Hi to all, just in process of purchasing 130 coupe. Car not perfect, generally solid, few electrical issues.

Questions -
1) I intend to drive regularly so want to fit door mirrors any suggestions re style type etc? Would like to keep in period and would want chrome
2) Interior a bit rough in places - seats worn) does anyone know of a good upholsterer or of a reasnable interior for sale? Currently beige, but would prefer to change to the russet / orange
3) Are records available to tell when the car was manufactured from the chassis number (this could have tax and insurance implications that could save a few quid)?

Many thanks

Steve

wellcome to ownership of a 130 coupe,
which coupe did you buy?
door mirrors vitatone, on ebay sometimes,
interior upholstery, rarely for sale as one lot, would have to reupholster,
records are available,fiat Italy hold them, club members can contact the club`s valuer/fiat historian,
for help with what year the car was built, non members will be charged for this service,
Insurance won`t be cheaper for any year, may depend on drivers motoring record,
hope this helps,
stiggy.

Membership Number: yes

Hi Stiggy,

Thanks for that, car is coming from Justin Banks - should be in my drive by next weekend - is it known? Have seen photo record of body rebuild late 80s / early 90s. Car is solid, have been all over and underneath. Drove very well. Interior is biggest let down with both front seats worn through on shoulders.

Car registered 1978, but assume built earlier. My insurance (RH Specialist) split into three age groups, but doubt it will fall into the over 40 group.

Membership will happen shortly, am in enough trouble for buying the car

Are you the man to speak to about these cars and if so can we have a chat when it arrives?

Steve

Hi steve,
I bought some parts from the original owner he advertised the car via this club 2-3 years ago and he told me he sold it to martin buckley who passed it on to a fella stiggy knows.He did various work and got the car on the road and moted taxed etc,then justin banks had it up for sale last year for 4k but the bodywork did need a respray .Have a look on past ebay listings there was a full russet coupe interior inc door cards in great condition for around £300 only a couple of months ago
regards
julian

Membership Number: yes

Steve

Hi Stiggy,

Thanks for that, car is coming from Justin Banks - should be in my drive by next weekend - is it known? Have seen photo record of body rebuild late 80s / early 90s. Car is solid, have been all over and underneath. Drove very well. Interior is biggest let down with both front seats worn through on shoulders.

Car registered 1978, but assume built earlier. My insurance (RH Specialist) split into three age groups, but doubt it will fall into the over 40 group.

Membership will happen shortly, am in enough trouble for buying the car

Are you the man to speak to about these cars and if so can we have a chat when it arrives?

Steve

Membership Number: yes

hi Steve i run the Fiat 130 cars of the world page on facebook with
the stig/130 please do add me as a friend then you can go on my other pages and see every one of my photos that i post on there regards Andrew https://www.facebook.com/groups/1470889053137071/ we now have 164 members Julian please JOIN US

jagnuts

hi Steve i run the Fiat 130 cars of the world page on facebook with

the stig/130 please do add me as a friend then you can go on my other pages and see every one of my photos that i post on there regards Andrew https://www.facebook.com/groups/1470889053137071/ we now have 164 members Julian please JOIN US

Membership Number: yes

Thanks Andrew for the invite re facebook sure email me and I will send you some pictures for that no problem but as stiggy said i don't use that site.

Membership Number: yes

Steve ,as I said I did talk to the original owner you have purchased a very nice 130 coupe !

thank you so much juilan that would be lovely thanks i'll get Brian to e mail you with my details we now have 169 members on my page regards Andrew https://www.facebook.com/groups/1470889053137071/

Well I am now the owner of XLM 111 S collected last thursday. Interesting 80mile drive home, started well, car looked very smart, steering lovely, engine pulls strongly, seat very comfy. However, had noted advisory on MOT that "front doughnut on prop cracked, but secure" and as speed goes past 55 a vibration set in that got steadily worse, could be prop, could be out of balance wheels. Was such that sunvisors dropped and satnav fell off screen As time went on and darkness took hold had to stop to see if lights were on - yes but strength of a small candle (is this normal?) also no interior lighting bar speedo, water temp & fuel gauges. What should light up besides dials if anything? No heater. I did get home so not too bad. Friday 60mile drive in daylight, vibration still there but not so bad saw 70mph. Windscreen washer not working, wipers just manage to scrape across screen on fast setting. Horn and cigarette lighter work so can charge my phone and so let people know I am here in emergencies!!

Took car for overnight stay on monday about 40 miles. Took wifewho conceeded quite comfy still cant see what I see, likens it to a Ford Cortina. Oh dear it rained on Monday night, tuesday morning passenger footwell carpet sodden - still drying out as I type, wife very sympathetic ha ha!! Think its coming in round either front screen seal, passenger door window or passenger door seal.

So can I get spare parts like seals, electrical components and prop shaft mounts? Is there a known source - Mr Stig, would love to have chat.

