Can we start our classic Fiat 500, which hasn’t run for 5 years?
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- čas přidán 28. 05. 2024
- Our classic Fiat 500 hasn't been driven since 2018 because it won't start. With big plans for it in 2024, we've got to get it running again. Time to get the spanners out..
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Brilliant! I just laughed out loud when Charlie suggested swapping the plug leads and it fired up straight away 😂 Charlie’s going to live on that moment for ages!! This is CZcams gold 😂
Well done Charlie!
Haha yes, Charlie is now clearly the most sane of the two.
Yeah that was worth a good chuckle. There but for the grace of god go the rest of us
Haha, well done Charlie!
That and reminding dad to put the rotor arm back in ...
11:49 a cheeky OTSOT for the Smith and Sniff.
Here to find exactly this! 😂
Growing up with a father like Harry must've been wonderful
Dad, are the plug leads mixed up? Don't be silly, son 🤔
No probably a nightmare off screen 😊
…right until the “HOLD THE TORCH STILL” conversation..!!
Harry: “I’m putting it on”
Charlie: “Without the rotor arm?”
Harry: “Eugh”
@@Marko_Horvat +1 😕
Nice to see a HG review on a fun car without trillions of hp to move over 2 tonnes of bulk.
This is what motoring is about, more please Harry.
I'm glad motoring has evolved past the 500, sure it's one of the most charming cars of all time (even though I'd still pick the Mini as the GOAT), but cars from the 1950's are deadly in any kind of crash. More recent cars offer a better compromise between weight and safety: my daily's a 2003 Yaris TS, it's a very light and enjoyable car to drive, and yet I won't die if I hit anything bigger than a shrubbery
@@lptomtomone of the reasons, not the only of course, that they are deadly in a crash is because everything else is so big. Conservation of momentum is a b….
Nice Aga as well Harry 👍😉
More of you two working together please, I thoroughly enjoyed this. I lost my Dad 20 years ago and miss him terribly and videos like this make me sad that he isn't here but make me smile for what I lost as well. And seeing a wonderful father son relationship is great to see.
Same here.I still rember my dad teaching me how to change a set of points on my first car a cortina mk4 with the hallowed pinto engine.
Many of us are probably in a similar position, we were so fortunate to have family cars that our dads understood and pass on the knowledge. A different game with today's vehicles 😢
This so reminds me of me and my son, the blind leading the blind. Love it. More like this please Harry
By including the old photos, and some backstory, this video really sprung to life, just like the little Fiat twin did.
Happy holidays, everyone !
First off, the Fiat 500 is just a simple, cute and quaint car. Wish we could go back to those days, but, alas... Second, seeing the old photos of you and then Charlie standing beside you; wow, almost carbon copies. Good on you and your family sharing this passion of automobiles. Supercars are cool, and I watch and appreciate those videos, but these videos are where it's at. This is everyday motoring, or was, and I miss it dearly.
Exactly right.
The pure joy when it came alive again❤
A true petrolhead doesn't always need a gazillion horse powers and high speed.
Have a wonderful Christmas everybody. It's before 9 AM in Sweden and I already got a great present, thanks Harry and Charlie!
What a great comment !! You don't need 1 million HP to have fun on the road ! It is the driving experience that matters the most !!
I didn’t know I needed to see Harry wrenching on his own cars! Continue these style of videos!!
I remember “helping” my dad to get his cars running when I was 15. So funny you mixed the leads up! Well done Charlie for helping your old dad get her running….
This was just wonderful. It reminds me of my youth long ago and calls from my father ‘will you please put the engine back in the lawnmower,’ Eventually they bought me an old morris engine to keep me quiet!
Had a similar experience at about the same age: my dad and his mate were (still are) avid motorcyclists and were doing maintenance on their bikes in the driveway after cleaning them off with the power washer. Anyway, they couldn't get his mate's bike to start no matter what they did, really baffling a pair of professional engineers, until having brought the tea out I asked if it would work if they took the plug out of the exhaust they'd put in to stop water ingress during the power wash.
Fired right up!
