Hi all,
I have been on this forum for more than a year now, and I have got immense help from you all on all the car matters and what not
. I think I owe you guys with my story on the car, so here it goes ..
My name is Gihan, I’m 24 years old as of now and this is my story of me and my Bravo MK1 1996 1.4 12v.
The car was brought home on the year 2010, I was 18 at that time and I was already onto old Jeeps as we had around 5 of them. First impressions was that its weird looking, but had a unique beauty about it, it was 2 doors so it should be somewhat fast, car was low on ground clearance, I asked dad for the keys and he gave it to me as he don’t like to drive cars as he was used to driving around in jeeps of high ground clearance. Although I got the keys, I never really drove it more than 5km. This car was doing like 4km/l . Those were also the days I started my undergraduate studies.
The car was a total mess, more like a lemon car. Water leaks from the sunroof, clutch pedal goes down after 2 or 3 times shifting gears, no handbrake, car won’t start the first time easily, car won’t start for 20 minutes after a 10 minute drive, tires have been worn off, engine heat rises when stuck on traffic and what not. Now these are the issues I remember. The car ran like 500km per year as I was the only one driving around.
So I searched around the internet, fiat forum and also a local forum for mechanics and how to diagnose and fix the problems, as this is a Euro car, I knew that I have to sell my kidneys to get things fixed Please note that we are more used to Japanese vehicles where they are good on fuel economy and reliability wise and the availability on spare parts, whereas with the Euro’s, it’s the opposite.
After I found my first job, the car was neglected. It was right there in the garden getting wet and dry to rain and the sun. So one day dad went shopping in the car and he came back home in a trishaw. He told that the clutch went off in the car and he had to park on the road side as it was late in night. Next day morning we went to tow the car, but then called a random mechanic to take off the master and slave pumps of the car and then I went on my first ever shopping on car parts. Thankfully after a good 2 hours of walking, the slave pump was there and I brought it back and fixed with the help on the mechanic. This all happened in the road side . Took the car home and again it was right there in the garden getting wet and dry to rain and the sun.
Fast forward to 2 years.
I changed jobs, money problems came and decided to sell the car. Offers came for the car but my heart wouldn’t let go off her. Decided to keep it and make the repairs with my money. First thing did was put a brand new battery. Then changed the engine oil after 3.5 years. Then started going in the car like 3 days a week or so. Now comes all the hidden problems of the car.
One day I was driving and turning into a supermarket and a biker crashed on the right fender and drove away. I chased down him and scolded like hell, was hurt very much as now that the fender bender will be another cost I have to bare.
Finally put the car to fix the water leak from the sunroof. I hated every second the car was in that garage as he took weeks to fix it and also in the process somehow he managed to drop something on the windscreen and crack it. I told him to reassemble the car and then came home pissed off. Somehow managed to find a windscreen locally and fix it, meanwhile also repaired the A/C.
One day an engine knock came, sealed the gaskets and it was fixed, brake binding happened along with replacement of the clutch plate/disk. Then gave a good tune up, and also replaced the fuel pressure pump. Replaced rear wheel hubs form parts ordered though ebay, and replace the front suspension of the car. I’m yet to do a full paint on the car, but I want it mechanically sound before doing that. Last month replaced the starter motor. Last week replaced the master pump/cylinder of the clutch and replaced spark plugs. Already ordered Dayco Timing belt kit.
There are like 2-3 issues to be fixed on the car be mechanically sound, and will be in the future. But with all the problems I faced with the car, I got to know about it better. Currently I have spent like 2000 USD for the car, but it was worth it. Skipping classes, making excuses to go to garage are all for a good reason. There were a lot of moments where I got sick of everything because nothing was going right with the car. But that is the past. I couldn’t never sleep when the car was giving me issues.
Many people kicked me down, always discouraged me, laughed at me for using an almost broke Euro, and told me to go to a Japanese one, heck even my dad told me to swap with a good Japanese engine.
But somehow I made my Bravo a daily runner with genuine parts and all. Im a broke fellow now if you look at my bank statements, but the Bravo is my savings. I have put all in for this car.
There are only 2 of Bravo’s in this little paradise called Sri Lanka and I’m the proud owner of one of it.
