General Just bought my 1st FIAT

[Darman]

Hey all, I just bought my first FIAT ever.. i am excited it's a 1998 Barchetta.. ónly 52,000Kms. price was US$1300 (I'm told its a v.fair price)

She is silver with burgundy roof (new), a black cloth interior, it has light gray stitching on the seat.. and the silver body colour extends to the trims on the interior as all Barchetta's have. There are a few issues with her...
1. miss firing and low rmps when idling
2. seems to be some oil leak around the head could be the gasket needs replacing.
3. center console is black and not the same colour of the body, is this normal?
4. it has the original steel wheels which i think need to be upgraded, does any one have tips on the best wheels style for the barchetta?
5. the side indicators are missing, are the original indicators clear or orange, round or rectangular?
6. can anyone give me any advice what to look out for, what are typically the issues with the barchetta?

I have a good mechanic who is going to go over the car with me.. he is from India and has lots of experience with fiats so currently I bough it Aug 31st and delivered the car Sept 2nd to his workshop to begin the overview.

I am looking forward to get her back pristine and ready for weekend fun drives and just in time for the deserts winter weather... I live in Dubai so winters are basically our summers... 20-25C to enjoy outdoor weather and obviously sweet convertibles...

Thx for reading please feel free to comment i will be an active member..

Pics soon to follow..

Cheers

 

[F4usT]

welcome to forum... so this car in Dubai is more rare than Ferrari or Lamborghini there

4. OZ Superturismo 205/40 - 17...
5. they are round and orange, i repaint mine to black... but i'm looking for some other desing
6. main issue is diesel sound when variator starts to die, i changed petrol pump... and it could leak around windows when rain, maybe new seals will do a job or just adjusting windows. there are threads around here about this...

wheels


indicators

there are updates like speaker box behind seats, rollbars, hard top, windblock, lugage rack...

 

[bollie69]

The leak could be the crankshaft K ring. Side indicators are the one posted but in orange. And yes the center console pre 2000 are black.

 

[Darman]

Hey thank you that info will come in handy... wow really appreciate the warm welcome

 

[Darman]

You bet ... a Fiat is generally a rare vehicle in Dubai.. especially barchetta... there are far more Porches, farraris, Lambos, Masaratti, bentley GTs than FIATS.. its a head turner here..

Appreciate the tips

 

[desert rat]

Hi Darman.

Sorry for my late reply, just back from vacation.... .
Good to see another B owner in the middle east.

Al Gandi was (or maybe still is) the Fiat dealer in Dubai. you may be able to get the indicators from them. Failing that there are 1 or 2 B's in the scrap yards over there or you could contact Henk at www.barchettaparts.com he has posted several items over to me in Bahrain.

Other problems to watch out for.... keep a close eye on your coolant temp guage... mine had a tendancy to overheat in the summer !! was mostly caused by a bad air con fan resistor but I still get nervous when sat in mid day traffic...

Would recomend downloading a copy of the service manual (available on this site or drop me a pm and I will be happy to send it over).

Also lots of usefull information on this site.....

 

[Nancy1340]

Hey all, I just bought my first FIAT ever.. price was US$1300 (I'm told its a v.fair price)

Please tell me you meant $13,000 for your Fiat. I'm going to cry if it was $1,300. I saw one in Italy the first year they came out, or near the first year. It was at a dealership. I went in and asked them if I could just set in it for a few minutes. We don't have new Fiats here in the US anymore.

My little 1980 Spider will have to do until they come back to the US.

 

[F4usT]

1300$ i paid mine '96 about 5 years ago for 6000$ and i live near Italy.

habba, habba, habba

 

[Darman]

Sorry to disappoint , but you did read it correctly.. US$1300.

You have to remember where I live, in Dubai, so first of all there are not a lot of old cars.. secondly Fiat is not well known and doesn't hold value, in general small cars and especially convertible don't hold their value(its very hot here), plus fiat is under rated here and there is very little demand for them. Thirdly everyone buys new cars (even second hand cars are like new 2005 and up) so late model cars (2004 and older) are cheapo cause no one whats them... usually they are sold off to poorer ME countries, the Affricas or the CIS market, so it's hard to find old cars.

This car is in v. good running order, all electrics works, A/C cools, mechanics are sound, transmission and clutch are superb, leather steering wheel and gear shift are excellent no wear and tears, roof is new and I was able to drive it away from the sellers house. remember there is only 52,000KMs on the car.

After reading and educating myself about the Fiat B (especially on this forum) and doing some research I decided to do some preventative maintenance and get it in pristine running condition for the lovely cool weather approaching to have peace of mind driving. with the money i saved on the purchase price I fugured I can afford to spend a bit on the restoration and refurbishment.

1. To reduce the risk of overheating (being a hot country) I removed the radiator and did a full repair, replacement of the copper coils and replaced with aluminum (in a hot desert there is always and in the air so the radiator can have deposit of sand) the cooling system in functioning well and the AC is cooling nicely. However I plan to source a new radiator as soon as possible to replace the refurbished one (any assistance to get a radiator will be appreciated)

OTHER STUFF I DID
2. replaced some of the hoses and tie rings as they tend to dry out
3. minor adjustment the clutch cable
4. replaced the alternator bearing
5. dismantled the fans and rebuilt to remove any grime, build up and obstructions
6. replaced the spark plugs and spark plug cables
7. replaced the timing belt and bearings as a preventative measure since in hot countries it can dry out and become cracked, you do not want to be stuck in the middle of the desert with a broken timing belt.

SOME COSMETICS
8. respray of the canopy cover (grigio steel)
9. engine cover painted in high gloss black
10. new side indicators
11. new 3way speakers, and 8"sub woofer (it came with a new Kenwood deck, and i have the original Fiat tape deck, plus the two tweeters are good)

there are some cosmetics to be finished and a thorough cleaning as there is lots of dust build up due to the cliamate here in Dubai, so she needs a real good one.

Overall thats all she needed, everything else is fine. total cost around US$350 (excluding a new radiator that i dont know how much yet, depends where i source it but the fiat dealer wants $400!!)

I am also trying to sources some alloys...

 

[afroking]

Any pictures?

 

[Darman]

Pictures on the way.... thx for the interest...

 

[Darman]

Please tell me you meant $13,000 for your Fiat. I'm going to cry if it was $1,300. I saw one in Italy the first year they came out, or near the first year. It was at a dealership. I went in and asked them if I could just set in it for a few minutes. We don't have new Fiats here in the US anymore.

My little 1980 Spider will have to do until they come back to the US.

Its sad that fiat stopped importing to the US.. I remember when i was in high school in cali (1985) how much i loved fiats.. now finally i get to put my hands on my own, I'm thrilled with my purchase of the B.. gonna post some pics soon...

 

[Darman]

Al Gandi was (or maybe still is) the Fiat dealer in Dubai. you may be able to get the indicators from them. Failing that there are 1 or 2 B's in the scrap yards over there or you could contact Henk at www.barchettaparts.com he has posted several items over to me in Bahrain.


Also lots of usefull information on this site.....

Hey Thankd Desert Rat... I ordered some stuff to see how easy it is to get them into Dubai.. lucky for me im in the free zone.. so no duty

 

[Darman]

at the work shop

 

[bollie69]

photo doesn't work. Do you have other pics of the car with the black wheels?