Bob Wobbaz
New member
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2015
- Messages
- 6
- Points
- 2
Hi everyone, I've been lurking on the forum for some time, I have to say, it's been an invaluable source of information and has helped with a number of repairs I've carried out so far on my car.
Meet Nero, he's a 2001 Seicento Abarth. I was given him by my brother for my first car, my brother had plenty of fun with this car and I hope to too. I want to get Nero all hunky dory before I pass my test. At the moment, the car is SORN and has been off the road for around 18 months. Despite this, it's a cracking little car, starts first time every time and feels nice and responsive still. Had a head gasket change before being brought onto the drive.
Had a pretty nightmarish start with this restoration, over winter the seal for the ragtop was not quite good enough. After some heavy storms I opened my door to find that my car had a new feature! A nice au natural foot spa. Yep, the footwell on the drivers side had a nice well of water... also the seats were water stained, roof lining stained and the inside stunk of damp. Had to take EVERYTHING out and dry in the house, then do a full cleansing of the upholstery.
So, what's been done so far? Well;
Stained the roof lining black to match interior
Sprayed vents new colour
New seats and headrests (abarth spec obviously )
Alloy wheels, repaired all flat spots and sprayed gun metal grey
Electric sunroof motor and linkage fixed
Boot connector replaced, rear wiper, heated window now working again
New central brake lights fitted (LEDs burned out on the old one)
New brake callipers added
Wiper motor and linkage replaced (old one had completely seized over winter)
Minor dents pulled out
What's left to do.
New brake discs (bought some nice brembo ones, just need mounting)
New rear brake drums and shoes (again, bought just need mounting)
Oil filter and oil change (bought and bought)
New coolant tank (noticed it hissing and it looks pretty worn, have sourced a replacement)
New radiator (looks pretty knackered)
Possibly change the suspension struts, noticed the car is slightly leaning to the right. My guess is the gas struts are beginning to fail, they've never been replaced.
Full engine block clean and de-gunking
Right, I've been under my car and I've become a little concerned with some rust I've spotted. It's near the sills. I've taken the seats out, had the carpet up and see no rust coming through there so that's a relief. Drivers side, the paint has come away somewhat but there is no rust there.
Now for the underside
The rust goes back from the sill about 2-3 cm, a little flakey. What's the best course of action to remedy this? My brother has said to get at it with a wire brush or the scrub wheel attachment for my drill and sand it off, then get some underbody seal. Does it look THAT bad? I'm a bit concerned if I'm honest.
Other thing I wanted to ask, the drainage disc in the bottom of the boot, under the spare wheel, is that meant to be loose? Because mine is... It's like a mini paint tin lid rattling about and the fact that there's a hole under it to the floor that I could get my arm through also concerns me. I was considering fitting it back in place with milliputt.
Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated!
Meet Nero, he's a 2001 Seicento Abarth. I was given him by my brother for my first car, my brother had plenty of fun with this car and I hope to too. I want to get Nero all hunky dory before I pass my test. At the moment, the car is SORN and has been off the road for around 18 months. Despite this, it's a cracking little car, starts first time every time and feels nice and responsive still. Had a head gasket change before being brought onto the drive.
Had a pretty nightmarish start with this restoration, over winter the seal for the ragtop was not quite good enough. After some heavy storms I opened my door to find that my car had a new feature! A nice au natural foot spa. Yep, the footwell on the drivers side had a nice well of water... also the seats were water stained, roof lining stained and the inside stunk of damp. Had to take EVERYTHING out and dry in the house, then do a full cleansing of the upholstery.
So, what's been done so far? Well;
Stained the roof lining black to match interior
Sprayed vents new colour
New seats and headrests (abarth spec obviously )
Alloy wheels, repaired all flat spots and sprayed gun metal grey
Electric sunroof motor and linkage fixed
Boot connector replaced, rear wiper, heated window now working again
New central brake lights fitted (LEDs burned out on the old one)
New brake callipers added
Wiper motor and linkage replaced (old one had completely seized over winter)
Minor dents pulled out
What's left to do.
New brake discs (bought some nice brembo ones, just need mounting)
New rear brake drums and shoes (again, bought just need mounting)
Oil filter and oil change (bought and bought)
New coolant tank (noticed it hissing and it looks pretty worn, have sourced a replacement)
New radiator (looks pretty knackered)
Possibly change the suspension struts, noticed the car is slightly leaning to the right. My guess is the gas struts are beginning to fail, they've never been replaced.
Full engine block clean and de-gunking
Right, I've been under my car and I've become a little concerned with some rust I've spotted. It's near the sills. I've taken the seats out, had the carpet up and see no rust coming through there so that's a relief. Drivers side, the paint has come away somewhat but there is no rust there.
Now for the underside
The rust goes back from the sill about 2-3 cm, a little flakey. What's the best course of action to remedy this? My brother has said to get at it with a wire brush or the scrub wheel attachment for my drill and sand it off, then get some underbody seal. Does it look THAT bad? I'm a bit concerned if I'm honest.
Other thing I wanted to ask, the drainage disc in the bottom of the boot, under the spare wheel, is that meant to be loose? Because mine is... It's like a mini paint tin lid rattling about and the fact that there's a hole under it to the floor that I could get my arm through also concerns me. I was considering fitting it back in place with milliputt.
Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated!