Found In Aqueous Torrent, Cinqu-ing to new levels.

[Cavcraft]

So, eBay, boredom (extremely limited) money to burn, long weekend coming, unemployed mechanic son=something stupid in the offing. This time it's the turn of those pasta loving Iveco knocker-upping race of Europeans, and their greatest* hour.

 

Exit stage left...

 

I can't pretend the vendor said it was perfect and forgot to mention any bad vibes, far from it, in actual fact he was refreshingly honest and extremely helpful. It was advertised with problems and in the couple of days between agreeing a deal and collecting it, he'd done loads to try and get it to work properly again when he was a) busy about to go on holiday and c) had a new car to play with.

In a nutshell it'd had overheated and kept lobbing it's water out on the way back home from his job so he'd just bought another car (FIAT of course) and drove this hhome topping the water up along the way, seller thinking h/g had gone.

He'd mentioned it spewing water out of the rad and that the temp gauge had been higher than normal (before losing the water) and he'd just given up on it. A plastic pipe had broken at the back of the heater matrix (in the engine bay) and despite forcing it in a bit the bastard came out twice on the way home meaning stopping three or four times to let it cool down then top up again. Doing this just off the M57 wasn't really the greatest place but was marginally safer than the motorway itself.

 

This time we had broken pipe in a lot better so it was a few miles before it started shitting it's water out again due the 'leaking rad' so we stopped twice more to let it cool down and top up again.

 

Handily* we did discover we couldn't actually have a reverse gear in a pez station, or anywhere else really. TXT MSGD seller who said there was a knack to this, a knack that perhaps Paul Daniels alone knew how to sort.

So on and nearly home, decided to call at some shops and cleverly parked facing a post. My lad offered to push us back but I suggested that was no fun and 'don't worry, I'll find reverse'. Only I didn't find reverse at all, I merely rolled forward and into the post, much to the amusemt of several nearby people.

 

Anyhow got it home, bit miffed we couldn't give it a proper Italian test drive but determined to get cracking on the problems.

Reverse gear was the easy bit, there's a sort of cable that runs up the gearstick and is bolted to the side of it on a bracket of sorts. Undid bolt, slid the cable/holder up a bit, bolted it down again and it's working like a good 'un.

Bumper off, time to look at the radiator and the overheating, transpires there was a break in the live to the temp. sensor 'thing' (now fixed) and the bottom hose wasn't put back on properly last time it'd been off. Fan sensor 'thing' knackered, as are two plastic pipes for heater matrix so a trip to the scrapyard tomorrow should see us right for a handful of quids.

We are going to do a compression test on it to but we do think the h/g has NOT gone, so as long as the car hasn't been cooked we should be ok. Obv, it'll want an engine service, antifreeze etc but if it's ok we'll razz round in it for a couple of weeks at least.

Being the Sporting (there's a LOL in itself) it's reasonably well equipped (what a f*cking stupid place to put the electric window switches though!) and seems quite a laugh to drive. More tomorrow/later in the week after the scrapyard visit.

[pompei]

Good work! The former Mrs P had one and I loved it. 54 horses (or probably a lot less now) doesn't sound much but they weigh as much as a gelato and they handle brillinatly. They feel dead flimsy and that's part of the fun - you don't actually have to go fast to feel like you're going fast. I'd have another.

[CreepingJesus]

Top buy.

Funnily enough, my sister's boggo spec one launched all its' coolant on the way over here one afternoon. It was the bottom hose which was the source of the problems, and was easily bodged. They're easy enough to work on, these, as long as you don't have sausage fingers/gorilla hands.

Want one now, and there's not many around here.

[PhilA]

Had an 'S' model, with the steaming 41hp 899 spi ohv panda engine. Used to razz about everywhere in it- did 155,000 miles before bits started to fall off/stop working to the point where the repairs were getting more costly than the car and the rot began to set in at the back and by the steering mounts.

 

Great fun, hoot to drive, so simple to park. the electronics were surprisingly good, the electrics never really gave any troubles. It desperately needs a good radiator, else it'll overheat, especially in traffic. Watch for the clutch cable on the 1.1, you've probably already seen the stupid, arduous route it takes to get from the right hand side of the car (designers didn't think about this one)

 

Lowered to the bumpstops they handle quite well. Standard they understeer for the most part which is easy to control by the addition of a bit more lock and heavy application of the loud pedal- the miniscule torque they have doesn't tend to break the tyres away too hard and the car pulls in round the corner.

They do oversteer above about 50, and the breakaway is scary. Don't ask me how I know.

 

Blew the head gasket at 40,000 miles driving it like a hoon. Repaired that in an afternoon, amused at the bores I couldn't even fit my hand inside.

It went through a water pump, three radiators, one alternator, a thermostat, a headgasket, several hoses and a fuel pump in the time I owned it, with a few oddities like the rear brakes jamming on. find a big open space, go about 15-20 in reverse and stamp on the brakes. That breaks the crud off the shoes and handbrake mechanism. The handbrake is dire to begin with and that can help, but the mechanisms seem to have their heritage in the 60's and aren't a good design.

