Hi all
I've been on the 500 forum for awhile (we own a 500S 1.4 and a 500 1.2 Pop) and I'm very active on alfaowner (I have a 916 Spider 3.0 too)

My reason for this thread is the following. My girlfriend and I are planning to do the Put Foot Rally www.putfootrally.com next year. Basically this is a tour of 6 African countries. It starts in Cape Town and then routes through Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique. It'll be 8000km in 18 days. The point of the rally is to do it in any old weird or interesting car. Folks have done it in everything from Datsun 120Y's, Mk1 VW Golf's, Suzuki Super Carry van's to V8 Range Rover's and modern VW camper vans.

We'd like to do it in a Fiat Uno. Preferably an early 3 door Mk2 with the 1100cc engine. They can be picked up in South Africa for about 30 000ZAR (about 1500 Pound)

My question is what are the common faults and things to look out for on an old Uno? Rust isn't an issue in Johannesburg so it's mainly the mechanicals that I'll need to look out for.

We've got a trusted indie in Johannesburg that can do the work on the car but I'll need to source the car myself early next year. We'll get it properly serviced before the rally (pads and discs, cambelt, fan belt, shocks, new tyres etc) and we'll carry basic spares and a toolkit.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Rear suspension top mounts, are a good one as they can go. Especially if your travelling on rough roads!!

Not sure what injection systems, they use on the South African spec Unos. But if its the Bosch system, check the car doesn't run poorly an cut out at idle. As my 1993 1.1 I.e Uno had that, which was caused by the stepper motor on the throttle body. If it's a cable operated clutch, a spare clutch cable is a good call ? Also the vacuum unit, on top of the distributor is another good spare part. Which can also cause poor running and stalling, hope that helps. Incidently, the first car I travelled in as a baby was a Datsun 120Y!! Good luck with the rally, sounds an amazing adventure.