Built vs Bought

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Discussion

Liquid Knight

Original Poster:

15,754 posts

182 months

Monday 22nd January 2018
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I took my Alfa to Lakes Auto's to pick up a gearbox for a mate in America.



A nice mix of A roads, dual carriageway, urban driving and country lanes that if I had something as vulgar as a "hot hatch" and not my Cloverleaf I would be writing this from a chiropractors instead of home.

From Lakes to a lake (well ings at least) as I took the back roads home via Welney.



A pretty good day out. smile

MJK 24

5,648 posts

235 months

Tuesday 23rd January 2018
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Great thread!

A gallon is 4.54 litres though so your Cinquecento is 'only' doing 51mpg!

Liquid Knight

Original Poster:

15,754 posts

182 months

Tuesday 23rd January 2018
quotequote all
MJK 24 said:
Great thread!

A gallon is 4.54 litres though so your Cinquecento is 'only' doing 51mpg!
I was a bit drunk when I posted that. Still better than a Pre-arse. wink

Liquid Knight

Original Poster:

15,754 posts

182 months

Friday 26th January 2018
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The Punto cabriolet parts donor arrived today and...

...well...


...okay...

It was advertised as a "runner" but was out of petrol. No big deal, Can of fuel, primed and the old bus starts first turn of the key.

Also advertised as a "driver" but sadly the clutch master cylinder seals are gone and the clutch arm itself stuck.

The photo's in the advert are ages old as the car is covered in moss now.

None of these are an issue as the parts I need are all fine. One problem is the roof does not open. I was relying on that being functional to get most of the money back. Never mind. The wheels are near perfect and as far as I can tell the front brake calipers are good to go. smile

If anyone wants any Rialto blue body parts let me know. smile


Liquid Knight

Original Poster:

15,754 posts

182 months

Friday 26th January 2018
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So one of the eight month old Nangkang tyres went bang!



rolleyes



I feel bad whenever I have to use a spare as I could hold people up. So I made a sign. smile

Liquid Knight

Original Poster:

15,754 posts

182 months

Saturday 27th January 2018
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What a pest!

Because it doesn't drive and weighs the same as a small Moon it was a bit of a push to get it on the drive. Washed because I don't like working on or selling parts from a dirty car and ready to start stripping.

I have provisionally sold £300 worth of bits already. woohoo

So the parts I need could end up being free. wink

Liquid Knight

Original Poster:

15,754 posts

182 months

Saturday 27th January 2018
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Thhhhhhhaaaaaaaaatttttttt'sssssss better. biggrin

Liquid Knight

Original Poster:

15,754 posts

182 months

Sunday 28th January 2018
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A spot of Driveway CSI today and the mysterious hood.

https://youtu.be/fUFD2Mm_oTk

Relay, switch or loom issue then. The fuse is fine and the roof works directly from a battery. smile

A working roof is worth three or more times a non-functional one.

Liquid Knight

Original Poster:

15,754 posts

182 months

Monday 29th January 2018
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Don't you just love it when you order a pair of something from a UK supplier, it's takes a week longer than a larger item to arrive from Italy and...



...when they eventually arrive they aren't even a censored pair! furious

Oh well. One clear and one tinted indicator. Just as well I'm not anal about things like that at all eh?

Liquid Knight

Original Poster:

15,754 posts

182 months

Tuesday 30th January 2018
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I should have stayed in bed today.

It has been a perfect, sunny, chilled winters day.

Ideal for stripping the Punto Cabriolet; but every single, simple part has had a dozen other things in the way and every nut, bolt or screw has either rusted to crap or inaccessible due to another half dozen things in the way.

I'm glad I am parts harvesting and scrapping the donor car because it would be on fire now if not. Seriously I haven't been this annoyed since the clutch master cylinder job on my Alfa Spider.

I think I'll get an early start at it tomorrow so more neighbours can appreciate my swearing. ;-)

It was the windscreen or the engine block!



Okay I need to calm down and look for something positive.

SuperFIRE HT leads.



They have a little handle to pull them out with. smile



The first time I have come across it. Brilliant! biggrin

Liquid Knight

Original Poster:

15,754 posts

182 months

Wednesday 31st January 2018
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After a few hours of faff I managed to harvest the parts and a few minutes later the engine was out.



I am very impressed with the SuperFIRE engine. The cam's are a sealed unit...





