I went over to see Pete (Fixitagaintomorow) yesterday to get my Apex suspension kit put on the car, and thought a. will help and b. will take pictures for the suspension guide. All goes well and good as I ask questions and pictures on the rear end where use of the Haynes manual is required only once to ascertain the use of the 'ahem' access hole for the top bolt of the shock.

After a lunch break we move to the front and the drivers side is fine. Passenger side is another matter, I think I have driven through too many puddles The bolts in the bottom of the shock manage to get stuck and will not come out with any amount of bashing or battering. After much debate and :chin: we (read Pete - I held the lamp ) prise the shock off the hub with use of several big hammers, a couple of chisels, a couple of crowbars and another rather big and murderous looking implement. It only gave in when we threatened it with an angle grinder. Apparently I am not allowed to put this into the guide! It is also interesting to note that Fiat use thinner bolts to hold the massive shocks onto the Brava than they do on the Cinq and obviously thought their suspension was so fab no-one would ever want to change it

What was meant to be a three hour job turns into an eight hour job :bang:. I will say one thing - Pete is one determined bloke once he gets going, he was not going to let that shock beat him! We ended the day by heading off to the pub (where else?). So thanks Pete for doing the job and being so determined and murdering the shock although I am still not convinced by your level of optimism I now feel seasick while driving :yuck:

Photos! We need photos!

Oh and I'll say Hello to your text :wave:

I hear Pete will soon be getting the bruise in the shape of a mallet on one side of his hand and FIAT stamped into the other side...

Were you impressed with his war wounds today? I forgot to take pictures of the damaged shock, was concentrating more on it all going back together in one piece And I haven't taken pictures of the car yet as it's dark when I go to work and dark when I leave work

Oh yes he was showing them off!

I'm guessing the shocks attach just the same way as the ones on the Tipo.. Rear top is down a hole in the subframe that has a bung in it that looks a bit like a shotgun shell. Drop the bolt inside and its lost forever! Rear bottom is a damn big bolt with a large nut on the inboard and a square 19mm head.

Front top held in by 3 bolts which stick down into the arch making them rust up nicely. Bottom held in by 2 bolts that rust up inside the hub carrier requiring upto 7lb sledge hammers, ball joint splitters and blowtorches to get off.

If so then I'll do a how-to when I get around to changing the suspension on my Tipo. Should be rather soon asn the kitchen needs emptying.

Yes Hellcat, same setup on mine Hope you have some old and strong tools prepared

Haha and people think Fiat actually re-designed the car between the Tipo and the Brava/o

I have the tools at my disposal and will be getting 2 pints of blood cross-matched for the job

No smutty references to not being able to find the hole at the back end, nice one

Will take a pic of the modified shock for reference. Bruises will remain a friends only thing, though

T'was easy really, could have done it standing on me head
Many thanks for buying me tea, too.

You're welcome! Or you mean Helz?

What you reckon. 8 days left off. Do I change shocks/lower arms now or wait for new discs and next 18 days off in Feb?

Fancy bruising the other hand Pete or that something you only do to impress the laidies?

Depends if you'll wear a low cut top and take him for dinner I guess Hellcat Pics of the dead one would be great please Pete!

Well I dinned him but he didn't seem interested Maybe the GF + Inlaws (not planned) put him off?

Here is a live shock for comparing

As requested milady

Full list of persuading gear:

1lb hammer
2lb hammer
7lb 'sawn-off' hammer
2' crowbar
12" motorbike tyre lever (now bent - oops!)
6" chisel
8" chisel
Fork-type balljoint splitter
blowtorch
oh, and WD40 of course!

I've just been to get some pictures and below you can see the errrrrrr access hole at the rear and the two bolts Pete recovered from the bottom of the shock - please note I don't think they are meant o be different lengths, nor have rounded heads

I knew it would happen . Went over a speed bump last night and forgot and knocked the back end of the exhaust off. But boy it sounds good

doh! im waiting on this happening on the cinq as the rear box is so low.

interestingly im thinking of firing a letter to the council as they put up one of those temporoary speed bumps on a dark cobbled road which i um discovered last night no signs or anything. my poor exhaust will come off one day i swear.

was it a sports exhaust you had fitted?

It wasn't but I will be now - not a full system as planned though, just from the cat

Helz said:

I knew it would happen . Went over a speed bump last night and forgot and knocked the back end of the exhaust off. But boy it sounds good

Click to expand...

prehaps you can get pete to fixitagaintomorrow