Thread Starter
#46
Quick Service For a Forgotten Fiat Palio
- Thread Starter ss80
- Start date
Thread Starter
#47
Just started another mild restoration work, this time its a ZEN. More details in the below link.
http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/technical-zone/14082-repainting-carb-zen-brick-red-colour.html
Hopefully this evening I will paint the wheel caps of the Palio in bright silver.
http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/technical-zone/14082-repainting-carb-zen-brick-red-colour.html
Hopefully this evening I will paint the wheel caps of the Palio in bright silver.
Thread Starter
#48
Today did a DIY painting for the existing wheel caps, finishing was not up to the mark. But then this is just the start. I chose a NC paint (which costs much lesser than the PU paint) as there is no point in spending a lot in repainting these old wheel caps.
The bad looking one
The best looking one
Drying time
Before & After
The bad looking one
The best looking one
Drying time
Before & After
Last edited:
Wow ss80 You are really taking good care of this Italian beauty. The finish on wheel cap is very nice they look like new.![[:D]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Big%20Smile.gif "Big Smile [:D]")
Thread Starter
#51
Thanks Satya,
Yeah this car got a lot of attention, care, new fluids etc in the last 1 month. Now its back to the owner, hopefully it will be used more frequently than now.
Jarpickle:
These wheel caps actually needed a little metal paste/putty then painting should have been done. To speak the truth, the owner was fine the way it was, anything other than black rims is ok for him since we had already overshot his initial budget of about 10K for everything. He is planning for a full body repainting some time later this year & may be at that time he will replace the wheel caps.
Moreover my paint gun broke in 2 pieces as soon as the second coat was done. So I had to leave it as it is for now. The gun was not used after the lambretta project. Today as soon as I used thinner, paint etc I guess the gun just gave up.
Since the owner is out of station for a week, I called up his brother, who brought the car to my home, fixed the new windshield washer nozzles from swift (non-mgp) costing about 40 rupees. Used the silicon sealant below the nozzle [as it is smaller than the actual Palio nozzles, size difference is 1(Palio):1.75(Swift)]. Both the nozzles are working. headlamp high beam was not working on right side, tried to fix it for about 20mins, but failed. May be bulb is damaged & needs replacement. It was quite late (past 10pm) so just winded up for now. Hopefully tail lamp will get fixed by tomorrow, if I get it.
Yeah this car got a lot of attention, care, new fluids etc in the last 1 month. Now its back to the owner, hopefully it will be used more frequently than now.
Jarpickle:
These wheel caps actually needed a little metal paste/putty then painting should have been done. To speak the truth, the owner was fine the way it was, anything other than black rims is ok for him since we had already overshot his initial budget of about 10K for everything. He is planning for a full body repainting some time later this year & may be at that time he will replace the wheel caps.
Moreover my paint gun broke in 2 pieces as soon as the second coat was done. So I had to leave it as it is for now. The gun was not used after the lambretta project. Today as soon as I used thinner, paint etc I guess the gun just gave up.
Since the owner is out of station for a week, I called up his brother, who brought the car to my home, fixed the new windshield washer nozzles from swift (non-mgp) costing about 40 rupees. Used the silicon sealant below the nozzle [as it is smaller than the actual Palio nozzles, size difference is 1(Palio):1.75(Swift)]. Both the nozzles are working. headlamp high beam was not working on right side, tried to fix it for about 20mins, but failed. May be bulb is damaged & needs replacement. It was quite late (past 10pm) so just winded up for now. Hopefully tail lamp will get fixed by tomorrow, if I get it.
Anand, if only people at Fiat would have worked as hard as you.....
I hope the patchwork is done properly. As Keith has said, if there's a leak, it'd do more damage and undo everything. What gauge sheet was used for the patch up job?
What about the oil leak around the head? Have you managed to sort that out?
I hope the patchwork is done properly. As Keith has said, if there's a leak, it'd do more damage and undo everything. What gauge sheet was used for the patch up job?
What about the oil leak around the head? Have you managed to sort that out?
Thread Starter
#53
The patch work has been done in the cowl panel area without damaging the AC hoses etc. also the mounting point for the wiper motor was also newly fabricated. We did pour some water & checked it before taking the car, there were no leaks. I'm not aware about the guage, but it was sligthly thicker than cowl panel sheet. He has given 2 patches on both sides (dashboard & wiper motor) of the rusted hole.
Our mechanic said that the oil leak was from the tappet gasket (referred as water packing) which I did get replaced at the time of oil change. After that I did a mild cleaning with diesel, soap water & paint brush. Yesterday there was no oil coming out of that area. However after a week of usage I will be able to confirm the same.
