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

[Vin]

The past couple of weekends I've been sorting through boxes of stuff. This is so it is all into some kind of order into how I want to put it all back onto the van. It also helps in that I have been able recap where I put stuff when it comes to needing it.

 

I've also been doing some plumbing...

 

There are two lengths of pipe that run down the middle of the van. These feed hot water to the heater matrix up front and judging the state of the rest of the cooling system, I had a nagging doubt that these pipes might clogged up too. When I'd taken the rubber hoses off the ends they weren't very healthy. Although on inspection the main lengths were OK, the bends and ends were scaled up inside with rust...

 

I sealed and filled the pipes with a solution of Deox C which did clean them up, but the ends had holes round the beads. So as the pipes were 15 mm, I bought two 3 metre lengths of 15mm copper pipe, which I cut to length and heated and bent to shape and used some 'yorkshire' fittings to create the bends. I created the end beads by partially compressing some olives on them using a compression fitting. I put it all in the van and then I painted the pipes blue and then put the rubber covers on the inside and in the engine bay, so you can't really see it...

 

 

 

 

 

New pipes in, before painting them...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Twiggy]

I`m absolutely fascinated with this. A brilliant job Sir !

[Vin]

A bit of an update on this...

 

I've been putting a few things back onto this. I've put the window back that goes in the rear cab bulkhead. I have also put the choke, handbrake and gearleaver assembles back in...I'll give the handbrake a lick of paint...

 

I also replaced the lower part of the heating 'stop' tap. I found a replacement for the corroded original on Italian E-bay. I was able to split and free off the original with a bit of light force and plusgas and add the tap to the new base. I put it back using silicone hose as the originals were rock solid with internal surface crust...

 

I've also re-fitted the steering box after making sure it wasn't worn and there wasn't any play in it. After a good clean it went back OK...Brake master cylinder is also in as are all new brake pipes and new brake hoses. The clutch pedal mounting bar is in also.

 

Here are some pics...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Vin]

A chap from Taiwan got in touch with me recently as a result of this thread...He's just recently got a Fiat 900T for restoration, apparently 20 were imported into Taiwan in 1979. His is one of the 4 that are left from that batch. As a result he was looking for info, manuals and the like. I was able to send him a scan of my dealer manual and I scanned the A4 paper copies of the microfiche that I have. So while I had my information folder at work to do the scanning, I thought I would scan a couple of period brochures for the 900T and post them in the thread...

 

This is from June 1977...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Asimo]

This van is going to be the best there is when you are done.

Q. Is that plumbers water pipe to the heater hoses? Your mod?

 

Edit - I should have started reading at the top of the page!

[Vin]

Yes, that is plumbers pipe...The chances of me getting original NOS pipes are probably zero, but the originals being 15mm diameter meant they were the same size as 15mm plumbing pipe. It's a necessary mod and obviously isn't original, but it won't be seen as there is a rubber floor mat to go in the cab that covers it up... :-D

[twosmoke300]

That's looking lovely but please could you straighten the brake pipes out , its driving my ocd mental

[lovejoy]

Vin's Fiat 900 Bible  -  the New Testament  -  absolutely amazing, Vin,  I look forward to every new post

that you add to this, makes me want to scrap my average Pandora !!

 

Phil -  never knew you enjoyed the pleasure of o.c.d !  is that why the biscuits in your office tin are always

set in a neat pattern ?  

[Vin]

Ha, I've straightened the pipes out Phil...

 

I finished work for Christmas Tuesday last week, so I've been pottering around and doing bits on this. I got the pipe work from the master cylinder to the reservoir in. I also put the cab floor mats in as they have to go in before you put the cover in that goes round the steering column. I gave the mats a thorough scrubbing, but they still need work but it can be done in situ. To be honest fitting it was a right PITA. Getting the holes in the cover, the rubber mat, the sponge insert that goes between lined up with the holes in the floor without putting too much pressure on the reservoir pipes did me in the end. I had to walk away from it. I mean it all went together in the first place when I took it apart...I'll go back to it with a fresh head and will maybe redo the reservoir pipes as well...

