My Fiat Coupe 20vt
Discussion
robsco said:
al1991 said:
That does look really good?
What are these like for insurance?
Proposterous, or at least it was when I looked. I went for a 156 2.5 V6 in the end, the 20V was considerably more expensive.What are these like for insurance?
31 with full NCB though.
Update;
As of the end of this month I'm taking the 20vt off the road.
During the months away from use I'll be completely stripping it and restoring it starting with an interior out inspection for any rust. If I find any it will be cut out/sanded back and brought back to as new condition followed by lots and lots of sound proofing and rattle proofing. I'll probably fit a set of Plus front seats. The current ones are in lovely condition but they provide limited support during 'enthusiastic' cornering.
Out side I'll be completing a suspension refresh, a belts change, new oil cooler pipes, black silicone hoses and any other bits and bobs I can think off. To finish it off I'll be fitting genuine, plastic LE side skirts and bumper lips with a full re-spray to make her as new.
Looks like she's going to be a keeper in pristine condition.
As of the end of this month I'm taking the 20vt off the road.
During the months away from use I'll be completely stripping it and restoring it starting with an interior out inspection for any rust. If I find any it will be cut out/sanded back and brought back to as new condition followed by lots and lots of sound proofing and rattle proofing. I'll probably fit a set of Plus front seats. The current ones are in lovely condition but they provide limited support during 'enthusiastic' cornering.
Out side I'll be completing a suspension refresh, a belts change, new oil cooler pipes, black silicone hoses and any other bits and bobs I can think off. To finish it off I'll be fitting genuine, plastic LE side skirts and bumper lips with a full re-spray to make her as new.
Looks like she's going to be a keeper in pristine condition.
Gompo said:
Good luck with it, I was going to ask about the suspension etc as I couldnt remember you mentioning it in the past. Is it (the suspension etc) about ready for a refresh or is it more of a case of replacing everything you can while you've got it in bits?
I fitted lowering springs in December and at that time the shocks looked pretty good. A slight bit of pitting on the nearside front but nothing more. The top mounts were showing signs of age and the bearings were sticky. Considering the suspension is 14 years old it could be much worse.The reason for replacement is due to the fact that I might as well considering the rest of the car should look and feel almost as new. I'm contemplating moving to coilovers or at least up rated shocks as the car wont be my daily driver any more.
Update;
A new job and the resulting house move has put my suspension ideas at bay for the time being but the car is still going through some changes. I've just had a full cam belt kit, auxiliary belts and all the tensioners replaced along with a new water pump and cam phase sensor. That should see her in rude health for the foreseeable future. My specialist commented on how mechanically solid the car now is and the engine really is a smooth runner. One of the best he's seen. I'm very happy
Whilst up on the ramps we spotted some surface rust that has crept in since the car was in storage over the last three months. Thankfully there's none on the body that we can see but a bit of under seal was showing a small patch of bubbling. The radiator support is pretty crusty as are the rear bumper supports so I've set about tackling it as we've been lucky and caught it before it develops into proper rust. I'm starting with the front of the car, then the rear and finally the underside.
I'll be going over any surface rust with a wire brush, then I'll apply rust eater or something of that nature followed by a healthy dose of Hammerite and then cover it over with under seal. I'll be doing a very thorough job, so that should last for a fair few more years
I started out by giving the refurbished wheels a clean;
I applied one coat of Chemical Guys All In One polish followed by three coats of Autoglym HD Wax and three coats of Poorboys Wheel Sealant. They smell lovely now
I began stripping the front end by removing the front wheels followed by the arch liners. I needed to free up the wings in order to completely remove the plastic liners;
The offside liner removed;
Underneath the wheel arch was in remarkably good condition
The was very little rust anywhere although there is a small bit in a few easy to reach areas including the underside of the shock which will be cleaned up easily. No welding required here!
With everything from the front removed I can now easily access the rad support and some other areas of more substantial rust, although nothing serious.
