Bravo (Classic) Van with a difference!!!.

Re: Van with a difference!!!

i like the idea of this,what 'toys ' you got in mind ?

Re: Van with a difference!!!

My current daily hack has some toys that will be transferred over eg the novelty horns, polys, 6 speed box, sound system etc. I also fully intend on putting an emergency hardwire in the sill to open the window with a battery (i have been locked out before), the subs will be installed with a quick release if necessary. Those are just some of the plans/toys ill think of others as i go along! Oh and the gearknob is a must

Re: Van with a difference!!!

Right an update, even if its only a slight one!

Havnt had much time to work with this car (putting all my effort into my temp daily runner) but i did get some stuff done

Engine needs removing

Whoever maintained this car hadnt a clue!! :yuck:

Now I have a few tbs lying about. Just have to get one, clean it a bit, sand it...

... and hey presto, smoothed and polished

I bloody hate these interiors

Its very straight to be fair

Now whats missing in this photo..

Now the windows have to go

(That Seicento is a brilliant little car!!) And thats it for the moment, blast the lack of time I may have it going for the next update

Re: Van with a difference!!!

so you doing a complete renovation of that bravo? new engine etc etc?
will be a good project

Re: Van with a difference!!!

It will be like my last Bravo but with a few major differences eg relocation of the battery, van conversion etc. The engine is totaled along with the box, Ill be using the one from my old Bravo in it. Then hopefully the one in my garage will be put in its place in due time (finances permitting) Hoping it all goes to plan!

Re: Van with a difference!!!

Ive just realised, the way the car is parked looks kinda fimiliar...


Coincidence....??


(I couldnt resist, I miss my Bravo quite alot )

Not realy an update but I did get some stuff done in half an hour, seating for one and no friendly plastic guards atall


But I need more time! What will be done for the next update I wonder.... :yum:

Re: Van with a difference!!!

it's like starting with a blank canvas.

Re: Van with a difference!!!

what did you use to clean + polish the TB with?

Re: Van with a difference!!!

MickeyBravo said:

what did you use to clean + polish the TB with?

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To clean: Standard cellulose thinners on a rag

To smooth: P60 + P400 grit sand paper

To polish: P1800 wet and dry + lots and lots of patience!!!

Ive did this before on my old Bravo and it worked very well (the difference was instantly noticable, much better response and sound). Why did I do this again when I already had one done before? To see if I could still do it

Re: Van with a difference!!!

cheers for that,ill take note of what i need

Ive never done anything like that but have always wanted to,and tbh it could do with a good clean anyway (even if i dont smooth/polish it).

may aswell give it a go end of month as itll be coming off the rd then.

Cheers
Mike

Re: Van with a difference!!!

ooh great, thanks Mal..i might try that myself, i could do with more response low down
how long roughly did it take ? cause i think i might do it this sunday

and mike when i took my tb off, without polishing it, it still came up really nice...and theres normally quite a bit of greasy oil inside too..tis good to clean it out once in a while

Re: Van with a difference!!!

MickeyBravo said:

cheers for that,ill take note of what i need

Ive never done anything like that but have always wanted to,and tbh it could do with a good clean anyway (even if i dont smooth/polish it).

may aswell give it a go end of month as itll be coming off the rd then.

Cheers
Mike

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Your best bet is to clean it up realy well first then take it in small steps on how much to take off and trial running it. Its alright for me that has 5 to play with for the one car, if you get another tb first and experiment that would be the way to go. If it goes wrong the car wont run right atall, it will be getting the wrong amount of air and totally wrong airflow, trust me ive been there...!

Bravo16VSpoonz said:

ooh great, thanks Mal..i might try that myself, i could do with more response low down
how long roughly did it take ? cause i think i might do it this sunday

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Im afraid to say it took over 5 hours to do the sanding....!!! A good clean is a good start though and dosent take that long

Re: Van with a difference!!!

Update time Be warned I got pic heavy!! :devil:

First things first, the car is still not running but I felt I had to share this with everyone here

To begin with the car had to be relocated for the space to whip the engine out

Note the comedy ride height. Its abnormally high....

About 20 minutes later: Progress

Wait a minute...

And that shouldnt be rusty either...

