6 years is quite long for an original Fiat battery, the original one in my Panda only lasted until it was around 3 years old so for it to last 6 years it's done well. It's a similar thing with my Seicento, it had spent it's life doing short journeys around Norwich which is why it only had 22k when I brought it & when I started to use her everyday it started to have a problem with hot starting then after a while the issue disappeared & I thought maybe it's starting to get used to being used more regularly, after about 3 - 4 months the hot starting issue reappeared with a strong smell of fuel out the exhaust when it did start, I changed the temperature sensor that sends the signals to the ECU as I suspected it was giving false signals making the ECU think the car was colder than it actually was, sensor was about £7 off eBay for an Intermotor part & it solved it, I've had a few teething troubles along the way which was expected but she seems to be pretty near perfect & running really well now so I'm going to start focusing on the cosmetic bits, she has a new set of refurbed wheels going on very soon, the clutch is getting done in the spring, I'll probably do the linkages at the same time as it's a bit sloppy & I'm going to treat her to a brand new rear bumper & paint it myself as I cannot find one in the correct colour, also from memory the 100 series used to be a little prone to head gaskets so I'm thinking ahead & looking into fitting a analogue temperature gauge as she doesn't have one, just the "oh crap it's too late light"

which I'm not too sure I would trust that much

. I've also heard the old 903cc version of my engine fitted in Uno's, Panda's & possibly 127's had high compression heads whereas the 899 didn't & apparently the 899's run better with the proper mechanical tappets & rocker shaft off a 903 than the standard hydraulic ones on a 899 & it's supposedly a straight swap so that's something I'm possibly going to look into a bit more as I'm quite intrigued

& if that's the case it'll be 6 bhp increase which doesn't seem a lot but in a standard 899 Seicento that'll be more than 10% increase

which in a really small car like this with only 39 bhp from the factory it'll be a little noticeable.