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Cinquecento My New Cinq: The First VanAaken Turbo.

Introduction

Well i thought id do a proper Members Motors post on my latest Cinq, Cinq turbo with a bit of background history and show progress as we go..

Yes i know, i couldnt stay away long, sold my Abarth last month and always wanted a turbo, and this one has a good history with it, plus its a good little project!

Well i went to collect and it looked like this..
Tub_1.jpg

Tub_2.jpg


Was quite surprised when i turned up at the condition considering id only seen these pictures of it, and agreed the price from that..
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The car was vandalised whilst it was owned by Custard, then Urchin bought it midway through it being broken, then i bought it off him.. Paintwork not half as bad as i thought it would be, spent ages cleaning/cutting and waxing every nook and cranny, even the oil/grease in the boot etc so its gleaming yellow all over.

A bit of history behind the car: The first registered owner was Van Aaken themselves, hence the graphics, it was the first turbo cinq and was their development car, it was featured in AutoItalia magazine in 1997, Article was titled "Mighty Mouse" 110bhp quoted with a full review and comparison to a modified NA with 6speed etc (yellow version of my old cinq by the sounds of spec and abarth kit etc!).

The car came with most of the bits to get it back on the road, the engine bay was pretty dirty so we cleaned that up and got the autosol out so polished up all the metal bits like the oilcooler and re-routed some of the wires/hoses. It came with the original 14" KN Minators (minilite style) which were in the magazine article, we will be refurbing soon and getting them on, hoping to get the car ready for early spring/summer 08 but as one my insurance policies is due for renewal in October i may try and convince dad to give up a few more weekends, get a move on and get it done for then!

Craig
Re: My New Cinq: The First VanAaken Turbo

Progress Over the Weekend:
Saturday - travelled up to Reading to strip a yellow cinq, took us just under 2hours to strip and we came away with both wings, doors, boot, bonnet, front bumper, radiator, headlights, all seats, roof lining and a few alloys with new tyres on. Set me back £180 which i dont think is too bad, the car was on 105k and had blown up a few engines and gearboxes in its time, and as the owner had 3 of them in his Grale garage he thought he'd just break this one up.
Sunday - fitted radiator, filled up the coolant, checked oil etc, fitted RaidX air filter, reconnected/wired some of the shabby wiring, ran it for a bit, the TB has got a few pipes not connected so need to get that sorted, Thinking that could be the reason why the injection light keeps flashing possibly.. Then got on with fitting panels, got the PS wing and door on, then bonnet and bumper, now front end is all the same colour, then fitted the new sporting alloys on the PS and both OEM Headlights so it looks tidier from the road, definate improvement.
Project Turbo is going a lot quicker than i thought it would, so much so that my Cabby isnt getting any attention at the mo!
Progress Pic:
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Craig
 
Re: My New Cinq: The First VanAaken Turbo

Last night:
Went out to try and get the idle right so checked out the TB hoses, the Charcoal one was connected to one of the Air Suction pipes so switched that over, not really any improvement, Engine Management Light still flashing :confused:..
Also had some Yellow Abarth Skirts delivered :cool:
How im thinking of refurbing the wheels:
TubCinqYellowKNs_copy.jpg

Opinions?
Craig
 
Re: My New Cinq: The First VanAaken Turbo

I reckon you should keep it as it appeared in AI - IIRC it had the silver KNs and no Abarth bits.

Dunno if it's crossed your mind, but I think Custard said that PGT brakes foul the spokes.
 
Re: My New Cinq: The First VanAaken Turbo

I reckon you should keep it as it appeared in AI - IIRC it had the silver KNs and no Abarth bits.

Dunno if it's crossed your mind, but I think Custard said that PGT brakes foul the spokes.

Yea i was thinking about keeping it as it was in the article but there have been abarth skirts fitted in the past and all the Tigerseal is on the shell so im going to stick the Abarth skirts as i think they make cinqs look alot better anyway.. I may just do the wheels silver, one of those things ive got to really think about, as then its only had abarth skirts added since the feature (which im going to get blown up and stuck in the windows for shows)
The PGT brakes are not on the car afaik, as ive got 13s on there at the moment, Custard must of taken them off..
 
Re: My New Cinq: The First VanAaken Turbo

good to see it being brought back :)

pretty sure that the PGT calipers did catch the 14" wheels. the PGT brakes were taken off in the end cos they wouldn't bleed right i think.
 
Re: My New Cinq: The First VanAaken Turbo

yeah you will never get gt calipers under there im afraid.i never tried spacers but it just seemed way to much work.

Ahh well, i'll keep it standard for a bit as ive gotta get it on the road first anyway then maybe try some of my million spacers in the shed if i do decide to go GT route.. or just go uprated standard as then i can put on 13s if i ever need to..
 
Re: My New Cinq: The First VanAaken Turbo

Did it originally have a Van Aaken logo down the right hand side too? Would be great to see it as it was. A true piece of Fiat history. Would not look out of place on the main concourse at an Auto Italia meet along with Abarth 500s.
 
Re: My New Cinq: The First VanAaken Turbo

Did it originally have a Van Aaken logo down the right hand side too? Would be great to see it as it was. A true piece of Fiat history. Would not look out of place on the main concourse at an Auto Italia meet along with Abarth 500s.

No it had the VanAaaken logo as it is now, and the telephone number down the other side, but the guy who bought it off VA was asked if he wanted them to take them off, he said leave the decal but take off the number.. Makes the car imo..
 
Re: My New Cinq: The First VanAaken Turbo

Heard you'd bought this matey, not spoken for ages must catch up at some point.. Good to see you cracking on with it, with far more pace than i have with mine atm i might add :( (although got new panels to go on now :))

Have you still got that little project that you were making for the red one?? you gotta do it now you got a cinq again now!!!

You can try get them ronals on there now see if its possible for me before i go spending money lol.

Hope to catch you soon chief..
 
Re: My New Cinq: The First VanAaken Turbo

Heard you'd bought this matey, not spoken for ages must catch up at some point.. Good to see you cracking on with it, with far more pace than i have with mine atm i might add :( (although got new panels to go on now :))

Have you still got that little project that you were making for the red one?? you gotta do it now you got a cinq again now!!!

You can try get them ronals on there now see if its possible for me before i go spending money lol.

Hope to catch you soon chief..

hey mate, yea long time no speak! dont think i can do the project which is a shame! i was thinking about trying the ronals but i dont have wobblys otherwise i would :p
 
Re: My New Cinq: The First VanAaken Turbo

ahhh fair play mate, this is looking better each time i see a pic! anymore news over the last couple of days? and did you work out the engine managment part?
will.
 
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