Hi everyone ... I'm new to the forum and have searched endlessly for an answer to my question, but can't seem to find one.

I am based in the UK and take delivery of my first fiat 500 F this week!!

It's a very original little car and is an early F model, so shares many of the D parts, including all the breaking system, and has coil positioned on the left hand side of the engine bay, under the engine.

I live in a very hilly area with some major roads around me and therefore know I will need to do something to the engine (and possibly transmission) to make it more usable.

I have been endlessly researching options for the last 6 weeks, but everywhere I turn I get new/different advise ... so I thought why not confuse myself more by asking all of you the question.

As I see it, I have the following options, but each come with their own challenges and cost -

Option 1 - Buy a reconditioned 650cc engine and transmission from Poland - ricambifiat (com) - ~1500 Euros

Option 2 - Buy a new old stock 650cc engine and transmission from Poland - ricambifiat (com) - ~2000 Euros

Option 1 & 2 both come with 12 months warranty and are the cheapest option. The sellers are responsive and the site looks professional ... they also do not require me to return my current engine which I want to keep in case I want to revert in future

Option 3 - Buy a 650cc engine and transmission from UK dealer Ricambio (co uk) ~ £3000. Have to return current engine.

Option 4 - Buy parts to 'warm up' my current 499cc engine (larger valves in cylinder head, larger barrels/pistons 73.5mm (595cc), road race camshaft, sports air filter, bigger jet in the carburettor, Electronic Distributor, Coil & Lead) from Ricambio (co uk) and have them professionally fitted. Total cost expected to be ~ £2500-£3000. Get to keep the original engine block with the car, but no new transmission. Could get a transmission from Poland.

Option 5 - Buy an 650cc engine from 500ricambi (it) ~1700 Euros + postage and have to return engine. Transmission from Poland ~ 500 Euros

Option 6 - Wait for ricambifiat500 (com) to build me a 650cc engine and transmission (currently on holiday) - Toto (the owner) is renowned for building the engine and transmission used on Wheeler Dealers (UK TV program). Engine would be Polish - cost unknown but assumed to be < £2000

Ideally I wanted to keep spend under £2000, but the most important this is that I get a great car for the next 20 years!!!

Other options considered but dismissed were - Mrfiat (due to the exchange rate, it's too expensive right now) and ebay (no guarantees or comebacks)

There are 6 options there ... so, what would you do? Any of the above 6 options or something else?

thanks in advance
James

One question would be how handy are you with the car? They are pretty easy to work on, but to have work done on them is never that cheap. I just bought a 126 650 engine on eBay for £350 which the guy who sold it, who lives fairly close to me and seemed like a very nice guy said runs perfectly.

It might be an idea to keep an eye on eBay as it's a fair saving but then there are a few chancers on there

Flipyoung said:

One question would be how handy are you with the car? They are pretty easy to work on, but to have work done on them is never that cheap. I just bought a 126 650 engine on eBay for £350 which the guy who sold it, who lives fairly close to me and seemed like a very nice guy said runs perfectly.

It might be an idea to keep an eye on eBay as it's a fair saving but then there are a few chancers on there

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Hi Flipyoung

I am pretty happy to fit a new engine and transmission as a unit, but probably not to take the engine to pieces without professional assistance.

ebay is too much of a risk in my opinion ... I only have enough budget to get this right the once, so I don't want to 'take a punt' and be wrong.

IMO option 1 or 2.
U.K. Supplier has very high cost & provenance of parts is not revealed.
Build you own is for the fearless.
Get it on the road and enjoy the machine.

AndrewHarvey said:

IMO option 1 or 2.
U.K. Supplier has very high cost & provenance of parts is not revealed.
Build you own is for the fearless.
Get it on the road and enjoy the machine.

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Thanks Andrew - appreciate the reply ... what do you have in yours?

I agree with Andrew 1 or 2 is your best bet but you would need some sort agreement with seller regarding the 12 month guarantee and what happens if the engine goes seriously wrong in that time. Who would pay the shipping costs if it needs to be shipped to back to them for repairs or if something smaller breaks that can be removed from the car, how do they propose to fix say a faulty alternator. You will really need to check the T&C's on the guarantee regarding fair wear and tear etc...

UK suppliers are seriously over priced. To charge so much and want your old engine in exchange I wouldn't entertain them.

Tony

Wow - just got a quote back from an engine specialist who I was hoping would do option 4, the 'warm up' and it is coming in at £4500-£5000, less parts ...

What the hell are they doing to it?

