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Bravo (Classic) Fiat Bravo 1.4 12v 1997 Degas Grey - Modified

Introduction

Fiat Bravo 1.4 12v 1997 Degas Grey

Fiat Bravo 1.4 12v 1997 Degas Grey

Specification

-Engine is a 1.4 12v 80Bhp (I rebuilt myself)
-Colour 623/A Metallic Degas Grey
-Original Trim Level SX: Sunroof, Electric Windows, Central Locking, Manual Mirrors.

Mods/Extras

-Wheels from Fiat 500 '15" Sport Alloys'
-Continental Contact Premium 2 Tyre’s (185/55/R15)
-Marea plastic door handles
-European rear right cluster for extra symmetry PN:7779097
-Fiat Marea Poly Elliptical Headlights With modified wiring
-Black In-Pro Side repeaters
-Ipod/cd changer tricker interface to OEM stereo
-Main Wiper wind deflector (Fiat original)
-Passenger Wiper wind deflector (Modified/Fiat original)
-Bosch Aero Twin Wipers
-Front Mud Flaps (Fiat original)
-Rear mud flaps (Fiat original)
-Refurbished wing mirror mounts
-Leather Steering Wheel from HGT
-Vinyl Handbrake Gaiter
-Bravo 2007 Mist Washer Jets
-Rebuilt Engine Myself
-painted Engine sump and rocker cover
-New totally plane number plates
-Bravo 2007 Dash Badge on Boot
-De-badged Wings
-Painted Front Badge detail Black
-K&N Panel Filter
-Shaped Grey Floor Mats
-Remote Central Locking
-Mk2 Passenger air vent Black
-Cap that reads 12V rather than a lighter
-Full Leather Interior

Goal

My goal is to make the Bravo look neet tidy and modern using Fiat original parts as much as possible. Hopefully making it stand out as one of the best looking Bravos ever.

Main Images (Click for Larger Images)









More Images :D























Detail and History

When changing her car my aunt decided to give her Fiat Bravo to my sister since my sister was taking driving lessons. After 5 tests and 5 fails she gave up. So the Bravo was SORNed and dumped in the garden for a whole year. Id make the argument it should be at least started once a week but that never happened.

On the day I passed my test I bought it for £300. 1.Because I though it was ok 2.It would get the damn thing out of the garden.

It had steel wheels with two flat front tyres though they all had good tread. Just before it was SORNed it had a new exhaust. There was a dent in the passenger wing that I still haven’t sorted yet. This happened when my aunt owned the car. She claimed the car was a cursed accident magnet because that wing had been hit twice before while it was parked. The interior was mint and had never been smoked in. The car had only done around 35000 miles and had almost never seen a motorway in its life. I thought the car would have lots of life left.

All it needed was a battery charge and new non-return valve on the washer jets, started first time and passed its MOT first time with no advisories.

There where a lot of rattles which all turned out to be related to the alarm that was installed and the passenger wing that had been repainted once before. In both jobs nothing had been re-tightened properly.

Engine

The only thing I really did to my engine was a minor service and fitted a K&N panel filter. Both made massive difference to performance. Then one day the engine started spewing blue smoke on start-up and eventually started misfiring. Something serious was afoot. I felt brave and decided to figure it out for myself, expecting a valve oil seal or head gasket problem I was shocked to see my bores where utterly trashed. Though the head looked ok.



My car was due for a major service anyway so I thought why not rebuild it myself, It wouldn’t cost too much and id have a very nice 1.4 12v engine in the end.















Parts Replaced

Cambelt
Cam Tensioner
Aux Belt
Aux Tensioner
Oil Seleina
Antifreeze Parflu
Lapped valves
Valve stem oil seals
Waterpump
Spark Plugs
Ignition Leads
Valeo Clutch Kit with thrust bearing
Sump Resealed
crank oil seal
inlet/exhaust/water rail/Thermostat/Rockercover gaskets
Painted engine and sump red!
Painted Rocker cover Black and Silver.

The total rebuild cost was around £600.

