Seicento 2000 899 Seicento SX

[FiatMatt94]

Went to my first show of the year yesterday at Caffeine & Machine for the Fiat & Abarth meet, 252 mile round trip on just over half a tank of fuel & she didn't miss a beat the old girl got quite a lot of attention, a lot more than I thought she would

There was also a few other interesting Fiat's there as well including a few Centos, Panda 100HP's of which one had 300 bhp, 595 Abarth's & even a Lancia Y10.

 

[Didge3]

& even a Lancia Y10.

You tease us and then didn't snap a picture of it?!

 

[icheatatscrabble]

Last summer I'd got back to my Cinquecento which I had parked in the underground car park of a Waitrose and there was some old boy (easily in his 80's) taking photos of my car. So I started chatting to him, he was loving my car and said that he had a Lancia Y10, had it since it was 6 months old and bought it from the Lancia dealer in Luton or was it Bedford?
He was saying the dealer would send a lot of their trainee techs (who were mostly from Italian families around Bedfordshire over to Italy. He was quite an interesting chap and said the Y10 had never missed a beat, rust free, but it wasn't being driven much as his wife usually drove it and she had virtually stopped driving.
He also said finding parts was a bit of challenge (something all Cinq and probably Sei drivers know about). As I drove off I thought to myself I should have given him my number and said if you ever want to sell the Lancia give me a call....

 

[FiatMatt94]

You tease us and then didn't snap a picture of it?!

It wasn't the nicest Y10 as it had been customised a bit so wasn't my cup of tea someone had painted it purple & then put in matching colour vinyl seat covers, if it was original early car with the alcantara interior etc I would have been all over it as I love a Y10, I nearly bought an early 1985 Y10 blind many years ago from eBay but I think someone jumped in with a bid the last few seconds. My dad told me once he went to look at a Y10 just down the road in the 90's as he really likes them as well, he got there & it was the classic one side was up against a hedge the side on show was immaculate & the side against the hedge was completely eaten alive

 

[FiatMatt94]

Last summer I'd got back to my Cinquecento which I had parked in the underground car park of a Waitrose and there was some old boy (easily in his 80's) taking photos of my car. So I started chatting to him, he was loving my car and said that he had a Lancia Y10, had it since it was 6 months old and bought it from the Lancia dealer in Luton or was it Bedford?
He was saying the dealer would send a lot of their trainee techs (who were mostly from Italian families around Bedfordshire over to Italy. He was quite an interesting chap and said the Y10 had never missed a beat, rust free, but it wasn't being driven much as his wife usually drove it and she had virtually stopped driving.
He also said finding parts was a bit of challenge (something all Cinq and probably Sei drivers know about). As I drove off I thought to myself I should have given him my number and said if you ever want to sell the Lancia give me a call....

That would most probably be the dream Y10 to own as it most likely be completely original

 

[icheatatscrabble]

That would most probably be the dream Y10 to own as it most likely be completely original

Definitely. I was kicking myself that I never asked for his number.

 

[FiatMatt94]

I've noticed recently that the exhaust on the car has had a slight blow for a little while & her 252 mile escapade to Caffeine & Machine on Tuesday made it slightly worse so Wednesday morning I got her up on some ramps & had a good look around the exhaust to see where the blow was coming from. I soon found that it was coming from the rear section on the welds as it had rotted through & has a few small holes as a result, the front section & cat have cleaned up really well with just a scotch brite pad & come up like new, I then found that stock 899 exhausts are not that common nowadays as they once were & are quite expensive, I can remember with my Cinquecento when I was 17 a whole rear section was about £25 from a motor factors the only ones which seem to be obtainable for a 899 are anything between £125 - £200 for a Klarius rear section in which I hate Klarius systems as they never fit, so I started to look around for other options like aftermarket systems but I don't like the 3 - 4 inch systems on offer as 1) they'll look a bit silly especially on a 899 & 2) it'll zap power being that big & the good old 899 doesn't have a lot to begin with I then did some researching on the forum & online, it turns out a stock Sporting SPI cat back system can be fitted to an 899 with an adapter for the slight difference in bore size which is 10mm difference as a 899 is 35mm bore & the Sporting is 45mm bore. I just happened to be on the phone to my dad earlier today & as a mechanic he worked on a lot of Seicento's & Cinquecento's back in the day so I told him how much the 899 rear section was for a crap branded system & he told me that he always used to fit the 1108 rear sections to the 899 as they were always cheaper & the shape & hangers etc were all the same just a very slight difference in bore, so that was a good enough answer for me I know that the hangers on Cinquecento's are slightly different to a Seicento, so I've purchased a Bosal Seicento Sporting SPI cat back system after seeing that all 1108 Seicento SPI rear sections are the same part numbers, all cross reference, interchangable etc along with a 35mm - 45mm adapter to fit to the existing 899 system for the slight bore difference, I've always had good results with Bosal systems which was why I went for one of them & the system with the adapter was £105 as opposed to the price of a Klarius rear section for a 899, it'll also be a nice subtle upgrade too with perhaps a nice little rasp