Considering the front takes the worst of what British roads can throw at it, there's very little rust worth worrying about. The worst area effected is a support for the nearside cooling duct. It's rusted through and broken off so I'll be replacing it after I've removed all the surface rust elsewhere;
Overall I'm a happy man. I was expecting much worse. It just reinforces the fact that I've got a good one
Here’s most of the bits I had to remove including the under tray;
The next update will follow after I've treated the entire front end. I’m off for a beer
A new job and the resulting house move has put my suspension ideas at bay for the time being but the car is still going through some changes. I've just had a full cam belt kit, auxiliary belts and all the tensioners replaced along with a new water pump and cam phase sensor. That should see her in rude health for the foreseeable future. My specialist commented on how mechanically solid the car now is and the engine really is a smooth runner. One of the best he's seen. I'm very happy
Whilst up on the ramps we spotted some surface rust that has crept in since the car was in storage over the last three months. Thankfully there's none on the body that we can see but a bit of under seal was showing a small patch of bubbling. The radiator support is pretty crusty as are the rear bumper supports so I've set about tackling it as we've been lucky and caught it before it develops into proper rust. I'm starting with the front of the car, then the rear and finally the underside.
I'll be going over any surface rust with a wire brush, then I'll apply rust eater or something of that nature followed by a healthy dose of Hammerite and then cover it over with under seal. I'll be doing a very thorough job, so that should last for a fair few more years
I started out by giving the refurbished wheels a clean;
I applied one coat of Chemical Guys All In One polish followed by three coats of Autoglym HD Wax and three coats of Poorboys Wheel Sealant. They smell lovely now
I began stripping the front end by removing the front wheels followed by the arch liners. I needed to free up the wings in order to completely remove the plastic liners;
The offside liner removed;
Underneath the wheel arch was in remarkably good condition
The was very little rust anywhere although there is a small bit in a few easy to reach areas including the underside of the shock which will be cleaned up easily. No welding required here!
With everything from the front removed I can now easily access the rad support and some other areas of more substantial rust, although nothing serious.
Considering the front takes the worst of what British roads can throw at it, there's very little rust worth worrying about. The worst area effected is a support for the nearside cooling duct. It's rusted through and broken off so I'll be replacing it after I've removed all the surface rust elsewhere;
Overall I'm a happy man. I was expecting much worse. It just reinforces the fact that I've got a good one
Here’s most of the bits I had to remove including the under tray;
The next update will follow after I've treated the entire front end. I’m off for a beer
Update;
The car had a full service this morning comprising of every filter in/on the car, Fuchs Titan Race Pro S 10W-50 engine oil, Fuchs 75W-90 gearbox oil, new power steering fluid, coolant etc. etc. The steering felt a touch sloppy, hence the fluid change and what a difference it's made! Before, the steering would feel light towards the end of the rack travel which didn't inspire confidence when pressing on at all. Now the steering weights up nicely when pushing the car into turns, but it also feels much more stable as I'm not getting the varying weighting through the corner. It's much more satisfying to use now.
I also fitted a modified gearbox linkage lever. The throw is much shorter now and much more mechanical in feel. It's really very nice now and it makes the best of a mediocre gearbox. It's a very bullish feeling throw now with plenty of weight, but it really feels at its best when used with a blip on the down change although that suits me fine as I heel and toe in daily driving anyway.
This is the linkage;
It's quite a bit shorter than the original;
The rubber bush was replaced for a new one. I need to replace a plastic bush at the base of the gear stick to add that little extra finesse and then it'll be good for another 10 years or so.
Generously, my better half bought me a DA machine polisher for Christmas so I can now correct the paintwork. So far I've only done a small portion of the car as a test.
Excuse the quality of these photos. They were taken with my phone. See the swirl marks around the patch of light;
This is a 50/50 shot having lightly cut one side back;
The car wasn't overly swirly to start with as I tend to look after the paint, but once I've 100% corrected the whole car, it should look great with loads more depth to the paint. There's more to follow on this.
The car had a full service this morning comprising of every filter in/on the car, Fuchs Titan Race Pro S 10W-50 engine oil, Fuchs 75W-90 gearbox oil, new power steering fluid, coolant etc. etc. The steering felt a touch sloppy, hence the fluid change and what a difference it's made! Before, the steering would feel light towards the end of the rack travel which didn't inspire confidence when pressing on at all. Now the steering weights up nicely when pushing the car into turns, but it also feels much more stable as I'm not getting the varying weighting through the corner. It's much more satisfying to use now.
I also fitted a modified gearbox linkage lever. The throw is much shorter now and much more mechanical in feel. It's really very nice now and it makes the best of a mediocre gearbox. It's a very bullish feeling throw now with plenty of weight, but it really feels at its best when used with a blip on the down change although that suits me fine as I heel and toe in daily driving anyway.