It’s not the plug leads that are the wrong way round it’s the distributor cap put on 180 ° out. Really easily done as the cap can be fitted either way. Learnt from previous experience with my 1970 500.
That would explain it, thank you. I was sure the plug leads were the right way round but hadn’t thought about the distributor cap not having an indent to lock it one position. Live and learn; made for a good video!
Totally right !! So easy to put the cap the wrong position, much harder to mix the 2 plug wires !! LOL!!! Great comment !!
My cap only fits one way as it has a locating lug
@@johnrose7491 regardless of a lug you can still put the cap the wrong way round.
Brilliant. Talk about saving the best until last, what a year ending video. Who would have thought it'd be so important to have the rotor arm actually inside the distributor cap, rather than just sat alongside the engine 😄 The pure joy on your faces when it fired up (with proper soot as a bonus). A proper father/son moment that'll be with you for years to come - well done.
7am Christmas Eve Harry’s garage. Great stuff! Happy Christmas Harry and family. Thanks for all the entertainment in 2023. Looking forwards to more in 2024!
Best Harry's Garage video ever! Thank your team for all their efforts this year, On The Farm and in The Garage. Your work is appreciated. All the very best for 2024
The joy that Harry brings with his enthusiasm is always so genuine and refreshing to see, a truer Petrol head never existed. Keep em coming because I always look forward to them on a Sunday
It is 0700 not 1700....😂. Thank you for all the great 2023 content Harry & the Metcalfe team!
Surely you aren't complaining? 😂
Lovely OTSOT at 11.48!! 😂
Merry Christmas and Happy New year to all the Metcalfe family.
This reminds me of the time I used to split engines with my Dad in the garage…..it was the one bond my dad and I had that we could both get involved with. He was a trained mechanic but never continued on so used to do the odd thing for family and friends but we were always tinkering on things, culminating in splitting a Lancia Gamma flat 4 engine a few hours after it basically blew itself to bits less than 300 yards away from our house towing a caravan just about to set out on a family holiday. That car was glorious but the engine was “problematic”. My Dad was determined we would be going on holiday and we drove around in my Mum’s car to various places trying to source parts because Lancia was in the process of pulling out of Britain 🤣🤣 Nigh on impossible but we did it! And we managed to go on holiday after spending a fortune and a few days in the garage. This all just brought all those memories back. Which is nice.
It’s these more simple videos that I really enjoy. Back to basics and always check the basics first. We are very lucky to have all this great content and Harry seems to get enormous pleasure from these older cars from a simpler time. My favourite video of the year was Harry taking the Lancia back to his old home on the Wirral and then a trip out to North Wales. It was clearly a special trip for him.
More father-son content! its great
In the 80’s I used to abuse my 68’ 500 on the daily commute into London on the A40 Western Avenue. It never failed me even when I hear things rattling lose and actually saw bits falling off on the road behind me. I never did find out what was missing. Got nothing but love for this car (one of Gordon Murrays top cars too, talk about a seal of approval)
0:25 quintessential Fiat 500 Christmas picture.... 🥰
Fabulously heart warming end to 2023. Thank you for making Sunday evenings (and 1 Sunday morning!) such an automotive delight.
What a gem of a car,good to see Father and Son together.Have a great Christmas Harry and a prosperous New Year.
Soon as I heard that backfire I was shouting at my phone..'Swap the leads around!' 😁
Young Harry IS Borat! As an art student, a school friend and I cycled from Geneva in a bid to cross the Alps to catch the Tour de France on L’Alpe d’Huez in 1984. We reached the Mont Blanc tunnel and signs prohibiting cyclists from passing through. We attempted to hitch with our bikes for several hours. Lorries, campers and pick ups whizzed past. With hopes fading a father, grandfather and grandson stopped in a Fiat 500. With no common language they realised our plight, and issued instructions for the two of us, I’m foot two, to climb into the back seat, whereupon they rolled back the sunroof, handed us our panniers, then stacked the bikes on the roof which we all held onto and set off through the tunnel. Unforgettable
We couldn't get a more British celebration than that 😂
Love you guys ❤
So much sweeter to watch this mechanical simplicity of an Italian cultural icon than any road tests of over weight, touch screen, new car with no personality or culture heritage
Thank you, Harry and Son, a totally different video, but the sound of the fiat engine firing brought a big smile to my face. So pleased that it's running, please don't be tempted to add power just enjoy the simple car for simple pleasures like driving into Clear air Zones!