Engine Rebuild Thread: https://www.fiatforum.com/bravo-brava/187402-fixing-my-1-4-bravo-engine-misfire.html

I intend to fit an oil catch tank into the oil breather system.

Alloys

I decided I wanted my alloys to be PCD 4x98, 15” (185/55/R15) or 16” (195/45/R16) and as close to my original rolling radius as possible. This was my short list;


Eventually I got the Fiat 500 15” sport alloys for £320 with as new factory fitted Continental Contact Premium 2’s (185/55/R15, 6J, ET35, PCD 4x98, Centre Bore 58.1) I was very happy Id found quality wheels at a bargain price. As far as I know im the only person with these alloys on a Bravo.



Rear Lights

Every time I looked at the rear lights the annoyed and perplexed me. Why are they not symmetrical? I decided to buy a left hand drive right side cluster. Eventually I got one from Germany that ended up not so water tight, then another from France. I may rewire them so they both light up as reverse but for now the fog has a red bulb in. Passed an MOT with them fitted.



I painted the lip round the clusters matt black as jug had. It looks much nicer and hides the mould that grows inside the cluster. I used 2000gritt sand paper and rubbing compound to polish the scratched out of the clusters.



Front Lights

For a while I was quite content with the standard lights then I noticed one was slightly different than the other. The passenger lense had been replaced. It wasn’t symmetrical and something had to be done ;) I decided to fit Marea Poly elliptical Head Lights but I really didn’t want to cut or plug stealers into my original loom. I decided to modify the lights instead. This developed Into a new guide. I was really proud of this modification Its nice to be able to just plug the lights in and unplug them when needed.

See: https://www.fiatforum.com/bravo-bra...-headlights-bravo-without-modifying-loom.html

The alternative and original guide: http://www.fiatboo.co.uk/photogal/guidepics/FiatMareaPolyEllipticalHeadlightConversion.pdf

I have also fitted Osram H1 Night breakers and chrome indicator bulbs. These lights are far superior to the originals.

Side repeaters

I went for black/smoked repeaters as my car is developing a black and grey theme. They are manufactured by In.Pro. They are high quality and look fab.



Door handles

My original rubber handles where falling to bits. Ive upgraded to plastic marea handles painted in a metallic black. In the future I may colour code them or repaint them.

Wipers/Washer jets

My washer jets where so naff. Looking at a new 2007 Bravo I noticed they looked similar. I took a gamble and bought the 2007 washer jets from my local Fiat. With a bit of tweaking they fit perfectly look 10x better and work 10x better.

See the guide: https://www.fiatforum.com/bravo-bra...ist-washer-jets-your-classic-bravo-marea.html

My washer motor has two outlets, one must go to the rear glass but ive never seen it work. Presumably it leaked inside my car somewhere. I used a T-piece to connect both those outlets to my windscreen washer jets, eliminating the dodgy/pointless rear jet.

I fitted Bosch Aero Twin retro wiper blades. Then I refurbished my arms and fitted a HGT wind deflector to the drivers side. The paint cracked I think because my primer was different than the topcoat. Im working on a new set, the main arm has a HGT wind deflector and I have modified the passenger to take a wind deflector as well. This time im using red oxide primer and semi gloss black topcoat both Holts.

My rear wiper is a quality Valeo part I found in a scrap yard.





Paint

My paint code sticker found on the boot lid was wrong, the code was for a Mk2 Brava. My car is a Mk1 Bravo. This caused me to waste almost a year looking for a passenger wing.

My code is actually 623/A Metallic Degas Grey. It was discontinued in the first few years of Bravo production making it a rare colour.

Thread for paint code info: https://www.fiatforum.com/bravo-brava/175043-paint-code-name.html

Fixing My door Card

My passenger door card was broken beyond use. I had two problems trying to fix it: 1. A card with matching fabric was proving hard to find and 2.Other patterns where horrific 3.The nicer plane door cards are also very hard to find. (See wanted section at the bottom)

There was only one way forward to buy door card take my insert out and fit it to the replacement.