I have been on this forum for more than a year now, and I have got immense help from you all on all the car matters and what not
. I think I owe you guys with my story on the car, so here it goes ..My name is Gihan, I’m 24 years old as of now and this is my story of me and my Bravo MK1 1996 1.4 12v.
The car was brought home on the year 2010, I was 18 at that time and I was already onto old Jeeps as we had around 5 of them. First impressions was that its weird looking, but had a unique beauty about it, it was 2 doors so it should be somewhat fast, car was low on ground clearance, I asked dad for the keys and he gave it to me as he don’t like to drive cars as he was used to driving around in jeeps of high ground clearance. Although I got the keys, I never really drove it more than 5km. This car was doing like 4km/l . Those were also the days I started my undergraduate studies.
The car was a total mess, more like a lemon car. Water leaks from the sunroof, clutch pedal goes down after 2 or 3 times shifting gears, no handbrake, car won’t start the first time easily, car won’t start for 20 minutes after a 10 minute drive, tires have been worn off, engine heat rises when stuck on traffic and what not. Now these are the issues I remember
. The car ran like 500km per year as I was the only one driving around. So I searched around the internet, fiat forum and also a local forum for mechanics and how to diagnose and fix the problems, as this is a Euro car, I knew that I have to sell my kidneys to get things fixed
Please note that we are more used to Japanese vehicles where they are good on fuel economy and reliability wise and the availability on spare parts, whereas with the Euro’s, it’s the opposite. After I found my first job, the car was neglected. It was right there in the garden getting wet and dry to rain and the sun. So one day dad went shopping in the car and he came back home in a trishaw. He told that the clutch went off in the car and he had to park on the road side as it was late in night. Next day morning we went to tow the car, but then called a random mechanic to take off the master and slave pumps of the car and then I went on my first ever shopping on car parts. Thankfully after a good 2 hours of walking, the slave pump was there and I brought it back and fixed with the help on the mechanic. This all happened in the road side . Took the car home and again it was right there in the garden getting wet and dry to rain and the sun.
Fast forward to 2 years.
I changed jobs, money problems came and decided to sell the car. Offers came for the car but my heart wouldn’t let go off her. Decided to keep it and make the repairs with my money. First thing did was put a brand new battery. Then changed the engine oil after 3.5 years. Then started going in the car like 3 days a week or so. Now comes all the hidden problems of the car.
One day I was driving and turning into a supermarket and a biker crashed on the right fender and drove away. I chased down him and scolded like hell, was hurt very much as now that the fender bender will be another cost I have to bare.
Finally put the car to fix the water leak from the sunroof. I hated every second the car was in that garage as he took weeks to fix it and also in the process somehow he managed to drop something on the windscreen and crack it. I told him to reassemble the car and then came home pissed off. Somehow managed to find a windscreen locally and fix it, meanwhile also repaired the A/C.
One day an engine knock came, sealed the gaskets and it was fixed, brake binding happened along with replacement of the clutch plate/disk. Then gave a good tune up, and also replaced the fuel pressure pump. Replaced rear wheel hubs form parts ordered though ebay, and replace the front suspension of the car. I’m yet to do a full paint on the car, but I want it mechanically sound before doing that. Last month replaced the starter motor. Last week replaced the master pump/cylinder of the clutch and replaced spark plugs. Already ordered Dayco Timing belt kit.
There are like 2-3 issues to be fixed on the car be mechanically sound, and will be in the future. But with all the problems I faced with the car, I got to know about it better. Currently I have spent like 2000 USD for the car, but it was worth it. Skipping classes, making excuses to go to garage are all for a good reason. There were a lot of moments where I got sick of everything because nothing was going right with the car. But that is the past. I couldn’t never sleep when the car was giving me issues.
Many people kicked me down, always discouraged me, laughed at me for using an almost broke Euro, and told me to go to a Japanese one, heck even my dad told me to swap with a good Japanese engine.
But somehow I made my Bravo a daily runner with genuine parts and all. Im a broke fellow now if you look at my bank statements, but the Bravo is my savings. I have put all in for this car.
There are only 2 of Bravo’s in this little paradise called Sri Lanka and I’m the proud owner of one of it
.
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