 

Anyway the 1/4 fuel pipe and fixings arrived on Saturday so I did that today. I spent Sunday drinking and watching numerous football matches...

The fuel pipes are 1/4 rigid steel and looked OK but unfortunately about 5% of each pipe had corroded and the surface was all pitted after cleaning them up. So I made up new ones and then fitted the petrol tank. The tank was sound with just surface rust. I cleaned it all off and painted it with POR-15 about 18 months ago. It's been in bubble wrap since then...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Vin]

After doing that little update, I though I would post the second brochure that I scanned the other week. This is a Mainland Europe brochure (AFAIK we never got sliding side doors as an option) as I have a copy in Dutch and also this one in English...It's undated, although I assume it's similar vintage to the Fiat UK brochure I posted. Some of the pictures in this are ACE and are so 'of their time' I would happily frame them and put them on the wall... :-D

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[twosmoke300]

That's gonna be lovely when its done. Reminds me of driving a rotten camper one round a mates field when I was 16.

[vulgalour]

Excellent work on this little van.  Ingenious solution with the heater pipes.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

When I was a kid living in a little seaside town in Wales , the guy that owned the Chip shop on the seafront had a few 900T s ,some the same colour as yours. He used to park it ,along with his car ,which was always a 131,132 even an Argenta opposite his shop on a small cliff at the end of the sea wall. In anything more than a dead calm they got splashed by waves at high tide. I doubt that he ever MOT'd one just scrapped them every 3 years.

I remember one of his old vans being turned into a pickup and being used to carry boxes of fish along the quayside until it collapsed and was left in the corner covered in lobster pots.

Last time I went to Newquay a couple of years ago his son was cruising round in a Japanese crew cab of some sort and the Fiat parking space was a little park. Those rusty vans are just another lost bit of character.

[Sudsprint]

Epic progress

[Asimo]

I see from the Euro brochure that the Fiat 900T is suitable for carrying ....... drugs.

[Parky]

Hey Vin, when you're done.........

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Classic-FIAT-900-Amigo-850-Camper-Van-Bus-VW-Barn-Find-Restoration-/381088409612?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item58baa3a80c

[dollywobbler]

This thread is at least eleventy twelve on the scale of win. Wonderful.

[lovejoy]

DW  -  should not that be  "  on the scale of  "Vin "   

 

someone beat me to the fact that Fiat 900's can be used by drug dealers, too  !!!

 

Vin -  do you know of Spannerdude's restoration, via some unusual blog site ?  he is aware of your resto,

 

but laments he cannot access Autoshite without being a "member" ??  surely that's not true  ?

 

so I just sent him a link to your page 7  - hope you don't mind.

 

seasons gruntings from cuckooland as well,  keep up the stunning work !

[lovejoy]

Hey Vin, when you're done.........

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Classic-FIAT-900-Amigo-850-Camper-Van-Bus-VW-Barn-Find-Restoration-/381088409612?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item58baa3a80c

  I think Mr. Bickle should snap this up  - it's virtually on his doorstep !

[Vin]

I've just returned from a trip down to South Lincs, Leics and Notts visiting various rural relations and friends. The Pirelli snow controls on the Marea worked a treat. Usual downside of socialising has meant lots of alcohol and late nights makes for a very tired Vin...plus I have been 'internet free' since Tuesday night, which has been quite nice actually...

 

Yes Mr Lovejoy, I do know of Spannerdude, I was in contact with him by email at some point last year...

 

For the benefit of those who haven't seen it, this is his 'Scuderia Obsoleto' blog, http://spannerdude.wordpress.com/  which had been quiet all year but I see he's updated it on the 16th...

 

His metal bashing skills are absolutely amazing... 8)

[320touring]

This is really coming together well-lovely paint and a fairly methodical approach to replacing and repairing as required!

