Fiat Coupe Turbo....trials and tribulations

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Jonjeffryes
Posts: 28
Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2011 8:46 pm
Location: Crawley, West Sussex

Fiat Coupe Turbo....trials and tribulations

#1 Post by Jonjeffryes » Wed Mar 09, 2011 11:57 pm

I fell into coupe ownership after 18 Alfa Romeos (Jeremy Clarkson eat your heart out)..I'd always admired the looks ...but thought the wheels looked too small on the normally aspirated cars :!:

Looking to replace my Alfa 155 for a coupe, the choice came down to the Fiat or an Alfa GTV....the Fiat won because I could fit my son in the back without having to remove his legs :shock:

I bought the first coupe-a 16v non turbo about a year ago. It uses a version of the legendary Lancia Integrale twin cam (minus turbo) which is a gem when running right.....and that took a replacement thermostat, CPU temp sender, Lambda probe and Mass air flow meter, plus the usual service items of plugs and new front discs/pads etc to achieve.

Once the running issues were sorted, it was absolutely brilliant and a real 'keeper' ......until my son blew up his MR2 and urgently needed transport...so one coupe found it's new owner and the search wad on for a replacement.

This was found in the form of a broom yellow 20v non turbo 'vis' model that was languishing In the owners parents front garden (where it had sat unmoved for six months). £800 later and she was mine complete with a months tax and a weeks MOT. a recharge on the battery and a gallon of unleaded got her back to my garage.

Again a thermostat, lambda probe, CPU Temp sensor and full service were required to get her running correctly...this time it was the 5 cylinder version with Fiats take on a variable intake tract designed to improve torque and power...and it worked.

Unfortunately, the next 5000 miles also saw the need for a new clutch, battery, starter motor and cam belt replacement. I also swapped the interior for full leather and regassed the air-conditioning plus had all the car park dings taken out.

The love affair lasted but six months when my head was turned by a late model Turbo...mildly modified to about 250 bhp with three owners from new, full service history and in a fetching shade of Portofina blue...or as it's known in coupe circles as 'murple'!

Again, running such a car is a mixture of Wow and oh my gawd! The performance is stunning, but the lack of use over the last few years and previous owner 'fuddling' has brought a few issues.

The usual thermostat/ CPU sensor change was required, followed by a new battery and a new set of front discs/ pads all helped the car settle down to everyday usage...I should add that I average about 600 business miles per week so these are working cars!

The turbo has worked really well without any major issues until this week when on my usual pre journey tyre pressure check, I noticed I'd lost a wheel bolt :shock: ....actually on removing the wheel, it became apparent that the stud had sheared level with the hub flange...also the mounting bolts for the disc had also sheared in the flange and just been discarded by the garage that fitted the discs (they shall remain nameless as they have since compensated me).

So the car is currently off the road waiting for delivery of a replacement hub/bearing/flange assembly which should be here on Friday..plus a complete set of new wheel bolts...that seemed a great insurance policy...

The moral of this is to always check the wheels/tyres/retainers as a regular pre-journey discipline....before every journey...I'd hate to think of the consequences if I'd not checked and noticed the missing bolt!
Last edited by Jonjeffryes on Sun Oct 30, 2011 5:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
1997 Fiat Coupe Turbo
1994 Toyota MR2
1984 Porsche 944 lux

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rld14
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Re: Fiat Coupe Turbo....trials and tribulations

#2 Post by rld14 » Thu Mar 10, 2011 3:15 am

Ouch!

Torque wrenches are your friend!

Nice car though, I'd love to see pics... it's on the list of "cool cars that we can't have in America".
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62 PA Velox LHD
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TerryG
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Location: East Midlands

Re: Fiat Coupe Turbo....trials and tribulations

#3 Post by TerryG » Thu Mar 10, 2011 8:34 am

I was wondering how long it would be before a Fiat Turbo appeared on here :) I saw half a dozen of them all parked up in Rocester on Sunday. Everybody out enjoying the weather. You should definitely post some pics up.
Understeer: when you hit the wall with the front of the car.
Oversteer: when you hit the wall with the back of the car.
Horsepower: how fast you hit the wall.
Torque: how far you take the wall with you.

Jonjeffryes
Posts: 28
Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2011 8:46 pm
Location: Crawley, West Sussex

Re: Fiat Coupe Turbo....trials and tribulations

#4 Post by Jonjeffryes » Fri Mar 11, 2011 1:41 am

Already done guys...if you check out the 'my cars' post in this section...there are shots of all 3 coupes plus my 944.

Jon
1997 Fiat Coupe Turbo
1994 Toyota MR2
1984 Porsche 944 lux

Jonjeffryes
Posts: 28
Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2011 8:46 pm
Location: Crawley, West Sussex

Re: Fiat Coupe Turbo....trials and tribulations

#5 Post by Jonjeffryes » Fri Mar 11, 2011 1:48 am

TerryG wrote:I was wondering how long it would be before a Fiat Turbo appeared on here :) I saw half a dozen of them all parked up in Rocester on Sunday. Everybody out enjoying the weather. You should definitely post some pics up.
One of the positives of ownership is the great forum fccuk.co.uk and excellent social calendar. There are meets all through the year and the help and advice from the forum is outstanding.

The cars are getting rare with a high attrition rate (not helped by the scrappage scheme) and the relatively high ( for a Fiat - but not for a 150+ mph car) running costs.......but they are really rather special...one of motoring best kept secrets at the moment..definitely a future classic
1997 Fiat Coupe Turbo
1994 Toyota MR2
1984 Porsche 944 lux

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