Inspecting a Fiat Dino Coupe - Areas to Cover?

[bulletpruf]

Fellas -

I'm moving to Naples in a few weeks and am in the market for a Fiat Dino. I've owned dozens of vintage cars before and usually do a pretty good job of inspecting them mechanically. I'm also fairly good at finding rust, repaired sheet metal, accident damage, etc.

What I need some help with -- what are the common trouble spots mechanically? Brakes, engine, suspension, transmission, etc, and what do I look for? Just looking for tips on pieces/parts that often give folks trouble, especially if the repair is expensive and/or the parts difficult to find.

Also looking for the same information on the body -- where do you often see rust damage? Accident damage? Any hidden areas that I need to be aware of?

FYI - when I look at a vintage car for sale, I normally get it up on jackstands and get under it and fully inspect the underside, poking, prodding for rust, looking for accident damage, shoddy repairs, leaks, etc. I will go over the body with a weak magnet and/or an electronic body filler finder/paint thickness meter.

Thanks in advance for any info.

Scott

[Guzzi]

Scott, this website has plenty of examples of where rust will strike a Dino.

http://www.dinouk.com

Mechanically the timing chain has grief potential because it's manually adjusted, and 2 litre gearboxes can be weak. Generally, coupes are valued way below spiders and restoration may not be feasible. There is actually a Dino wrecker in Napoli

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/cat/11/69/dino+/

not cheap but if you need the part...

Superformance in the UK carry a wide range of parts and there are also good vendors in Germany and the Netherlands

Diario Italiano is run by Lincoln, a UK expat living in N Italy, so once you hit the ground in Napoli get in touch with him for a conversation.

For many years the Dino was under valued so there will be many bodged examples around because owners didn't want to or couldn't afford repairs and maintenance. Best thing is to buy from a recognised, trusted source

Peter

[rossnzwpi]

Hi, good luck with finding a good Dino. As I just posted elsewhere - here's a link to a buyer's guide in English which might be of help:

http://www.dinoparts.de/uploads/PDF/fia ... ung_en.pdf

Cheers
Ross in NZ

[bulletpruf]

Scott, this website has plenty of examples of where rust will strike a Dino.

http://www.dinouk.com

Mechanically the timing chain has grief potential because it's manually adjusted, and 2 litre gearboxes can be weak. Generally, coupes are valued way below spiders and restoration may not be feasible. There is actually a Dino wrecker in Napoli

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/cat/11/69/dino+/

not cheap but if you need the part...

Superformance in the UK carry a wide range of parts and there are also good vendors in Germany and the Netherlands

Diario Italiano is run by Lincoln, a UK expat living in N Italy, so once you hit the ground in Napoli get in touch with him for a conversation.

For many years the Dino was under valued so there will be many bodged examples around because owners didn't want to or couldn't afford repairs and maintenance. Best thing is to buy from a recognised, trusted source

Peter

Peter -

Thanks for the details. I wasn't aware of the Dinouk site or the Dino parts vendor in Napoli. Very helpful.

Scott

[bulletpruf]

Hi, good luck with finding a good Dino. As I just posted elsewhere - here's a link to a buyer's guide in English which might be of help:

http://www.dinoparts.de/uploads/PDF/fia ... ung_en.pdf

Cheers
Ross in NZ

Ross -

Excellent resource! Lots of tidbits I wasn't aware of. The section on hard to find parts was especially helpful.

Thanks!

Scott