...once out it was pretty obvious what the issue with the car was.

Driveway CSI and another Punto postmortem.

The thrust bearing was rusted to the gearbox input shaft. Also I read somewhere that gearboxes are supposed to have oil in them. This one didn't.





rolleyes

Liquid Knight

Original Poster:

15,754 posts

182 months

Thursday 1st February 2018
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The black silicone curse strikes again.

Part 1/ I opened the roof to remove it and because it was colder than it felt the rear screen cracked. frown

No problem my uncles are upholsterers and it's a fairly simple job.

Part 2/ The roof was stuck down with it so the material ripped as soon as I tried to take it off. frown

I have taken the rams and pump off so I could get £30 or so for those to someone restoring a Punto or £100 to a chav who wants a low rider bonnet lift. hehe


Liquid Knight

Original Poster:

15,754 posts

182 months

Thursday 1st February 2018
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On the floor in the rain harvesting the last parts from the Punto to raise funds to buy parts for my car. biggrin



Just part of the fun building on a budget. I feel sorry for people who give someone a car, some money and say "build this".

hehe

Liquid Knight

Original Poster:

15,754 posts

182 months

Wednesday 7th February 2018
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Today I have been asking my local MOT guys if the scratch that has been an advisory for the last two MOT's on the windscreen would be a fail.



It's where the car has been used with a broken wiper blade and is a resounding fail from all who I have asked.

So new windscreen to take from the budget this month but...



...it does give me an excuse to get my welder out. smile

V6 inside

105 posts

212 months

Thursday 8th February 2018
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My built not bought attempt!
Original build was a conjunction of me and a specailst,
Following iteration was done at home by me and then back to a another specialist Alfa tuner!

So I guess its built and bought? wink


Its off the road at the moment, but should be back on soon.




Liquid Knight

Original Poster:

15,754 posts

182 months

Thursday 8th February 2018
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That is just sublime. smile

I was toying with the idea of either another Fiat Coupe 16V turbo (if I could find another failed Punto project cheap enough) 20V turbo or Alfa V6 for my 145
The variator belt is humming a little so a rebuild will be due soon anyway.

Liquid Knight

Original Poster:

15,754 posts

182 months

Saturday 10th February 2018
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I thought I would take the last of the Bravo bits to a mate who has two Bravo's and a collection of FTO's. The git!

Anyway on the way back the little metal clip that broke on my Bravo last time I went that far south went today on the 145 because I had no wipers and was looking for somewhere that sold cable ties (I didn't have any tools or stuff in my Alfa at all) I hit a pot hole and burst a tyre.

Then I managed to break the tyre lever. I would like to think it was my shear physical prowess but more likely the tyre fitters using an air gun at too high a torque setting.



So tyre swapped and limited to 50mph (officer) I managed to get home just after seven. Should have been home by four. Just as well the spare set of wheels that came with my 145 haven't sold on eBay. Looks like I'll be needing them. smile

Liquid Knight

Original Poster:

15,754 posts

182 months

Thursday 15th February 2018
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Payday is today and as I'm having a little trouble bonding with my Cinquecento as the old kart is in full on daily mode right now I thought I would take the project to work with me and paint the cam' cover.



As it's payday today I wasn't able to do anything too bold. Italian flag cleche' or something like the violet and silver MX5 cover I did before...



...I had the primer and lacquer already but could only afford one tin of paint.

So as I'll need to colour match the windscreen frame repair soon...



...yellow. smile

I think it'll look pretty nice in there.

Liquid Knight

Original Poster:

15,754 posts

182 months

Saturday 17th February 2018
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I finally got to the Idea but there was a ropy Seat in the way.

Not too bad really...











...rust in the usual places and the seats aren't as good as I remember but that's a small detail compared to the engine that started and ticked like a clock second turn of the key. smile


Liquid Knight

Original Poster:

15,754 posts

182 months

Saturday 24th February 2018
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Again little in the way of progress while I have been at work.

Every single "Yep I'll definitely have it" message referring to the Idea has been a waste of time. rolleyes

In the spirit of the "invisible car" I have added a supplementary red reflective strip to the bottom of the tailgate.







I'm thinking some kind of 80's graphic to break it up a little.



For now though I'm concentrating on getting the Punto HGT home from Brighton and possibly a different "built" car as well.