Hello everybody as a newbie to the forum and the owner of a yellow mark II Barchetta since late last year I have read with interests the posts and threads. What I would like to know is members’ views on modifications, what have been worthwhile and what have not. Also to try and gauge the benefits of the modifications by the percentage increase they make to the car. The work I have done so far consists of a new timing belt, water pump, the fabled variator, a stainless steel Long Life exhaust and replaced the wiper motor after it died. I am looking at upgrading the brakes, I don’t intend using it for track days, so I am looking at good quality road brakes, something like Brembo Max discs with their own brand pads. I am not keen on drilled discs but could be persuaded.

Hi there, and welcome - if I ever buy another B, it will definitely be a yellow one.

There are several people on here who have done extensive mods to their Bs. Do a quick search for KC3 Project Silver, and F4usT, whose threads will take you several enjoyable hours to read & digest! (no disrespect intended to all the other modders out there - those were just the first 2 that came to mind)

Bump welcome.

Used to have a broom yellow Coupe. Not many yellow 'B's about.

Sounds like you have already tackled the major risk items.

If you don't do track work then I would question the worth of brake upgrades for road use. I/we have a 'B and both of us have over 6K miles of track experience (in other vehicles) but as you might gather we don't potter around in our 'B'. Neither of us have ever queried the braking ability of the 'B' on fast road usage.

Similarly the base handling is generally very good and our 2005 'B' has never let either of us down when seriously challenge on fast road use.

One aspect that 'B's can respond/feedback to is styling and looks. Your Long Life exhaust probably gives you the nice sound/feedback/looks. You could consider wheels and engine compartment detailing.

You really need to decide what you are looking to achieve, how it may affect your insurance policy/prices etc.

And of course there are the internal cabin mods / tarting up that can be done.

Another factor is do you like showing and getting nice comments, appreciation and engaging with fellow admirers or are you more interested the "power/performance/handling" boasting stakes (no offence meant but if you can't use it is a potential waste of money).

I've modified two of our past/current Fiats (Uno SX and Strada Abarth 130TC) with performance mods as we were heavily into track driving/sprinting. To be really honest some of the mods made were a waste of money and time. Others, like the suspension upgrade to the Uno SX were brilliant successes on the track and provided only marginal improvements for legal road use.

Finally "bang for the buck" is/must be a priority and admiring feedback. Both of these will give you continual pleasure of ownership without draining the wallet.

A personal opinion

my best mods:
pioneer unit with bluetooth car kit
subwoofer with windscreen
xenon
flip key with trunk opener and closing/opening windows on fob
button to disactivate the antenna
interiour light retarder
trunk light for those nightly searches in there
koso oil temperature (now I know when I can go for 6500rpm)
front sparco strut brace (for those high speed cornering)
soundproofing the chassis

maintenance
complete new brakes to stop the squicking
complete suspension arms and struts to give it the smooth ride

looks
16" abarth fiat 500 wheels with dunlop sp fastresponse tyres
naxos front spoiler in offset color
new hood

Hiya!

Id say all the mods I have done were worthwhile, but best improvements or noticeable should I say would be,

Bilstien B8 shocks, with Eibach springs

Sparco strut brace

Brembo big brake upgrade

Dynamat sound proofing to floors and doors

Mohair hood

Alloy wheels

New leather interior colonizing

Engine breathing mods/ GSR intake and supersprint exhaust

Xenon Hid lights

Windstop

Stereo and speaker upgrade


Of course there are so many more but these would be the ones that spring to mind.

KC3 wrote as below and I've added *my comments*

PLEASE NOTE! I am in no way criticising or condemning KC3's upgrades. I'm just adding a personal perspective as thus far you (MarkII) have not given any of us a better idea of what you are interested in and attempting to achieve. e.g. if you were looking for mods for drag racing then I could give you a pretty thorough list of mods to make.


