Built vs Bought
Discussion
That red bar between the lights does have a distinct 80/90s vibe to it, i like it
And this thread is giving me some serious bad thoughts, part of me still needs to build my own cinq (P75 cam, 1.2 bottom end, stripped out and lowered), and alfa 145s have a certain appeal to me as well...
Keep on cracking LK!
And this thread is giving me some serious bad thoughts, part of me still needs to build my own cinq (P75 cam, 1.2 bottom end, stripped out and lowered), and alfa 145s have a certain appeal to me as well...
Keep on cracking LK!
I have a 1242 with 866 cam in my shed and the 145 could be for sale thanks to this...
...hang on a minute...
...that's better and that's also how you should clean your vehicle before driving anywhere.
Nice looking, reasonably tidy HGT not in yellow, red/faded pink or blue for rarity sake.
Familiar territory. It's a Bravo HLX engine with VFD written on it.
VFD is Variable Frequency Drive, or in English fly by wire throttle body. More about that later as if I mention it now it will involve swearing.
Time for more usual suspects.
Cloudy headlight plastic with no side light bulbs. I guess it had chav spec leds like innit and they were kept.
Knackered engine mount so those (now) 78,000 miles have probably been tough or it was broken by whoever did the belt change six months ago.
Dirty, rusty, pitted rear brake discs after a two hundred and something mile drive home? Calipers need reconditioning then.
Finally...
...and for comedy sake a factory sub box...
...with a three inch woofer? Glad I listened to Classic FM on the way back from Brighton (via Kent for a mate) my ears would be bleeding from the bass from that monster if I had one of my Hardcore CD's with me.
So the good.
The engine is perky and the car is easily as fast as my Bravo was when she was stripped out.
The bad.
The fly by wire throttle is garbage. What were they thinking? There's an over rev' blip every change up and a noticeable delay no matter what you do with the pedal. It's as if they are using "Internet Explorer 2.0" to run the bloody thing. The ABS is horrid and useless. In the dry it's fine but if you're braking normally in adverse conditions and have full control all of a sudden the ABS kicks in and you are literally not braking at all.
The surprising.
Every single Mk2 Punto I have ever driven has had the same problem. The electronic power steering. At best it's total crap, at worst it is the single most dangerous thing ever put on any car; ever. I have driven all the Mk2 Punto's now and can honestly say the HGT is the best of the bunch. With the others the power steering is like an on/off switch. When negotiating a bend the steering kicks in making the wheel light, due to being under load it moves more than you need it to so instead of a smooth round line you end up taking a tetracontagon one. This is true of most electronic power steering vehicles I have driven including the last generation Porsche 911 so it's not just a Punto thing.
With the HGT I don't know if it's the extra weight of the engine, the wider tyres or bigger brakes increasing rotating mass at the hubs but the steering was pretty okay. A little skippy now and then but nowhere near a bad or dangerous as other vehicles.
...hang on a minute...
...that's better and that's also how you should clean your vehicle before driving anywhere.
Nice looking, reasonably tidy HGT not in yellow, red/faded pink or blue for rarity sake.
Familiar territory. It's a Bravo HLX engine with VFD written on it.
VFD is Variable Frequency Drive, or in English fly by wire throttle body. More about that later as if I mention it now it will involve swearing.
Time for more usual suspects.
Cloudy headlight plastic with no side light bulbs. I guess it had chav spec leds like innit and they were kept.
Knackered engine mount so those (now) 78,000 miles have probably been tough or it was broken by whoever did the belt change six months ago.
Dirty, rusty, pitted rear brake discs after a two hundred and something mile drive home? Calipers need reconditioning then.
Finally...
...and for comedy sake a factory sub box...
...with a three inch woofer? Glad I listened to Classic FM on the way back from Brighton (via Kent for a mate) my ears would be bleeding from the bass from that monster if I had one of my Hardcore CD's with me.
So the good.
The engine is perky and the car is easily as fast as my Bravo was when she was stripped out.
The bad.