Some more points to share:
1. Just like many other parts, the aluminum cover on top of the engine (tappet cover) is no more available in spares shops. It is a fragile item, if dropped from a waist height on to a solid floor, the chances it will develop a hairline crack & later its a big task to find replacement part from the scrapyards.
2. In most old petrol cars whenever we change oil after a long time, it is good to replace spark plugs as 1 of the old sparks does stop working. It has happened with my 800, this Palio & another 800 as well.
3. Some parts look similar to those in Indica (like Blower vents etc), not sure if they can be swapped when required
4. Unlike Matiz, Palio bumpers are still available, but only on order basis. Usually for Bangalore supplies come either from Kerala/Tamil Nadu.
5. In case you need any part & if it is not available in the popular stores on J.C.Road etc then watch out for shops that sell Matador, TATA & commercial vehicle spares, they might refer you to the right shop.
6. Fiat Logos & monograms are costly but good thing is they are seldom bought by customers hence chances of landing buying a duplicate one is very rare.
7. Even wheel caps have proper markings with outline of the air nozzle & a proper scoop to show how to the fit the wheel caps.
8. The front suspension of Palio comes with a couple of rubber bushes, in case of any lower arm issues (I think its called wishbone)/noises, the whole part need not be replace. Instead only rubbers need to be replaced. As far as I know the front suspension of Etios, swift & i20 are somewhat similar & their bushes might fit in this car.
9. The replacement for the hydraulic clutch hose is not available in the market, so some other car part can be used I guess. like say the diesel swift/figo etc
10. There are 2 types of wiper link rods that came with Palio. The one I showed in page 3 are the TVS Lucas ones, there is another one which I believe came with the Palio Stile where in the wiper motor's mounting holes are different. Unless you take the wiper motor with you, its hard to find the right part.
11. Bumper prices are not mentioned anywhere on the part, different shops have different prices for the same part. These are the prices I got so far - 4500, 7000, 3900. The reason for this is most of the popular shops dont stock Fiat parts so when you approach them, they contact some distributor in neighboring states & will try to get the bumper for you along with the other supplies.
12. Speedometer is still available but the cost is a whopping 9000! (not sure how far the price is true) its an Italian make. Power window switches on centre console are extinct now.
13. I also spoke to Aadya motors a TATA & FIAT service centre - the engine rebuild cost at the FASS is in the range of 40,000/- to 85,000/- but the advisor says if you spend this much the car will last for over a decade which means roughly about 7000/- for engine every year. He also says the car will be silent & smoother than any model Punto/swift/i20 etc. FASS sources Palio parts from Haryana where they have some of the main stockists. I am sure if we spend that much outside, we can restore the whole car & will last roughly that long.
Pretty soon most Palio parts will come with a premium rate or they wont be available at all. Although I generally like Maruti cars, after spending time with this Fiat baby, its tough to just let it go & see myself walking towards a Japanese tin, yet again. No offense to any car maker/owner, but somehow in the last 1year a feeling has grown inside me that says - "Older the better". Its quite sad whenever I see that even a pristine condition Palio sells hardly for about 70K max (if it has gas/some accessory in it) where as some cars which are half of what this car is fetch a lakh easily.
Our mechanic said that the oil leak was from the tappet gasket (referred as water packing) which I did get replaced at the time of oil change. After that I did a mild cleaning with diesel, soap water & paint brush. Yesterday there was no oil coming out of that area. However after a week of usage I will be able to confirm the same.
Some more points to share:
1. Just like many other parts, the aluminum cover on top of the engine (tappet cover) is no more available in spares shops. It is a fragile item, if dropped from a waist height on to a solid floor, the chances it will develop a hairline crack & later its a big task to find replacement part from the scrapyards.
2. In most old petrol cars whenever we change oil after a long time, it is good to replace spark plugs as 1 of the old sparks does stop working. It has happened with my 800, this Palio & another 800 as well.
3. Some parts look similar to those in Indica (like Blower vents etc), not sure if they can be swapped when required
4. Unlike Matiz, Palio bumpers are still available, but only on order basis. Usually for Bangalore supplies come either from Kerala/Tamil Nadu.
5. In case you need any part & if it is not available in the popular stores on J.C.Road etc then watch out for shops that sell Matador, TATA & commercial vehicle spares, they might refer you to the right shop.
6. Fiat Logos & monograms are costly but good thing is they are seldom bought by customers hence chances of landing buying a duplicate one is very rare.
7. Even wheel caps have proper markings with outline of the air nozzle & a proper scoop to show how to the fit the wheel caps.
8. The front suspension of Palio comes with a couple of rubber bushes, in case of any lower arm issues (I think its called wishbone)/noises, the whole part need not be replace. Instead only rubbers need to be replaced. As far as I know the front suspension of Etios, swift & i20 are somewhat similar & their bushes might fit in this car.
