My 1974 Fiat 128 Berlina

128berlina

Daily Driver
Hello folx, oh and in advance I apologize for any misspellings as English is my 3rd language

I purchased a 74 128 2-door a while ago, and has been working on it for quite some time. So I thought that a few pictures wouldn't hurt, I am just an amateur when it comes to cars. So I am trying to make the best out of it. I have a passion for older Italian cars. The fiat I bought in Malmø, Sweden, just a mile or two from the Danish border.
It made the trip all the way home (some 600km) on its own.

Before I went to get it I asked for pictures and a story. According to the owner it had little to no rust and was a one-owner-car before him. The "little to no rust" claims weren't true. In fact it has been through numerous sloppy rust repairs which were hidden under massive layers of bondo and fiberglass.

My goal here is to make the car look better :) paint it in the same color and bring it up to 70-75hp like the rally version. The same goes for the the appearance, as much of a rally original look as I can get.
Also, I have read Courtney's page and found a rear sway-bar application which is a must have for our Norwegian curvy mountain roads.

As far as money goes, well... I guess it is sort of a budget project, but rarely can anyone afford/find all the pieces right away. With time there will be more little upgrades.

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aaaand some more...

I will start adding txt to the new and more recent pictures as I go along...but just to catch up I can post them all for your entertainment

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Nice work. You don't need to ad text, most of us who know 128s clearly recognize what repairs you are doing!
 
aha, gotcha.. well enjoy the pictures.. I was working on it again last night but I will upload pictures over the weekend.. So much to do so little time
 
excellent and right on time

Well, this is a great thread. As I wait for my four door sedan to arrive, I'm getting a good education as to what's under the skin of these little critters. You did a good job of collecting may of the rare bits to make a good clone!
 
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The 4th and last wheel is finally reunited with its 3 friends ;) :excited:
Received this pearl in the mail last night, straight from Italy!

Can anyone here help me sort the wiring out for the gauges?

I have acquired the rally cluster and water temp/oil press. gauges, as well as the sensors for them.

The more detailed description the better, I think I have everything I need now to wire them in, but I assume its not all plug and play for the tachometer...

Oh by the way, I tried fitting the water temp and the oil pressure gauges into the same place where the ashtray goes, and it seems juuust a tad to big, what am I doing wrong? Is there a trick to it? And yes I have removed the housing for the ashtray..
 
If your not in a big rush to wire the car, I can scan and post the rally wiring diagram when I'm home next week... that way you can even use the right coloured wire for everything.

Are those lower control arm bushes the type with the integral metal sleeve? (as per ritmo/regata?) I like these best on the 128 sedan but you need to remove the fitted nylon sleeve in the standard lower control arms.

The sway bar inner bushes can be 'challenging' to fit (getting them around the corner on the bar) but plenty of rubber grease and patience is the key...same with refitting the brackets...I usually use a longer bolt (10 grade) as the standard bolt is too short to engage threads and compress the new rubber...and use anti seize on the bolt threads.

If your not fitting new LCA's then think about changing out the lower inner bushes too... and if your going to replace the upper strut mounts, use OE or Pirelli ones... some of the aftermarket offerings are made of rubber that's just too soft and don't last too long at all.

SteveC
 
Steve,

I think I might have the wiring chart, but I am unsure. I will look in my workshop manual tonight. If I do it is only for the Berlina version.

The bushes you see on the picture are for the front sway bar.
I will replace the trailing arms front and back for new ones, and since I drive like a grandmother those will be made out of rubber.

As for the shocks, the front will be lowered by using A112 struts with 128 springs and top mounts.

The rear will be lowered using some genuine ThyssenKrupp elevator parts that I found in our storage, they fit EXACTLTY right.. funny how that goes.

Am I on the right path here?
 
Oh and Steve, I am always in a hurry ;) But I can wait... since I cant do much while the parts are on the way... I cant wait to have it running, with the 1116 at first since I need MOT and licence plates (this is a Sweedish car) and Norwegian driving department will not let me register it while lowered and with a larger engine... so plates first, then all the good stuff...
 
I have the correct rally wiring diagram, in a OE factory workshop manual for the Rally... I don't think the Haynes manual shows the Rally wiring diagram.

I also have a NOS copy (in English) of the Rally owners manual... I'f I can get my new scanner working I'll scan it and PDF it for you.

Outer sway bar bushes for 128 look like these, and have a separate metal tube that fits thru them.


Ritmo /regata 105 use an outer sway bar bush that looks like this, and has a bonded metal sleeve... and much firmer rubber.



SteveC
 
It looks like I have a mix of those two... since I have the plates but not the metal sleeves... hmm, where can I get those then?
 
And to lower it, just look around and see if you can find front and rear springs from a 128 COUPE... the rear leaf is arched lower and the front coils are shorter...make sure you get the coupe bump stop assembly (or modify the sedan one) or else you'll bottom out on the taller sedan bump stop assemblies...

I have a wagon sway bar on my sedan, and the front set for about 3/4 a degree of negative camber... 185/60/13 tyres and the same rims as you have...corners very flat and still rides nice and supple... you might need to roll the rear guards just a little if you want to run 185's

SteveC
 
But what about A112 front struts? I have seen them in action, and it is also plug and play as long as use 128 springs and top mounts.
 
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