Alex bought it 18 months ago. He drove it around London for a week or so and then took it for a trip up the motorway to give it some stick. 76 miles later the engine blew. Gutted! It was diagnosed as a new cambelt that had just been put on was put on wrong which blew lots of other things. He then spent the next three months trying to get some money off the person he bought it from. He eventually got half the money for a new engine but then decided he didn't want to put a new engine in it instead he decided to get the original engine rebuilt.
Alex spent £2000 on an engine rebuild which was more money than he needed to but he bought OEM (Original Equipment Manufactured) parts which are about one third more expensive than Patten parts but for peace of mind he thought it was worth it. That was about 6000 miles ago and so far so good. The rebuild was done by Jack Rose Services in Croydon who came highly recommended. Alex wanted his friend Barbs to do it but he did not have the time (but he now looks after it extremely well). Alex bought the parts from Evolution Engineering also recommended.
Since then he has also spent some money doing a few things here and there: It has got Drilled discs at the front, a new PowerFlow exhaust which is noisy but has definitely improved the flow. Toyo Poxes TS-1s' all round. A Integrale top house cooler conversion which is superb it means the fan comes in a lot sooner and consequently makes the car run a lot cooler. She has also got a K&N air filter. Also interior wise he has changed the gear knob and both handbrake and gear shaft gaitor for high quality Richbrook items plus a georgeous anodised aluminiun tax disc holder which he would recommend to all Tipo owners!!
Last but certainly not least he had fitted about 3 weeks ago top of the range Bilstein shocks and 40mm lowering springs all round which now they have settled down are stunning. They have transformed the car, and Alex rates them much better than Koni adjustables. However he is finding it very difficult to go over speed bumps!
Alex says that being an Italian car there is still lots of work for Barbs to do. But she is not running badly at all and he has been told his power should be up by 10 - 20 bhp but who knows, she is fast enough for me at the moment.