We present the first results of a targeted survey carried out with the 305m Arecibo radiotelescope to detect HI-line emission from disk galaxies at redshift z > 0.16. We are using this sample to study the evolution of the zero point of the Tully-Fisher relation (TFR) for galaxies at intermediate redshifts. Compared to optical widths, HI measurements sample a larger fraction of the disks, where the rotation curves are typically flat, and are not affected by slit smearing and misalignment or by aperture effects. Thus, in contrast to studies based on optical spectroscopy, this dataset allows for a direct comparison with the local TFR that is technique independent.