Another Yellow Fiat 128 Build....

Pulled the radiator out which is shot. Pulled the thermostat housing off and found this bit of loveliness.

The good news is that all the crud is in the radiator facing side of the tstat. The head side is clear and the water passage in the head looks clear/clean.

Dropped the gas tank as planned:

Full of delicious old stinky gas:

Shop now reeks of old gas. Next step is to clean it out, inspect the sending unit and clean up the outside of it. Then remount it with all new lines and clamps.

What even is that crud? I've seen a lot of radiator sponge cake over the years but never that white before.

Check to see if your struts have removable strut inserts. Without taking anything apart, you should be able to see if the strut has a securing nut at the top of the strut tube. I have a set of strut inserts that are fiat 128 parts, but they are to long to fit the coupe, I assume they fit the sedan. So I need to get rid of these. If you want the struts, I just need a address to send them, they would be free. I just want to get rid of them and send them to somebody that will use them.

Following this build for sure!

Congrats on the 128. The 2 door Sedan, especially the "rally" is a cool one in many ways.! They are great fun right out of the box (running, of course) & respond well to rather simple upgrades. After 20 or more years of being a Fiat enthusiast, I got my first 128 (a wagon) about this time last year...can't believe I waited so long. I'd echo the comments about shares mechanicals with X1/9s, add MidWest-Bayless as an excellent parts source and if you haven't already, you will find much friendly expertise (and some parts) at the Xwebforums. Enjoy!

Clearly, I am being led astray.....

Sorry for the delay in posting. I had to undergo surgery early last week and haven't been really able to move. So I went back and took a closer look at the gas tank situation.

Here is the sending unit. I'm not sure if I should try to reinstall this one or get a new one off of Italian eBay:

Here is a close up pic of what the inside of the tank looks like:

Put a bunch of Simple Green in it and now have it sitting in my shed. If that doesn't work I'll try more aggressive cleaners/solvents.

While the tank was soaking I decided to removed the front bumper...

Before:

After:

The 13 inch steel wheels and tires that were original to the car are shot. To move it around my shop I put it up on a set of dollies. I acquired a vintage set of 13" American Racing Specters that look pretty good but the hub-centric rings that came with them don't seem to fit the rear hubs.:

I also acquired a set of 15" Panasports back when I got the car. They also came with machined aluminum spacers and polished lugs. I decided to put them on for now. Car obviously needs to be lowered once the fuel system is squared away...

I think Fiat also has a odd bolt pattern, so most common wheels won't properly fit.

I could be wrong, something like 4 X 98 and standard typical is 4 X 100 or something like that.

I got some wheels off E-bay, often they are overpriced but once in a while you can get a fair deal.

Let me know if you can use the strut inserts. The ones I have should fit a sedan, but turns out they don't fit the coupe. These are new parts, they would be free to you...

In reply to TED_fiestaHP:

I'll check to see if mine are the rebuildable style strut.

Yes the bolt pattern is 4x98 so it used to be fairly hard to find rims. Now that fiat is back they still use that bolt pattern the wheel selection has gotten better.

Go get a bunch of ball bearings and put them on the tank and then just move it around. That should help with the clean up of the tank. Think I read on here someone else doing that and it worked pretty well for them.

brad131a4 wrote: ball bearings

Drywall screws.

I used the POR gas tank kit, but the cleaner wasn't quite enough, I used lacquer thinner and the screws. Left it in there for a few days. lots of shaking. Then did the POR cleaner and sealer, has been good.

For a visual upgrade, you can dye the clear vent hoses with green RIT fabric dye.

Good call on the drywall screws coexist that would really clean the gunk.

It's too bad FIAT deleted the corner lights later in the series, cuz now you have to figure out some turn signals with the bumper delete.

Earlier model: corner lights, small marker lights, and honeycomb grill. Franz Koob's 10Krpm 1100cc...

coexist wrote:

Drywall screws.

Great call on the drywall screws! I'm going out to the shed now to dump a box into the tank.

coexist wrote: It's too bad FIAT deleted the corner lights later in the series, cuz now you have to figure out some turn signals with the bumper delete. Earlier model: corner lights, small marker lights, and honeycomb grill. Franz Koob's 10Krpm 1100cc...

My initial thoughts for turn signals is to mount a set of the small markers used on the old Fiat 500/600/850 like this:

Or find a set on headlights with an integrated turn signals:

Good call on the headlights. Swapping the USA markers for the euro would also look good. They were original on 128 , not just 600/850.

128s were hugely popular in Argentina. Maybe I can help you find some parts.

For example, some bumpers from the local ebay (1 dollar is around $15-$16): Front Rear

You would need to ask them if they ship them to your place, I can help with that.

A company called IAVA made sport versions, meaning you can find intake manifolds with two openings and original looks: http://articulo.mercadolibre.com.ar/MLA-652699113-multiple-de-admision-fiat-iava-1300-original-_JM

There are also lots of racing exhaust manifolds, headers, camshafts, etc.

Here are some forums: http://www.fiat128club.com.ar/forums/

Lots of people here swap the gearbox for a fiat uno one. Some also use the engine, it's an easy swap.

oh, wow, that's good to know about the Argentinian source. I ended up w/o bumpers & don't miss them on my 128. I would imagine it would be rather trivial work to cut the fenders for the pre-78 type markers & then convert the bulb holder to use an 1157.

this is my 128, by the way...

Checked on my tank this morning. The Simple Green froze solid in it! Plus we are slated to get 10 - 20 inches of snow.

Checked on the tank and am very happy with the progress. This is the result of just straight Simple Green (and a box of drywall screws with some agitation). I was worried I was going to spend a bunch of time testing more aggressive solvents/cleaners.

Hopefully the sending unit I ordered from Italy gets here soon.