I'm at 162k miles...

Keep it on topic, it will make it easier to find what you need.
spiderbit
Posts: 17
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2017 12:10 pm
Your car is a: 1981 Fiat 124 Spider

I'm at 162k miles...

Postby spiderbit » Fri Sep 01, 2017 2:09 pm

And I can tell I'm losing a bit of horsepower. I'm not burning any oil. My question for the more experienced members of this board is when should I consider an engine rebuild or replacement? What is s typical engine life for a well maintained engine? And if I do rebuild, should I expect a nice improvement in power? Also if I do rebuild, what other components should I plan on replacing? I'm just to the point where I'm wondering how proactive to be. One more thing, when I first purchased this car there were new $2000 replacement engines for sale all over the Internet. I don't see them anymore do they still exist? Ideas on what I should expect to pay for a quality rebuild?

User avatar
seabeelt
Patron 2019
Patron 2019
Posts: 1612
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2008 4:22 pm
Your car is a: Fiat Spider - 1971 BS1
Location: Tiverton, RI

Re: I'm at 162k miles...

Postby seabeelt » Tue Sep 05, 2017 11:45 am

Short answer is that it depends on what is actually causing your loss in hp/performance. Could be a lot of things not necessarily related to having your engine rebuilt or replaced. Rebuild or replace costs can vary again depending on what's wrong/worn out and so forth. If you are looking for increased performance over what you had, well there are many many threads here related to that. All adding $$ to your rebuild. Carbs, electronic ignition, cams, cam wheels, pulleys, flywheels, pistons, valves, springs, exhaust and so on. Just depends on what you are looking for and what your budget can handle.
Michael and Deborah Williamson
1971 Spider -Tropie’ - w screaming IDFs
1971 Spider - Vesper -scrapped
1979 Spider - Seraphina - our son's car now sold
1972 Spider - Tortellini- our son's current

GeorgeT
Posts: 379
Joined: Thu Feb 16, 2012 12:41 pm
Your car is a: 1982 Fiat 124 Spider

Re: I'm at 162k miles...

Postby GeorgeT » Wed Sep 06, 2017 9:14 am

Has the engine ever been overhauled? These engines usually have worn out rings between 80,000 and 120,000 miles and need to be rebuilt. The cylinder walls wear straight unless there is a serious problem with the crank bearings and often only require honing and not boring. They are long lasting if properly maintained and the timing belt doesn't break.


Return to “Engine and Tuning”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 17 guests