(G) 1988 MK1 Uno 70SL Restoration Project

My pet project to restore a 1988 Uno 70SL is well underway now. I am running a project website here: http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~cheyne.g/index.html if you are interested.

It is now completely stripped down and we are beginning the body work. I have managed to find three replacement doors, I just need to find a front passenger door now, and a Turbo boot for the rear. I'm preparing these for paint now.


Before

After

I am really pleased to have not found any serious rust anywhere during the tear down process. I will have to replace the driver's side lower A-Arm as that is rusty, but as the wreckers have 5 unos at the moment that shouldn't be a problem. It'll also need a new exhaust, but I was planning on changing that anyway.

Once I have achieved that it should be ready for its Warrant of Fitness. Then I plan to start tweaking it to make it a bit more fun for the odd Motorkhana and Hillclimb event.

Any tips or suggestions will be warmly received

Looks like an interesting project - a similar model to my 70SX except in white! And I envy you being able to go out and find three good doors. In the UK nearly all Unos have rusty door bottoms (or worse). Will it be only for hillclimbing or will you use in on the road too?

I intend to keep it road registered so it will see some road use, but it is the fourth car (between 2 people) in our automotive family so it won't be a daily driver.

I am amazed at the amount of Uno parts available in New Zealand in general and in Wellington specifically. There are almost too many options with what to do with the car!

Today was devoted to body work on the Uno. I am actually quite pleased with how it is turing out so far.

I have prepped the doors, bonnet and front wings ready for painting.





Old vs New

I also located a replacement bumper.


I've updated my website too.

http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~cheyne....ess_So_Far.htm

I can't wait to start putting it back together.

I have found a new set of grooved and slotted front disks and uprated calipers that will look just spiffy on it.

Here is a picture of the new set of brakes that will soon be adorning my Uno:



They are 128 Calipers with EBC Greenstuff 2000 Pads and Grooved Rotors.

Does anyone know if I'll have to upgrade the Master Cylinder or not?

Hello YTUNO,

Looked through your website - good effort!

I like your silver steel wheels - quite 'retro' - they are similar to 128 saloon standard wheels but without the hubcaps.

The brakes - not sure why you are changing the Uno calipers to older 128 calipers - I don't think there is any functional difference except that the 128 calipers are more likely to be corroded/seized by now. I think, if you were looking for an upgrade, you need Uno Turbo front discs. The only worthwhile 'upgrade' for the master cylinder is a new one. Having said that, you can fit a Punto master cylinder and booster (I have not done this, but I have seen it done).

Don't want to sound too critical but I suspect that some of your rust may be back in the future - generally it needs new metal to be welded in to replace entire rusted/pitted areas, e.g. in windscreen frame. But what you have done is certainly better than nothing.

Incidentally, rust on control arms is usually fairly superficial - the bigger concern is the state of the balljoint at the outer end. When that balljoint wears out, the handling becomes dodgy. New arms are available from Autolign, at a random price between $75 each and $150 each (I paid $75 each for mine).

How is the interior? The older 70S model (1984-86) seemed to have a better quality of carpet and trim, and may be worth finding in a wreckers.

Keep us posted with the good work

-Alex

Thanks for the compliment on the website and the retro steelies They came up a lot better than I thought and sure look better than the original 13" jobbies.

Otherwise, you can be as critical as you want. I wouldn't have put up a website and advertised it on a Fiat forum if I couldn't accept constructive criticism. Especially from someone who has been there and done that like you

The reason I went for the 128 callipers is that they offer more surface area on the pads than the Uno ones. The ones that I have have just been fully refurbished so are good to go. The front disks are for the Uno, they are just grooved. I got the callipers for a good price so I figured that it was worth it for a small improvement. Especially as the original ones were pretty manky.

I am aware that I am fighting a never-ending battle with the rust. I will replace the passenger front door once I find a good one, so the current repair is really just to get through the warrant. The window rust isn't that bad, so hopefully I can keep that at bay until my welding skills are up to par.

I had hoped that the rust on the control arm was just surface rust, but alas, when I tapped it with a hammer it pretty much crumbled. I bought a second hand one from Auckland for $70 including freight that has really good bushes and the joint is in good condition too. So yay for that

The interior is really good. It needs a good clean, but apart from that it is in perfect condition. Well, except for the driver's set which has worn on the side bolster (I will need a racing seat eventually anyway). Even the carpet is still holding together. I think that before the previous owner got hold of it, it had been well cared for. The previous to the previous owner owned it for 9 years and seemed to have looked after it.

I try to update the website after each weekend so I certainly keep you guys posted.

Cheers

Cheyne