KC3 Wrote
---------------------
Id say all the mods I have done were worthwhile, but best improvements or noticeable should I say would be,

Bilstien B8 shocks, with Eibach springs - *for road use will look good (lower profile) but performance improvemet for cost may be very hard to justify unless fairly frequent track work is undertaken*

Sparco strut brace - *won't improve handling much but does look nice under the bonnet AND if you are a track drive or hard road taker then the brace will help reduce chassis stress in the long term*

Brembo big brake upgrade - *look great, great for track and very occasional road use unless you drive to the limit on public roads in which case I would be looking for other safety items first*

Dynamat sound proofing to floors and doors -*AGREE however unless you have a hardtop to fit for winter months then soft top hood related noise is always going to be high. A point to remember is that the 'B' was designed with minimal soundproofing so the engine/induction and road noise could penetrate the cabin to a comfortable extent to enhance the sporting noise etc. of the car. If you don't like the natural sound/noses of the 'B' then just about ANY extra insulation will subdue noise but also detract from what was originally intended. A totally personal choice.*

Mohair hood - *AGREE"

Alloy wheels - *AGREE"

New leather interior colonizing - *AGREE*

Engine breathing mods/ GSR intake and supersprint exhaust -*AGREE but only for exhaust sound and longevity - other intake mods may look / sound good but will provide very little if no performance increase without other substantial cylinder head works and ECU re-mapping*

Xenon Hid lights - *if in UK then you will also need to add self levelling and headlamp washers to pass UK MOT / VOSA legal requirements*

Windstop - *AGREE*

Stereo and speaker upgrade - "AGREE but have not yet personally done"

KC3 has done fantastic work on his "B" which I have followed. Everything he has done (well most things as far as I recall) have worked for him and have been done to a high standard. Anybody wanting to upgrade or modify any car really needs to have a clear idea of what they want to achieve, why and then sensibly prioritise items, times and budgets.

You are absolutely right to ask questions and everything posted here will give you ideas and food for thought. What you need to do is decide what you want and why and then research that improvement.

For example intake mods on a "B" look good but it is a well known fact that the Punto HGT/Barchetta 16V 1.8ie engine is a very difficult engine to tune and improve with simple intake mods and other cylinder head mods. Even then more substantial cylinder head and block mods produce little improvement for money spent, which is why most racing boys and girls choose other engines to modify UNLESS they are running stock unmodified engines for racing and sprinting class entrance criteria. From stock the "B" engine is a cracking engine and if used for racing/sprinting then focus is placed on cooling, lubrication (eg proper oil cooler) and block/drive chain stability (eg engine stabilitybraces) issues before expensive and complex engine upgrades.

Welcome to the forum. I have also spent a lot of time reading the ongoing threads by KC3, S130 and F4UST - all really good stuff. As for my opinion - apart from a Longlife exhaust, I don't do mods and strive for originality. My suggestion - paint it red!

Steve

Thank you for the detailed responses. I apologise if my original question was vague. My impression of an unmodified B is that it has good handling and it’s comfortable. But had there been things Fiat could have improved on but never, for example I remember reading one review that mentioned the brakes started to fade, if this was down to poor design or the reviewer had hammered it into the ground I don’t know, so was a brake upgrade worthwhile? I have not really had the chance to drive the car to its limits so I wasn't in a position to judge.

What other things had the aftermarket produced that was worth considering? My basic requirements were for an everyday useable vehicle and that was capable of touring the continent for holidays. From this standpoint I set my questions. I have spent many hours going through the various B threads so I wanted distilled replies in relation to various mods and tweaks that members have undertaken, their experiences following these upgrades, enhancements and then cherry pick those that suited me. So the Sparco strut brace, replacing the air filter to a cold air intake system, the replacement springs for lowering the B were not new to me, it was the efficacy of these changes that interested me. Though I did not want to narrow it down to just my own current ideas as there may have been suggestions I had not considered that I could also adopt at some point.

I noticed recently on a Porsche Boxter that the hood around the windows has like a plastic overlay which comes down over the window, keeping that area around the window nice and snug and probably preventing the hood from ripping at that point of stress like it does on the B.

My hood is ok (ish) but the fabric has ripped at this point and the rubbers on both sides doesn't fit properly so for me a worthwhile mod would be to this element of the soft top.

I wonder if it could be done?
Stu

Hiya Stum,

A few years back I was looking at a few convertible hoods to see how they fitted but just to try and eliminate the annoying rain or water from windshield sprayjets coming in when hood down driving.