The fly by wire throttle is garbage. What were they thinking? There's an over rev' blip every change up and a noticeable delay no matter what you do with the pedal. It's as if they are using "Internet Explorer 2.0" to run the bloody thing. The ABS is horrid and useless. In the dry it's fine but if you're braking normally in adverse conditions and have full control all of a sudden the ABS kicks in and you are literally not braking at all.
The surprising.
Every single Mk2 Punto I have ever driven has had the same problem. The electronic power steering. At best it's total crap, at worst it is the single most dangerous thing ever put on any car; ever. I have driven all the Mk2 Punto's now and can honestly say the HGT is the best of the bunch. With the others the power steering is like an on/off switch. When negotiating a bend the steering kicks in making the wheel light, due to being under load it moves more than you need it to so instead of a smooth round line you end up taking a tetracontagon one. This is true of most electronic power steering vehicles I have driven including the last generation Porsche 911 so it's not just a Punto thing.
With the HGT I don't know if it's the extra weight of the engine, the wider tyres or bigger brakes increasing rotating mass at the hubs but the steering was pretty okay. A little skippy now and then but nowhere near a bad or dangerous as other vehicles.
I really like that punto (although i might be partial to dark green cars since getting my dark green alfa...), and with the 1.8 lump under the bonnet it should be properly quick.
As for that 145, if i lived in the UK i'd be biting your arm off, sadly living in the netherlands its not a viable idea..
As for that 145, if i lived in the UK i'd be biting your arm off, sadly living in the netherlands its not a viable idea..
Vitorio said:
I really like that punto (although i might be partial to dark green cars since getting my dark green alfa...), and with the 1.8 lump under the bonnet it should be properly quick.
As for that 145, if i lived in the UK i'd be biting your arm off, sadly living in the netherlands its not a viable idea..
I'm headed out that way fairly soon. A chap with a Punto Sporting hit a traffic island and needs my spare block. Ferry and petrol worls out about half the shipping cost so...As for that 145, if i lived in the UK i'd be biting your arm off, sadly living in the netherlands its not a viable idea..
Road Trip!
I thought I would have a laugh today and visit my local Fiat dealership (again) to see how much a new top engine mount for my HGT would be.
£177.80 +VAT
They have to sell Renault and Dacia there as well so far as "sense of humor" goes I think it went when I told them the same part was £38 on eBay. While I was there I happened to notice the 695 Abarth has the 180 t-jet. I'm sure it won't be long before one of those is stacked backwards into a hedge and the engine liberated. Wooooo-ha-ha-ha-haaaaaaa!
Anyway while doing the chores I thought I would stop and stare...
£177.80 +VAT
They have to sell Renault and Dacia there as well so far as "sense of humor" goes I think it went when I told them the same part was £38 on eBay. While I was there I happened to notice the 695 Abarth has the 180 t-jet. I'm sure it won't be long before one of those is stacked backwards into a hedge and the engine liberated. Wooooo-ha-ha-ha-haaaaaaa!
Anyway while doing the chores I thought I would stop and stare...
Liquid Knight said:
I'm headed out that way fairly soon. A chap with a Punto Sporting hit a traffic island and needs my spare block. Ferry and petrol worls out about half the shipping cost so...
Road Trip!
Appreciate the thought, but the formalities importing the car (and the fact that we drive on the other side of the road) still makes it more trouble then its worthRoad Trip!
I do love that cinq, looks quite tough with its rally lights sitting in the snow
With two weeks to go until the first track day of the season I took my Cinquecento to work as usual.
Bit of a fun commute. I managed to pull two much newer and expensive cars from the verges where they had lost control in the snow and a Land Rover Discovery out of a small ditch. With a small Fiat and a rescue rope.
As we know no good deed goes unpunnished so while I was in a shop getting my lunch. A Luton van reversed into the front of my car and drove off.
Bumper, headlights and passenger side indicator smashed. Passenger side wing, bonnet, slam panel, front valance and corner panel bent.
I already know UK headlights are impossible to buy new so insurers or the MIB will write the car off due to inavailability of parts. The lenses are smashed so I can't buy a pair of left hand drive ones and convert them. That's the major thing. I have a spare bumper and the rest should straighten out. It might not be that bad. She drove home okay. No overheating or tracking issues.
