I've started a thread in the Projects area to track the progress (or lack of) of my rolling restoration of a very early 16v N/A

All comments, suggestions etc welcome...

Access denied when I try and follow that link Nigel?

Oops - fixed now

Looks great Nigel... looking forward to seeing this!
So will you be going whole hog - engine out and give that engine bay a good clean

i think Nigel has too much money in his pockets since he stopped driving his monster around

looks lovely Nigel, look forward to seeing what you do with this one..

i think im waiting for the thread... Ok im bored, What BHP can i get from a 16v N/A

Ah, my engine's looked like that for years, Nigel - if we were intended to clean the engine bay, they wouldn't put non-seethrough lids on them!

I'm watching this with interest. I'm planning - when funds permit - a bare-metal restoration of mine. And I agree with you about classic status.

I've told myself not to get too anal about this restoration.

I want a car I can drive and not worry (too much) if it rains. I do NOT want a concours rebuild that is carried around to shows on a covered trailer - I regard that as several steps too far, and to be honest, a Fiat Coupe is not really a viable candidate for a very expensive nut & bolt restoration.

I intend to replace bits with OE or equivalent aftermarket (for example, I'm not going to hunt down OE brake discs & pads, but I won't be fitting grooved discs, or trackday pads)

At the moment, my biggest dilemma is the interior. The original seats have been replaced with slightly shabby 20v cloth seats. Unlike Neil's car, my build data on Eper doesn't specify the interior, so I can't be sure of what was in the car originally. Tracking down a mint 16v cloth interior is going to be close to impossible, and finding a black leather interior will be very easy. However, I'm pretty sure the car wouldn't have come with leather originally, so am I already compromising on my desire to keep the car standard?

The other thing that has to be sorted quickly is the exhaust - the Peco is "tuneful" but it's very obviously a non standard item, so I'm looking for an OE exhaust system. I can get new from Alternative Autos for under £200, but I'll see if anyone wants a swap with the Peco first.

Over the years, I've read various comments about 16v issues, but I've never really paid too much attention. One of them is the "sticky centre console" - mine is a little bit tacky - is there a cure?

The thought crossed my mind, but I reckon I can reach pretty much most of the engine bay, especially if I start using various pointy kitchen implements with suitable bits of cloth stuck to them...

Hi Nigel, just noticed your reg on this car. I think that was registered close to me. 'M' reg Fiats with BOR suffix all came from Middleton Fiat as far as I know. There's 2 cinquecentos close by to my house that have registration numbers bot M and BOR.

Dealer is still open if you want to contact them. They're no stranger to coupes as they're the ones that were selling the £6grand one owner yellow 20vt a year or so ago.

Dan

Dan - thanks for the info - I'll give them a call

the service book has lots of Middleton stamps in it, but the PDI was carried out by City Sales Centre, in Chichester

Middleton couldn't help, as they binned all their records when they changed computer systems in 2005

I'll try Fiat UK

Nigel

If you are ever down this way, let me know. You can have a rummage through the garage for 16v bits.

Seats wise, 16v's came with a sort of chequered green and black cloth.

Nigel, leather was an option on the 16v so no reason why it wouldn't; there was a very restricted set of options...

- Leather
- Aircon
- Sunroof
- Metallic paint

Yep, Fiat charged more for the sparkly bits. Mine came with the latter two.

Front seats haven't faded *too* much but the top of the rear seat gets all the sun, and I haven't seen a decent one in years.

swarfega stop quick is the boy for the job along with one of those radiator paint brushes Nige, that will clean up tons of mess very quickly.

Good luck with this Nigel, keep working on it each week please so I have something to read in the evening - thanks

Oh! .... finding the interior, I'm sure I've seen them on eBay before, just never really took that much interest as I've always had the 20VT variety/

Just for interest, I thought I'd check on Eper for the prices of a 16v cloth interior, just so that the car would be completely standard

For the the two front seats and the rear seats - go on - have a guess at the Fiat RRP



Secondhand black leather it is then....

I dropped nearly mint black leather in mine and posted the excellent cond. cloth on here.
No takers.
So donated it to FCSS.
Worth giving Joe a ring ...

Rob - thanks for the info - I know it sounds a bit daft, but if I can get a really good 16v cloth interior, I'd prefer it to black leather, purely on the grounds of originality (I prefer leather to look at and sit on, at least until I come to a corner...)

I wonder if the cloth could be redyed? There's rarely any wear on the back seats; it's just that they faded so badly.

I've found another M Reg in a scrapper near me. Barnacle look away now:

http://www.silverlake.co.uk/breakers/details/fiat/coupe/petrol/manual/4025

Regardless, yours is looking much more cared for than the one in the link.

Was leather an option on the early 16v's?

Yes: the (only) options on UK launch were leather, sunroof, aircon, and metallic paint (e.g. black).

Recently did a refurb on mine as per the "how to".

Cleaned off the old gunk with Metho and a rag and used VHT Hood Bumper and Trim paint which is a satin black. Very happy with the result.