This is the linkage;
It's quite a bit shorter than the original;
The rubber bush was replaced for a new one. I need to replace a plastic bush at the base of the gear stick to add that little extra finesse and then it'll be good for another 10 years or so.
Generously, my better half bought me a DA machine polisher for Christmas so I can now correct the paintwork. So far I've only done a small portion of the car as a test.
Excuse the quality of these photos. They were taken with my phone. See the swirl marks around the patch of light;
This is a 50/50 shot having lightly cut one side back;
The car wasn't overly swirly to start with as I tend to look after the paint, but once I've 100% corrected the whole car, it should look great with loads more depth to the paint. There's more to follow on this.
Just read the whole thread on your Coupe pretty much, such a lovely car! Well done that man!
I'd love to own one of these in a few years perhaps, maybe if I ever get bored of my mk2 golf gti haha!
But great work, love the time and patience gone into the body work and the rocker cover even looks fantastic!
Keep it up!
Ps. Also need to post up some vids of that custom exhaust - bet it sounds lovely nothing better than a 5 pot engine note!
Rik
Well done that man!I'd love to own one of these in a few years perhaps, maybe if I ever get bored of my mk2 golf gti haha!
But great work, love the time and patience gone into the body work and the rocker cover even looks fantastic!
Keep it up!
Ps. Also need to post up some vids of that custom exhaust - bet it sounds lovely
nothing better than a 5 pot engine note!Rik
wait till you start replacing all the bolts with stainless items (it will happen)
reading this thread has reminded me that of all my cars over the years my coupe is the only one I regret selling, the noise, the speed, the handling and in my case the reliability.
Right I'm off back to FCCUK to have a look for another.
reading this thread has reminded me that of all my cars over the years my coupe is the only one I regret selling, the noise, the speed, the handling and in my case the reliability.
Right I'm off back to FCCUK to have a look for another.
snotrag said:
Any more tales for us OP? A mates suggested one of these to me, and I'm now hankering after one...
Now that you mention it, bits and bobs have happened since I last posted in January. The car passed it's MOT at the end of June without any advisories.
I was convinced it would fail on the condition of the rear brakes. The discs are in a poor state and I'm fairly sure that one or both of the rear calipers need freeing up. I'll get onto this at some point in the near future I guess. To be honest, it'll probably end up being a small part in a big braking refresh.
Musing over the car whilst bored in work ended up with me paying a visit to eBay where I promptly snapped up two jubilee clips, a 45 degree 76mm silicone hose in black and an Apexi air filter with 3" adapter to fit inside the hose. Rapid delivery from the first seller meant I had the clips and hose the next day but I ended up waiting a working week for the filter with minimal correspondence from the seller.
For those interested, the Apexi filter is a dry cotton filter as opposed to the wet cotton used by K&N for example. I read an article (and viewed the results) comparing foam, dry cotton, wet cotton and mesh filters and the dry cotton had the best filtration of the lot. Shame I cant find it now.
Technically the standard paper filter in these cars are good up to ~300bhp but I felt childish and wanted something different from the car. Induction noise.
So Friday came and my filter arrived. Armed with a spanner, a cable tie and a screw driver, ten minutes later I went from this;
To this;
I've read plenty of opinions over on FCCUK about these filter upgrades and the general consensus is that they sound like Darth Vadar suffering from a bout of asthma whilst locked in the glove box. Yep, OK. It's true.
The childish part of me likes it hissing and whooshing away. It's loud, although lacking in pure induction growl. It's more like sucking in air between your teeth followed by the mother of all dump valve impersonations on throttle lift off.
The other part of me appreciated the straight burble, pop and rasp of the exhaust more so. I'm undecided about keeping it. Potentially, the killer is the fact that there is definitely a reduction in low down torque. I read about it prior to fitting but dismissed it as a placebo effect but all in all, I'm fairly certain that I need to use the gearbox more now than I did before on certain roads.
In other news, the suspension is well and truly exhausted. There's plenty of rattles and squeaks now so I suppose I'd better get on and refresh it all as I said I would a while ago in this thread.
I've also noticed a bubble in the middle of the nearside sill.
I'm visiting the parents in a few weeks so I'll strip both sills back to bare metal to see what's lurking beneath the under-seal. Pics to follow.
