Broken head or mice?

Hi, I’m new to the forum! I have some experience restoring old cars, and now I want a fiat coupe I live in Norway btw.

I’ve been searching thoroughly for an early low mileage coupe. So far two have come up.

#1 has been sitting for 9 years. Ran when parked, and was well kept until then. Cheap paint job. However the storage facility was somewhat damp, so the interior has some mildew. What is worse it that the car has been and still is inhibited by mice. Droppings and chew marks everywhere. Very bad.

#2 similar mileage and general wear. Cheap paint job. Has been sitting 5 years. Engine ran out of oil, and consequently the main and rod bearings were replaced. After the rebuild the owner found that the cam bearings were shot too, and the oil ring on piston 4 is missing a piece. So the engine still needs work or to be replaced.

How hard is it to source an engine for an early 16vT? Or a cylinder head?The 20vT engines seem easier to find, is the swap feasible?

Neither are particularly appealing but if the price is right, based on what you describe and having suffered rodent damage on a vehicle myself, I would choose the engine rebuild.

I won't comment on the engine swap others are more qualified.

If the rodent damage is not extensive, then I'd opt out for that car. Make sure that the wiring is okay and there are no electrical gremlins (or rodents for that matter), and the rest would only be a cleaning job.

What I am afraid of is corrosion if the storage was damp - so if there are no corrosion marks on the underside, where the boot arches meet the boot floor, also behind the pininfarina side-badges, then you're probably fine.

You can source an engine for 16vt, but they are becoming a bit more difficult to find. Rebuilding your old one, fitting a refurbed head is also an option (you can even find a new head, but it's quite expensive).

Doing a swap should be possible, although I haven't done it. I think the most difficult thing would be reworking the electrical installation of the new engine. Plus, the radiator, air con compressor and electrical controls are different between 20vt and 16vt.

Both engines are quite sensitive to oil starvation. So oil pressures need to be good on hot idle.

Hey! I´m happy to announce I puchased a 97 20v Turbo today! Neither of the ones above. It sat in a barn for 9 years, and will be collected within a week. Exciting times!

It ran when parked, so I´m carefully gonna bring it back to life. I expect to have to go through the brakes and fuel systems, and do a full engine service including timing belt.

Great news! Start a new thread either in Coupé Related Chat or better, in Coupé Projects where you can tell us all about your progress At the same time you can create a separate Discussion thread for your project where anyone can comment on your work (the actual Project thread is reserved for your posts only )

I will!

However, it seems like I´m not authorised to start a ned thread in the projects are.

That's right, you have to send Begbie a PM as per this yellow sticky thread near the top of the project threads

How to post a project thread

I did but no luck so far.

I'll give him a nudge

Actually he may have been busy elsewhere as he's not logged in since 14th - have patience, I'm sure he'll be back soon.

Great! I'm eager to get going, bringing this back to life

Interior

That's a great photograph good luck!