9. The replacement for the hydraulic clutch hose is not available in the market, so some other car part can be used I guess. like say the diesel swift/figo etc
10. There are 2 types of wiper link rods that came with Palio. The one I showed in page 3 are the TVS Lucas ones, there is another one which I believe came with the Palio Stile where in the wiper motor's mounting holes are different. Unless you take the wiper motor with you, its hard to find the right part.
11. Bumper prices are not mentioned anywhere on the part, different shops have different prices for the same part. These are the prices I got so far - 4500, 7000, 3900. The reason for this is most of the popular shops dont stock Fiat parts so when you approach them, they contact some distributor in neighboring states & will try to get the bumper for you along with the other supplies.
12. Speedometer is still available but the cost is a whopping 9000! (not sure how far the price is true) its an Italian make. Power window switches on centre console are extinct now.
13. I also spoke to Aadya motors a TATA & FIAT service centre - the engine rebuild cost at the FASS is in the range of 40,000/- to 85,000/- but the advisor says if you spend this much the car will last for over a decade which means roughly about 7000/- for engine every year. He also says the car will be silent & smoother than any model Punto/swift/i20 etc. FASS sources Palio parts from Haryana where they have some of the main stockists. I am sure if we spend that much outside, we can restore the whole car & will last roughly that long.
Pretty soon most Palio parts will come with a premium rate or they wont be available at all. Although I generally like Maruti cars, after spending time with this Fiat baby, its tough to just let it go & see myself walking towards a Japanese tin, yet again. No offense to any car maker/owner, but somehow in the last 1year a feeling has grown inside me that says - "Older the better". Its quite sad whenever I see that even a pristine condition Palio sells hardly for about 70K max (if it has gas/some accessory in it) where as some cars which are half of what this car is fetch a lakh easily.
Last edited:
Thread Starter
#54
SHOCKING UPDATE:
The car caught fire today & the engine bay is burnt very badly. Wiring harness burnt, all fluid containers burnt, battery melted, air filter plastics burnt, bonnet bent to a large extent, cabin still intact. Will post more later
The car caught fire today & the engine bay is burnt very badly. Wiring harness burnt, all fluid containers burnt, battery melted, air filter plastics burnt, bonnet bent to a large extent, cabin still intact. Will post more later
Bad news indeed. How did this happen? Quoting the below from mercedised's 3.0 Dicor thread:
I asked him to do a thorough electrical check-up and try to find the cause of Fire accident. The electrician checked all the electricals and mentioned two causes:
1) Main earthing wire was tore-off from a few place and it was loose too.
2) The self-starter wire was shockingly very loose.
http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f...vered-reclaiming-1-25-000-kms.html#post114429
I asked him to do a thorough electrical check-up and try to find the cause of Fire accident. The electrician checked all the electricals and mentioned two causes:
1) Main earthing wire was tore-off from a few place and it was loose too.
2) The self-starter wire was shockingly very loose.
http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f...vered-reclaiming-1-25-000-kms.html#post114429
SS80- How did it happen?
I am totally shocked to hear this. You were going so well.
I am totally shocked to hear this. You were going so well.
Thread Starter
#59
Sam Dinkar:
Thanks for the link & the likely hints on the source of the fire.
Linkin, Jarpickle, Sumitsinha:
I am equally shocked about the incident & here is the whole story how it happened. No one is physically hurt in this tragedy. No one was in the car at the time of the incident, they had just got down, less than a minute before all this started.
The Situation:
My friend, his sister, sister's child & his father had come to the heart of the city & then on their way back to home, they reached a school enroute. The school has a small empty playground in front of it where they parked the car & locked it (no remote central locking, only manual factory fit central locking). He started walking away from the car & about 10meters from the car, he just turned back to look at it & he found black smoke coming out of the front area (bonnet).
In the meantime, people around gathered. The smoke increased & eventually a lot of people poured water on the car to avoid any major disaster, by now the the smoke has increased beyond a controllable point & they used more & more water. A volunteer brought a gardening hose & blasted water into the engine bay (for this to happen, someone opened the bonnet with a rod, inserted it in the gap between grill & bumper I guess). All of a sudden the car engine started & then switched off by itself, my friend was puzzled as the car key is still with him! Then there was a loud blast & all the dust below the car was pushed outwards, people kept distance & continued to pour water. (I guess it was the AC gas line which busted due to heat). The finishing touches were given by the fire department who arrived after all the fire was put out by the people, they also used a fire extinguisher on the engine & left the place.
All this happened within a few mins & then the car looked like this.
Thanks for the link & the likely hints on the source of the fire.
Linkin, Jarpickle, Sumitsinha:
I am equally shocked about the incident & here is the whole story how it happened. No one is physically hurt in this tragedy. No one was in the car at the time of the incident, they had just got down, less than a minute before all this started.