I'm sure i would have a wonderful engine afterwards, but for that I could take a risk with 4 polish engines and hope one of them is solid

A 126 box that's been converted with an Italian kit to five speed

I agree Ebay is a risky route, I think the recommendations are good 1 or 2, rebuild racey engines are expensive but £5k that would really hurt! Its probably like the old air cooled porsche's, as the values of the cars go up garages think they can charge more for maintenence, never really understood that.

AndrewHarvey said:

A 126 box that's been converted with an Italian kit to five speed

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Nice ... who did you use to buy the parts for that, or did you buy it already built?

There is a Polish chap based in UK with loads of "new old stock" 650 power units. I'm sceptical but some on this forum seem to think they are good value.
He trades as 126club.
New old stock is an abused term IMO
Best Buy a unit that's been running recently or can be seen running. You get what you pay for.... A rebuilt gearbox will cost £300 in parts at a minimum - so a " rebuilt" box for £450 is too cheap

I built mine from a worn out cheapy 126 which was like my grandad......it had no teeth.
Bought 5 speed conversion for £350 from Italy and then bought a set of internals from "sunriserpht" on eBay

AndrewHarvey said:

There is a Polish chap based in UK with loads of "new old stock" 650 power units. I'm sceptical but some on this forum seem to think they are good value.
He trades as 126club.
New old stock is an abused term IMO
Best Buy a unit that's been running recently or can be seen running. You get what you pay for.... A rebuilt gearbox will cost £300 in parts at a minimum - so a " rebuilt" box for £450 is too cheap

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thanks Andrew ... can't find 126club as a seller online ... don't know whether he has packed up or is just not trading at the moment

FYI RicambiFiat.com is not the guy off wheeler dealers. It's Janusz, based in Wroclaw Poland and based on my personal experience a good guy/company to deal with.

I had him build a tweaked 660cc 32HP engine for me with a 9/39 synchromesh box too in May 2015. I don't know current prices, but you'd be in the region of €2000-3000 depending on spec of new 650 engine and whether you went for a new/rebuilt box.

He'll build anything for you engine or gearbox wise. For example, I went for a new old stock engine with electronic ignition, with uprated cam, valves etc. And Abarth spec ally oil pan and rocker cover along with a 9/39 final drive synchro box. But you could have a more powerful motor or a 5 speed box. Equally he'll do a recon base 650 and synchro gearbox to keep costs down.

He's easy to deal with, quick to reply to emails and it should take about 6-8 weeks from ordering to delivery.

I hope this helps.

Steve

One of the regular contributors on here was considering a purchase some months ago - I'm sure they will chime into this thread soon enough

I'm also in a slightly hilly part of the UK. And typically today, I drove the little 500 with the original engine and gearbox 250 miles around these "hills":
MAL_0112 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr

It's a nice engine to work on and mine simply had a rebore with new pistons and big end bearings. I did the rebuild myself and the total cost couldn't have been more than £300. So far I've had 12,000 miles out of it, hardly any of them tinkling around town.

Another option. http://www.ilmotore.de/shop/index.php/cat/c20_Complete-Engines.html

Should anyone be interested I have a complete 650 engine that was removed from a 126 before it had covered 8,000 miles as the owner fitted a complete tuned engine. I bought it when my car developed a problem as a reliable quick fix but ended up repairing my original engine. The engine cost me £450 and I would be just looking to break even on it

stevehg said:

FYI RicambiFiat.com is not the guy off wheeler dealers. It's Janusz, based in Wroclaw Poland and based on my personal experience a good guy/company to deal with.

I had him build a tweaked 660cc 32HP engine for me with a 9/39 synchromesh box too in May 2015. I don't know current prices, but you'd be in the region of €2000-3000 depending on spec of new 650 engine and whether you went for a new/rebuilt box.

He'll build anything for you engine or gearbox wise. For example, I went for a new old stock engine with electronic ignition, with uprated cam, valves etc. And Abarth spec ally oil pan and rocker cover along with a 9/39 final drive synchro box. But you could have a more powerful motor or a 5 speed box. Equally he'll do a recon base 650 and synchro gearbox to keep costs down.

He's easy to deal with, quick to reply to emails and it should take about 6-8 weeks from ordering to delivery.

I hope this helps.

Steve

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Hi Steve

I know the guy from ricambifiat is not the guy from Wheeler Dealers, but the guys from ricambifiat500 is

Great to get feedback that someone has had a good experience with ricambifiat though ... i think they are my front runners right now

thanks Steve

James

Luxe said:

Another option. http://www.ilmotore.de/shop/index.php/cat/c20_Complete-Engines.html

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wow - they are pretty high performance ones

thanks though