 

 

Loved it. It's now baked bean cans (RIP N83 HCA), but it served very well and I was very surprised at just how much crap you can fit in the back of it with the seats down.

 

--Phil

[pompei]

That rear brake trick is what I did when I bought my 127 which had virtually no brakes. Cutting a long story short, I had to drive down Sutton Bank which was about 5 miles from where I bought it. The guy I was with followed me as I descended in first gear belching out smoke as it popped and spluttered. (It drove brilliantly after that descent) Got it to his, fixed the brakes and it was fine thereafter. It wouldn't surprise me if the Cinq has exactly the same set up

[Albert Ross]

They sure do, a huge coil spring..........

[Cavcraft]

Previous owner had done a fair bit to it in his time owning it. Reoplaced alternator (that looks a fun job), headgasket, cam belt, welding done and a fair bit more. I think he said he wrote the 'how to' guides to the headgasket replacement and other things for a Fiat forum.

 

The brakes do seem a bit shit it must be said, I'll try that reversing trick, cheers!

[PhilA]

The brakes, compared to say, an Escort, feel crap. They are actually really very good, you just do require a lot more pedal force. It'll happily lock up all four wheels at 70 if you stamp on the pedal.

 

That is, assuming you don't get the accelerator and the clutch at the same time, with the same foot.

 

Decent flexible hoses improve the feel of the pedal. Mine were going funny after ten years.

 

-Phil

[Split_Pin]

I do like the styling of these - I think its aged very well. The sporty ones with colour coded bumpers etc look fun.

 

Those temp sensor things are a PITA. Mine went on the Corsa and tbh only genuine manufacturer ones will do. A cheap e-bay one nearly cost me an engine!

[Cavcraft]

Head off and stripped. The oil pipe was a bit stupid (two or three bolts and some wiggling about) but it's off now and the head is ready to be dropped off at an engine centre for checking over and a skim if needed.

 

Reckon at least one valve needs reseating, the engine place will sort that though I think. Next up (after various bits of engine bay cleaning) is to sort out the broken pipes to the heater matrix, scrapyard or careful plumbing will see that right. Oh, just need to order the h/g set, shouldn't take long to arrive.

[dollywobbler]

Excellent stuff. I fell in love with the Cinquecento Sporting when these were launched. A great looking car. Then they followed up with the Seicento, which looked like a melted Cinquecento. Dreadful.

[Cavcraft]

Dropped the head off at an engine reconditions the other day for crack/pressure testing, skim and valves looking at. They said the head was warped but is now ok and they had to lap some valves in. It certainly looks the part now, hoping to have it back on today and see what it's like. New gaskets and temp switch obtained so it's pretty much ready to be screwed back together now.

[nigel bickle]

Interesting write up CV, as I've poss a vested interest in one of these shortly.

 

Will soon be fter one of these for SWMBO -who now needs to leave a car parked remotely, for work. Needs to be yellow though (dont ask!)

[Cavcraft]

They do look best in yellow, I think they work well in bright colours. I'm told there's either an owners forum or space on a general Fiat forum for them. I can ask the lad I got it off to keep an eye out for a yellow one if you like, Nigel? He's had quite a few of these and seems to know his onions.

[Guest]

Top purchase! I had one and loved it. Always thought needed two though - one for each foot!

I sussed a hanbrake fix which the theorisers on the forums never did. The cable's just a V round the lever and is after 24 uses from new, too strtched and runs out of adjustment. Sooooooo got to B&Q and get soem of them there U shape clamps, about £4 and place 2 of them about 10" in recall, back from the handbrake to pull the two spurs of the V together thus taking up the slack. WHere you put the adjusts the take up. Job done.

Obv make sure not too close to handbrake or it'll foul.

 

One more thing - remove the false bulkhead - card/plastic thing in the engine bay. This sits in the rain gully, this gets blocked as does the vertical drain pipe it feeds, situated in the middle and feeding down behind the engine. Water backs up and comes into the car via the heater fan hole to matrix.

 

Oh and yeah the leccy window switches are in the most stupid place ever!

[Cavcraft]

Not far off now, my lad did what can be seen in the pictures and a bit more besides. Head's on and timed up, new fan switch installed and one or two hoses attached. left to do is mostly light reassembly stuff really, then run it up and bleed the cooling system. New oil, plugs, filter, coolant etc to be got before we start it. We'd cleaned up the mating surface on the block where the head sits before it went back on as well as someother bits and bobs being sorted prior.

 

 

Only real incident of note so far was a cam cap (or something like that) being on the wrong way round so he couldn't get the engine timed up but it's sorted now.

[Cavcraft]

All back together, we think it's bled ok and it's running like a good un. EXCEPT...we reckon the new fan switch is either the wrong one or knackered. We have power to the fan (earth and live all good) and if the pins are bridged the fan kicks in so my lad reckons it's the new switch at fault.

He's going to take it off again tomorrow (it's red hot at the moment as we've had the car running for absolutely ages) and test it, if it's just that it's no big deal as easy to sort out. The only PITA is that the place we got it from is closed until Monday.