Page 1 of 1

help, advice, encouragement needed

Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2015 7:14 pm
by cormac
found 5 speed transmission in a 1976 Fiat 131 wagon (USA) that I can remove and get for a good price...Image

will put it in a 1976 Fiat 124 spider restomod (modifications needed)
it is a 70 mile drive for me so will take an abundance of tools...am going tomorrow to check it out and get it out of car, scrap yard will come after me hopefully

any advice feedback etc is welcome

thanks heaps

Re: help, advice, encouragement needed

Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2015 7:53 pm
by Ptoneill
Check for the body first!!

Re: help, advice, encouragement needed

Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2015 8:06 pm
by cormac
Ptoneill wrote:Check for the body first!!
LOL, didn't catch it at first, thought to myself on first read, 'I don't want the body just the trannie"

I think it has been in this guys field for a while, am not sure of the whole story, but he got the car in '91, not sure from talking to him (he says he has had a stroke and some things get a little lost in translation) if in this condition when he got the car or not, he is in a old logging town towards the coast outside of Portland

Re: help, advice, encouragement needed

Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2015 8:11 pm
by djape1977
if i were you, i'd take propshaft and rear axle too. that's if the owner doesn't want an arm and a leg for it. in fact, i'd probably offer him 150$ for all

you'll need socket wrenches and ordinary wrenches sizes 10mm, 13mm, 17mm, 19mm, and an angle grinder with several cutting discs will be handy if there's electricity source nearby. couple crowbars, big hammer might come handy too

with condition of the car as it is now, test drive is obviously out of question, so you'll be basically be buying a cat in a bag. generally, you'd be much better off buying parts from a running car that you can test drive.

one danger i can see is that if it's been on it's roof for a very long time, oil has drained away and gears inside might have become corroded from condensation. you can test this by removing a cover plate from the rear of the diff. if gears inside are dry and rusty - walk away. condition of the diff will also be a good indication of what's inside gearbox.

as i've already said, 131 gearboxes are generally bulleproof. i work on 131s and 132s (same gearbox) daily, and 90% of them work perfectly fine even being 40yrs old.
failures i've seen over the years are:
noisy gearbox - result of corroded insides, cars that have not been driven in decades
faulty 2nd gear sinchro - cars that have been driven hard. off the traffic ligt full trottle up to redline, quick shift to second, you miss the clutch timing and viola! repairable, unlikely on a station wagon. it's probably been driven by a soccer mom.
cracked/chipped reverse gear - unlike 124 gearbox, in 131 for reverse to be engaged you don't need to pull up or press down on gear lever. for some reason people tend to shift into reverse before coming to a full stop. this results in cracked reverse gear. my wife actually managed to put our 131 into reverse once without using the clutch at all. naturally, she killed reverse gear instantly. :roll:

unlike 124 gearbox, bearings never fail, forks don't get worn all in all - much better han 124gearbox

oh, one more thing - check if it;s 5speed! there was a 4sp version of the same gearbox - looks identical on the outside

there are lots of parts on this 131 that you may also find usefull
rear trailing arms and panhard rod
front calipers and discs
whole engine and everything around it. distributor, starter, alternator, head, cams etc, everything will bolt right up to 124

Re: help, advice, encouragement needed

Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2015 8:16 pm
by djape1977
you'll need a shorter front propshaft section to install 131gb into 124, 131 propshaft might be the way to go.
i don't remember exctly, i have at least a dozen propshafts from various fiats, ladas, polski, so when i need something, i browse tru my boneyard...

Re: help, advice, encouragement needed

Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2015 8:18 pm
by 4uall
good luck, you can do it :wink:

Image

Image

did someone say tranny :shock:

Image

Re: help, advice, encouragement needed

Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2015 8:18 pm
by divace73
though I'd add, down here in oz, the pushrod 131's came out with a bell housing where the starter is on the exhaust side, don't know if that would cause any issues???
I am also told the tailshaft out of an spider automatic fits straight in...but don't know for sure as I didn't have one and had to cut up a coupe tail shaft to fit.

Good luck with it, keep us posted

Re: help, advice, encouragement needed

Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2015 8:19 pm
by cormac
djape1977 wrote:if i were you, i'd take propshaft and rear axle too. that's if the owner doesn't want an arm and a leg for it. in fact, i'd probably offer him 150$ for all

you'll need socket wrenches and ordinary wrenches sizes 10mm, 13mm, 17mm, 19mm, and an angle grinder with several cutting discs will be handy if there's electricity source nearby.

with condition of the car as it is now, test drive is obviously out of question, so you'll be basically be buying a cat in a bag. generally, you'd be much better off buying parts from a running car that you can test drive.

one danger i can see is that if it's been on it's roof for a very long time, oil has drained away and gears inside might have become corroded from condensation. you can test this by removing a cover plate from the rear of the diff. if gears inside are dry and rusty - walk away. condition of the diff will also be a good indication of what's inside gearbox.

as i've already said, 131 gearboxes are generally bulleproof. i work on 131s and 132s (same gearbox) daily, and 90% of them work perfectly fine even being 40yrs old.
failures i've seen over the years are:
noisy gearbox - result of corroded insides, cars that have not been driven in decades
faulty 2nd gear sinchro - cars that have been driven hard. off the traffic ligt full trottle up to redline, quick shift to second, you miss the clutch timing and viola! repairable, unlikely on a station wagon. it's probably been driven by a soccer mom.
cracked/chipped reverse gear - unlike 124 gearbox, in 131 for reverse to be engaged you don't need to pull up or press down on gear lever. for some reason people tend to shift into reverse before coming to a full stop. this results in cracked reverse gear. my wife actually managed to put our 131 into reverse once without using the clutch at all. naturally, she killed reverse gear instantly. :roll:

unlike 124 gearbox, bearings never fail, forks don't get worn all in all - much better han 124gearbox

oh, one more thing - check if it;s 5speed! there was a 4sp version of the same gearbox - looks identical on the outside

there are lots of parts on this 131 that you may also find usefull
rear trailing arms and panhard rod
front calipers and discs
whole engine and everything around it. distributor, starter, alternator, head, cams etc, everything will bolt right up to 124
thanks for the tip about inspecting differential, I will do so...no need for parts as I have 4 engines, 5 trannies, and more parts than I know what to do with :)

about rear axle...I have 3 laying around, anything about this one that is better?

Re: help, advice, encouragement needed

Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2015 8:20 pm
by djape1977
US got 131 familiare with 1.8 twincam, no pushrods as far as i know
and even if it has starter on the wrong side, it can be installed into 124, actually making it easyer to remove in the future

Re: help, advice, encouragement needed

Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2015 8:26 pm
by cormac
djape1977 wrote:US got 131 familiare with 1.8 twincam, no pushrods as far as i know
and even if it has starter on the wrong side, it can be installed into 124, actually making it easyer to remove in the future
Thanks heaps for your help...isn't it in wee hours in the morning for you :lol: :?, now that is dedication to the Fiat community :!:

Re: help, advice, encouragement needed

Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2015 9:31 pm
by djape1977
my afternoon nap was longer tan i planned... :mrgreen:

Re: help, advice, encouragement needed

Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2015 9:38 pm
by Ptoneill
It is so cool that we can connect with others in countries that we may never visit to get information on the cars we love. I am just turning 52 I can't wait to see what we can do in the future!!