New Fiat Owner in eastern PA

[Philc]

Hi All,

I'm the proud new owner of a carbureted 1980 Fiat 2000 with 84,000 original miles. While i'm new to car restoration and repair I did research for two years before pulling the trigger and have a few more knowledgeable friends who are going to help me. I have no illusions about this being easy or cheap but i'm looking forward to it.

I wanted a rolling project to drive locally on nice days and I think I got a decent example. Overall it seems to run well (so far). Very little rust as far as I can see as it was garage-kept it's whole life. On the advice of a friend we are going to replace the brake system first: new master cylinder/rotors/pads/hoses. My friend, after looking it over, thinks we don't have to replace the metal lines. Any advice there?

I'll post pics soon.

Thanks in advance!

[RRoller123]

Welcome aboard! You will find lots of friendly and helpful people here!

[Nanonevol]

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[Philc]

Pic of the car the day I bought it. So, yeah, a new radiator sooner rather than later. The previous owner claims he did the timing belt in the last few thousand miles. Anyway to verify that or is it safer to just replace it again?

[TX82FIAT]

I'm not real sure about that timing belt. I would put a new one on to be safe. looks like it would be an opportunity to clean things up under the hood. With respect to the timing belt being fairly new, if the prior owner took the time to replace the timing belt did they then put the same old rusty hose clamps back on or push them to the side and put new clamps on. How many years was the last few thousand miles?

[Philc]

Sadly can't answer. I'll probably do the timing belt to be safe.

Outside of the brake system, timing belt and radiator right away, any ideas on what I should do sooner rather than later to be on the safe side?

Thanks in advance,