So after owning it for some time now ive decided its staying.. and therefore i may aswell make a thread for it...

Firstly this isnt going to be a huge build for a fast cento.. ive got the cinq for that... this is going to be a running restoration/daily driver with a few subtle improvements

So here it is... as i got it.. in not a terrible state but in need of a good clean up..

No pics?.
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Lecook said:

So after owning it for some time now ive decided its staying.. and therefore i may aswell make a thread for it...

Firstly this isnt going to be a huge build for a fast cento.. ive got the cinq for that... this is going to be a running restoration/daily driver with a few subtle improvements

So here it is... as i got it.. in not a terrible state but in need of a good clean up..

View attachment 180383View attachment 180384View attachment 180385View attachment 180386

Click to expand...

agreed - the pics are not opening..,

have a quick look while they are still open for editing..

if it's a bug let BEN know.. , he seemed to be saying server space was in demand recently..:chin:

alfacool said:

No pics?.
Invalid Attachment specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the administrator

Click to expand...

varesecrazy said:

agreed - the pics are not opening..,

have a quick look while they are still open for editing..

if it's a bug let BEN know.. , he seemed to be saying server space was in demand recently..:chin:

Click to expand...

sorry guys i uploaded on my phone.. edited and fixed





ill upload some pics later with the progress... plenty has gone on

so as the upload from my phone was terrible ive decided to go back to the good old pc method

so much history with this thing.. i was going to run it out of mot and then break it but its just too good for that...

nearly full history from new with the exception of a few




and some old paperwork... note rockingham cars (abarth dealer)




so i decided to keep the poor thing after failing to sell for a sensible price...
first things first... it needed a bloody good clean..











It came up alright imo...











not bad for a 100k+ mile car right???

next was the inside... it was a bit of a state inside and in need of a good cleaning.. seats were stained with what i assume was where the sunroof had leaked at some point... the carpets and mats were full of dirt and dust.....










so out came the seats for a good scrub and clean... left indoors to dry properly....





and as you do... whilst the seats were out... :devil::devil:



the belts were removed and replaced with a spare set of cinq ones... nice and subtle but it improves thin interior 100% ......

seats and belts in.. after a good hoover out and after scrubbing the carpet and seats....









next was the outside... the front stud kit was missing so a new set was bought...







followed later on by... a nice stainless janspeed resonated catback system....





Ooooh whats this...





yes a nice stainless supersprint manifold for a bargain price... cheers mariocinq

the current mods... 866 cam not yet fitted but in time



then came modifying the 4-2-1 to reach to the janspeed... as supersprint want nearly £100 for the joiner i decided to make one... a cheap generic joiner and a nice new flexi joint






then i cut the long old flexi out of the standard centre section (it was leaking anyway) and it was a perfect fit..



manifold in....



janspeed catback fitted...









so the tyres had seen better days and the ones that weren't bauld were perished so i got on the hunt for a full matching set for the abarth wheels...

gary was selling a set of ok condition abarth wheels with a set of new tyres fitted so a road trip down to him to collect and the sei had a fresh set of rubber and some new wheel nuts

.....







also.. engine bay... dirty...:yuck::yuck:


a quick clean up....



itg panel filter that i tried to sell numerous times and had been returned to me by mr postie multiple times... so i bunged it on.....





Tidy

i also pinched the sun visors and grab handles out of imola before she goes off to scrap in prep for when i re-trim the roof lining in black faux suede

Before....


After...





Granted it looks a little out of place at present but itll come together when the roof lining and pillar trims are re-trimmed...

still a few things left to do... lots of little bits...

the fuel tank has developed a leak on the seam so ive got this from euro car parts... it actually looks half decently made and is painted too so should last



not quite sure what this mount is for but it isnt on my current one.. anyone know???



and theres a knocking from the rear that ive assumed is the bushes in the trailing arms... so ill be replacing those one weekend with some decent quality oem ones...



oh and the whole 'im not modifying this one.... yea i was lieing :devil::devil:

a set of spax springs and a set of shocks from my good friend mick



so thats where im at currently...

im a massive fan of this little car.. it has a few faults and it isnt all completely one shade of yellow.... but it drives.. steers.. stops and most importantly makes me smile (never thought id say that about a sei) its a good reliable daily thats got a few subtle mods... mot time in june so lets see how it gets on then... and then i may dump a 1242 in it

cheers if youre still reading guys and girls and as always watch this space

so today was a b***h of a day.... i started the sei to drain the remainder of the fuel in the tank ready to swap them over... hoping it would run out of fuel...then this happened....