It's always the thing you don't expect that trips you up.😀
You say to yourself "It can't be that" until you try it out of desperation, and then miraculously it works.😅
Awesome video! Even dropped an OTSOT for us Smith&Sniff listeners 😂
SUCCESS! Well done to Charlie for solving that! Happy Christmas to you all
As a serial 500 owner this is the best H’sG video to wake up to on Christmas Eve👍 Thank you, Harry for all the fabulous content throughout 2023.
There is nothing more pleasurable than bringing a combustion engine back to life. 👍
You don't get out a lot, do you?! 😉😂
@@deanie557 You do realize we're talking about a man with a garage full of very expensive cars, right?
@@rockets4kidsHaha. I think he’s talking about my lust for starting dead engines. 😁😁
One of the best & most wholesome videos I’ve seen on Harry's channel. I’m not one to comment on CZcams, but I did love this video. Reminds us that certain cars have history & memories attached and become sentimental & like a member of the family. My wife has always wanted one, so I’m considering restoring one & doing an EV conversion for daily use/ease of use for her.
What a lovely little sound. Amazing how 2 little cylinders can sound so good 😊
Harry relaxes so much more around his son, I understand that and it's a beautiful gift in life
We had the full set (still do) of the Cookery Course, visible on the kitchen bookshelf at 01.16. My new wife dutifully bought a copy every month in the early seventies. This was when garlic and red peppers etc were thought thoroughly exotic.
Having lost my father earlier this and seeing this video brought back some great memories when my father and I worked on my mothers Fiat Uno manny years ago. Thanks, Harry and Charlie! ❤
My father bought fiat 600, in the 1970, his first car. According to my dad. The car took more water consumption than petrol. Eventually he got so fed up that he asked my grandfather to please take this car, gave him the gas money to drive it to 800 miles from Lahore, Pakistan to Karachi Pakistan. And kindly push it in the Arabian sea. This will be a huge favor to humanity.
My grandfather drove it all the way and kept driving it for a few years.
Dad bought it back, and we still have the car in our collection among other strange looking cars. ❤❤ 🇵🇰🇵🇰
some great tips on trouble shooting here Harry! Great to see Charlie again too. He's as much a gentleman as his pop - what a great kid!
Loved it! You two (plus Mrs M on camera, of course) as good as a Morecambe and Wise Christmas Special!! Happy Christmas to you all!!
Who needs Morecambe and Wise when we have Harry & Son!! It takes me back to many years with my Dad working on old cars that needed a rebuild every month! Thank you so much for all the films throughout the year and especially the Farming ones which has brought a new World to many a petrol head! Have a wonderful Christmas and Good Luck with everything for next year!😃😃😃😃😃
Harry is like a archivist!. The most organized person I have ever seen. "We last used the car December 2018.." Up Pops a picture of the car complete with Christmas Tree, December 2018! 😂. "I assembled the engine on a kitchen table.." Up pops a picture! Love it.
More spannering please Harry! And plug lead swapping? Been there..
What I love about this channel is we were just recently taken for a drive in the holy grail 288 GTO and now we talk Fiat 500, each with the same gusto. Harry doesn't play favourites and everyone's welcome.
Anyone happen to notice Harry not acknowledge to fact he caused this whole cluster? I'm sure Charley will be more than happy to remind him...repeatedly.
Two of the coolest guys on the planet
Charlie is such a cool character very very good on camera
a true home mechanic - spend a few hrs checking everything, only to find out you've plugged in the spark-plug leads the wrong way round - if only I thought of that first
Harry's celebration when it started 😂 sublime 🎉😊
Palpable joy! Memories of getting the bonnet up or crawling around underneath on something that didn't need to be plugged in to a computer: and a reference to 'a trained chimp' I thought that that was just something only my mate's dad used to say. Glorious and wonderful.
