(S) New User - First Post - 'Modding questions'

Hi all, i'm new to the forums so thought i'd make a post to introduce myself a lil' bit and ask a couple of questions...

My name is Phil, i'm 18 from Wales.

So on the 17/10/2012 I was lucky to get myself a Fiat Grande Punto 1.4 Sport 3Dr Hatchback for my first car (it's a nice metallic/shiny blue).

Now there's a few things that I know needs doing to the car, (and the bugging by my friend to get it done makes me even more confused every time he mentions it). Please excuse my lack of knowledge on modding and the LONG thread.... (sorry)

Tomorrow I will be able to upload some photos of my car to make this thread a lot easier for you experienced 'modders' (hope that is a compliment :-p)

1st Question: The Height between the body and the wheel

I have been told by my friend, and I myself know that the car needs to be lowered, now the question is this:

1. How do I go about doing this?
2. How do I know what mm to lower the car?
3. Do I need to buy special springs?
4. Can I contact a local Garage and they will do everything for me?
5. What Springs do I need to buy and what type/length/mm?
6. Can I contact a local Garage and can I supply the springs and can they fit them?

2nd Question: Window Tints!

This has kinda' been a main priority since I purchased the car...

1. Can I contact a local garage and have them supply the tints and fit them?
2. Can I buy the tints pre-cut off Ebay and visit a local garage and supply my tints and they can fit them?

(I know the Legal limits with Window Tinting, and I do understand that any modification will perhaps increase my insurance premium and I intend to tell my insurer that i'm making changes ( I think, tinting perhaps tell them its factory fitted? )

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Thanks very much for reading my first post, I look forward to any replies and what ever is suggested or advised then I will greatly appreciate it and consider it. I'm sorry for such a long thread and making it like a novel, i'm just unsure of what to do and how to do it.

Thanks again!
Brindleyx

Hi Phil,

Welcome to the forums ,
I have a 1.4 Sport Grande punto too, so I may be some help to you !

If your looking to lower your car there's lots of different types of springs out there, I've gone for the cheapest and they really work well. I chose 30mm on front, 40mm on back and sits really nice, so that's what I would recommend. But yes you will need to buy correct springs for.your car, type in google Grande punto active sport lowering springs, and some red ones will.come up, I think they are okay, not too expensive either.

Now about your tinting. Do not buy the tinting film and do it yourself, your better off going to a tinting company, which I got quotes for £80 for my 3 back windows, and most people offer a long guarantee if it starts to peel etc... They fix it straight away for you.
They use high quality and durable tints so it's better to leave it to them, .

I hope this helps Phil

Welcome to the forum!!

Lowering your car: Alot of people buy Eibach Sportlines Springs. They will give you upto 50mm drop which on 16/17" wheels, is perfect IMHO.
You can buy cheaper makes, but quality will suffer and you dont want a spring snapping do you? (Check Venom motorsport for a range of springs/Coilovers)

Window tints: Not my cup of tea, but, alot of local companies will do the rear 3 with any tint for less than £100 and give you a couple years peace of mind with that too.

Good luck!
Feel free to drop me a PM if you need any more help

Tom

No offense intended Tom, but please don't ask people to do this - the information you provide in public can help many people, privately it only helps the individual.

To the OP, welcome to the forum - I presume you've checked that your insurers are happy with you making modifications to your car?

Thank you very much @jonathaneuk, your advice/reply has helped me alot. I think im going to start looking at the red Cobra Springs and perhaps the Eibach Sportlines for my 1.4 GP. Will have to search around for a local garage and get a quote for the fitting of the springs.

And thank you very much on your advice for the tintings, £80 is sure a nice price if they include a long guarentee incase of rips or tears.

I've begun to include my 'future mods' onto a peice of paper that i'm going to go through one at a time, hopefully I can make a post on the forums of my progress of 'smartening' up my GP, thanks again!!

