First time buyer

[adapted124]

Hi there,
I reside in the uk and am a keen spider lover. I had Fiat twin cams years ago (131 Mirafiori sport(brava) & strada's) but am disabled now due to an injury. I really hope to (in the near future) buy a Spider but i needed some advice.
There is a firm here called dtr sports cars that restore them, can be up to £30,000 or $48,000 approx (i think) depending on spec (they also do rhd conversions using coupe parts). But then i have seen mint low mileage volumex's going for that in Germany and other places in europe. I know volumex's are very desirable here (only below the abarth but that's a little too hardcore for me!). I am wondering if the supercharged option may be more maintenance in the long run and better to go for a nice 1800 or something like that, or maybe a 2000 minus the emission strangulation - no offence! Manual transmission (with auto clutch fitted + hand controls as i'm not keen on an auto box).
Sorry for such a long script being an introduction, but thought i'd get off my chest

[narfire]

Hi there and weclome. Hope you can find a Spider over there. Where abouts in the UK do you hang the hat?
Several people on this forum live there. Several are on the continent as well.
A normally aspirated 2L FI car has good power, easy to maintain. Plenty of options if you want to tune up the handling, swap wheels/tires. If you want a bit more power, the cams, headers and other bits and pieces are available as well. I have found once the FI is sorted, it remains relatively issue free.
Chris

[adapted124]

Thanks for your reply and info Chris, I hope i can find one too!
I live in Oxfordshire, near Oxford.
To be honest i didn't really want to pay as much as that really anyway and have seen quite late 2L FI models lightly restored for around the £8,500, that would give me plenty of scope for a nice modded car, wheels, brakes, suspension etc (RHD done also).
That was another question, I was maybe thinking of a fast road tune. Guy Croft is a well known tuner here, looking around the 150 bhp mark using twin 45 webers or the like with the standard cams. What could i look to get using injection? It would probably be a lot less maintenance not needing carb balancing etc and i would be happy with say 125 or 130 bhp.
LHD's are a lot less money in the UK and hence less desirable unless a limited edition like the VX and abarth.
Regards, Jase

[narfire]

[.[/quote]

What could i look to get using injection?

quote="adapted124"]i would be happy with say 125 or 130 bhp

I think that would be easy to achieve and still keep the stock injection system. I have wanted to take my car to get dyno'd but to date hasn't happened yet. I have gone from stock to bolt on bits and pieces but the real wake up was with the head work and after market cams. I had my engine re-bored to 84.4 with Mahle pistons, lightened flywheel, headers, everything balanced, ported/matched head with Marks 274 FI cams, degreed in properly and that has really livened up the engine and is still fine when stuck in traffic. I currently am using the FI head but the 1800 head evidently will give a bit of a bump in the compression.
The one thing I do keep an eye on with the FI system are the fuel lines and conections. If they are not sound, the 35+psi will cause drips and the alternator and starter are right below the fuel rail.... nasty.
Good luck in your quest..... (it will be easier that the "holy grail" )
Chris

[adapted124]

Thanks again for the useful info Chris

I bet you are itching to get yours on the dyno to see what it's putting out after all that work, nice bit of kit by the sounds of it
Good that it still behaves in traffic too, one reason i don't wan't to go overboard, I still want something with a bit of grunt and usability for the street and with reasonable economy.
Interesting point on the fuel lines and possible leaks, something i didn't know of.

Hope your luck helps, cheers, it may be as late as this time next year before i own one but i'm sure it will be worth the wait. It's probably nearly twenty years since owning a fiat twin cam although the yearning for another has not subsided
Jase