I'm sold, i want one lol

Get the price down to £110 and I will have one.

i recon most of us could build one for less than 100 quid.. whether it would be safe if i made it is another question though

Update

Long time no post! Just been enjoying driving the Punto without too many (major) problems. Using it as a daily commuting 50 miles each day from Bromley to Maidstone and back without too much trouble.

Whilst getting both my girlfiend's Mini and my old fiesta MOT'd for my sister last month (which gave me loads of rear brake headaches), I checked the MOT expiry date on the Punto and it turned out to be the 20th September (not far off!). Wanting as much time as possible to tackle any unforeseen issues, I booked it in with the garage local to work on Monday 4th without too much prep work (just inflated tyres and fluids), meaning I could still drive about on the existing MOT certificate while getting any work done.

As expected, poor Paddy failed on a couple of things, but not as bad as expected! Failures were:

- Rear brake light offside not working (knew about this as it's an intermittant problem, not the bulb and have just received 2nd hand light cluster to replace existing)
- Nearside inner CV boot perished & letting in debris (knew about this from previous wheel balancing)
- Nearside steering rack gaiter split (mentioned when I had wheel bearing & tracking done
- Rear parking brake below efficiency requirements
- Rear offside parking brake little/no force
- Failed emissions on high CO on 2nd fast idle test

Advisories were
- Inner side of all tyres worn
- Nearside outer CV boot torn but not letting in debris

So overall not too bad, plan of action over the next week is:
- replace rear light cluster using same bulbs and hope brake light issue is solved

- picked up set of rear brake shoes to put in this week, which will hopefully solve parking brake issue along with adjusting handbrake cable

- Emissions wise I've got a new air filter to go in, and picked a bottle of Wynn's Clean Burn (already gone in the tank) and Emissions Buster(?) I got for cheap off ECP while getting the brake shoes. The car had been left sitting in the garage car park all morning before the test at 12:15, but these bits should hopefully bring my Carbon Monoxide levels down under 0.20% (was 0.63%). I've also been driving the car a bit harder to get the revs up a bit, and will do so before bringing it in for a retest.

- All the boots/gaiter work I'm going to get the garage to do next week. £90 for inner CV boot replacement + outer boot on the same side (advisory) only the cost of part + £37.50 for steering rack gaiter I already have the part for = around £150 all in. After my experience with the CV boots while replacing the clutch, I'm happy to pay this as I don't want to deal with that mess again!

So it's looking positive from my point of view, especially as there was no mention of rust that the welding for the previous MOT was done to fix. I was kind of hoping they would highlight any problems with the rear suspension (bushes etc), but I guess I'll have to figure those out on my own!

Will update sometime next week, maybe with some photos as well!

50 miles a day?! Respect!! I wouldn't want to do that in any car, lol!

puntofan01 said:

50 miles a day?! Respect!! I wouldn't want to do that in any car, lol!

Click to expand...

Back when I first started this job and still living at my parents' around 3 years ago, I was commuting about 50 miles EACH WAY in the Punto! Probably why the headgasket went about 2 months later!

tbh i dont think 50 miles a day is that much.. i know loads of people that do way more daily. I used to do 48miles everyday and its not that bad unless your route is a busy traffic route really.

Fair enough. My daily commute is about 8 miles, lol!

this is my usual commute atm

Bad & Good News

another quick update

went back to garage on Tuesday to book Punto in for CV boot and steering rack gaiter work - no availability til Monday (after final retest date of Friday) - panic follows

rang round a couple of places and found a garage local to me in Bromley that could fit me in before the end of the week, for probably cheaper than the original MOT garage (dropped it in that evening as well!).
Nearside inner and outer CV boots done, nearside steering rack gaiter (the one I bought was wrong size), plus he adjusted my handbrake for me and gave the car a bit of a once over which was an added bonus. £150 all in

Chucked a bottle of 'Magic Bullet Emissions Buster' into half a tank that evening (in addition to Wynn's clean burn the tank before) in preparation for a retest on Thursday. In addition to the 25 mile drive to work (ragging it) I took the car out at lunch before dropping into the MOT garage (again ragging it). Left it with them for a few hours (was hoping they'd test straight away ) and when I called up later was told it had failed again. Everything else fine except emissions, CO actually higher this time at 0.8 compared to 0.6! :bang:

So no chance of making the retest date, and another £50 down the pan.

So.....after a bout of depression and then acceptance, did some thinking and gave my 'new' garage near home a call. Have ordered a new type-approved Cat for around £50 and a new lambda sensor for around £26 (ebay stores), and will bring Punto in to them next week before MOT runs out on the 20th.

fingers crossed

Re: Bad & Good News

i do enjoy the updates on this thread.. best of luck with the retest.

recieved new cat and lambda sensor in the post his week, and have put the Punto in for a fresh MOT at the new garage today. Will see how they get on, and replace whichever parts necessary over the weekend (unless they fudge it through! :devil



Thinking back there was one evening coming home from work last week with heavy rain, I went through a fairly big puddle after coming off the motorway and the car started running like sh*t. Could have been that the lambda sensor got wet where it is on the front of the downpipe, which has ruined it and thus meaning my emissions are out? (altho some people have post-Cat O2 sensors right under the car, surely these get soaking wet all the time?)

