Need some advice about my 10 yr old Fiat Siena

[chats]

I've got a 10 yr old Siena, and she's served me faithfully.
Now she's beginning to show her age. I haven't spent anything on her since I bought her 6 yrs ago, except to repair a broken wind-shield, and a small bit of bother with her clutch and A/c. But in the last month her muffler and radiator gave away, and I had to spend about 9 grand to repair them.

I recently changed her tyres, and while doing her wheel alignment the mechanic told me her 'lower arms' were shot, and I needed to have them replaced.
I went to my regular mechanic, and asked him to check the suspension, and he said it had become too soft, and the shock absorbers needed to be changed as well.
He just pressed down on the car to come up with a diagnosis.

What I'd like to know is how much repairing/replacing the lower arms and shock absorbers should cost me.

I'm planning on doing some performance mods in the near future, and I was wondering what I'd need to do to beef up the suspension once I did some engine mods.

Since I am going to be shelling out for some suspension work now, I was wondering if it made sense to install a performance suspension system now. But I'm a complete noob, and I've no idea what that actually means!

Any advice would be highly appreciated.

Also, I'm going to be getting my car painted, and her dents banged out in my factory. We make fire-engines, so my workers should be able to do some basic body modifications as well. I've been trying to come up with some ideas on how to make her look better, but so far I'm drawing a blank. I'm on a shoestring budget, but I won't be paying for any labour, and any paint/sheet metal costs would be negligible as we use quite a bit of the stuff in our factory.
Any ideas would be very welcome.

[kaustubh_vaze]

Hey chats,
First of all, is it a petrol (1.2/1.6?) or a diesel?
For cosmetic stuff, you might want to take a look at this - especially the front end is wicked - I think your Sienna front end looks the same -

YouTube - fiat palio tuning

There are many more such videos on youtube and you will be amazed with the way people have transformed their Fiats.

Basic performance mods like a K&N, Freeflow etc. may not mandate a suspension upgrade coz. Fiats are better handlers in stock form.

Regards,
Kaustubh

[chats]

Thanks Kaustubh.
That was an interesting video.
While I'm looking for a more subdued look, that fiat did give me some ideas. Like the way the bonnet covered the headlights slightly.

I've got a 1.2 petrol, and the primary reason I was looking to do a suspension upgrade is because I need to get some suspension work done soon. I wasn't unhappy with the stock suspension, but if I can get a performance upgrade at a small premium, I'd prefer that. Fiat Siena spares are pretty expensive, and since I've got no plans of selling my car, I wouldn't mind giving her a few upgrades.
I will do some engine mods later. Reading some comments on this forum I've come to believe that the engine is capable of much more than it delivers right now. I'll put in a better air filter, and a CAI later, and maybe a turbo.

Since this car is pretty sturdy, and cheap, I was thinking of trying my hand at a few rally races with it. And from what I've been reading, it's more important for beginners to get the car to handle correctly at high speeds than to try and push it's engines limits.

That's for another day. For now I'm hoping I can give the car a nice face lift, and a suspension upgrade for a small premium over what a stock suspension job would cost.

Am heading over to youtube now to get some inspiration!