Fiat turbo Coupe
Discussion
Any large Shows / meetings in Northants locale this summer - I think Auto italia did Boughton House in previous years?
Looking to gen up on probs & mods for 2oVT
Prodded throttle on one today with Blueflame? exhaust, induction kit and turbo upgrade - sounded like a tiger purring - truly classy (not loud) halfway between muted v8 and and M Tech BMW 6 cylinder.
I am hoping to find a fully sorted one, with or without engine upgrades - eventually tuning to c. 270bhp or more - should be fine.
It would appear that tranny is ok with 300bhp? - Both 5 & 6?
Seats (leather) looked a bit dated - did i see some semi wrap round ones introduced on later models? - How do LE & Plus differ?
Todays was showing full scale oil pressure cold and just under when warm - at idle.
The slow decay of revs (an emission thing i believe) is very pronounced on these cars - can it be easily modified? - ie if you blip the throttle from say 2k to 4k it takes ages to decay to idle (but pretty responsive going up, considering not on boost when not under load.)
Any 20vt, particularly performance modded in Kettering area? - Any specialists in this area - 'Flea' is a longway
Do they have rust problems - Coupes galvanised? - other 15 yr old Fiats have been and gone!
Hoping for a cut price Scooby experience....
Looking to gen up on probs & mods for 2oVT
Prodded throttle on one today with Blueflame? exhaust, induction kit and turbo upgrade - sounded like a tiger purring - truly classy (not loud) halfway between muted v8 and and M Tech BMW 6 cylinder.
I am hoping to find a fully sorted one, with or without engine upgrades - eventually tuning to c. 270bhp or more - should be fine.
It would appear that tranny is ok with 300bhp? - Both 5 & 6?
Seats (leather) looked a bit dated - did i see some semi wrap round ones introduced on later models? - How do LE & Plus differ?
Todays was showing full scale oil pressure cold and just under when warm - at idle.
The slow decay of revs (an emission thing i believe) is very pronounced on these cars - can it be easily modified? - ie if you blip the throttle from say 2k to 4k it takes ages to decay to idle (but pretty responsive going up, considering not on boost when not under load.)
Any 20vt, particularly performance modded in Kettering area? - Any specialists in this area - 'Flea' is a longway
Do they have rust problems - Coupes galvanised? - other 15 yr old Fiats have been and gone!
Hoping for a cut price Scooby experience....
Mine's 13 years old and no rust problems at all. Build quality is better than most other Fiats & Alfas from that era. Don't recognise the slowly decaying revs you mention - never experienced that. Personally I'd go for a standard car over a modded one, but your choice. LE was Limited Edition for one year I believe, with push-button starter, rather garish interior with Recaro seats. Plus model was end-of-line with many of the LE features including Recaros & 6 speed box. Condition & history is more important than model details. Like most fast cars, they have an appetite for brakes, tyres, suspension bushes and sometimes exhaust manifolds. They're great value & reliable if looked after, but a cheap one with a huge turbo bolted on and no oil on the dipstick will empty your wallet quick as you like.
I can't say I've noticed the slowly decaying revs thing either, though they are rather lazy engines off-boost compared to a nicely tuned normally aspirated lump, and they have quite heavy flywheels. Nothing like, say, a modern Ford Focus which absolutely infuriates me every time I drive one with the revs hanging.
In general they don't suffer badly from rot, but there are a few areas that some cars seem prone to. The "legs" that support the oil cooler and intercoolers at the front don't appear to be galvanised and rust away. The tops of the chassis rails (visible if you lift the carpet in the boot) also rust on some cars.
Common problems:
The cast iron exhaust manifold cracking - I doubt there is a 20VT left on the road that this hasn't happened to.
New Fiat manifolds are very expensive, but they can be repaired by welding and after-market tubular ones are available.
Engine mounts degrade with age and are astronomically expensive to replace - over £350 for the main 3 mounts, plus labour to fit if you can't DIY.
Front wishbone bushes/balljoints have a short life, but they are easy to fit and even the Fiat parts are not badly priced, and pattern parts are available very cheaply (though tend not to last anything like as long).