I like to think the best of people and hope the Luton driver didn't know he/she/it had hit anything. It wasn't driven off with any kind of gusto from the shops cctv. No view of the number plate or driver so it's a dead end. I got a Police incident number in case I was stopped on the way home.
Lucky it happened near a public bin so I could throw the glass away safely. I didn't want any to fall off the car causing a puncture or other damage to my or anyone else's car.
Car's don't need headlights for track days so it could turn out to be a handy few grams weigh saving.
Bit of a fun commute. I managed to pull two much newer and expensive cars from the verges where they had lost control in the snow and a Land Rover Discovery out of a small ditch. With a small Fiat and a rescue rope.
As we know no good deed goes unpunnished so while I was in a shop getting my lunch. A Luton van reversed into the front of my car and drove off.
Bumper, headlights and passenger side indicator smashed. Passenger side wing, bonnet, slam panel, front valance and corner panel bent.
I already know UK headlights are impossible to buy new so insurers or the MIB will write the car off due to inavailability of parts. The lenses are smashed so I can't buy a pair of left hand drive ones and convert them. That's the major thing. I have a spare bumper and the rest should straighten out. It might not be that bad. She drove home okay. No overheating or tracking issues.
I like to think the best of people and hope the Luton driver didn't know he/she/it had hit anything. It wasn't driven off with any kind of gusto from the shops cctv. No view of the number plate or driver so it's a dead end. I got a Police incident number in case I was stopped on the way home.
Lucky it happened near a public bin so I could throw the glass away safely. I didn't want any to fall off the car causing a puncture or other damage to my or anyone else's car.
Car's don't need headlights for track days so it could turn out to be a handy few grams weigh saving.
Okay I was getting annoyed and wanted to do something so I addressed a major issue with the car.
The lack of side light bulbs.
Now here's a top tip for anyone with a Mk2 or 2B Punto.
"Do not use side light bulbs in your side lights".
The holders aren't very tight on a good set and the vibration from the road/engine is enough to blow elements. The most I ever had to replace was six in three days. This I would guess is why people fit gash LED ones but I'm not a fan, white ones look blue to me, yellow are okay but not on a green car and any other colour is illegal.
I found out by accident that the auxiliary brake light on a Mitsubishi FTO uses these...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10-x-921-High-Level-Bra...
921 bulbs instead of the standard 501's. They are cheaper, brighter and last a lot longer.
The lack of side light bulbs.
Now here's a top tip for anyone with a Mk2 or 2B Punto.
"Do not use side light bulbs in your side lights".
The holders aren't very tight on a good set and the vibration from the road/engine is enough to blow elements. The most I ever had to replace was six in three days. This I would guess is why people fit gash LED ones but I'm not a fan, white ones look blue to me, yellow are okay but not on a green car and any other colour is illegal.
I found out by accident that the auxiliary brake light on a Mitsubishi FTO uses these...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10-x-921-High-Level-Bra...
921 bulbs instead of the standard 501's. They are cheaper, brighter and last a lot longer.
Just a formal declaration of how standard this HGT is...
Standard wheels, ride height (suspension), no strut brace, air filter or exhaust upgrades. Standard seats, stereo with dash mounted cd changer and very primitive sat' nav'.
Pretty clean, tidy example of a future classic Punto HGT in a nice colour.
There isn't much to do to be honest. Matching tyres would be nice, a new screen for the stereo, sloppy gear linkage and stuttering wipers. Little quirks more than anything.
Standard wheels, ride height (suspension), no strut brace, air filter or exhaust upgrades. Standard seats, stereo with dash mounted cd changer and very primitive sat' nav'.
Pretty clean, tidy example of a future classic Punto HGT in a nice colour.
There isn't much to do to be honest. Matching tyres would be nice, a new screen for the stereo, sloppy gear linkage and stuttering wipers. Little quirks more than anything.
Well...
...surprisingly well. The conditions were initially crap but that suited the HGT pretty well. Nimble, good tyres and enough power to put down without issues we found ourselves keeping up with and pestering better focused stuff on track.
I don't know about times as yet (I thought it would be a good idea to film five minutes at a time instead of three so there would be less cut lines in the final clip but transferring from VLC to MP4 via Race Render is taking hours.
