Right! thought i,d might as well start my own thread re work/modifications carried out on the B! and accesories that i have purchased.

I will add pictures as and when i can.


Mods to date.
1. DTR Stainless steel middle and back box ( included when first purchased)
2. Mohair hood.( included when first purchased)
3. Chrome rear barchetta badge
4. Hard top and storage cover.
5. 17" Khan Rsv2 alloy wheels with toyo tyres.
6. Green filter induction changing to GSR shortly.
7. Sparco front strut brace.
8. Vented/grooved discs with fast road pads.
9. Eibach 30mm lowering springs.
10. Chrome hoops.
11. Gear oil changed to Redline MTL 70.
12. HID Headlight conversion.
13. Clear side indicater lenses.
14. Naxos front lip spoiler.
15. Silver center consule
16. Momo race pedals.
17. Carpeted mats.
18. Samco silicone hoses.
19. Dual radiator fans.
20. Specialised breathable waterproof cover.
21. Oven baked sprayed blue rocker cover.


Thats all i can think of for now.

Good start KC, funny enough I was chatting to the Doc earlier this evening and said I was going to start a thread for you - you've beaten me to it!!

So, what next?????

You forgot the blue rocker cover!

That's quite a list KC. You, doc and lrb are an inspiration to us all

Where did you get the silver sparco brace as I've been looking for one and can only find red ones:yuck:

silverbarchetta said:

Where did you get the silver sparco brace as I've been looking for one and can only find red ones:yuck:

Click to expand...

Funny what a can of silver spray paint can do

silverbarchetta said:

I've been looking for one and can only find red ones:yuck:

Click to expand...

And what, pray tell, is wrong with RED???

silverbarchetta said:

Where did you get the silver sparco brace as I've been looking for one and can only find red ones:yuck:

Click to expand...

I've got a silver one on its way from Germany at the moment (ordered from eBay.de). Very cheap (29 euros + 17 euros postage), as it's not one of the big makes like OMP or Sparco. Will hopefully fit it later this week and let you know if there's any probs.

What a difficult hand busting/scratching/cutting mod to do.

7 piece Samco silicone hoses.

I started what i thought would be a simple easy modification.

Was it hell!

I spent a good 4-5hours to change these hoses.

Here's a guide that may help to anyone wishing to carry out this Mod.

Firstly i needed to remove the cold air feeds and induction kit which is simple and easy to do.

Once these are removed it gives you more space to get to the hoses that attach to the Rad.

I dont know what fiat were thinking when they used the terrible clips that attach the hoses.

They need to be cut or prised off which when in arkward positions is not an easy task.

The hose linking the expansion tank is a nice easy one to change and so was the fiirst to be done.

The bottom and top larger rad hoses are not to bad to change.
Only a few scratches and the odd cut to your hands for these.

The small hose leading from themostat to the throttle housing. is not to difficult to change either. You need small hands for this one.

There's a long thin hose leading off from the throttle housing to the exspansion tank. ARHH! Getting more difficult now to get this on.
Tip!! leave this one to last.


The two hoses leading from the themostat to the heater matrix. WHAT A B...stard to take off and get on . :bang:

These are situated right behind the inlet manifold and access by hand is only avaliable under the throtle housing. BE prepared for lots of screaming and shouting as its a tight squeeze to get your hand in to prise the hoses off. and twice as hard to get these on.
Tip!! put the hose to the left on first as you will find it literately imposible to get the right one on should you attemt it the other way.

Being left handed would help here.


Another Tip! You will need to buy new hose clips to upgrade these hoses and when purchaced they are a dull silver grey.

A good rub with AUTOSOL Metal polish brings them up to a nice shiny chrome. Thanks to DOC, for this one.

Lastly, once their all on and your hands have stopped throbbing you can top up the reservoir with coolant/antifreeze. I used COMMA green . 3ltrs.

Replace the cold air feeds, induction kit and thats it.

jiggy said:

I've got a silver one on its way from Germany at the moment (ordered from eBay.de). Very cheap (29 euros + 17 euros postage), as it's not one of the big makes like OMP or Sparco. Will hopefully fit it later this week and let you know if there's any probs.

Click to expand...

I originally purchased one of these but found it not to fit correctly and was not allowing my bonnet to close, i think some others have found the same problem. also you can only support this using the tops suspension bolts only.

Should you want to secure it with the bottom bolts too it would mean driling the B. ( not a good thing to do and would proove difficult.)

The sparco is a much better fit. stronger and can be fitted using both bolts.
the top one s on the suspension and two smaller one's found lower down.

Hope you have no problems and are happy but that was my experience.

Some more pic's re fitting Samco hoses.

KC this is the one I've ordered. Looking at the fittings on the end does it look like the one you had problems with? Out of the 5 or 6 on eBay.de I only went with this one because it was the only one that said "ohne ABS" (without ABS).

You've got an early B like me haven't you? Oops might have to send the strut brace back and get a proper one! Will let you know how it goes anyway.

And after 5 hours, some more scatches, cuts and no more shouting........
the finished product. A new engine bay with Samco silicone hoses.

jiggy said:

KC this is the one I've ordered. Looking at the fittings on the end does it look like the one you had problems with? Out of the 5 or 6 on eBay.de I only went with this one because it was the only one that said "ohne ABS" (without ABS).

You've got an early B like me haven't you? Oops might have to send the strut brace back and get a proper one! Will let you know how it goes anyway.

Click to expand...

Hi Jiggy,
Yes that was the one. I does look nice being chrome and that. but will not fit correctly and not really strong like the sparco one.

Best see if you can cancel the order and worth purchacing a sparco should you have the same engine like mine. Much stronger and will do the job correctly.

They come in red but i sprayed mine silver. I will be spraying mine again to blue in the near future.

I think they've already shipped it to be honest so can't cancel the order. How did you get rid of your dodgy strut brace - did you send it back to them or did you flog it yourself?

jiggy said:

I think they've already shipped it to be honest so can't cancel the order. How did you get rid of your dodgy strut brace - did you send it back to them or did you flog it yourself?

Click to expand...

EBAYed it again.

The next mod i will be doing will be fitting the dual fans.

Doc says this should be easy to do, so hopefully no more cuts to the hands for this one.

Nice work KC and a great start to your thread.

Excellent work KC, looking fantastic under the bonnet now!

Nice work, love the blue hoses and cover

I've got the dual fans, becuz i've got airco, but it will be interesting to see how you get them on

while you're at it, throw away the heatshield, its cracked and WILL rattle
you could try to fix it, but apart from migwelding a few metal strips or glueing tinfoil over the crack i wouldn't see how

Nice work KC3, the blood on your hands didn't go unnoticed.

Jiggy: The brace looks like mine (haven't got an engine bay picture on me at the mo, might find one in my CDA thread). If that's correct then it fitted fine and I didn't bother drilling the bodywork. Being aluminium it's not as strong, but it is lighter and strong enough for lateral forces. Anyway, lets hope yours does fit after all

I have the odd fitting chrome strut brace. Had to hammer it in to place but I stuck with it. Bonnet closes okay now - just! I will be spraying the engine cover blue shortly and have started cleaning he engine bay.