I took the wifes 'new' 99 Brava to work today, very pleased with the engine etc and found it to be quite nippy.
The only things that it's missing are an arm rest for the driver and most importantly a cup holder for my travel mug.

Are either of these items available to buy/bodge/ or blag??

Had to do a few little jobs on it while at work, cleared out the drain holes for the windscreen, filled the washer bottle, fixed the leak I then discovered from a loose water pump, blew years worth of crud out of a windscreen washer jet and oiled up the doors. these ned neew handles and the drivers door needs the check strap bracket which I believe is a common problem.

Is it a big job to pull the lever back out of the door? I tried half heartedly but I wasnt going to strip the door down.

Fit armrest from Marea, some tape and hotglue/silicone and you even get the working rear vent on it. I also put some foam and new cloth over the foam as original was mismatched on mine.
Cupholder...never needed no idea.
If the strap is loose and wont keep the door open, replace. If it only makes annoying sound, tighten it on the door, common thing.

By lever you mean the doorhandle? You could try ripping the old rubbers off it and see if youre fine with the outcome. As for replace, fiatboo site has repair guides.

You can get a fiat Marea Centre console as Neverth said;



I guess your saying the door handles are rotting like this one at the top? Its a common fault


You can change them for fiat marea handles that are a hard plastic or with modification Alfa 147(has a gap at the back) or 2007 Fiat 500 handles. (perfect fit) Ive also seen a 3rd party direct replacement door handle on eBay that could be better quality. I cant remember the brand though.

Getting to the door handle means taking the door card off, which is kind of a pain. Once your in its one bolt on the end of the door and one inside the door skin as seen here.





Yeah ive seen quite a few broken check strap brackets., Check the bolts are tight on the door and door frame, and while your at it check the door latch bolts are tight.


Never seen a cup holder adpated in.

If your washer jets are playing/rubbish you can also addapt ones from the 2007 Fiat Bravo https://www.fiatforum.com/bravo-bra...007-washer-jets-your-classic-bravo-marea.html

Thanks for the replies.
The door handles are indeed rotten on all the doors (drivers door is down to the metal core and is starting to get loose at the back end around where the key barrel goes)

What I meant is that the strap bracket has snapped and the gold colored bar that stops the door slamming shut in the wind has retreated into the bodyof the door as the roll pin has fallen out at some stage. I need to get this fixed as I can see fingers being squashed (there's a 4 yr old that likes to get out through the front door) Is it just a matter of pulling it out of the door or is there a particular way of doing it.

As for the washers, the pump was loose in the tank so when I filled it, water pressure lifted it up and the water peed out .

A bit of soft rubber cut to shape and a bit of wiggling seems to have sorted it for now. The passenger side washer jet was blocked (shot of compressed air sorted that) I have the non functional rear wiper problem but i havent got to that yet.

Im not really worried about the arm rest or the cup holder but have them in my A4 and I kinda miss them

This pic might be handy, its the front check strap. and to get it out you have to remove the door card and i found removing the speaker was a good way to access it.

Thats great thanks, at least I know what I'm looking for now

Dreddfan said:

I took the wifes 'new' 99 Brava to work today, very pleased with the engine etc and found it to be quite nippy.
The only things that it's missing are an arm rest for the driver and most importantly a cup holder for my travel mug.

Are either of these items available to buy/bodge/ or blag??

Had to do a few little jobs on it while at work, cleared out the drain holes for the windscreen, filled the washer bottle, fixed the leak I then discovered from a loose water pump, blew years worth of crud out of a windscreen washer jet and oiled up the doors. these ned neew handles and the drivers door needs the check strap bracket which I believe is a common problem.

Is it a big job to pull the lever back out of the door? I tried half heartedly but I wasnt going to strip the door down.

Click to expand...

I bought a Bravo from Waterford city many years ago

Centre console: they never came with one. Marea console is the only option, unless you want to stick in 2 Alfa seats with drivers armrest

Cup holder is in the glovebox but a fair few cars I got here had a cupholder glued into the vent nearest the driver on the centre console.

Door handles are poor at times, source out a set of Marea handles considering it's a Brava. Have a look here too

To change the check strap you can either have the door on or off (prob easier with the door off, easy enough job anyway) you'll need to remove the door trim too.

I'm not on here as much as I used to be but do keep us all updated and best of luck with the car

oh yeah theres a cup urm... 'perch' in the glove box and a pen holder i forgot! thanks M2

m20b25 said:

I bought a Bravo from Waterford city many years ago

Centre console: they never came with one. Marea console is the only option, unless you want to stick in 2 Alfa seats with drivers armrest

Cup holder is in the glovebox but a fair few cars I got here had a cupholder glued into the vent nearest the driver on the centre console.

Door handles are poor at times, source out a set of Marea handles considering it's a Brava. Have a look here too

To change the check strap you can either have the door on or off (prob easier with the door off, easy enough job anyway) you'll need to remove the door trim too.

I'm not on here as much as I used to be but do keep us all updated and best of luck with the car

Click to expand...

I didnt have time to go poking around the scrappies so i I made my own check strap bracket. It's not pretty but it works and was made in under an hour.
I can put up a drawing if anyone would like it.

Once again i couldnt find a cup holder as easily as I'd like so I resorted to the 'Lunchtime bodging session' option. :idea:
I was going to try copy the fancy one in the first pic but decided against coz of time restraints.
Luckily I had a bit of alumininum pipe that could be turned out and tapered to the same diameter as my travel mug
I simply screwed the bracket to the plastic beside the gear stick and it'll stay there permanently while the cup holder will live in the glove box (or under the passenger seat probably)

I've to get a pic of it in place, but it looks ok and is removable for when there's a passenger in the seat (usually I'm the only one in the car and I'm the only one that drinks in the car too) just a pity I couldn't find some paint the same color as the centre console but the black is ok.
I'd probably be able to modify it to hold a coke can but that's a job for another lunchtime.