Hello forum members,

My name is Brian, from Melbourne Australia. I recently purchased a white 1970 Fiat 500L Italian import for my wife's birthday. I began the search a couple of months ago and met a lovely couple who had undertaken a partial restoration of their 'Sophia'. A deal was struck and we finally took over ownership of Sophia. Our plan is to complete the restoration and apply a few personal touches and optimisations. Attached is a photo of Sophia on the tow truck on the way to the mechanic after some gearbox issues

Meanwhile while I'm developing my knowledge, I welcome any suggestions and recommendations on immediate upgrades that Fiat 500 classic owners typically perform to improve reliability and performance.

Thanks

Hi Brian
Welcome to the forum. I have found it very useful through my 500 ownership and there are a lot of friendly, helpful people here.

Browsing through posts you will see upgrades from 650 engine and gearboxes, alternators brakes and suspension but I would recommend you read Murphio's meanderings to see that a standard set up can take you many miles as an every day driver so no need to rush into modifications.

https://www.fiatforum.com/500-classic/422579-murphios-meanderings-25.html

Cheers
Geoff. Canberra Australia

1500500 said:

I would recommend you read Murphio's meanderings to see that a standard set up can take you many miles as an every day driver so no need to rush into modifications.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the thumbs-up Geoff.
Based on my experience and after more than 15,000 miles in two and a half years, I don't think that any of the possible upgrades are necessary to enable you to go on long journeys, with reliability, safety and within a reasonable time-scale.
After all, the essence of the car is that it is just the opposite of everything that we all have in our modern cars; we can choose to use them whenever we want disc-brakes, big engines and sophisticated suspension.
The only real change from original mechanical spec, that I have is the recently fitted alternator which i used to support the powerful spotlamps I fitted.
In fact, if you drive the car regularly then the more important and less obvious improvements that you can make to the car become self-evident. So a USB power-socket and hazard-lights are the other things I fitted.
I have a rebuilt 650 engine and box which has been sitting there for several months now because the originals work so well and feel so good.
My advice would be to drive the car a lot, don't accept any strange noises, oil-leaks or under-performance, repair everything quickly and thoroughly and then drive the car a lot more. Life is definitely too short to leave your 500 in the garage, even if you do have the best intentions to improve it.
I covered over 200 mles last Friday and again today. Tomorrow I will be doing at least a hundred and then I have two days at the end of the week where I will easily cover 300 miles to Orkney and back. All that on the original 499cc engine and non-synchro gearbox with drum brakes all round in the wildest, remotest and hilliest part of the UK.
Photo from today on the West Coast.
MAL_2263 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr

Afternoon Brian, welcome to the wonderful (but slightly mad) world of the Fiat 500. I think that you will be surprised as to how reliable the 500 can be. Before and after my wife and I got married (44 years ago) we initially lived in South London. Ann's parents lived in Edinburgh--400 miles away! We did 4-1/2 round trips to Edinburgh (the 1/2 was when we moved to Edinburgh to live---with ALL our worldly goods, and us, in the 500) in 18 months, and thought nothing of it! We just got in--and drove. It only (sort-of) let me down once, and that was with close to 100,000 MILES on the clock--and that hiccup was repaired at the side of the road and I completed the trip, albeit a bit late for supper!
The only 'mod' that I did on the car was to fit a 3-1/2litre ally sump--the engine ran a lot cooler with the extra oil, and the additional depth (and capacity) of the sump helped cool the oil. I must admit that in those days the lack of motorways helped. The road we used was the A1, which 40+ years ago had NOT been uprated to motorway standards, which meant a fair number of roundabouts which gave the wee-beastie a bit of a breather every now and again--now days the A1 is just a non-stop blast.
As Peter advised, finish her off, get her set up properly and USE HER!!

Hi Geoff,
Thanks for your reply and suggestions. Apologies for my late reply as I assumed I would be prompted by email. Yes, as it turns out I'm quite happy with the stock setup.

Hi Peter,
Apologies for the late reply. Beautiful photo. Thanks.

Welcome to the forum!

As everyone else pointed out, the 500 is pretty usable and reliable in it's stock form. In 13 years of driving 500's I almost never had any major issues with them! Actually, the most reliable car I have ever owned... and I did own a few!

Greetings from Italy!