'81 Zagato w/Abarth exhaust standard?

[ljs330i]

I just received an inherited 81 Zagato. I was looking the car over and noticed the exhaust had a sticker on it. It says "Abarth". The exhaust looks clean and nearly new, much cleaner that the rest of the undercarriage anyway. Was this standard equipment or had my uncle had this done?

Just curious.

Larry

[Hamish]

Sounds like it was something he had done - can you give more details on the exhaust :?:
Is it the manifold (header I think you guys call it) or another bit of the exhaust :?: A silencer (muffler.....):?:

[SubGothius]

Larry, is this inherited Zag the one that "wouldn't shift into reverse" (but will if you know to push down on the lever ;) [EDIT: Oops, just saw it was you over in the shift-bushing thread, so apparently there's more to this than I'd last known of]), or am I thinking of someone else? Anyway, I'll presume you're a bit novice to the world of FIAT-Lancia, so I'll summarize a bit of history, with my apologies if you've heard it already or if I am expounding any inaccuracies in the interest of brevity.

Carlo Abarth (pronounced "ah-Vhart") was a legendary tuner and racer of postwar FIAT production cars; eventually his operation was brought in-house at FIAT and became a semi-independent subsidiary responsible for race-prepping FIATs (and some Lancias after their acquisition by FIAT) and developing factory-tuned and -backed high-performance street variants of new production cars. Loosely speaking, the Abarth name is to FIAT and Lancia much as AMG is to Mercedes, Alpina to BMW, Ruf to Porsche, etc.

Abarth exhausts are probably among the choicest, perhaps the choicest, performance exhaust upgrades one can get for a FIAT or Lancia, if one even can get it (particularly Stateside). Your uncle knew durn well what he was doing when he managed to even find an Abarth exhaust for your Zag (I suspect they're discontinued?) and had it installed. It's a Keeper. :D

BTW, while I'm covering background info, once you get the car up to snuff and drive it, you may find it has a bit of the "Italian orangutan" driving position (seems made for drivers with short legs and very long arms), albeit not as pronounced as earlier models. Bear in mind that the car was designed primarily for Italian drivers, who actually aren't built much like orangutans, but they do tend to drive differently, so you'll enjoy the car more if you learn to drive Italian-style (I have, and I do 8) ): Adjust the seat so you can comfortably floor the clutch and gas pedals, and adjust the steering wheel rake (chromed release lever on the left, tucked under the dash a bit) so you can see the top of the gauges through the wheel, but as low as possible. Now, the wheel may seem a tad far away for comfort... if you put your hands at 9'n'3/10'n'2 o'clock and steer "overhand", American-style. The trick to driving Italian-style (aside from really laying into the gas a lot :twisted: ) involves resting your hands in your lap and steering "underhand", usually just shuffling the bottom of the wheel between your hands resting on or between your knees. Once you get this down, you'll find it's quite fun to drive that way and actually feels rather relaxed-at-the-ready whenever you're not actively tackling maneuvers. ;)

[ljs330i]

A little about the car:

The car is red and has 40K miles, fuel injected. Always been garaged. The tops are in great shape and there is little rust. The interior is in good shape overall. The stitching on the front seat has come out. The plastic mirror adjuster on the passenger side window has broken. The car has 2 seats of wheels and tires. One set seems to be the original Lanica set (paint chipping off). The other is a 15" set of ATS wheels. I have all of the paperwork for the car (service and purchase), but no owners manual.

Questions:
1) The car has been sitting for a while (1-2 years). What types of maintenance should I do before really running it?
2) I want to change the fluids. Can you tell me what types/brands I should use for Engine / Tranny / Brake / Power Steering, etc.

[sickchilly]

)1) The car has been sitting for a while (1-2 years). What types of maintenance should I do before really running it?
Do yourself a favor and immiedately drop the fuel tank, drain it and then take it to a radiator shop for refurbishing. If these things sit any amount of time, they get moisture, rust and sludge in the tanks. Being an FI car, this will really ruin your week or two! Before replacing the tank, blow out all of the lines, replace any rubber fuel lines (with new FI clamps) and replace all filters. It may be a good idea depending upon age and mileage to pull the injection rail, clean it out and replace the injector seals. Pull the Aux Air Valve off and hose it out with carb cleaner. New plugs, cap, rotor and wires and it will fire right up and be reliable, IMO.


2) I want to change the fluids. Can you tell me what types/brands I should use for Engine / Tranny / Brake / Power Steering, etc.

I like Castrol 20w50 in the tranny and engine both. I tried Redline MT-90 in the tranny briefly (which is what I use in the 124 Spider) but the Beta seems to be happier with motor oil. Brake fluid, any standard stuff. Good ol' DOT3 for me. Power steering, just the regular ol' PS Fluid off the shelf. ATF works too.[/code][/quote]