseled the knackered shrouds off. Problem sorted.

 

 

Like the rest of the suspension, these were cleaned up with the cup brush and angle grinder and then painted with POR15.

 

The underside was all stone chipped and then painted - this was done on Christmas Eve morning.

 

The suspension was all then re-assembled with new shock absorbers over the festive period...

 

 

As you can see, the van is now back down on all four wheels...

 

This morning I stripped down the spare rear doors, as the original is rotten, to see which is best. The green one is badged as an 'OM' so is pretty old, whereas the yellow one is from a camper of similar vintage to the van.

 

The yellow one is the better as there is no rot on it

 

 

The van is now ready for the paint shop...In the mean time I am going to strip the engine down. The engine runs, but it needs a good clean, so I will take it apart and clean everything, inspect the innards and replace all the gaskets while it is in bits...

 

That's all for now.

[Cavcraft]

Fair play, Vin that's going to be something else when you've done it.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Holy moly, this van is gonna be such a minter when its done!

[HillmanImp]

I am sooooooo looking forward to seeing this finished. Keep up the good work, it does look really good.

[Vin]

About time I did an update....

 

 

Well, I've been mucking about with the van engine. I knew the engine ran before I took it out the van, but it was filthy and I had no idea what it was like inside. Or even if it is the original engine...

 

Anyway I started the strip down.

 

 

A Bit manky under the rocker cover

 

 

Years of being sat around meant the block was absolutely chock full of brown sediment...resulting in barnacle like blobs of rust all over the waterways and the cylinders. This didn't look good. It looked even worse when after discussion with my mate, he wrote the camshaft off as scrap as one of the lobes is very badly pitted. Also one of the valve springs had snapped too.

 

 

Internals and the resultant 'sediment'...

 

 

 

 

Anyway, I cleaned up all the other parts and put them in boxes ready for rebuilding.

 

 

When I took the block, head and all the componenets round to my mates workshop for him to look at, I came away with the spare engine that came with the van, as it was stored at the workshop. The intention being to strip it down to see what parts it can provide. I started the strip down in my garage, but took everything round to my mate's place to finish it.

 

 

I used the impact wrench to finish it off - it made quick work of it...

 

 

 

After review of the two engines the spare block was much better condition internally than the original. The cylinder head on the spare was scrap though. The camshaft in the spare was good too, the valve springs also.

 

Although the block was better inside, the bores were not as good as the original block, so a rebore was on the cards. I then left the block and cylinder soaking in paraffin over a 4 week period with regular cleanings with bottle brushes, wire brushes and scotch scouring pads...

 

 

Measurements of the the two blocks...

 

 

 

So once it was all clean and I got hold of some oversize pistons, the spare block could go for reboring

 

 

Back from the machine shop

 

 

So, I took the opportunity to paint the block. The block would originally have been grey, evidence of which I found when removing the maroon paint. So three coats of grey and it's starting to look alright...

 

 

 

 

After cleaning all the shite off the block I found an engine number. On discovering this, it prompted me to check the block from the original engine. The number on that tallied with the registration documents, so it does look to be the original engine.

 

That's all for now folks.

 

 

[skattrd]

That is going to be better than new  the time you've finished with it ... Top work fella

[Vin]

Ha, it might well be...It's one of those things though isn't it. You start with just repairing and cleaning and then you think, if I leave certain bits as they are they'll let the finished thing down...

[dollywobbler]

Superb. Cannot wait to see this finished.

[Skizzer]

^What DW said.  Brilliant.

[gtd2000]

Excellent work!

[Guest Cold hands]

have just found this site and this restoration. Must say what an inspiring job being and carried out by Vin. The mans a star   

[Vin]

OMG Update!!! Although don't get too excited.

 

I did some engine work over Christmas. Cam, crank and pistons etc. all back in the block - all gunked up with ultra slick assembly lube (looks like raspberry sauce from the ice cream van...) New timing chain. New gaskets fitted with a bit of wellseal. Head on and torqued down. Pushrods in. Had to make a good rocker assembly out of the two that I had...Sump all on and then fitted the flywheel. That's as far as I have got at the moment.

 

Couple of pics

[DSdriver]

Blimey that is surgically clean - not an oily fingerprint in sight. Winner.

[Asimo]

Love those centrifugal oil filters. Was there much crap in there? How did you clean it out?

[Vin]

There was a lot of crap in it. Took it all apart, scewdrivered out the sediment and gave it all a going over in the parts cleaner. Fitted a new seal on it when I put it back together...

[twosmoke300]

Belarus tractors have a centrifugal oil filter. It's amazing how much Shit they take out of the oil.

[londonm]

Reading this with baited breath....