Looking forward to many years of happy motoring

Steve

hi steve,
1, take the wheels for balancing, sounds about right for 55mph,
2,lights, earth conection, or the silver on the lamps dull,
3,A BLOODY CORTINA!!!
4,lights should be lit up on the console,gear shift, clock,
5, washer not working? lights dim? wipers slow? mot test suspect? washers would be a fail!
6, water leaking in....... would have to check when raining, then take action, have a look under the dash at the fresh air vent, might be coming in there!
7.some say he`s mad! and that he keeps 130 parts under his settee,all we know he has secret lock-ups!
and is THE STIG, fone no. in parliamo magazine, after 7 pm
8,some suppliers of different parts out there, Ebay sometimes,
9,glad you like the 130 coupe, lovely to drive (when right Ahem!)
best incident i liked in Llandudno, north wales, was a taxi stopped on a one way street, suddenly, i was 20 ft behind, in dark glasses, the people got out, then, the man getting out the back took one look at my couple (in black!) took a fright, waving his hand and saying "sorry! sorry! so i gave a mafia wave, he told the taxi driver to go with a look of horror on his face!......nice

Membership Number: yes

oh dear i am sorry for you Steve . if you look on my friends page your see a link to 130 part suppliers http://fiat130.nl/ricambi-parts/ its very good page by Peter van Wijk , Peter does lovely job of of the page http://fiat130.nl/ ., as to water coming in YOUR car have look at the chrome air vents where the wipers are if you can unscrew the vents to look in at the bulkhead you may find rust holes in there and that the water is coming in and dripping in on to fuses and landing on carpets my wife says to me that my 130 looks like a big shoebox haha Steve you can always ask for parts on my 130 page
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1470889053137071/ Regards Andrew [8-)

have a look here for Rubber Drive Unit http://www.superformance.co.uk/fiat/driveshaft.html

Hi Steve, Congratulations. I bought a 130 coupe about 15 months ago and had some of the problems you have. As Stiggy says the vibration at 55 mph sounds about right. I finally found someone who could actually balance wheels properly and most of the problems went away. I also replaced the rear half axle uni joints. There is nil vibration now.

As you have found out the lighting is rubbish unless it is pitch black. The switch indicators on the centre console are lit by fibre optic wires which take their pick up from a light box which is buried under the centre console near the cigarette lighter/ashtray. From here the fibre optic wires (there are six from memory, 3 each side) run under the centre console to the switch panel in front of the T-Bar shift. When I stripped mine down I found some of these wires had fallen off at the back of the switch panel and were pointing down away from the correct position. After reconnecting them and checking the bulb in the light box worked they work a lot better although it is still pretty poor.

There are 15 light bulbs in the main instrument panel...obviously they needed more...(some of your bulbs could be blown)

Not sure why your heater doesn't work but could hazard a guess that the valve is broken. These are available sometimes on ebay. To replace mine I stripped the entire dash and centre console down...probably easier ways to do it but I also reconditioned the heater and AC unit at the same time.

I also fixed the washer for the wipers. Interestingly at the same spot as where I have rust just below the windscreen is where the washer water drains down from the windscreen...(be careful what detergent you put in the washer, some of the older types were caustic...I know of one popular one which we no longer use to treat our aircraft windscreens as it was found to be corrosive...it was also used in motor vehicle applications)

As Stig says check all wires are earthed properly. When I stripped the dash/console down I found a loop wire that went nowhere, connected to nothing and as it was in the road I cut the loop...about two months later when I finally put it all back together the only thing that didn't work was the windscreen wipers...somewhere in the back of my mind I remembered about the wire I had cut, yep you guessed it, after re-connecting the wire that went nowhere and connected to nothing the wipers worked once again. (probably shows my lack of knowledge about electrics)

My wife was also less than impressed with the car but soon changed her mind as often when we take the car for a run people come over and ask about it. Some want to know what it is, others want to tell you about the time they owned a Fiat at some point in time, others want tell you it looks fantastic and that they haven't seen one since way back when and some take photos'. So it gets to be a bit of a talking point and can be very social at times.

Good to hear you're in it for the long haul...the way I look at it is I am it's keeper until I pass it on to whoever owns it next. I have traced all the owners (except for the original purchaser) and talked to them all. Best advice I can give is to be very careful who you let work on the vehicle. Not all mechanics are the same...I found out that the hard (expensive) way early in my ownership of this car...if you have the time and any ability at all I suggest you do as much work on the car yourself as possible. Not only will you get the satisfaction of having done the work yourself but it will save you money and in my opinion the job will be done right as you will also attend to the small things like rust prevention, putting the right screws back in place etc. I think you are fortunate in the UK as it seems that there are people who are still aware about the requirements for this car and how to work on/repair it. Here in Australia it is almost extinct.

The internet is your friend when it comes to spare parts.

I get a lot of enjoyment and satisfaction out of working on the car and although I have a long way to go I am starting to see the benefits.

Big thanks to all the comments I have received and information re parts and sources. Now all I need is time (which is sadly lacking at the moment) to work trhrough the issues. Probably wont do much till the summer, but have cleared all drain holes under vents and after fidling with all connections windscreen washers now work, though wipers still only operate on one speed.

On a slightly different topic has anyone seen the article in June's Classic Cars - Grand Tourers. 130 Coupe gets a mention not sure I completley agree with the comments, but all mentions can only benefit car. Am fortunate to have owned half of the cars involved and would still love to get hold of / drive a Citroen SM.

Am and have been member Jensen owners club for last 8years and they are very much into promoting their cars and trying to raise as much interest as possible.

Finally I note on a past topic values of the cars were mentioned with many of the comments about 130s being overpriced. Again the JOC had a whole host of discussions on this subject with the conclusion being that we can't expect the price of our cars to rise if all we do is make negative comments about those that have stuck there necks out. Good luck to them if they can acheive a high price as it can only rub off on the rest of us. On saying that I don't want the cars to move out of reach of ordinary people. I had to sell my Interceptor lat year to help fund the build of my house, and in 12 months the price for an equivalent raoe just out of reach - even more out of reach since I bought the Fiat!!

Sending off my club membership forms today

Steve