131mirafiori forum

An early Supermirafiori steering wheel? (The one with a single spoke) I have been looking for one but had no luck as yet. Willing to pay international postage if there is one abroad (I'm in the UK) The only one I have seen was a seller on ebay Italia, but the language problem seemed to make the deal impossible.

Would you provide photo, just to clear ? We may have one in Poland.

I suppose I should let Dave answer this but I believe he means one of these:

Yes thats the one. Thanks Theo!

You are welcome.  ;)
That was my 1600CL so that steering wheel was not only available on the Supers.

The green V reg one? I wish I had bought that car when you had it up for sale, but I didn't and someone else ended up the lucky purchaser. My Fathers super was the same age and colour as that car.

I think I might know where would be one. I'll be back in Poland in March, if you don't find it by then, let me know.

Yes, that's the one. It now lives happily in Ireland. I believe it may be coming back to the UK for 3ma08 so if you come along with a spanner we can distract the new owner for a few minutes...  ;D ;D (only joking of course!)

Hey I have an steering wheel like that, comes from my old  '79 er Supermirafiori. It must lie on my addic. I will look for it.
By the way, I live in The Netherlands.

If you are willing to sell it, let me know. I am sure it could be posted to the UK.

Regards,

Dave.

I've got one of those steering wheels, minus the centre.
Those wheels were changed under warranty in Eire, back in the day because they used to break. They were deemed unsafe. You are welcome to the one I have, If it is of any use to you. Regards Brendan.

Thanks for the offer, if it is in good condition I would like it as I may find one with a centre but a damaged rim (knowing my luck!) Interesting about the warranty issue, perhaps that is why they are rare. My Fathers car had that style of wheel. (It didn't break, well at least not when he owned the car!) The Citroen BX had a similar type of steering wheel design by the way.

Bren - That explains why I have rarely if ever, seen that style of steering wheel on Irish cars!! A mystery explained and an interesting story too - Thanks!? ??? ;)

So that adds to the list of changes made when 131s arrived in Ireland....

Steering wheel change.
Roof mounted aerial
Alloys on Sports
Possibly the radio cassette fitted (Blaupunkt)
Ignore the rust proofing treatment? ?;D

Anything else...?

The single spoke steering wheel is really nice, very "Joe 90" I thought! It looks like something that will be lacking in strength but it felt very strong to me. I find it hard to believe that they used to break and it's more likely that people's perceived lack of strength was the reason for changing them. A friend of mine had a Citroen GS with a single spoke steering wheel and I thought that looked and felt as if it would break easily but never did.

hi thotos i think i know what im talking about. i worked in a fiat main dealership from 79 to 86 and changed many of these wheels as they were unsafe due to them breaking off

Iff you want it i will sell it. First i have to find it. I'm going tommorow on holliday. next week i will let you know iff that's okay.

No problem, I'm in no rush! If you find it when you get back, let me know.

Regards,

Dave.

Your definitely right .I convinced my sister when she passed her test to part with good money for a bright lime green 16 TC super (The local fiat dealers used to call  it kermit !!) reg was SKB 777T if any one knows it ( you wouldnt miss it beleive me !! ) .Anyway this super was fitted with a single spoke steering wheel and everytime you pulled yourself up in the seat or grabbed it to get in and out of the car the thing nearly bent in two !!.Needless to say I changed it for one of my spare sport twin spokes as A) I didnt trust the thing B) I think the two spoke was better
You could if you werent too carefull on the single spoke accidentally in a rapid manuvoeur break your arm off when the wheel shot back around !!!
Why would anybody want one  ;D ;D

Curt

you didnt tell us the reason for them breaking was all the shagging against them down in portlaoise  ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Yes!!!!!!  :)

I've found the single spook steering wheel, Tommorow I'm cleaning it and make an photo of it for you.
Sorry that it took some time but I've got 2 jobs and don't have much time sadly. I've you still want i can sell it to you.

Regards, Henk

Never liked those steering wheels and yes EMV 544V NOW LIVES HAPPILY IN ROSCOMMON.Dont know about 3ma and the car is still in excellent condition and is for sale.Can arrange transport to UK with a local company for 500euro. What happened to the gear lever theo?

 ??? Why... nothing as far as I know! What happened to it?


 ??? Why again! Are you fed up with it already?

Post pictures and details such as price here for it, you never know someone might be interested!

Henk, I look forward to seeing the photo of the wheel and yes I am still interested!

Regards,

Dave.

No theo, not fed up at all,just thining out the fleet .As for the gear lever,its quiet difficult to select reverse gear.When you get the"knack" of selection its not bad at all.I suspect a clutch was fitted at some stage and i  think a selector has been bent in the process.Apart from that, the car drives faultlessly,it got a new carb and callipers for xmas!I will post pics of the fleet soon.We also have a genuine Irish1300cl for sale(Genuine Irish kev!) ;).ITS only covered 11000 miles from new ;)

Your are right about reverse gear selection!  :-\ It was like that when I got the car but as I soon "got the knack" I forgot all about it  :-[ I thought your brother said you fitted a new clutch when you got the car. I was somewhat surprised at that as I didn't think the clutch needed changing or was that an attempt to ease selection of reverse gear?

Got a new clutch and plate and a few other 131 clutch discs from a motor factor closing down sale.We did not fit anything yet as you pointed out ,its fine when you get the hang of selection.

How Doo, I'm new here, but not as regards Fiat. I worked in the parts dept of Fiat Dealers since the seventies, and Guess What.. I'm still here.
I had a few 131's as new, a 1300 Standard saloon, then a fancy 5spd Special, then a very oddball 1300 TC Super that came in by mistake, finally a PINK coloured Super 1600TC. Both these cars had the single spoke wheels and I dont recall them being changed because they broke under use. I think it was a precautionary measure by Fiat and was for a certain amount of chassis runs.
The front shock mounts did give way and I remember shifting crate loads of them.
At this stage I've forgotton most of the recall's, it amazes me after over 100 years of building cars they still 'get it wrong'
As regards 131's the one thing that sticks in my mind is SNAP OVERSTEER, after the 131's I discovered Lancias and now race an Aurelia, a car which could probably even now show a 131 around a racetrack.
The reg of the pink car was 807 AZI, I still have the plate....I also have a few Spares still in stock, I'll put together a list....

A big welcome KMACB to the site.You don't say where you are from!!!.Eugene 

From Dublin, though living in Kildare, thought the reg would have been a givaway.
Always had a fondness for 131's, the one I liked the most was the MK1 with the long gear lever. The Sports and twin cams were fine, but you cant beat OHV for simplicity, plus as I remember it took ages to fill with oil 'cos of the pan under the rocker cover. I always fitted 185 tyres as well, 165's were a bit skinny.
Simpler times, no ECU's, no diagnostics, less hassle. The last of the 'old' Fiat era, which began to change with the advent of the Ritmo.
I also fitted twin h/lamps from the diesel models to both my Supers at the time, made night driving a bit easier.
The other conversion was Discs/calipers from the 132's, 131 brakes were after all the same size as 127/128's