I had a new mohair hood fitted back in 2008 from http://www.cemoore.co.uk/fiat.php It was well fitted and I've never had any problems with any water getting in when closed although was getting some wind noise from the back corners due to the window guides snapping. Recently due to me stripping the vehicle for new paintwork, I fitted (Henks- Barchetta parts) toughened new window guides and have now eliminated that also. The Barchetta has full adjustment on the door glass to set it right so that no water or wind noise gets in.

I have an idea to try some various rubbers around the front glass that have some recess or a groove/channel that would allow any of this water to run up and over when the hood is down. I feel this would also be a great modification for the B and once I have it beat I,ll post my idea.

Upgrading my Barchetta

Hi everyone. I just became a member and hav
E owned my Barchetta for little bit more then a year. Great car

Hi thought that a should give my Barchetta some upgrading next year.

Is it worth the money for this parts

Low spring
Strut brace

Does this get my Barchetta better handling on the road

Thanks

Re: Upgrading my Barchetta

The Barchetta is a stiffened Punto chassis.

The Punto chassis was pretty good even before it had to be structurally upgraded for the Barchetta. I've had a Punto GT and have a Barchetta.

The Barchetta with that stiffer chassis and lack of "up top weight" (roof & windows/glass) is very very good.

With this in mind for fast and challenging road use a strut braces are not going to offer much handling improvement. Having said this one often unmentioned bonus of strut braces is that they help distribute loadings across both sides of the car, thus reducing long term stress weakness/fatigue.

If you do many track days, or continually push you car's handling and loading then whilst you may not notice a difference in handling due to the braces you will be doing the chassis a long term favour. If you only do a handful of track days and are not continually otherwise loading the chassis then the braces are not really required other than for show looks.

Lower springs?

This is simple. The lower the centre of gravity of any car above road contact surface the better the handling and dynamics will be (within reason). The 'B' with no top weight (glass & roof) is already has a much lower COG than a Punto HGT. JUst one reason why the stock 'B' handling is so good.

Fitting lower springs to the 'B' will improve handling (subject to tyres & spring/shock compliance).

The problem with going lower is overall ground clearance. You have to asses your expected driving terrain before lowering and then by how much/little you can safely lower by. Speed humps, kerbs (when parking) etc. will dictate the limits. Between the limits you have to consider your driving pleasure. e.g. are you continually worrying that normal road ruts and obstacles may damage your 'B' ????

Summary
-----------
1) strut braces only if you are a serious and perpetually chassis loading driver, or, like how they look

2) lower springs, thus lower centre of gravity, is always helpful but may come at a driveability/pleasure cost depending on how low one goes.

I want a remote boot (trunk) opener. Ideas?

DaveHolmes said:

I want a remote boot (trunk) opener. Ideas?

Click to expand...

Nice idea but may be a little difficult to achieve. I say this because the amount of pull required on the cable release required (even with a very well lubed lock) is quite strong and finding a solenoid with enough grunt to do this will be difficult. I thick only some form of motorised and geared mechanism will suitable.

One thing I keep on meaning to do in this area is fit a second cable release because as far as I can tell if the existing cable release breaks then there is now way/access to release the boot as this area is totally sealed. Only way in would probably be by removing the petrol tank and cutting an access hole through to the boot.

I have seen some fantastic mods on this forum. I have found that what can be achieved depends on time and money. I use my car daily so I very rarely get to take it off the road for any length of time. I have slowly made modifications over the 7 years I've had mine so far.

The stainless exhaust is one of the first I would recommend. I am pretty sure I noticed a small performance increase and the look and sound is worth it alone.

My list completed includes:

• Replacement mohair hood
• Various interior trim from limited edition Barchetta and leather seats
• Drilled and grooved brake discs (front and rear) - looks good
• Rear subwoofer speaker and lining behind seats
• Stereo and replacement of all speakers
• Painted brake calipers
• Painted engine cover
• Replacement exhaust heat manifold (Henk)
• Strut brace in engine bay (looks cool if nothing else)

I don't want to do much more but would love to respray one day (probably not going to happen). I haven't felt the need to worry about engine perfomance. So far it has run like a dream. I would consider upgrading brakes and have read that the slightly larger calipers from the Brava will fit.