My 131 Abarth Stradale
Posted: June 27th, 2006, 1:21 pm
Thought that some of you might like to see my 131 Abarth Stradale.
It's a pretty standard car and well documented via the Fiat Motor Club GB. I imported it from Italy back in August 2004, and have not stopped spending out on it since then.
Some of jobs undertaken since my ownership -
1) New stainless steel exhaust system from the head to the tail pipe, including a 4 - 2 - 1 manifold - custom made!
2) New set of Pirellis
3) Re-covered headlining (job done twice as the first guy who did it was a crook!)
4) Fully reconditioned brakes
5) New custom made braided brake hoses
6) New drop links, front and rear
7) New anti-roll bar bushes - in fact all of the bushes on the suspension have been replaced with poly - most custom manufactured.
8) Refurbished diff
9) Old underseal (in some places over an inch thick) has been hacked off, the floor has been repaired where necessary, and new underseal applied.
10) New rear 'bearing carriers' - the same a Lancia Beta Monte Carlo - and ‚£165 per side, plus fitting!!
11) New timing belt and tensioner bearing
12) Alternator refurbished inc new regulator
You get the picture I'm sure.
Drives like a dream now, but needs the carb re-jetting. Still running the original single twin-choke 34 ADF as fitted in the factory (they were not fitted with twin carbs in standard Stradale version, regardless of what people try and tell me!).
The original interior has been replaced with one from a 1980 131 Racing, so looks the part but isn't totally correct. When I get some more money together I'll get the old seats re-trimmed as close as possible to original. (Phots still show the old original interior).
My Arbie is not a museum piece, and I regularly use it for driving to work. It does get used in the rain - not that I'm too keen to do so - but rain doesn't stop play! I did more miles bringing it back from Italy than the previous owner of 11 years had covered in five years.
Many (ignorant) people think it's a 131 Sport with wide arches - it isn't! It's one of the 406 homologation cars built by Fiat, Bertone and Abarth to give eligibility for the 131 model to rally in Group 4, and as such has a 16 valve head, disk brakes all round and fully independent suspension to name just three differences!
Oh, and one final thing - the colour is RED and not orange, OK?
thank you for now
Simon (Ryle)
It's a pretty standard car and well documented via the Fiat Motor Club GB. I imported it from Italy back in August 2004, and have not stopped spending out on it since then.
Some of jobs undertaken since my ownership -
1) New stainless steel exhaust system from the head to the tail pipe, including a 4 - 2 - 1 manifold - custom made!
2) New set of Pirellis
3) Re-covered headlining (job done twice as the first guy who did it was a crook!)
4) Fully reconditioned brakes
5) New custom made braided brake hoses
6) New drop links, front and rear
7) New anti-roll bar bushes - in fact all of the bushes on the suspension have been replaced with poly - most custom manufactured.
8) Refurbished diff
9) Old underseal (in some places over an inch thick) has been hacked off, the floor has been repaired where necessary, and new underseal applied.
10) New rear 'bearing carriers' - the same a Lancia Beta Monte Carlo - and ‚£165 per side, plus fitting!!
11) New timing belt and tensioner bearing
12) Alternator refurbished inc new regulator
You get the picture I'm sure.
Drives like a dream now, but needs the carb re-jetting. Still running the original single twin-choke 34 ADF as fitted in the factory (they were not fitted with twin carbs in standard Stradale version, regardless of what people try and tell me!).
The original interior has been replaced with one from a 1980 131 Racing, so looks the part but isn't totally correct. When I get some more money together I'll get the old seats re-trimmed as close as possible to original. (Phots still show the old original interior).
My Arbie is not a museum piece, and I regularly use it for driving to work. It does get used in the rain - not that I'm too keen to do so - but rain doesn't stop play! I did more miles bringing it back from Italy than the previous owner of 11 years had covered in five years.
Many (ignorant) people think it's a 131 Sport with wide arches - it isn't! It's one of the 406 homologation cars built by Fiat, Bertone and Abarth to give eligibility for the 131 model to rally in Group 4, and as such has a 16 valve head, disk brakes all round and fully independent suspension to name just three differences!
Oh, and one final thing - the colour is RED and not orange, OK?
thank you for now
Simon (Ryle)