I had fun, we raised £2,500 for Macmillan Cancer Support and the HGT certainly has potential. Not much room for improvement without doing something drastic about the engine management.
The gearbox got noisier throughout the day and the exhaust split on a speed ramp when I got my lunch but mechanically was well as well as could be expected.
...surprisingly well. The conditions were initially crap but that suited the HGT pretty well. Nimble, good tyres and enough power to put down without issues we found ourselves keeping up with and pestering better focused stuff on track.
I don't know about times as yet (I thought it would be a good idea to film five minutes at a time instead of three so there would be less cut lines in the final clip but transferring from VLC to MP4 via Race Render is taking hours.
I had fun, we raised £2,500 for Macmillan Cancer Support and the HGT certainly has potential. Not much room for improvement without doing something drastic about the engine management.
The gearbox got noisier throughout the day and the exhaust split on a speed ramp when I got my lunch but mechanically was well as well as could be expected.
Back to life. Back to reality.
The reality for me is to get to Blyton Park and back I have driven on the A17
This time of year that road is either being dug up for no apparent reason, covered a freshly ploughed mud or both.
Back to normal with a little help from the local car wash (I could not be arsed to faff about washing my car in the snowfall again).
I have topped the gearbox oil up and even though I can not replicate the conditions on track I can confirm she's a lot quieter.
Best case scenario the top up has worked and I'll do a full change in a couple of hundred miles to see how much damage is done. Worst case I need a new gearbox, but so long as Punto HGT ones are holding a premium the Alfa lineage of the engine block should mean I can use a 145, 146, 147, 155, 156, 166 one if needs be.
The reality for me is to get to Blyton Park and back I have driven on the A17
This time of year that road is either being dug up for no apparent reason, covered a freshly ploughed mud or both.
Back to normal with a little help from the local car wash (I could not be arsed to faff about washing my car in the snowfall again).
I have topped the gearbox oil up and even though I can not replicate the conditions on track I can confirm she's a lot quieter.
Best case scenario the top up has worked and I'll do a full change in a couple of hundred miles to see how much damage is done. Worst case I need a new gearbox, but so long as Punto HGT ones are holding a premium the Alfa lineage of the engine block should mean I can use a 145, 146, 147, 155, 156, 166 one if needs be.
During the track day my exhaust split where the cat' meets the front box. I tack welded and puttied it well enough to get home but it needed doing properly so...
...get the car up on ramps, lift one wheel with the jack, turn the ramp a hundred and eighty degrees and drop it back down.
With the ramps acting as chocks and the car in gear it's safe(ish) to lift the back of the car and take the exhaust off.
It was a bit dark by the time I was finished so I embraced 1998 and used some under-car neon lights (well the florescent tubes from my shed at least).
The reason why the exhaust had split in the first place is rather odd. The rear section is standard HGT and the flexipipe looks to be normal as well but the cat' is poorly welded to the down pipe, has bends where it shouldn't that have been cut and welded straighter; but it's about half in inch too short so the whole system is under tension from the rubbers. This could been what was making the noise when I down shifted on track as the engine and gearbox moved in their mounts putting the exhaust under more tension transmitting vibration to the floor.
I may have to experiment with the Bravo cat' and system in my shed.
...get the car up on ramps, lift one wheel with the jack, turn the ramp a hundred and eighty degrees and drop it back down.
With the ramps acting as chocks and the car in gear it's safe(ish) to lift the back of the car and take the exhaust off.
It was a bit dark by the time I was finished so I embraced 1998 and used some under-car neon lights (well the florescent tubes from my shed at least).
The reason why the exhaust had split in the first place is rather odd. The rear section is standard HGT and the flexipipe looks to be normal as well but the cat' is poorly welded to the down pipe, has bends where it shouldn't that have been cut and welded straighter; but it's about half in inch too short so the whole system is under tension from the rubbers. This could been what was making the noise when I down shifted on track as the engine and gearbox moved in their mounts putting the exhaust under more tension transmitting vibration to the floor.
I may have to experiment with the Bravo cat' and system in my shed.
Gassing Station | Alfa Romeo, Fiat & Lancia | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff