Hi there from Washington State

[281betas]

Hi there, well I am the proud owner of two 1981 betas, one a spider, the other a coupe. I got the Spyder from my father as my first car, don't think I'll ever let it go It's such a blast to drive. Just figured I should say hello, I am over here in the great state of Washington, USA, and currently working on restoring the coupe, so if anybody knows of where to find parts within the states, do let me know. Thanks again, have a good one!

Gregor

[HFStuart]

Hi and welcome. It's getting pretty international in here !

There are a few specialists in the US Midwest Bayless have been pretty good to me so you could try them

http://www.midwest-bayless.com/storefrontprofiles/default.aspx?sfid=208227

Can you post some pictures ?

[281betas]

I can most certainly can post a few, I don't have any pictures of the coupe yet, but I do have a few shots of the spyder, of course I have always grown up calling it the Zagato, that is what the badge says over here. I grew up with my dad taking me to school in this car, he bought it as the second owner back in 1982 and it had a bad steering rack, and almost no miles. He was a technician for Fiats and Lancias back then so he did the work himself, later he changed out the cams for 35/75 75/35s, added new headers, removed the catalytic converters, added the Gotti wheels and the front air dam. He drove it from here in Washington to Arizona, for the formula 1 races on at least 2 occasions, its been up and down the west coast all of its life.

The car ended up being put aside and sat for 8 years, because it didn't function as a family car very well. My dad and I pulled it out two years ago so I could drive as my first car, since I have had it, we have added Koni struts all the way around and done the clutch, fuel tank, fuel filter, alternator, shift linkage and starter, just to name a few of the things we have done to make it better. It now has 250,000 miles and is running like a champ

[HFStuart]

Great to see one being well used that must be the highest miler on here.

Have you thought about Euro spec bumpers ?

[281betas]

I have thought about it, but on the list of things that the car needed initially, euro bumpers wasn't on the top of list, most of my time these past couple of years has been spent returning this car to champion that it has been for the twenty years it has been in my family. I think before I look for some euro bumpers the car will definitely need a repaint, and some minor body work, sadly the pictures I posted are overexposed, but on upper part the drive's side front fender, the is a dent about the size of my hand. While the car sat, my little brothers knocked over some wooden boards nearby and thus nailed the car. I do like the euro bumpers, but I am realizing that finding a piece like that is nearly impossible around here. The only shop around here is one my father used to work at, I have thought about shipping them from the UK, but I have always feared the   

[LanciaDave]

What shop is that? Have you tried Performance apex is Renton? Other US parts sources include; C. Obert & Co in Santa Cruz, Bruce's Parts in in New Jersey, IAP in Virginia, DJ's- Classic Ricambi, just to name  few to get you started. Do you belong to FEN? Every year they have a car corral that includes a parade lap at the historic races near Seattle on July 4th weekend. There's also the Mirafiori campout weekend in later July for Fiats and Lancias, which is quite a fun event. I'm not sure what city your in, but I'm in Oregon just south of Portland.