I'd imagine the noise to be the bearing in the housing rather than the pump itself, it's a case of stripping the pump off, then it's pretty much like a wheel bearing with a large circlip at the back. Probably a right pain to do.
The electric pump is from a 106 gti and the feel and feedback through the wheel is really good on them, I had a gti as a track car a few years back which I loved. It was that car that led me back to the coupe strange as it may seem.
I'd been big into the jap scene, big power, big wings and sideways but then that film about being fast and furious ruined the scene and made everything silly expensive.
I started off with fiats and so I've come full circle now.

Blu, yes I'll trim down the whole thing as much as possible. The non air con version is already smaller than the air con version.
The engine looks scruffy and tired (which it is lol) it's only going in as it is because I know it works, if I put a rebuilt engine in there I think there would be too many unknown quantities.

At least if I fit this and it doesn't work it's going to be easier than trouble shooting engine components as well as wiring problems.

Obviously I'm supremely confident (not).
Ordered some new steering rack boots and a clutch slave cylinder too this week.
Hopefully I can fit the engine next week.

yep i had a look at how it all goes together on my eper, its the bearing in the mount rather than the pump itself i meant.. And as it happens it really is a wheel bearing lol, same part no. is a wheel bearing for an Uno and a Y10, can't remember the exact models though. There will be an update on it soon in my thread - moved house today and there is a garage, all the things i have been putting off are soon to get done

I got a full set of brava mudflaps the other day, just cause they were cheap lol. The rears clearly don't fit a bravo, the fronts do but don't fit with HGT skirts so they might pop in in the classifieds soon if you would like some, they are brand spankers - even have fitting instructions with them still.

Chris you can havw my rear mudflaps when I change the new bumper over

I've no need for any mud flaps cheers anyway
I've got so much on with three projects on at once. I miss the coupe so much, especially with the nice weather
I also want to get the marea wagon in the workshop and pull the engine on that, give a quick refresh and sort the welding out properly where it was bodged. I also need the air con working. But I can't do anything till the brava is out and on the road.

I think I will end up breaking the marea saloon to use the mint chassis leg sections to repair the coupe with.

I bought some genuine mudflaps for my Brava a while back... I was convinced they wouldn't fit until I realised that they go OVER the original stubby ones, they don't replace them.

I would be staggered if the Brava and Bravo need different designs...

Normally no but hgt has wider wings therefore slightly different at the base
And rear bumper design make it a complete pain lol

I got some rear flaps for a bravo (not best condition granted, scrap yard find) and another set of rears for a brava - they are definitely different. The bravo has the weird little inward bumps in the corners which the brava doesn't have.

The fronts are the same for normal bravo/a though. The new sets I have say bravo/brava on the fronts but the rears only say brava and when you put them next to each other its clearly very different.

Anyway, I've steered us way way off topic and I should know better lol..

Time to update, things have been quiet as 11 days ago I became a dad again yay! So sleepless nights have been a regular thing for me, I think two weeks paternity are beginning to take their toll.
I left my nephew in charge of the project to get started on the welding up of the sills. Unfortunately there was bad news, when he cut off the patches that were done for its last mot he found, more rust.
In fact the whole length of both sills were rotten, you couldn't tell from the outside and there were what looked to be a couple of places on the floor side. But it was riddled.

We took the decision to call it a day, it was just too far gone. I had assumed they wouldn't be as bad as this as when I checked my coupe inner sills it had been waxoyled from day one, the difference is unbelievable.
My nephew cut out a few sections to demonstrate the situation. I'm guessing if my brava is like this then most of the mareas and bravos will be the same.
At the front end and B post sill areas it all looked solid, but a cross section cut revealed rot all the way front to back internally.

Seems a shame given all the time you've already put into the car, hopefully something a bit better looked after will come up (if your still going to do it that is)

Congratulations on the new arrival too pal

I'd not put that much time into it really, just a few hours on a Sunday. Nothing is wasted as it all came from my coupe and would have just been packed into storage if I'd not done this. There's no way it would have held together on track.

Everyone needs to make sure their inner sills are good, I guess the endoscope Aldi were selling would be good for this. next job for me is to check the saloon and the weekend.
I've just bought a Lexus ls400 for moving the family around in, it's so comfortable and quiet, perfect for a new baby. I've had a look round under that and considering it's older than the brava and both mareas and doesn't have half as much under body sealant there isn't any rust at all on it, in fact underneath you'd think it was a car built only five years ago!

Anyway, some pics of the brava for us all to learn from




After minimal attack

well condolences and congratulations all at the same time..

It's a shame, but I've got a lot on at the min and I really want my coupe back on the road

Shame about that Steve, maybe the title of the thread was right in the end...

Can you explain the rot you found, it's not 100% clear from the photos. It seems that maybe it's mostly from the bottom inner edge of the sill, creeping up from along the main lower seam between the floorpan and the sill?

If your coupe is OK does that mean that you sprayed wayoyl in from the car side of the sills, drilling holes at various points along it (or with a long spray hose) ?

I've really protected my Brava from below by stripping the failing underseal and derusting and painting a couple of years ago, so hopefully I'm OK for now.

Yes it looks like the rust has crept up through the sill edges' it's then attacked the floor. My coupe has been treated from new, which is a good thing as the sills are a complex structural part of the car.
I've since looked in both my mareas and they are like the brava although not quite as bad, but the rust is there.

Hiya, if it's not too much trouble, could you please post a mini-guide here for the rest of us to follow, detailing how best to access the interior of the sills, what parts to take off, and how, I have every intention of keeping my car as long as possible, and so not attacking this job like an amateur would be nice.
thanks.

steve - don't suppose you have a useable power steering banjo joint / pipe section / pressure switch salvaged from the original 1.2?

Mine developed the leaking switch syndrome and dumped all its fluid.. I found some older threads where they said you could plug the inside hole of the switch as a temp-ish fix... I did that but then sheared the brass neck off the switch when I over-tightened it against the O-ring.. :bang:

Anyway I've plugged it with liquid metal so it's working without the switch, but I am trying to figure out how much of the banjo / pipe assembly I have to swap and how to do it.

Any suggestions welcome.

Steve, did you scrap / strip / dump the Brava?

Might there be any bits still available?

Need to sort my passenger rear window regulator and front door lock units... failed after 14 years and 155,000 miles.