I promised pics of my Twingo

"Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan'" (otto-the-croatian) 06/08/2018 at 11:14 • Filed to: twingo, twingolopnik, car buying

17

22

OP delivers.

Here it is, in a shady back yard. So I bought it yesterday, on my birthday, for around 850 USD. It’s a 1999 model and it runs and drives great, with only a few niggles.

The seats fold up neatly to make a bigger trunk, OR you can fold everything flat and make a huge bed. You have to take out the headrests which was a pain so I left them in for the gif.

There’s some sort of problem with the clutch or transmission. When I’m riding the clutch in traffic for a while, it starts making an ungodly noisy whine when the clutch is pressed in. When I give it some gas the noise goes away again. Then when I’m stopped and in neutral, the whine goes on, even when the car is off and the key is in the ignition. Actually that makes me thing it’s not the transmission if the engine is not working, right? Maybe a pump or something. I dunno, I’ll post more about it once I’ve figured it out. Onto the pictures:

This is how you open the engine. The mechanism is broken on the inside.

I don’t know who this guy is. Something football related I dunno. He’s outta here when I start cleaning up.

The left electric side mirror doesn’t work. The rest of the controls are great.

Neat!

Hey there lil’ guy.

I dunno.

“First aid kit”

Very sophisticated carbon fibre trunk pole.

I’m removing the national tags (Croatia - Hrvatska - HR). And we gotta do something about that tiny exhaust.

Rear wiper is broken. Don’t know if the motor works tho

I’ll take off the grey plastic bumpers, clean them up and repaint them back to black as they once were. Probably keeping it matte and not glossy, I’ll never get it to mach 100% with the body anyway and it’ll bug me.

The sportiest of all AC intakes.Nothing engine related.

I love the upholstery. It looks scandinavian to me for some reason. Looking at the seats I just wanna get a blanket and sit by the window with candlelight.

I love the sunroof, too. When it opens up you get a huge amount of sky above you. Gif inbound:

Further plans: Get it looked over by a mechanic and deal with the clutch/transmission issue. Get new tires, right now it’s on winter tires and the front ones are pretty bald, even though it doesn’t look like it on the pics. The underside in front of the rear right wheel is rusted, that’ll have to get replaced. Then I’ll have to take a break to work on my MA, I have to hand over my project in 2 weeks, so the Twingo will have to sit and wait until I have free time again.

Then comes the fun part. Cleaning it from top to bottom, the interior and everything. Maybe even engine bay.

Then I’ll work on the plastics and practical stuff. Broken rear wiper, not-self-canceling indicators, kinda sticky window mechanism, and broken tailgate gas strut.

And then finally I’ll be working on the cosmetics: the worn out bumpers, rust spots on the body, worn out trim pieces, ugly and faded gearshift knob, maybe even a new steering wheel. I’ll take off the plastic wheel covers and let it sit on steelies which I’ll paint in gold. I can’t wait for that.

Sometime in the future I’ll lower it a bit and put it on noce wheels, and make it louder, mostly for my own pleasure, but also because the engine is so quiet I can’t hear it when at a stoplight. And since I’m still a newb to the gearshift lever, I sometimes get freaked out and think I’ve stalled it or something.

All in all, a good purchase I think, and I hope I’ll have a few years of pleasurable Twingoing with it. Thank you guys for helping me out and giving advice on all my previous posts.

MERCI TWINGO

OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars > Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan' 06/08/2018 at 12:08

2

MERCI TWINGO!

punkgoose17 > Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan' 06/08/2018 at 12:21

1

Congratulations!

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan' 06/08/2018 at 12:21

0

Looks good! The interior of these is way quirkier than on the MK2, would love to have that much flexibility with it (Basic MK2s have a rear bench, higher trim ones have split seats, but as far as I’m aware no bed feature).

Also I think the interior reminds me of a blanket I saw at Ikea once, so that might be why it looks scandinavian to you.

Is it the 8V or 16V by the way? (Not that easy to see, as there is ony one camshaft in both cases, as the 16V uses Y-shaped valve rockers)

You could try to re-juvinate those plastic bits on the bumper using some care product, as far as I’m aware they were never painted, just a dark grey/black plastic (maybe higher trims had coloured plastic ones, not sure about that).

Hope you manage to fix that noise issue, sounds odd to me that it continues with the engine off. Does it stop when you turn the keyto the first position? If it does it could be the fuel pump, because that is activated when the key is on the second position.

CompactLuxuryFan > Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan' 06/08/2018 at 12:42

1

Nice! Didn’t realize Twingos got the facelift so early in Europe. Don’t think the gray parts of the bumper were ever body-colored on that one, though.

I have another burner, try to guess it! > Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan' 06/08/2018 at 13:25

1

Let us know when your selling it, so I can import it to the US :)

Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan' > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer 06/08/2018 at 14:17

1

Hey, yeah that’s right - the noise works just as you described it. When the key is in the second position, with all the dash lights still on it whines, but it stops on the first position. I’ll let my fixer friend know what you said, so we can start from there.

You’re also right about the bumpers, they were actually just very dark grey, not black. Some later models had them in body color as well. I’ll try some photoshop mock-ups before doing it, of course. Maybe even do something radical like painting them white. We’ll see.

It’s the 8V, but I don’t mind the lack of power, except on hills where you can feel it. It had issues getting going from a very steep parking space, facing the uphill. But that’s mostly due to my lack of experience.

And yeah, I love the interior. It’s crazy how roomy it feels. My friend has the Mk2 as well, and it feels a bit smaller than this, but with nicer plastics and more substantial. This is very tinny, when you shut the doors close you can hear a metal ding lol.

Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan' > I have another burner, try to guess it! 06/08/2018 at 14:18

0

I’ll trade you for a big late 80's caddy

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan' 06/08/2018 at 15:07

1

There might be other functions starting on the second position, but it is the only thing I can think of that might be associated with driving and stopping for a while.

The 8V is perfectly adequate, especially if you learn how to drive it. I think the only gains are made at peak power and torque, so down low they are probably pretty similar (my 16V has very low bottom end torque as well, but after 5 years I got the hang of it)

Yeah, the mk2 definitely feels like a more mature car, but it misses the quirks of the mk1, so I’m a bit jealous lol.

CaptDale - is secretly British > Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan' 06/08/2018 at 17:07

1

Beautiful!

I have another burner, try to guess it! > Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan' 06/09/2018 at 15:52

0

Deal! And since it’s being exported, I don’t even have to acquire it legally!

duurtlang > Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan' 06/10/2018 at 06:25

0

Congratulations! After the safety stuff my first modification, if you can even call it that, is to remove those awful wheel covers.

Now that you’ve got a car, will you join us at the Nürburgring (and maybe Switzerland) in September? There will be other Twingos (mk2). You’d be among those who live the furthest away while driving their own car, but it should be a nice road trip, right? I live just south of Munich Germany, if you want to take 2 days to get to the ‘Ring I have a spare bed available.

https://oppositelock.kinja.com/europpo-ringmeet-2018-only-two-more-days-to-preregiste-1826535509
(ignore deadlines, they are just there so we can guesstimate how many people will show up)

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan' 06/10/2018 at 07:32

1

I’m late to this reply party! LOVE it! :D

I do love the neon yellow-green-ish switchgear as well....fits well with the black paint of the car! Sounds like there aren’t many problems with it that wouldn’t be too hard to fix. The rear liftgate strut should be pretty cheap - I just did both on my 2009 Hyundai Accent not that long ago and it wasn’t hard nor expensive, really.

I would check to see if the rear wiper motor works - if it does, maybe you could find a replacement arm at a local wreckers or order a used one online somewhere? Same with the left mirror? If you could remove it and hot-wire it to a 12v source to see if it actually moves, that would tell you if it’s the wiring or the mirror motor itself. Could maybe get a replacement?

Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan' > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 06/10/2018 at 10:35

0

Hey, thanks for coming back! Yeah the switchgear is cool, in the meantime I wiped everything down and sanitized it, now I’m all touchy-feely without worries. The strut is about 20 bucks or so, you’re right it’s not a difficult job as there’s no wiring or anything.

As for the wiper, yeah the motor works. When turned on the nut and bolt that’s left on the back is turning, so I guess I can literally just bolt on a cheap used wiper and fix it in a minute!

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan' 06/10/2018 at 10:41

0

Keep us apprised! :D

I’m looking forward to importing my 126p when the time comes, but then I see stuff like this and how much you paid for it and it makes me want to import something else! Yours is a little rough, but hey...if a bit more than $850 can get me something in decent shape, plus shipping, that’s only like maybe $3K total to get it here!

Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan' > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 06/10/2018 at 10:50

0

That’ll be so cool. You’ll be the life of the party at any C&C.

And yeah the price of the car itself is gonna be the least of your worries, it’s all about the paperwork and shipping. Ask me or someone from Europe here on Oppo to help you out with picking a car. Maybe pick the shipping location first, and then start searching for a car close to that.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan' 06/10/2018 at 13:03

0

Shipping location would be easy - I live an hour away from the port in Halifax, Nova Scotia. :)

Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan' > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 06/10/2018 at 13:18

0

That’s great! But what about the EU side? The car has to get to a port over here, too. Actually I have no idea how it works, maybe there’s an easy fix for that. Just seems like an impossible task trying to organize something like that from across the globe.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan' 06/10/2018 at 14:12

1

Well, if it’s the 126 I am intending on importing from Poland, I already have a shop that will look for one for me, tune it up, check it over and then deal with the export....the issue being that is all a lot more expensive then if a Oppo or somebody else could help...

I imagine finding an export broker wouldn’t be TOO hard? But finding somebody willing to look for a decent car for me would be the hard part...I would feel guilty asking Polish Oppos, but more importantly, they all have their own lives, so are probably already busy! I’d compensate them though! I think I would feel better getting the shop to check it over despite the cost difference as long as the shop did a decent job....

Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan' > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 06/13/2018 at 20:15

0

If you ever decide on getting one without the middle-man, from over here, let me know so I can help you out. There’s a shipping port here on the Mediterranean sea, too, it’s about a 3 hour drive from where I am.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan' 06/13/2018 at 20:20

0

Would be cool! I imagine they aren’t as common there as in Poland though?

Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan' > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 06/13/2018 at 20:24

0

Probably not, but you still see them around sometimes. Since most of them are rusted out in people’s back yards it’d be wise to invest a bit more in a good one. This is a random one I found with a quick search. It’s in ok condition, the bodywork needs a bit of TLC. 700 USD.

http://www.index.hr/oglasi/fiat-126-pgl/oid/1120228

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan' 06/13/2018 at 20:32

0

Hmmm, older FL model, so the slightly older dash style, etc! :)

Not too bad for a few hundred USD plus shipping! Not sure how bad the body is...looks like it’s been repainted, although I love that color...so communist 80s! :P (AFAIK most 126p’s had a sort of black paint along the bottom of their rocker panels from factory, which that one doesn’t seem to have)

If it ran OK and was not filled with bondo and rust and only needed a little TLC in places, it would probably be a decent investment!