Thanks for all the advice offered on purchasing a 500. I'm now the proud owner of this beauty.

Drives very well. Having been imported into the UK a few years ago and only having done about 370 miles in that time there are very few problems. I did a 40 mile drive into Sussex from London and it was great fun.

The only problems are the doors needing a good slam to close fully. Unless you continue the pressure when doing the shutting motion the door seems to bounce off before the mechanism can fully engage and it only half shuts. The other problem is the clutch being a bit sticky in 1st and reverse.. It only seems to be a problem when the engine is cold and makes it difficult to drive without lurching around at slow speeds.

Being in London and having no technical experience of these cars I'll probably drop it into Proietti for the clutch. Hopefully just needs something simple done.

I do plan on learning to do some maintenence myself so could take a look at the doors. Is this a common problem with 500 doors?

I had the same problem with my doors and it is the door seal that is causing it . You can either purchase seals with smaller profile or as I did cut into the rubber and remove some of the seal where it is tight .I did it where it wouldn't show so give it a try. The clutch problem could be the cable not lubricated properly especially if the vehicle has not being used much lately .

Also had similar with the seals
You can get a wide range of door seals and adjust them yourself. Search eBay for pinchweld seal and choose your size

Just need to be sure that the gap in the doors is uniform - it could be that a larger seal was put on because one section had a gap that needed it

In the UK, a very good source of door seals is:--"I & C Woolstenholmes Ltd"---other wise known as "Woolies". They will send you their free catalogue (www.woolies-trim.co.uk) and have a large range of door seals. However, when I was rebuilding my 500, I found that the proper 'factory spec' seals were the best. In London, your best bet is, as you already know, Proiettie--have a word with them re the problem; it might just be door catch alignment.

She's a looker !

Many congrats and years of enjoyment to come. All 500's need a name! So let us know what her's / his is.

Stef and the team at Proietti are great. I use them for servicing work and other items, see my recent posts re: exhaust and digital dash. All fitted by them.

Enjoy your new baby in rude health

Rob

It's a he - Mastino!

Is the name Valentina an intentional Italian pun?

Different name you've given him

No, Valentina is not intended as an Italian pun. Not sure, I'm following you on this one, can you inform me?


Val's original Italian number plate started with VT for Viterbo region. So we came up with Valentina as her name.



R

lazylobster said:

Different name you've given him

No, Valentina is not intended as an Italian pun. Not sure, I'm following you on this one, can you inform me?

Click to expand...

Maybe Bubins follows the drag scene?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentina_(drag_queen)

Hot sauce? Seems to describe a sporty little Fiat quite well!

Shhhh, I was trying to keep that quiet !

And no, this 'person' was not the inspiration for the name

However, "hot sauce" is pretty cool !

My girlfriend is italian and although she loves the green pointed out that the name Valentina is comprised of..

Va = he/she goes
Lentina = a little bit slowly

?