Fingers crossed.
Interesting reading this as I'm going through a similar process with my own 20VT.
Some good work going on there and as said above, good to see someone (else) willing to spend some £'s to restore/preserve/improve a coupe. Numbers of these are dwindling as many succumb to terminal rot, or accident damage and are scrapped due to their current low market value.
These cars do require some commitment to keep in fine fettle, but they do reward you for your efforts and I have to say that I'm loving mine.
Love the colour of yours and I think that or Vinci Grey would be my preference if buying again/another.
I guess I should post up details of mine and the work I'm undertaking.
Some good work going on there and as said above, good to see someone (else) willing to spend some £'s to restore/preserve/improve a coupe. Numbers of these are dwindling as many succumb to terminal rot, or accident damage and are scrapped due to their current low market value.
These cars do require some commitment to keep in fine fettle, but they do reward you for your efforts and I have to say that I'm loving mine.
Love the colour of yours and I think that or Vinci Grey would be my preference if buying again/another.
I guess I should post up details of mine and the work I'm undertaking.
A small update but one worth adding.
I ditched the Apexi air filter. I found the noise it made quite irritating. I love induction growl but this thing didn't give me any of that in the cabin and it ruined the throttle response at low rpm - compounding the crapness of the turbo throttle response further - so it had to go.
On the plus side I sold it within a few hours of advertising.
I also gave the car a two stage paint refinement with the DA and it came up like a mirror. Well worth the investment if you take enjoyment from seeing your car gleaming.
When cleaning the car a while back I noticed the powder coat on my refurbished wheels has cracked on all four. I can't pin point why apart from the possibility that the job wasn't up to scratch.
Either way, my specialist who had them refinished initially agreed and has offered to to re-do them free of charge. That makes me a happy chappy so I'll be sending more business his way in the future.
I ditched the Apexi air filter. I found the noise it made quite irritating. I love induction growl but this thing didn't give me any of that in the cabin and it ruined the throttle response at low rpm - compounding the crapness of the turbo throttle response further - so it had to go.
On the plus side I sold it within a few hours of advertising.
I also gave the car a two stage paint refinement with the DA and it came up like a mirror. Well worth the investment if you take enjoyment from seeing your car gleaming.
When cleaning the car a while back I noticed the powder coat on my refurbished wheels has cracked on all four. I can't pin point why apart from the possibility that the job wasn't up to scratch.
Either way, my specialist who had them refinished initially agreed and has offered to to re-do them free of charge. That makes me a happy chappy so I'll be sending more business his way in the future.
I'd be a little worried about those wheels mate - over on fccuk you'll find more than a couple of stories about the wheels snapping (yes, snapping) at the spokes, in the exact places where yours are cracking.
The link being powdercoating, and baking (which is why I always have my wheels wet sprayed).
Its also happened to other cars - some of the lightweight MX-5 wheels have been known to break especially on cars that are higher miles and have been through maybe more than one powdercoat/bake process.
Seriously, not meaning to doom monger or scare you, but I'd really be thinking very hard and having a proper look before driving on those.
The cracking powdercoat could be an indicator to some of the alloy underneath getting close to its fatigue limit.
The link being powdercoating, and baking (which is why I always have my wheels wet sprayed).
Its also happened to other cars - some of the lightweight MX-5 wheels have been known to break especially on cars that are higher miles and have been through maybe more than one powdercoat/bake process.
Seriously, not meaning to doom monger or scare you, but I'd really be thinking very hard and having a proper look before driving on those.
The cracking powdercoat could be an indicator to some of the alloy underneath getting close to its fatigue limit.
snotrag said:
I'd be a little worried about those wheels mate - over on fccuk you'll find more than a couple of stories about the wheels snapping (yes, snapping) at the spokes, in the exact places where yours are cracking.
The link being powdercoating, and baking (which is why I always have my wheels wet sprayed).
Its also happened to other cars - some of the lightweight MX-5 wheels have been known to break especially on cars that are higher miles and have been through maybe more than one powdercoat/bake process.
Seriously, not meaning to doom monger or scare you, but I'd really be thinking very hard and having a proper look before driving on those.
The cracking powdercoat could be an indicator to some of the alloy underneath getting close to its fatigue limit.
Jesus, that's concerning. I've heard of light weight wheels failing before but I've not seen any FCCUK threads in my time over there. Do you have any links I could have a look at?The link being powdercoating, and baking (which is why I always have my wheels wet sprayed).
