wow. I think I take a day off and start reading all your posts on this forum. I appreciate the effort and (can I say love?) the analytical approach to my silly questions.

So, let's say I can say goodbye to the idea of finding a set of Plus seats which are not covered by blood. And I also understand that I would be frowned upon (killed?) by _real_ Plus owners if I'd try to overbid any of them with my fake non Plus. Fair enough.

So, next item, steering wheel, if I give up the idea of having a Plus wheel, can I still get a decent one? without the stupid buttons on the airbag? All coupe steering wheels are exchangeable?

I guess I have to get my boot net from a motorbike store, they are usually the best source for these I was told. What's left, strut brace. Any suggestions where can I get one of those? Any decent non-oem ones out there? I will get them painted to red:)

Don't get me wrong. If you can get Plus bits for your car, fair play to you. Just an example, typical price secondhand for a set of standard dials is around £30, but for Plus/VT6 at least £120.

Supply and demand. If you can even find the bits you want and are prepared to pay the price, fair play to you. More important that you love your Coupe and want to keep it alive.

You might luck into a real Plus at silly money in Ireland. My sister and her husband live there and like you've pointed out, they say you can buy interesting cars for silly money, largely due to insurance and road tax issues.

At the moment, my brother-in-law is trying to track down an Alfa Romeo Montreal that he saw in poor condition, not being used, as he thinks I may be able to get it cheap.

So keep your eyes peeled.

Re-Pigman

( I hate to be pedantic, but you will never be able to turn it into a Plus. You may make it indistinguishable from a Plus, but it will not have been registered as a Plus from new.)

I take it that on the V5 it states that it is either a plus or le model, I have a vt6 and all it says is
Make - Fiat
Model - blank
Body type - coupe

The chassis on a Plus is very slightly different if you know where to look........... and no I'm not saying where

Welcome to the Coupé fold Levente

Usually the V5 will state if it's a Plus or LE. Both of my Plusses appeared so on the V5. The so called VT6, of which I've also had two, is just a 20VT on the V5. Fiat never called it a VT6. It was the standard 20VT, but benefitted from 6 speed box and a few other Plus bits.

I guess Fiat wanted to use up whatever was lying around as they had the last few cars built. VT6s sometimes have slightly different specs, it would seem.

That said, V5 is not 100% reliable. Presumably it's possible to check chassis number with Fiat to be certain.

For Plus owners wishing to benefit from Plus ownership, that's nice to know. Is my yellow Plus a Plus Joe?

Well I didn't want to say anything Pete but now that you've asked.................................

Don't do that to me......I'm Paranoid Pete already.

Would be interesting to know how many LE/Plus owners have their model identified on the V5

LE 0126 -v5- 20VT
I asked it to be changed when I moved, no reply, just a duplicate.

LE 20. V5 - Fiat Coupe LE

Interesting - howmanyleft suggests 99 Plus and 37 LE remaining registered last year (and under two hundred 16s of any flavour).

The doesn't include of course any in which the V5 doesn't list the title.

My comment "In 20 years time" thread:
"You might find that LE's become less rare by percentage as the model numbers reduce as they are perceived to be the "collector's" car and would carry a certain amount of cache and therefore be kept more and in better condition. Just a forward looking thought.
So as already mentioned, more "standard" models become rarer. Whether that means that they are more collectible? Remains to be seen, only the market will decide."

well, I'm going to drive it, not store it What is the difference in the chassis? I haven't got the reg book yet, but the online checks both reported it as "Fiat Coupe 2.0 T MY 1999"

I tried to search this forum, but didn't find the answers.
- Where do people get new and old parts from (i. e. any dismantler taking and not ripping Coupes apart)? I need a strut brace and a luggage net (belts and hoses I have covered).
- Is there a list of parts where there is a compatible Fiat/Alfa part, without the usual "sports car tax"?
thanks

Strut brace and other bits, EBay or one of the specialist coupe companies Listed on this link

Few developments today, as I brought in the car to a Fiat garage for a quick checkup.

I was quoted 1240 euros for a TB and WP change (it was done in August, 2009, 13k miles ago, so I'll buy the parts myself and bring it to my specialist 200 kms away to get it done.) I'll also order the aux belt pulley with the lip, and I'll get the coolant hoses replaced too.

I was worried that it has a problem with the engine/turbo, as it was a bit smokey (white) when starting up cold, and bringing the rev up to about 2500. When the engine gets hot, it's gone. Oil pressure is at 2.3-2.5 when idle, and constant 3 when not. The garage did a compression test, and all fine. I was told it could be the "valve stem oil seals" - isn't that supposed to cause blue smoke?

The ratchet for the driver seat is broken (the back of the seat doesn't move when I turn the plastic cogwheel), is it something I can get second hand?

Also, there are no more airbags (for the steering wheel) available, but I'm not sure if I want to buy a second hand airbag.... There is nothing wrong with it, but as I said the previous owner drilled it and put in two non-functional buttons, fast and furious style.

So, only a few weeks, and I have a perfect car. The first owner just told me that he got underbody of the Coupe fully rustproofed in early 2009, so at least that's off the list.

White smoke from cold is a classic sign of turbo oil seals, sounds like time to repair/replace/upgrade the turbo.

Bugger.

What do you mean by upgrade the turbo? Does the upgrade refer to performance upgrade or longetivity upgrade? If the second one, can you suggest a make/model?

There are quite a few turbos on ebay, is it something safe to buy second hand?

My V5 list model as; COUPE 20V TURBO PLUS.

So I understand you can't fit plus seats into a 20v Turbo, could be wrong.

I don't think you need to worry about white smoke so much! This can be water vapour in the exhaust system. If it goes after warm up I would not worry. When the turbo seals go, you know it. As you leave a massive dirty smoke trail behind you when accelerating.

I think you need to define what a bit smoky means to you. Most are smoky (white) during the winter on start up

I've got Recaros from a Plus in my 20vt.

I can post a video tomorrow morning. Interesting, the garage didn't mention the turbo, as a potential issue, and the exhaust was off the car for a while indeed (the car, as it was up for sale, had a "dustbin" exhaust, and it was a bit loud, so I asked the guy to put the original back)

So I talked to the garage, they say it's not the turbo, they are sure it's the valve stem oil seals, and I was told once the head is off I should get the piston rings replaced as well. For all this I was quoted 3k. With that, and the 4 new tyres, I'm bankrupt, but it's bloody worth it. But yous already knew that:)

Here is the video

Looks like most coupes on a cold winter morning! Probably just steam, fingers crossed.

looks like turbo seals

I tried that a few times, no luck. I even started to look for clocks with silver dial and yellow arms on Ebay.
Then, today, it worked. The difference between today and the other occasions was that I didn't have the inginition on today... interesting... I have so much to learn, even after owning two Alfas.

I'd be very cautious of committing to any engine work. As said above, that looks no different to many cars in the morning during winter. Certainly mine looks exactly like yours in the morning and I have a new turbo and valve stem seals.

Valve stem seal failure normally manifests itself as a puff of blue/grey smoke on cold start up after a night or two standing, or as a puff of smoke as you reapply the throttle after being on the overrun. I also would've expected the garage to have noticed deposits on the spark plugs if you had issue.

If it were my car I'd monitor oil usage. It's obvious when you have a problem, you'll get through lots of oil.

thank you szkom. the car is with my mechanic, he said the same thing, and we will know better when he fires up the car tomorrow morning. Timing belt, aux belt and probably rear wheel bearings are being replaced, stupid stickers removed, then hopefully good as new.
except now the clock stopped working on the dash.