Same engine as my Fiat 126p I used to drive as teenager 20 plus years ago. We did all engin rebuild with my dad bc on it. Great video, thank you for bringing back some memories.
As a technician who worked in a Fiat dealership in the 1970's that was a great bit of entertainment for Christmas eve. Merry Christmas.
Many many years ago three girls broke down in the lakes and knocked on the door to use the phone to ring home. I asked what the car was?… “mini”…I’ve had two cooper S back then 997/1074! …”hold my beer!” .. they were on their way within minutes with a piece of tin foil to get them home😊! Following day there is a box of chocolates at my door👍🏻!
Merry Christmas to you and yours guys… always a good watch… Thankyou!
What a Christmas treat! You 2 are great on the camera together! Thank you!
Cinquecento makes me smile every time. Happy Christmas, Harry!
Brings back so many memories of fixing my 1974 Mini with my mate on a Sunday.. new cap a rotor arm,points and a set of leads a tenner at the Motorist Discount store........
I am sure we would all love to "join you on some better roads", but we won't hold our breath for the "squirt up the hill". Glad to see your joy when it ran and the family interaction is always a delight.
I love how Harry is just casually wearing a Rolex submariner while digging around the engine bay. What a legend 👍
Harry comes from a time when Rolex was a tool that you'd wear for a lifetime. My dad has worn his Sea Dweller daily since the late 70s.
@@patricklinkous My dad is more likely to wear a Casio (now and then) 😆
It's not a Rolex Sub. It's a GMT. Note the bezel is two tone (and faded) and the GMT hand at almost 6 o'clock. Pause it here and enlarge the window: 6:03
I was waiting and waiting for the phrase "You Plonker" to be said but was disappointed. Mixing up leads is something we have all done at one time, nothing wrong with that. What a fun little car and good to see father and son together.
I love all of your videos. I do believe that you are the most balanced car vlogger online these days, but this might be my very favorite video that you've ever shown. There's so much heart here and it's a perfect fit for time with family and nostalgia. Well done Harry.
You can tell the plugs have been switched as it turns over much more high pitched than when the plugs are correctly connected.
Merry Christmas - Charlie should get the credit for this one. And he wasn’t allowed to start it at the end!
That's a proper car, so much character, happy christmas to you all.
Enjoyed that. #OTSOT at 11:47 😀
OK we need a three way race to the pub between Harris and Frankel with their 2CV's and Harry with his Fiat 500.
In addition to checking the points and rotor, I would also take a close look inside the distributor cap (or replace it) as well as the plug wires. I always liked the matchbook cover trick for gapping the points. Boy, this brings back memories from 50-odd years ago.
Had a 1959 500 suicide doors in Gallardo yellow restored from scratch in SrI Lanka. Loved it! Unfortunately continued to over heat & kept dying! FIAT!! “ Fix it again Tony!” 🤪😢🙏🏽
Fantastic video. So much fun!! Merry Christmas and thank you 😊
Had to smile at this one. When my wife and I first met, she drove a Fiat 126 (same layout as a 500). She came home from work one evening ( a 25 mile journey) and said that the starter lever had gone 'floppy' when she started it. I had a look and the cable had broken at the lever end and was trailing behind the car. I told her that if she had stalled on the way home, she would have been stranded (before mobile phones). She was not best pleased. We sold it a few years later for peanuts, should have kept it seeing what they seem to sell for these days.
H: Well, I'm baffled?
C: Have you mixed the plug leads up?
H: Erm?!
That backfire woke me up a bit!
Just gone through this process with my lawnmower 😉. Turned out to be stale petrol which took a few goes to flush through with new fuel. Easy Start certainly helped. Its one of life's joys and simple pleasures when you resuscitate a dead engine and even nicer to share it with your son. I did this with my dad and sometimes with my son but not any more sadly.