The Situation:
My friend, his sister, sister's child & his father had come to the heart of the city & then on their way back to home, they reached a school enroute. The school has a small empty playground in front of it where they parked the car & locked it (no remote central locking, only manual factory fit central locking). He started walking away from the car & about 10meters from the car, he just turned back to look at it & he found black smoke coming out of the front area (bonnet).
In the meantime, people around gathered. The smoke increased & eventually a lot of people poured water on the car to avoid any major disaster, by now the the smoke has increased beyond a controllable point & they used more & more water. A volunteer brought a gardening hose & blasted water into the engine bay (for this to happen, someone opened the bonnet with a rod, inserted it in the gap between grill & bumper I guess). All of a sudden the car engine started & then switched off by itself, my friend was puzzled as the car key is still with him! Then there was a loud blast & all the dust below the car was pushed outwards, people kept distance & continued to pour water. (I guess it was the AC gas line which busted due to heat). The finishing touches were given by the fire department who arrived after all the fire was put out by the people, they also used a fire extinguisher on the engine & left the place.
All this happened within a few mins & then the car looked like this.
Last edited:
Thread Starter
#60
Some more pics of the car.
The parts damaged (beyond repair) which need replacement of parts are as follows:
1. Brake Oil container & may be even brake booster
2. Coolant reservoir
3. Battery
4. Complete wiring harness
5. windshield wiper hose
6. grill & bonnet
7. Both headlamps
8. ECU
9. Battery voltage regulator circuit
10. Fuses
11. Air filter assembly
12. Alternator cleaning/ replacement
13. AC kit dismantling & disposal
14. Firewall insulation material
15. Spark plug chords
16. May be even fuel rail, injectors, ignition coil
17. All sensors in engine bay
18. Plastic liners in front wheel wells
19. Brake lines, fuel lines
I have suggested my friend to write off the car & claim the IDV from the insurance company as the car has valid 1st party insurance. The repair cost will be very high & I doubt to what extent the insurance will cover the expenses.
The biggest issue is that the intake manifold is now exposed & has water floating in it (observe the last pic to the right side). Not sure if water has entered the engine.
So far I have not been able to identify the source of the fire & I am fully depressed.
Few points to consider:
1. My friend says there were no symptoms of anything unusual happening in the car throughout the drive.
2. When the car was parked, it was on bare ground & there was nothing like paper/flammable material below the car.
3. Car was refuelled for 500/- (Petrol) just about 15 - 25 mins before the incident
4. There is no LPG in the car
5. Coolant was in sufficient level & the half melted coolant reservoir still has the coolant in it.
6. The battery clamps are not lose & are having their normal tightening nut bolt combo in place
7. NO ICE at all
8. Palio comes with many fuses in the car, a few at the battery, many in the glovebox area
9. Cabin is intact - fire has not entered the cabin.
10. tyres, wheelcaps, glasses, all interiors, power steering rack & pinion thing, power steering fluid container, bumper etc are fine.
The parts damaged (beyond repair) which need replacement of parts are as follows:
1. Brake Oil container & may be even brake booster
2. Coolant reservoir
3. Battery
4. Complete wiring harness
5. windshield wiper hose
6. grill & bonnet
7. Both headlamps
8. ECU
9. Battery voltage regulator circuit
10. Fuses
11. Air filter assembly
12. Alternator cleaning/ replacement
13. AC kit dismantling & disposal
14. Firewall insulation material
15. Spark plug chords
16. May be even fuel rail, injectors, ignition coil
17. All sensors in engine bay
18. Plastic liners in front wheel wells
19. Brake lines, fuel lines
I have suggested my friend to write off the car & claim the IDV from the insurance company as the car has valid 1st party insurance. The repair cost will be very high & I doubt to what extent the insurance will cover the expenses.
The biggest issue is that the intake manifold is now exposed & has water floating in it (observe the last pic to the right side). Not sure if water has entered the engine.
So far I have not been able to identify the source of the fire & I am fully depressed.
Few points to consider:
1. My friend says there were no symptoms of anything unusual happening in the car throughout the drive.
2. When the car was parked, it was on bare ground & there was nothing like paper/flammable material below the car.
3. Car was refuelled for 500/- (Petrol) just about 15 - 25 mins before the incident
4. There is no LPG in the car
5. Coolant was in sufficient level & the half melted coolant reservoir still has the coolant in it.
6. The battery clamps are not lose & are having their normal tightening nut bolt combo in place
7. NO ICE at all
8. Palio comes with many fuses in the car, a few at the battery, many in the glovebox area
9. Cabin is intact - fire has not entered the cabin.
10. tyres, wheelcaps, glasses, all interiors, power steering rack & pinion thing, power steering fluid container, bumper etc are fine.