Ah not to worry, some hammerite will sort that The engines ready to come out But I need a second person. Onto the interior, or whats left of it

I despise those steering wheels, theyre sooooo ugly When the interior is fully out I have this for it. Keep the heat in the winter, keep the heat out in summer

While I'm still waiting I decided to clean up my stinky manifold

Now I couldnt get the light to shine in right but the difference after was day and night. Just like the adaptor for the tb

Job done, time for a coffee

Reinforcement has arrived so its time to take that engine out Its been freezing since the last photo...


20 minutes later...

Horay! Eh wait a minute that definetly dosent look right...

The so called mechanic that serviced this car put on a belt for a 1.2 8v :doh: Fortunate that the belt didnt break...

The previous owner said he stopped driving the car because it lost all gears. Ah this is the common diff failure so, simple to fix Time to split the box from the engine...

Hang on somethings not right about that Lets take it off fully...

WTF????!!!!!!!!!

I have never seen that happen before, ever. Even the couplings didnt escape the torture

Maintained? By what a madman thats trigger happy with an airgun? This is by far the worst maintained Fiat weve ever had. To sum it all up, when we lifted the box up...

Words just failed me. I didnt get pictures of the injector rail bolts that were rang off. Or the missing manifold studs. Or the coil pack thats glued on. Or how tatty the loom is. Its a disgrace that a Fiat was let go into this condition What wonders will I find next? I cant wait...

Re: Van with a difference!!!

Looking forward to seeing what you do with this mate

Re: Van with a difference!!!

Blimey looks like its had a hard life. I notice all the bolts and dowels have snapped off on the flywheel, is the clutch the right one or where the dowels ground off to fit it?

Im enjoying the pics

Re: Van with a difference!!!

The more pics the better!

Will keep watching this with interest!

Re: Van with a difference!!!

mattsfiat said:

Looking forward to seeing what you do with this mate

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Cheers! I'm looking foreward to what else is out of the ordinary on this car

Adrian Bravo said:

Blimey looks like its had a hard life. I notice all the bolts and dowels have snapped off on the flywheel, is the clutch the right one or where the dowels ground off to fit it?

Im enjoying the pics

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And there was me thinking this car had it handy, online pictures can be deceiving!! What we think happened was the clutch needed replacing (that is a new clutch btw, even if it is unusable) so they got someone to do it that overtightened the bolts, along with some hard driving (the bushes and ball joints are in bits) and to set it all off the common diff failure, which when goes causes an unholy mess in the bell housing (been there twice ). The release bearing actually had been crushed into a grey paste in some parts... Just goes to show, I thought I'd seen it all!!


Time for more pics
A daylight pic with no engine to begin with

Now I knew that the exhaust was rotten but come on how could anyone not notice the racket inside?! A closer look at the subframe....

Oh dear, rust

These cars are rust proofed, how did this happen???
Now onto the well maintained engine
Scuffed power steering pump pully probably explains why this one has packed up

The worst oil that came out of an engine was in a 1987 Fiat Regatta, which went into tar and cruds when it hit the pan :yuck: this isnt too far behind

What quality oil I thought, perfect for mending the roads Now this got me curious on the plugs, what would I find? Would it be too much to expect the twin electrode plugs these cars take? Only one way to find out

And after alot of screeching I find these

They were so tight I twisted my shoulder trying to get them out Although not the worst I've ever had to take out... When I'm slightly better I'll be out to attack it again

Re: Van with a difference!!!

Bit of an update, couldnt do much due to that cursed snow

Had a poke round one night and found more rust


And a true quality repair job

Needless to say, they were duly ripped off there and then just have to fill in the holes now


I was slightly better earlier toady and I had the weather so I had another shot at the car

Rust treatment, die rust die :devil:



The interior is nearly ready, just need the door cards out and the roof lining out


Which leads onto the back bumper, or lack of one I hope to have my jap style bumper finished in time for this car...


And 30 mins after that photo was taken...


Then my shoulder went again Because its gone again, changing the subframe will be put on hold for a little while. Wonder what I'll have done for the next update... :chin:

Re: Van with a difference!!!

wooow the pictures make it look like a fun job, but doing it, im sure is alot different feeling.

and some of those pictures take me back, when i took my car to pieces.. glad i aint going back there again.

ill look forward to more updates!!