 

Should be braw once done:)

[Vin]

WOW!!! Update... I meant to do an update in January but my sd card reader decided to destroy the card and everything on it...including some film I did at Xmas of my 91 year old Grandad laughing and playing with his 18 mth old great grand-daughter. I was a bit pissed off about that...

 

Anyway, I put the heater box back together. The matrix looked a bit cruddy, but quite a few sessions of filling it with wash powder and boiling water cleared out 30 years of shite. I then rigged up a pressure test on it using old hose, a wheel brace, jubilee clips, and a head gasket/coolant system pressure pump. It didn't leak and held up well. So I put it all back together with new pipes and the like.

 

I got a new water pump, a secondhand thermostat lid from the US for £15 (I watched a brand new old stock one, go from £4.99 to nearly £75 on Ebay...) I got a new fan shroud from Italian Ebay. I had the radiator refurbished by Scunthorpe radiators, so that's now good to go (the week they did mine they also did a Willys Jeep and a Riley Pathfinder...) I started to refurbish the carb, but I found a new old stock one on pasta bay for not much... I've also managed to get hold of a set of 5 NOS  Fiat 128 CL steel wheels, these are the 13 inch ones that came on the 900E with disc brakes. The all drum 900T had 12 inch steels from the Fiat 126. Again from pasta bay...Put a new manifold on, that came in the spares stash with the Lombardi...I've also bought the correct steering wheel from Italian ebay, the one on the van isn't original. It's a fiat wheel but I've only ever seen the same in a picture of a USA spec Fiat 128 Rally...

 

I've put the anti roll bar back with new bushes. I've been fanny ing around trying to sort the electrics out as there is all sorts of shit connections and bodges. I also got myself an ultrasonic cleaner and it has been ace, been cleaning all sorts of bits with it...

 

I'll post the pics in some semblance of order...

 

 

ULTRASONIC

 

 

 

 

 

[Vin]

As it has been a nice afternoon, I put the van back on it's wheels and dropped it down. I then had a clear out of the garage...

 

 

Some engine shots as far as I have got...

 

 

 

[Skizzer]

That's looking GORGEWOUS.

[mat_the_cat]

You can get software to recover data from a drive/card...I've used a few types before with reasonable success - not all the time but better than 50/50.

[the judge]

Wow!!!!

[Sudsprint]

Looking fantastic Vin.

 

I put NOS 128 3P steels on mine.

[Vin]

No, not a van update...

 

I'm always doing bits and pieces to the Fiats I own so rather than start a new thread everytime I do some work, I thought I would turn this thread into a general fleet thread...I thought I ought to do a fleet thread when I did the water pump and timing belt on the Panda 750...so this is going to be it.

 

And I start with a Fiat that isn't part of my fleet...

 

Some of you might remember this...

 

 

I bought it back end of last year for my Sister's other half. It was a £200 spares or repair ebay purchase with 10 months MOT. It had had a new head gasket and not long after the heater started chucking out cold air and gurgling, so the young lass wanted rid. I pressure tested it, got it blowing hot and cold. I also cut the rot out the left rear sill and welded in new metal. I was going to do the drivers side too but you have to drop the fuel tank to do that so I never had time. From what I can tell it had been badly jacked up in the past and underseal splits and lest water in...

 

Anyway I told my sis if she could bring it over I would drop the tank and replace the rotten part of the sill with good, before the next MOT which is end of June...

 

Anyway, recently when they'd been using it it had been losing water, this one doesn't have temperature gauge...so you only know it's getting hot when the fan goes or you can see the water leaking...

 

So she took it to a local garage, she lives in the peak district, and they said it was the radiator fan was knacked. I didn't understand this diagnosis, as it didn't make much sense, but I didn't say anything, but she said it was OK, so I left it at that, until she rung me up and said it's leaking again from the radiator, when you park up after a journey...

