Tim4tom1c said:

Well im 17 and this apprenticeship will bw coming in very soon, idk houely wage but ik ill be making £145 (minimum) a week... looking at it now 7k a year will definitely not be enough to build it anytime soon, but luckily this is meant to be a very long term project so itll after 3/4 years it could get somewhere good if i do extra jobs n **** too lol

Click to expand...

17!! My coupe is 22 years old All I can say is you have a very long way to go, it will indeed be a learning curve, but I do wish you the best and good luck on your project. I’ve known well up to date Coupe owners having a project on the go for several years. Not an easy car to work on, even changing the engine oil and filter is a lengthy affair.

jimboy said:

17!! My coupe is 22 years old All I can say is you have a very long way to go, it will indeed be a learning curve, but I do wish you the best and good luck on your project. I’ve known well up to date Coupe owners having a project on the go for several years. Not an easy car to work on, even changing the engine oil and filter is a lengthy affair.

Click to expand...

Thank you ill keep the project up to date on here

So an alternative view.

I bought new a 20V NA Coupe after having driven both NA and Turbo versions.

I my opinion the NA is the more refined, smoother and better low end pickup (no turbo lag).

Now the Turbo Coupe was well credited with probably the best low down performance turbo of its day however still not as good as the NA.

The turning circle of the turbo model is also rubbish. We go to the Italian Dolomites every summer (bar eye surgery year and covid) and those tight hairpin ends, poor turning circle, no low pickup later followed by "boost" into the opposing wall does not make for pleasant driving.

As the OP can not afford a turbo model outright and is looking for a project then I suggest fitting an electric blower to the NA model. I started a project like this on my Uno SX but gave up when I stopped motorsport (sprinting and track days).

The maths for the project is fairly straight forward (5 pots, 7K rpm, etc) and a modest 0.5 to 1 bar is possible and certainly won't cause engine issue.

s130 said:

So an alternative view.

I bought new a 20V NA Coupe after having driven both NA and Turbo versions.

I my opinion the NA is the more refined, smoother and better low end pickup (no turbo lag).

Now the Turbo Coupe was well credited with probably the best low down performance turbo of its day however still not as good as the NA.

The turning circle of the turbo model is also rubbish. We go to the Italian Dolomites every summer (bar eye surgery year and covid) and those tight hairpin ends, poor turning circle, no low pickup later followed by "boost" into the opposing wall does not make for pleasant driving.

As the OP can not afford a turbo model outright and is looking for a project then I suggest fitting an electric blower to the NA model. I started a project like this on my Uno SX but gave up when I stopped motorsport (sprinting and track days).

The maths for the project is fairly straight forward (5 pots, 7K rpm, etc) and a modest 0.5 to 1 bar is possible and certainly won't cause engine issue.

Click to expand...

All Us Coupe owners are well aware of the pitfalls on owning one, or should be . but when you get behind the wheel you just forget and land with a big smile, however that’s by the by. The OP is just 17 and if he really does come out the other side with what he wants, getting insurance will be very difficult to say the least for starters The goal here is 500 BHP, highly modified to achieve this would be a fair comment.

As I said earlier, there are some well knowledgeable Coupe owners that have had similar projects and eventually get there, but usually years later with empty pockets. Another saved Coupe is always a good thing in my book. Time will tell.

jimboy said:

All Us Coupe owners are well aware of the pitfalls on owning one, or should be . but when you get behind the wheel you just forget and land with a big smile, however that’s by the by.

Click to expand...

Same for the 130TC

jimboy said:

Coupe owners that have had similar projects and eventually get there, but usually years later with empty pockets. Another saved Coupe is always a good thing in my book. Time will tell.

Click to expand...

Agreed. I'm very much into keeping cars I love "standard" because I keep them for a long time and going non standard with porting, custom/different valves, valves seat profiles, skim cam carriers to use different cam shafts, etc. in a NA engine is not only expensive but difficult if not almost impossible to put it all back as it was.

The beauty of an electric blower, or even a ram air is that everything except the intake can be kept standard. For a young guy this would make a nice project that can be designed and documented for any future employer. As for electric/computer controls then these days we have Arduino and R-Pi kits with all the functions one would need make a good system.

If the Digiplex unit in our 130TC ever goes bang (the 130TC digiplex is unique and not common with other more widely used ones in other Fiat models) then I'll look at repairing it. If that is not possible then I would source a bog standard one just to keep the car running while I work on an Arduino replacement.

I love these older cars as DIY electric projects and repairs are so much easier than these modern 10, 15, 20+ computers to drive everything right down to the back scratcher which is something you don't need in a 130TC as the car does it all

To the OP.

Whichever Coupe you buy, properly look over it. There is a lot of duds out there pretending to good Coupes. Take in what Jimboy has said as I would of said the same. Also to plug another forum, your knowledge base will be far improved by visiting https://www.fiatcoupeclub.org/forum where I and Jim linger from time to time.