We'll wait and see anyway!

water will only effect it if there is bare wires or the waterproof connector not being very waterproof anymore for whatever reason. The puddle probably splashed up near the coils or something and cause some poor sparking while it dried off, or that would be my guess.

Good luck for the MOT!

so.... apologies for the lack of news (attempted an update the other day but FiatForum timed out), but the Punto passed it's MOT eventually!

I ended up replacing the Cat and the lambda sensor before bringing it back in to the garage. The test centre they brought it to highlighted a couple of 'new' advisories (much to the annoyance of my new mechanic), but in the end passed with emissions now all OK.




One of the advisories included worn/perished front upper engine mount. I believe this is linked to a new noise which has started happening since i installed the new Cat, when the engine physically knocks on startup, and sometimes going over bumps. I was using a rubber mallet to persuade some bits of the exhaust into place while installing the car, which may have put stress on the engine mounts, but not sure. After having a feel round the mounting point under the battery I'm pretty sure it could do with replacing, unit like this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/7765891-ENGINE-MOUNTING-LEFT-FIAT-PUNTO-Mk1-1-1i-1-2i-1-7D-1-7TD/282568924607?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

The noise at the righthand rear of the car has also got worse, now with grinding/rubbing when reversing and grinding/knocking when turning hard to the left. I believe this is down to failed rear trailing arm bearing, and managed to snap up a complete arm for £25! to be installed in the next few weeks


other jobs on the horizon now will be:
- reinstall anti-roll bar after measuring up and buying some new rubber/poly bushes
- potentially reinstall old factory shock absorbers, as the aftermarket 'sport' ones are getting on my nerves with the amount of potholes/bumps in my area
- wind deflectors


any comments/suggestions welcome as always!

Excellent work in keeping this little beast on the road and in good working condition! Congratulations mate

so.... been a while and I must apologise for lack of updates.

I did get round to replacing the rear right trailing arm not long after my last post (and not long before the cold weather came!)

Wasn't too bad a job but required a lot a huffing and puffing working the old arm free. I also managed to do it all without having to remove the rear brake drum which was a plus, and was able to cable tie it out of the way as I removed and replaced the arm. removing the hub nut and wheel bearing was a bit of a faff but wasn't too bad (from what I remember 3 months ago!)

did it over the course of a weekend


old arm and brake drum removed, and the buggered trialing arm bearing as you can see!





bits swapped to new arm and in it goes




that last one is the big bolt going through the whole assembly which is the pivot point of the arm. no washer came with the kit (or on the existing bolt), but I think I should have used one as I sometimes get a squeaking noise from that corner going over light bumps)

Anyway the knocking noise is now gone and the rear end seems to feel a bit more stable when moving. The accidental camber is also gone and the wheel sits perpendicular with the road for once!

Couple more updates coming soon once I find the photos

Keep up the grand work keeping this rare classic on the road! You should be extremely proud of yourself for what you have achieved.

thanks for the kind words, especially during these dark depressing winter months You might not have such kind things to say after this post....

First off, forgot to add that I emptied my oil catch can as I thought it was overflowing, turned out that the level gauge was probably blocked with gunk and there wasn't much in it. Still not that nice what came out, may add some steel wool/tights inside to help capture more stuff.


Now for more juicy news. A week or so after I completed that job back in October, and after many months of receiving them, an Gumtree search alert pointed me in the direction of a VW Corrado VR6 not too far from me, sold as a non-runner but otherwise in good nick. It was exactly what I'd been looking for as it had solid bodywork after a recent refurb but the owner (paint and bodywork guy) but quite a severe mechanical issue that he didn't have the time/patience/expertise to fix (serious misfire not caused by ignition system).

So went to view it and a week later I was back with a tow truck company and a (not too thick) wad of cash, and since then it's been sitting down the back of my parents driveway (where the punto sat for 2 years) while I gather tools and knowledge to fix it.

Funnily enough this exact car had been the subject of a Car Throttle 'future classic for cheap' type article, as it had been on eBay a few months earlier before the engine problem started (for a lot more money!)

Behold, the next project!


So this is partly the reason I've not updated this thread, as I've been spending a bit of time of the Corrado forums bookmarking useful stuff. The car is a bit tatty here and there other than the great bodywork, so once the engine's up and running it will become a rolling project not unlike Paddy punto.

Speaking of, this doesn't mean I have plans to get rid of the Punto, especially as I still daily it and don't know how long the Corrado will be sat there waiting for me to wrench on it!
I have however since bought a compression tester and various VW specific tools for the teardown, just need a few weekends free!

Also Punto related recent purchases that I'll have progress on soon:
- Anti-roll bar end bushes (finally)
- Heko Wind deflector set (treated myself)
- Front right engine mount

Comments welcome, hope you're all well!

It looks beautiful & you have put in a lot of work into it. Had me puzzled how you had such a perfect car under the bonnet till I read some of your post. It’s a labour of love. Fiat needs so much attention for to have them mobile and sometimes they have a mind of their own.

Even if you stop driving Paddy, you should definitely keep hold of him, otherwise someone will just rip the engine out to put into a cinquecento, and scrap the rest of the car.