:bang::bang::bang::bang:

so after an hour of diagnosing the situation it turns out the radiator fan didnt want to be a fan anymore...

it ran very slowly and sometimes wouldnt start without a helping hand... it turns out there was a hard wire from on a switch to the relay that had been fitted at some point... i couldnt work out what it was when i got the car so i just disconnected it, the fan had always cut in and out without the need so i didnt trace where the feed went to.. i just removed the live feed to it...

on a more positive note...





out with the old and in with the new....


unfortunately whilst removing the back box section of the exhaust the hanger and rear bumper mount turned to dust... littereally.. so to re-mount the exhaust bracket the bumper had to come off... something i wish i hadnt had of had to do... but anyway.. the bumper came off pretty easily in fairness.. both bottom bumper brackets turned to dust.. so i savagely removed them and swiftly dumped them in the scrap pile...

i figured whilst the bumper was off id put a fresh bolt in the rear earth boss and give it s good slob of copperslip... why did i do this...
:bang::bang::bang:

A good chunk of the rear panel.. including the earth boss turned to dust... quite literally.... so a quick exhaust fix turned into 3hrs of making plates.. cutting out rot and rust and welding in new metal... a new boss and remaking part of the loom...

nothing pretty but its done and it works... and now sporting a fresh coat of BLAAAAAAAAACK



thats the first part of the welding done... the spare wheel well needs some attention before mot but thats not terrible just yet...

i managed to get the new spax 30mm springs and kyb gas shocks yesterday and i have fitted the rears today.. but today the weather brought an end to play...



so far its not cost me a fortune and i think i got away with the headgasket going but time will tell...

so far it stands me in as...
New Fuel tank (£60)
Supersprint manifold (£45 + a 4hr road trip to collect)
Supersprint to janspeed joiner section (£25 plus welding materials)
Janspeed resonated stainless steel cat back (£80)
Brand new wiper mech (£37)
spax -30mm springs with new kyb shocks and top mounts (£60)
itg panel filter (free i think it came on one of my old cars)
2x rear trailing arm bushes (£25)
new genuine stud kit (£20)
white abarth wheels with tyres (£100)

there may be other bits that i forgotten but its not that bad..

ive ordered...

Brand new radiator fan (£36)
another set of bushes for the rear arms (£25)
and no doubt when the trailing arms come off ill be replacing the solid brake lines so ill get those ordered/made ready for when the time comes..

and yet still to fit i have an 866 cam and the front shocks and springs...

so currently off the road until the rad fan is replaced... thatll give me chance to get the cinq turbo engine atleast in the engine bay ready to fit all the little bits and bobs...

cheers for looking

Lecook said:

so today was a b***h of a day.... i started the sei to drain the remainder of the fuel in the tank ready to swap them over... hoping it would run out of fuel...then this happened....

:bang::bang::bang::bang:



so after an hour of diagnosing the situation it turns out the radiator fan didnt want to be a fan anymore...



it ran very slowly and sometimes wouldnt start without a helping hand... it turns out there was a hard wire from on a switch to the relay that had been fitted at some point... i couldnt work out what it was when i got the car so i just disconnected it, the fan had always cut in and out without the need so i didnt trace where the feed went to.. i just removed the live feed to it...



on a more positive note...

out with the old and in with the new....





unfortunately whilst removing the back box section of the exhaust the hanger and rear bumper mount turned to dust... littereally.. so to re-mount the exhaust bracket the bumper had to come off... something i wish i hadnt had of had to do... but anyway.. the bumper came off pretty easily in fairness.. both bottom bumper brackets turned to dust.. so i savagely removed them and swiftly dumped them in the scrap pile...



i figured whilst the bumper was off id put a fresh bolt in the rear earth boss and give it s good slob of copperslip... why did i do this...

:bang::bang::bang:



A good chunk of the rear panel.. including the earth boss turned to dust... quite literally.... so a quick exhaust fix turned into 3hrs of making plates.. cutting out rot and rust and welding in new metal... a new boss and remaking part of the loom...



nothing pretty but its done and it works... and now sporting a fresh coat of BLAAAAAAAAACK

thats the first part of the welding done... the spare wheel well needs some attention before mot but thats not terrible just yet...



i managed to get the new spax 30mm springs and kyb gas shocks yesterday and i have fitted the rears today.. but today the weather brought an end to play...

so far its not cost me a fortune and i think i got away with the headgasket going but time will tell...



so far it stands me in as...

New Fuel tank (£60)

Supersprint manifold (£45 + a 4hr road trip to collect)

Supersprint to janspeed joiner section (£25 plus welding materials)

Janspeed resonated stainless steel cat back (£80)

Brand new wiper mech (£37)

spax -30mm springs with new kyb shocks and top mounts (£60)

itg panel filter (free i think it came on one of my old cars)

2x rear trailing arm bushes (£25)

new genuine stud kit (£20)

white abarth wheels with tyres (£100)



there may be other bits that i forgotten but its not that bad..



ive ordered...



Brand new radiator fan (£36)

another set of bushes for the rear arms (£25)

and no doubt when the trailing arms come off ill be replacing the solid brake lines so ill get those ordered/made ready for when the time comes..



and yet still to fit i have an 866 cam and the front shocks and springs...



so currently off the road until the rad fan is replaced... thatll give me chance to get the cinq turbo engine atleast in the engine bay ready to fit all the little bits and bobs...



cheers for looking

Click to expand...

Anymore updates?

I’m just about to do the same jobs, suspension, fuel tank, trailing arm bushes etc.

Is the fan a single speed on these or is it a two speed?

Sometimes the low speed resistor fails so that the fan only come on when the engine is very hot.