What a lovely son and what a great relationship you two have. 😊🙏💕🌎
Harry!
My wife has told me to stop screaming!
I knew it was the wires!!!
I am almost seventy years old.....as is she.....coming up on her 39th(?) twenty nineth birthday....
She has seen me mess up wires many times when we were kids.
What a fun video!!!!!!
Thanks,
Marcia and George
Ah, brilliant, I’m sure everyone was willing for the little 500 to start, well done Charlie. Thanks for a super year of content, thanks guys 👍👍👍👍🙏
As a kid I was helping my dad with his Fiat 126p (same engine) back in the day and as a reward I was allowed to drive it around a parking lot. It was a hoot.
reminds me of projects with my father where we break more than we fix but always a laugh. keep it going
Cool, Harry sporting the Jason King moustache. Merry Christmas!
Metcalfe & Sons, Fiat 500 specialists! Fantastic video chaps
Mrs M is he unsung hero in this saga. If in doubt, refer to the disassembled gearbox on the kitchen table.
If there was ever an opportunity for a Harry’s Garage and the barn find fleece mash up this was it😅
I didn´t know that Borat was car mechanic before hes journalistic career... Thanks for entertaining videos and specially for starting EVO.
One of the most desirable cars in Harry’s garage!
Very entertaining and enjoyable. Every parent values such time together and repartee. 😊
Merry Christmas to you all. That cranking sound brings back so many memories of my sisters first car which was a Fiat 500. It often failed to start and my Dad spent hours trying to coax it in to life with me 'assisting'.Tricks included putting the plugs in the oven ! I was only seven at the time but that little car had a massive influence on me. Thank you for the great memories.
Love these little old cars! Brilliantly simple!
Flash-back! Love your images from 2018 with the Christmas tree sticking out of the sunroof. My first memory of a Christmas tree is of my mother driving home in our Lloyd 600, with one in the boot and the top of the tree tickling the back of my neck all the way (1966). To this day only a real tree will hack it chez nous.
Sadly, I also remember the Lloyd being towed away (for the last time!) not long after, following a period of very wet weather, where my Dad had suffered several severe roadside drenchings as he attempted to repair the windscreen wipers, which, apparently, being made for the left hand-drive version were poorly adapted for RHD, and failed regularly.! And the worst thing? He sold his Fiat 600 to buy the Lloyd😂.
In the kitchen in his overalls with a shirt and tie underneath! Pure Harry!
Best bit of christmas entertainment in years. Thanks for all the hard work Harry 👍
My daughter's first car (against my better wishes). Christmas day she came around and just as we were eating she said "oh dad your present is in the car" went out and went to open the door and the handle flew off in my hand and i ended up on my backside in the slush!. Thanks Fiat
We used the Fiat 500 to go to the beach: Parents, 2 kids plus 1 grandmother plus umbrella, a cooling box with food and water and a bag with towels, toys etc. I don't know how we fit all that in that small car. :-) The distance was 40 km but the elevation/ climb was 1000 meters.
The Fiat 500 is a little work horse
Hearing Harry say "On that side of things" made me laugh
Hard to describe how much joy this video brings! Please never change Harry!
Me and my wife swapped the engine and transmission in our Fiat 500 in our driveway a couple of years ago. It took us about an hour and half all together and that was me explaining everything to my wife because she had never worked on a car before. It’s a royal pain to keep going but it’s still me favorite car.
Well Merry Christmas to all! Gonna enjoy this! Thank you Harry.
Fun ride, thanks for taking us along!
Yay well done! 🎉 Merry Christmas Harry and family, thanks for all the amazing content this year!
It's a Christmas miracle! Such a fun video although I have to admit that hearing Harry talk about how easy it would be to take the engine out reminded me of so many buddies of mine in instances when it did not turn out so well. Another great video. May the Metcalfe family and all the subscribers to Harry's Farm and Harry's Garage have a wonderful Christmas and prosperous 2024!
Amazing ! Congratulations to you guys, what a team! Merry Christmas !
Many thanks for another year of great content Harry!
This gave me so much joy watching thanks Harry !