Its also happened to other cars - some of the lightweight MX-5 wheels have been known to break especially on cars that are higher miles and have been through maybe more than one powdercoat/bake process.
Seriously, not meaning to doom monger or scare you, but I'd really be thinking very hard and having a proper look before driving on those.
The cracking powdercoat could be an indicator to some of the alloy underneath getting close to its fatigue limit.
I'll certainly look into this as I'd rather not experience a failure. They've shown signs of the powder coat cracking for a while now too.
Thanks for the heads up.
Update;
So my rear brakes started binding fairly badly, more-so the offside rear calliper. Unfortunately it took two weeks to find a pair of refurbished rears and I couldn't get hold of a pair of front Brembo callipers - something I've been wanting to tick off the list for a while. It turned into a bit of a nightmare but in the end I found a pair of rears for a good price so I snapped them up.
Being my daily driver, unfortunately I couldn't just stop driving the car, so I continued to drive it gingerly on my commute for a week or so. How much harm could I do with light braking?
Fast forward a few days and the girlfriend gets a phone call from her mum. Sadly her mum’s partner was taken ill with a very aggressive cancer just a few weeks earlier and we were instructed to drive up to east Yorkshire as soon as possible. It was late evening when she had the call and there was no other way to get there quickly enough from the Midlands. We drove up in the Coupe.
The end result;
The calliper binding for the duration of a 6 hour round trip resulted in a thick layer of rust dust coating the rear offside of the car and the wheel. It effectively baked itself onto the alloy and the paintwork and from a distance half the car looked bright orange - something which the photo doesn't really pick up on. In the flesh it was some sight! Oh yeah, that and one of the brake pads ripped itself out of the calliper and bounced down the road, thankfully at slow speeds when the road was deserted.
Ten working days off the road later.
To go with the new callipers I bought a full set of Mtec grooved discs at a group buy price and a full set of OMP Road & Sport pads. I'll get round to replacing the Brembos in the near future but it was a priority to get the car up and running again.
I've been thinking about refurbishing the braking all round for a while so I'm a bit annoyed that I couldn't do the front callipers at the same time but on the whole the brakes are much, much improved from before. The OMP pads bite well, even from cold and the discs look the part on the car in my opinion. OEM quality with a beefier look. Plus they're cheaper than OEM so its win win.
It was a pain trying to sort it all out as but it's done now and the cars up and running again.
So my rear brakes started binding fairly badly, more-so the offside rear calliper. Unfortunately it took two weeks to find a pair of refurbished rears and I couldn't get hold of a pair of front Brembo callipers - something I've been wanting to tick off the list for a while. It turned into a bit of a nightmare but in the end I found a pair of rears for a good price so I snapped them up.
Being my daily driver, unfortunately I couldn't just stop driving the car, so I continued to drive it gingerly on my commute for a week or so. How much harm could I do with light braking?
Fast forward a few days and the girlfriend gets a phone call from her mum. Sadly her mum’s partner was taken ill with a very aggressive cancer just a few weeks earlier and we were instructed to drive up to east Yorkshire as soon as possible. It was late evening when she had the call and there was no other way to get there quickly enough from the Midlands. We drove up in the Coupe.
The end result;
The calliper binding for the duration of a 6 hour round trip resulted in a thick layer of rust dust coating the rear offside of the car and the wheel. It effectively baked itself onto the alloy and the paintwork and from a distance half the car looked bright orange - something which the photo doesn't really pick up on. In the flesh it was some sight! Oh yeah, that and one of the brake pads ripped itself out of the calliper and bounced down the road, thankfully at slow speeds when the road was deserted.
Ten working days off the road later.
To go with the new callipers I bought a full set of Mtec grooved discs at a group buy price and a full set of OMP Road & Sport pads. I'll get round to replacing the Brembos in the near future but it was a priority to get the car up and running again.I've been thinking about refurbishing the braking all round for a while so I'm a bit annoyed that I couldn't do the front callipers at the same time but on the whole the brakes are much, much improved from before. The OMP pads bite well, even from cold and the discs look the part on the car in my opinion. OEM quality with a beefier look. Plus they're cheaper than OEM so its win win.
It was a pain trying to sort it all out as but it's done now and the cars up and running again.
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