Indicators don't cancel on a large number of cars due to rather poor original design coupled with wear in the assembly - can be modified to work again with a bit of thought.
Front brakes very prone to horrendous squealing with some after market pads, the standard Fiat parts seem better for this. The Brembo callipers can seize as well.
Rear handbrakes bloody useless, and tend to freeze on in the winter. Caused by knackered handbrake cables that let water in. After-market ones don't seem to work well (many people reported one cable was slightly too long which screws up the balance), but OEM Fiat parts are still available.
Watch out for cars that have had a generic "chip" fitted (e.g. GTEC) and haven't had the fuelling checked properly; plenty of people have blown up engines from this (including the previous owner of mine). Likewise running low on oil is guaranteed death, and I've lost count of the number that have died this way on the FCCUK forum. Many cars use quite a bit of oil, so regular checking required. After I rebuilt mine (new piston, rings and valve guide seals) it used almost no oil between services.
Headlamps suffer from the anti-scratch coating peeling/flaking off, making them look awful. Not sure if new parts are available any more, and even if they are the cost would be frightening. Many people wet sand the anti-scratch coating off and polish up the acrylic underneath - looks nice for a while but rapidly gets scratched and chipped without the coating on. The headlamps themselves are absolutely dire, easily the worst on any car I have ever driven. HID conversions very popular, and work quite well as dipped beam is a projector lamp.
Oil cooler hose fittings rot over time and have been known to fail. They can corrode onto the cooler itself so badly that you have to replace cooler and hoses together.
In general they don't suffer badly from rot, but there are a few areas that some cars seem prone to. The "legs" that support the oil cooler and intercoolers at the front don't appear to be galvanised and rust away. The tops of the chassis rails (visible if you lift the carpet in the boot) also rust on some cars.
Common problems:
The cast iron exhaust manifold cracking - I doubt there is a 20VT left on the road that this hasn't happened to.
New Fiat manifolds are very expensive, but they can be repaired by welding and after-market tubular ones are available.
Engine mounts degrade with age and are astronomically expensive to replace - over £350 for the main 3 mounts, plus labour to fit if you can't DIY.
Front wishbone bushes/balljoints have a short life, but they are easy to fit and even the Fiat parts are not badly priced, and pattern parts are available very cheaply (though tend not to last anything like as long).
Indicators don't cancel on a large number of cars due to rather poor original design coupled with wear in the assembly - can be modified to work again with a bit of thought.
Front brakes very prone to horrendous squealing with some after market pads, the standard Fiat parts seem better for this. The Brembo callipers can seize as well.
Rear handbrakes bloody useless, and tend to freeze on in the winter. Caused by knackered handbrake cables that let water in. After-market ones don't seem to work well (many people reported one cable was slightly too long which screws up the balance), but OEM Fiat parts are still available.
Watch out for cars that have had a generic "chip" fitted (e.g. GTEC) and haven't had the fuelling checked properly; plenty of people have blown up engines from this (including the previous owner of mine). Likewise running low on oil is guaranteed death, and I've lost count of the number that have died this way on the FCCUK forum. Many cars use quite a bit of oil, so regular checking required. After I rebuilt mine (new piston, rings and valve guide seals) it used almost no oil between services.
Headlamps suffer from the anti-scratch coating peeling/flaking off, making them look awful. Not sure if new parts are available any more, and even if they are the cost would be frightening. Many people wet sand the anti-scratch coating off and polish up the acrylic underneath - looks nice for a while but rapidly gets scratched and chipped without the coating on. The headlamps themselves are absolutely dire, easily the worst on any car I have ever driven. HID conversions very popular, and work quite well as dipped beam is a projector lamp.
Oil cooler hose fittings rot over time and have been known to fail. They can corrode onto the cooler itself so badly that you have to replace cooler and hoses together.
thanks for advice guys - do you know of any worthwhile gatherings in Midlands this summer - any specialists in this region? - Any moderately tuned examples here abouts? - Will hopefully be looking to buy, preferaby a 2000 Plus during summer, so if anybody out there knows of any really good examples... Ideally Red, silver or possibly yellow with sub 85k miles and comp history - would pay well for a good Red Plus with tan Recaros - some recent recognised mods accepted
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