 

I told her if it's coming back to me for welding, I'll investigate the coolant loss. Fill the boot with water and stop regularly and top it up...

 

So that was the plan and it commenced last Sunday, she left Wirksworth early doors 7.30am...and stopped at J28 M1, Woodhall services & Doncaster services to check and top up...until it failed to proceed about 5 miles from me on the M180 near Brigg...I had to go and tow her off the motorway. :-(

 

Got it back to me and turning it over with the expansion cap off it jetted water and gulps of air out the tank...fuggin great. Headgasket gone again...

 

Worse thing was I put the cap back on and turned it over and water gushed out round the cap...i was like WTF. I checked the cap and it was rotten and perished, criss crossed with hair line cracks. That's the source of the water leak... :mad:  And to cap (pardon the pun) it all off, I found a good condition spare in the boot of my Marea. I put that one on, turned it over and it didn't jet water anywhere...

 

I bet that cap was the reason it had a HG replacement 12 months ago and started to cause the problems the young lass got rid of it for...

 

Anyway, I didn't muck about, I worked on it after coming home from work, I'd got the cylinder head off by Wednesday night and then I dropped the fuel tank on Thursday night. The head is OK, I ran my steel straight edge over it and there is no pitting. There was water in no 3 & 4 cylinder and when I split the exhaust manifold from the pipe, water poured out...

 

Today, I went to Eva Brothers scrappy in Scunthorpe to get a L/H headlamp for it and I also got some 'quick release' fuel connectors off another Punto. These may work well in theory, but with 13 years worth of road dirt in them, I had to cut through them when I took the tank off... :?

 

I also spent this afternoon cutting out the rotten metal from the back of the sill. I also put the head back on with a new gasket. Fitted a new thermostat, a new water pump and fitted a new timing belt and tensioner. Tomorrow I intend to weld in new steel, then Monday start putting the rest of the engine back together...

 

 

Head off...

 

 

Expansion caps. You can tell which is the culprit...I have 'flicked' a bit of it off with a finger nail so it wasn't that obvious...

 

 

State of rear sill and chopped out metal...

 

 

 

The 'sweepings' up....there's a fugged dremel wheel in the pile, I reckon the 'speed clic' wheels have gone down hill in terms of durability...

 

 

TBC.

[Cavcraft]

I love reading your threads.

How long do you reckon before the van is back on the road?

[Vin]

I don't know Billy...I intend to get it all back together and running and mobile by the end of the year. On the road in earnest?? I'll say Spring next year...mainly because I guarantee my other cars will all need attention of some kind...

 

 

I sorted the Punto out. I welded it all back up last Sunday. I ended making 4 sections to replace the bits I'd removed. I got the Inlet manifold all back on and replaced the headlights. I painted all the exposed metal with POR-15 and undersealed all underneath and put the manifold back on. I also put fresh oil in and a filter...old oil was milk chocolate coloured...

 

Last night I put the fuel tank back, the heat shield, the exhaust and the handbrake cables...

 

I put it back on it's wheels and put some petrol in and turned it over. It started, ran OK, but was a bit 'feathery' and it was chucking loads of white smoke/steam out the back...my mate then turned up (the one who has the workshop with the four post lift, I've borrowed in previous van posts...) and between the two of us wee bled the coolant and got it all spot on. We then took it for a run up the road until all the white steam/smoke disappeared and was running lovely on idle :-D  By then it was about 9PM, so we packed up and went to the pub...

 

This morning I was up about six, so ended up in the garage about seven and did some 'odds n' ends' to finish it off. By then, it was about 8AM so I went into Brigg to fill it with fuel. Everything was fine....

 

So I agreed with my Sis that I would drive it to Doncaster train station for 11AM, were she would pick it up and drive back to Wirksworth. I then made my way back home by train. Got back about 12.30.

 

Punto performed faultlessly - I was quite pleased TBH.

 

I can do more van stuff now...

 

 

Last Octobers welding work...

 

 

Last weekends...

 

 

All back together...