The Abarth Project – Fiat Cinquecento Restoration

Paint code for Yellow FIAT Cinquecento Sporting Abarth – 258A Giallo Ginestra

October 8, 2026

On my little trip out i popped over to the local paint supplier to get some paint for the Cinq as there are a couple of stone chips i needed to touch up and 3 small areas i want to get blown in so the exterior is perfect. The paint supplier looked up the code, which is 258/A and mixed me up 1/2 a ltr of paint. I have someone who should be able to blow in the couple of areas i want sorted out and then the body will be perfect paint-wise. (I will update this post with the…

FIAT

First proper trip out in the Cinq

October 8, 2026

Now the Cinq finally has an MOT and the sun was shining, it was time for a little run out to see how the Cinq drives on a proper run. A round trip of about 20 miles and the little car drove perfectly and i forgot how much fun they actually are to drive compared to modern cars, no distraction, high door lines and lack of view, just great proper 90’s driving, i loved every minute of it and it was super nippy around roundabouts and twisty roads 🙂 I need to sort the stereo out, as the volume doesn’t…

FIAT

MOT, Taxed, need i say more….

October 4, 2026

Electrical

Fiat Cinquecento CODE immobiliser fuse

September 10, 2026

This is more of a note to myself and might be useful for anyone else searching for the problem when your Cinq won’t start but turns over and you have no fuel pump running or CODE light showing. After messing about trying to fix the problems i have had with the emissions on the Cinq, i was trying to clear the ECU memory so it would store the new base settings and hopefully cure the issue i seemed to be getting, where the Multiecuscan would show an intermittent TPS, i had taken the battery leads off overnight, taken off and…

Body

A mop and polish for the little yellow box!

June 14, 2026

While im waiting to get the Cinq back in for the MOT check (see previous post!) and the weather has been nice i thought it was time to give the little yellow Cinq a proper mop and polish. And its coming out really nice 🙂 I’ve done the back and front so far and its just the doors and roof left to go!

Electrical

Replacing the bearings on a Fiat Cinquecento Sporting Alternator

May 9, 2026

The alternator on the little Fiat was making a horrendous noise, so i decided to remove it and take a look and as i suspected, both of the bearings sounded awful. The alternator is part number 63320034 and is a 55A Magneti Marelli one. I did do some searching but could only find aftermarket makes or second-hand ones so i decided to strip it and get the bearing numbers. If you are replacing the bearings on a Fiat Cinquecento Sporting Alternator 63320034 these are the bearings you will need. The font case bearing is: 6203ZZ NSK Shielded Deep Groove Ball…

Engine

Trouble shooting Fiat Cinquecento engine issues where the car revs up and down constantly

April 16, 2026

Its been a while since i posted as after the Cinq failed the MOT the second time on emissions again i changed a few more bits and somehow managed to make it far worse than it was! After swapping a few more sensors and injection body gaskets i had an issue that for no reason the car would constantly rev up and down when it was idling (it seemed fine when driving, apart from a little lacking in power) and if you had been going along and stopped at a junction, the revs would jump straight up to about 3’000!…

Lighting

New indicators to go with the new lights

November 15, 2025

After updating the main lights the indicators looked a little tired and after a bit of Googeling i found some brand new ones for a reasonable price. They are not genuine Fiat ones as they seem impossible to get but they fit well. https://www.oldtimer-shop.eu/en/fiat-cinquecento-170-front-right-turn-signal-light-clear-white-lights.

Lighting

Light Upgrade

June 1, 2025

The car failed the MOT on the light adjustment and after having a little fiddle about and reading some forum,s it turns out there is a problem with the Fiat lights that when they get old the little plastic socket on the top adjuster, just fall apart and that is exactly what had happened to both of mine. So even if you do adjust them, by the time you get to the garage, they will have moved again and gone out of alignment, and although i could have tweaked them when i left it for the MOT its not ideal…

FIAT

MOT time, Eeeek!

April 5, 2025

Well, finally it was time for the MOT so I booked it in at the local Vauxhall dealer as there are no fiat dealers near me and I have taken my Opel there before and they have been quite helpful and I wanted to talk to the MOT technition before he did the MOT to explain what work I had done and that the car had not been driven until bringing it down to them. He was super helpful and totally understood. So after waiting around for them to do the MOT I went back to get the car and…

Cinquecento Sporting Abarth

Paint code for Yellow FIAT Cinquecento Sporting Abarth – 258A Giallo Ginestra

First proper trip out in the Cinq

MOT, Taxed, need i say more….

Fiat Cinquecento CODE immobiliser fuse

A mop and polish for the little yellow box!

Replacing the bearings on a Fiat Cinquecento Sporting Alternator

Trouble shooting Fiat Cinquecento engine issues where the car revs up and down constantly

New indicators to go with the new lights

Light Upgrade

MOT time, Eeeek!

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Popular posts

Trouble shooting Fiat Cinquecento engine issues where the car revs up and down constantly

New indicators to go with the new lights

Replacing the bearings on a Fiat Cinquecento Sporting Alternator

A mop and polish for the little yellow box!

MOT, Taxed, need i say more....

Cinquecento Sporting Abarth