Hi all,

It's been a while since i've been around. Project 500 has finally become the BIG FIAT. Although it's still waiting for the race engine, it had its first shakedown at Elvington last week, ran really well. Suspension and brakes are fantastic. Can't wait to get more power.

Pictures up on the nitrane website.

Cheers, John

Long time no hear, glad to see and hear the cinqs doing good

Hi John,

good to see you back. I see you were in process of selling the 'grale, hope you got price for it and it went to a good home.

Cinqs looking good, so i take it the shekdown test involved the standard engine then, or did you go with the 1242cc you had as didn't the original engine have a blown HG?

What did you go for in the end braking wise?

Aaron.

Hi Aaron, 6500 for the 'grale which was disappointing, still it's only worth what someone's prepared to pay for it. Strange thing is it's off to Bulgaria!

Brakes are std with 12 groove discs, Mintex 1144s, goodridge hoses & 5.1 fluid. Plenty of effort. No fade at all despite a hard track day with lots of 95mph braking. Have considered vents but it's extra weight and they're not needed

I'd fixed the original engine so it's still standard at the moment (that's another story) except the induction kit and manifold/system. New engine nearly ready, and in over the winter.

Cheers, John

Bulgaria very ture about value tho, it is a little disspointing as from what I could see from pics it was a nice example of a 'grale, but then when you think that a newer Fiat Coupe 20VT can be had for less than £3K now, in comparrsion its held its value better, with it looking lik ethe market has leveled out and starting to show signs of going up.

I found the Mintex pads to be excellent I have them on front my car, probably best pads I've used.

Finally got round to sorting out some new wheels for the car - my main objective was to reduce weight - and i've ended up with a set of Compomotive CXRs in white. They're 13x6 with a ET30 off-set, which means i need to source different spacers, but should save about 2.5kg per corner!



Cheers, John

Wheels look good, you should notice a difference with the weight saved.

Cinq offsets are 30.5 so no need for spacers unless your changing to studs.

oh and hello John!

the front offset is actually 27.5mm due to the standard fiat 3mm spacers.

and Hi again john, loving your website... awesome work.

Re: the wheels.... even with a 6" width, id only run the standard spacers on the front and none on the back, would make sure the wheels and arches dont touch under really heavy spring compression / cornering.

plus will mean u can use the standard length bolts!

p.s: those wheels look fab, post some pics when youve got them on!

Sorry should have explained... I run 15mm spacers on studs with the std wheels - the fronts are fine at this, and the rears just touch the arches on v_hard cornering - bear in mind I run 250lbin rear springs (stds are 130lbin)!!!

The new rims are 6" wide, meaning I am out by 6mm with the 15mm spacers. I may just take Mase's advice and run them without, or just run some thin non-hubcentric spacers. I'll cover this off when I go testing in the Spring.

John

im pretty sure ive got a set of 5 or 6mm non-hubcentrics that i can send ya for the postage an packing costs if u want them john.

no good to me as i run 15mm hubcentrics with my gt wheels

Ooooh, I love those wheels. I was goint to get them but then decided to go for 14s. Your cinq is gonna be amazing when it's finished (actually, it already is amazing!).

mase said:

im pretty sure ive got a set of 5 or 6mm non-hubcentrics that i can send ya for the postage an packing costs if u want them john.

Click to expand...

Offer gratefully accepted, cheers mase. I've PM'd the details.

John

nitrane.co.uk said:

Offer gratefully accepted, cheers mase. I've PM'd the details.

John

Click to expand...

recieved and replied....

will be in touch over the next few days with postage costs mate!

good times

Hey hey, look what turned up on my doorstep this morning, fresh off the plane from Denmark...



Thanks to Tricker for a fabulous service and a beautifully engineered product.

John

i got one of them turn up too last week sometime

Good news! The race engine arrived yesterday, and i'm well pleased with it, just hope it goes as well as it looks I've got nearly all the other bits together so the transplant work starts at the weekend

There's some pics on the website, but here's a sneak look...



Cheers, John

Started work on the engine removal and its almost ready to drop. I'm taking the opportunity to change the front suspension - new front arms, track rod ends and nylon bushed. Eventually learned the knack of splitting the hub from the bottom ball joints as there is no room for the ball-joint splitter - but not before i'd split the ball joint gaiter :bang: Good job i'm changing the arms anyway, and this will do for an emergency rally spare.

John

nitrane.co.uk said:

Eventually learned the knack of splitting the hub from the bottom ball joints as there is no room for the ball-joint splitter
John

Click to expand...

So, what's the trick? The FIAT manuals show a long, long, lever type splitter, but none of the lever ones I have will fit. In the end I had to use a wedge/hit it wiv an 'ammer type. Fortunately one of the arms was scrap, the other marginal.

I might try taking a grinder to one of my lever ones, (or having a long talk to my Fiat parts man) but if you have another solution...................................

OK, here goes. Unwind the nut until it's level with the top of the thread. I then used a cold chisel between the top of the nut/thread and the underside of the hub. Worked a treat both times.

John