Thanks for the welcome @ysidfa! Again with @jonathaneuk, your advice has really helped me! Now where you said "They will give you upto 50mm drop which on 16/17' wheels, is perfect IMHO", this has got me thinking again haha, I think i'm sitting on standard manufactured 15" silver alloys.

I'll have to look at some decent, smart alloys for my GP. Do you have any recommendations or know any users that I can check out their GP photo's? I'm into the three following colours; White/Anthracite/Black, not sure which would look good on the GP.

I've started to write down my future 'mods' onto a peice of paper that i'm going to go through one at a time they include exterior and interior, hopefully I can make a post on the forums of my progress of 'smartening' up my GP, thanks again, I really appriciate it!

Hello @Eklipze3k, thanks for the welcome!

"To the OP, welcome to the forum - I presume you've checked that your insurers are happy with you making modifications to your car?"

As I haven't bought my modifications yet or installed any that I currently own, then i'm still waiting to contact my insurance company. Before I contact them, I need to know exactly what i'm going to do to the car before asking my insurer if they'll allow something that I might not even include to the car in the future, but thanks anyways and I will inform my insurer of any modifications.

It's still worth asking them before carrying out any work as there are a lot of insurers who won't cover mods at all Also worth asking if the car is on finance, as the finance company still own the car until it's paid in full so will also need to be made aware of any modifications.

I have a mate who got stung with window tints. Alloys as long as their same size as factory fitted are generally insured for free, but my mate had to insure his tints for an extra £600. Yes that's six hundred! For window tints? He very quickly ripped them out. My tints weren't so bad to insure but I've been driving a lot longer and also have my girlfriend of 4 years on the policy. So it's worth a quick call and enquiry about the price increases about anything your thinking about modding. Might help you make your mind up.

Welcome to the forums

Its worth having a look at my thread if your looking at following Anthracite/White/Black Click the picture of my car below There quite rare, but the wheels I have are my personal favs

Tom

As @Eklipze3k has said, and what @Matthewr1990 has just stated, i would contact your insurance company before getting a false sense of hope; just incase they don't allow modifications altogether.

It would also be worth having your list handy when calling and ask the insurance company how much extra each modification separately will add to your premium. This way you know which modifications you can afford and which you can 'cross off' the list, as certain insurance companies dislike certain mods so try adding on a small fortune for them.

Just one thing to re-iterate as an old fart and kill-joy.
Don't forget that lowering will undoubtedly affect your insurance if you tell them and void it if you don't.
If you don't inform the insurance company of this mod, and are involved in a serious accident, (even if it's not your fault), the insurance company have the right to cancel your premium and refuse to pay out.

Sorry

Also, worth noting now that the doommongers (me included) have had their say - have a browse through the Member's Motors section of the forum for a selection of folks cars and see what others have done that you might like the look of

Hi @jonathaneuk, are these the springs you mentioned in your reply?

FK High Tech Lowering Springs
Part Number FKFI010
Brand: FK Suspension
Lowers Car by (mm) (F/R): 35/40

http://www.lkperformance.co.uk/lower...8?carId=217751

If so, does the £54.40 include the front two wheels and the two rear wheels to be lowered? Or is it £54.40 for only one wheel? (sorry if this is obvious to some readers, I'm not experienced with this stuff haha)

I also have a question to any readers viewing this reply;

Question: Do you think it's wise to purchase and install a new set of alloys with the correct tire height/diameter before lowering the car? I just thought that if I lower the car, and then decide to move up to 16/17" alloys, they won't fit because the car has been lowered too much :-/

Thanks in advance to anyone who has replied or given some advice! I really appreciate it all!
Phil

That's a full set of 4 springs

Regarding wheels, it's all about rolling radius - as the diameter of the alloy rim increases, the profile of the tyre must decrease to keep the rolling radius the same (or as close as possible, within the bounds of tyre availability). This will help you work that out - http://www.alloywheels.com/Tyre_Calculator