 

[icheatatscrabble]

I've noticed recently that the exhaust on the car has had a slight blow for a little while & her 252 mile escapade to Caffeine & Machine on Tuesday made it slightly worse so Wednesday morning I got her up on some ramps & had a good look around the exhaust to see where the blow was coming from. I soon found that it was coming from the rear section on the welds as it had rotted through & has a few small holes as a result, the front section & cat have cleaned up really well with just a scotch brite pad & come up like new, I then found that stock 899 exhausts are not that common nowadays as they once were & are quite expensive, I can remember with my Cinquecento when I was 17 a whole rear section was about £25 from a motor factors the only ones which seem to be obtainable for a 899 are anything between £125 - £200 for a Klarius rear section in which I hate Klarius systems as they never fit, so I started to look around for other options like aftermarket systems but I don't like the 3 - 4 inch systems on offer as 1) they'll look a bit silly especially on a 899 & 2) it'll zap power being that big & the good old 899 doesn't have a lot to begin with I then did some researching on the forum & online, it turns out a stock Sporting SPI cat back system can be fitted to an 899 with an adapter for the slight difference in bore size which is 10mm difference as a 899 is 35mm bore & the Sporting is 45mm bore. I just happened to be on the phone to my dad earlier today & as a mechanic he worked on a lot of Seicento's & Cinquecento's back in the day so I told him how much the 899 rear section was for a crap branded system & he told me that he always used to fit the 1108 rear sections to the 899 as they were always cheaper & the shape & hangers etc were all the same just a very slight difference in bore, so that was a good enough answer for me I know that the hangers on Cinquecento's are slightly different to a Seicento, so I've purchased a Bosal Seicento Sporting SPI cat back system after seeing that all 1108 Seicento SPI rear sections are the same part numbers, all cross reference, interchangable etc along with a 35mm - 45mm adapter to fit to the existing 899 system for the slight bore difference, I've always had good results with Bosal systems which was why I went for one of them & the system with the adapter was £105 as opposed to the price of a Klarius rear section for a 899, it'll also be a nice subtle upgrade too with perhaps a nice little rasp

Nice. I had a Powerflow stainless system fitted to my Cinquecento last May. Sounds lovely / good welds - but cost £500. I did email Ragazzon in Italy to see if they still sold a system for the Cinquecento Sporting - email back from them, pretty much said fat chance....

 

[FiatMatt94]

Nice. I had a Powerflow stainless system fitted to my Cinquecento last May. Sounds lovely / good welds - but cost £500. I did email Ragazzon in Italy to see if they still sold a system for the Cinquecento Sporting - email back from them, pretty much said fat chance....

That seems to be the answer from Fiat for most cento enquiries as well I've never had a Raggazon or Powerflow system but have heard them on 100HP's & 595 Abarth's they do sound good, only aftermarket systems I've ever had were either single box or twin box RC40's on Classic Mini's that system coupled with an A Series what a glorious sound.

 

[icheatatscrabble]

That seems to be the answer from Fiat for most cento enquiries as well I've never had a Raggazon or Powerflow system but have heard them on 100HP's & 595 Abarth's they do sound good, only aftermarket systems I've ever had were either single box or twin box RC40's on Classic Mini's that system coupled with an A Series what a glorious sound.

I've got a Ragazzon cat back system on my 595 Comp, to be fair I do like it - but it is quiet compared to the standard Record Monza and quiet as a mouse compared to when I had a carbon tipped Magneti Marelli Bombardone fitted. Now that was loud...