I tested a few different glues. No More Nails was the best. Make sure the surfaces you are gluing are clean, especially plastics because they are normally covered in silicon from the factory mould. I sanded and cleaned the plastic.
Be patient. Give the glue plenty of time to stick, and use clamps to hold it tight.



Grill/Boot

For a while I wanted a Mk2 Grill but actually the Mk1 Grill is the best looking I think. All the Bravo Brava and Marea grills suffer from braking clips at the edges, I fixed this with double sided number plate tape.

I painted the badge detail semi gloss black and left the chrome alone. I also painted the mesh semi-gloss black.





Sill Kick Plates

I have some nice sill kick plated to fit. They are made by Lockwood and are stainless steel. A very nice part and only cost £12.45.

I have not fitted them yet because I need to clean and paint some rust along the bottom of the sills. The rust is common, every bravo door I open has it. I realised it is caused by a rubber strip that runs down the bottom of the doors. They trap dirt and ram it into the paint. I have tried cleaning the rubber but it did not help. I decided to remove those strips. Just waiting for my colour code of paint to arrive. Im not bothered about a perfect match because ill do a perfectly straight line of paint but id like it to be close.

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Interior Parts

Fitted a HGT Leather Steering wheel. This is very nice, makes my car smell expensive and feels lovely.

The passenger vent was another symmetry mystery, the divers vent was black the centre console was black yet the passenger vent was grey ??? A black Mk2 vent fixed this


I found a 12volt Cap that replaces the cigarette lighter In a Ford at the scrap yard.



I fitted a vinyl hand brake gaiter from a mk2. I had to glue extensions to one tab to make it fit tight.


I managed to find full leather interior from a Mk1 40000 mile HGT





Audio

I really liked the original Head Unit so decided an iPod connection to this would be the best option. An iPod to cassette cable or FM transmitter would not be good enough. Eventually I found a small device that makes the Head unit think the iPod is a CD-Changer. Perfect! It charges the Ipod I can control the music throught the head unit or iPod.

The connects2 CTAFAIPOD007 iPod adapter is fixed inside the dashboard


The iPod cable is in my glove box I only touch it if I want to take it out and add more songs.

Links

My Garage: https://www.fiatforum.com/garage_vehicle.php?do=view_vehicle&id=8

My Engine Rebuild Thread: https://www.fiatforum.com/bravo-brava/187402-fixing-my-1-4-bravo-engine-misfire.html

My gallery: https://www.fiatforum.com/gallery/showgallery.php?ppuser=42268&cat=500

Jugs Thread: https://www.fiatforum.com/members-motors/107534-bravo-1-8hlx.html

Please comment, and don’t hold back be honest ;)

Cheers
Adrian
One day I am going to read all of this. Discovered your rebuild thread not long ago and have to admire the work you've put in. Looks very nice body.

And good call on the alloys, really like them on it.
 
very good thread mate...

as you already know, i love the colour of this car! Never seen one in the metal before! The wheels set it off a treat as well!

The year of it sat around on the drive doing nothing obviously took a toll on it though... shame you had to do pretty much a complete engine re-build! I wouldnt have the balls to take on such a job myself, so mega kudos to you.

The final product looks amazing, and youve achieved it without throwing mega money at it (well, apart from the £600 engine rebuild lol) so you should be proud of it!

Great work!

Also, why do you need a rear glass for a spoiler? can you not just bond it on?
 
fantastic i never knew how much work you had actualy put in but when you list it all like that it's about as much work as i do to mine

oh and i can tell you the rear screen wash pipe will have almost certainly come off the wiper stal suround inside the boot needs popping back on with a bit of silicone or super glue
 
Thanks for the kind comments everyone. :D Im very happy, lots more work to get it where I want it though (y)

Tris id prefer to have the spoiler bolted through the glass but it may end up bonded. Autoglass wanted £270 for the glass and fitting so im not paying that, I should have the right piece of glass soon so may be able to fit it myself. The back looks empty without a spoiler. The car sitting on the garden doing noting for a year probably caused that engine problem.

Karbine your right The 12v has three valves per cylinder two inlet valves and one massive exhaust valve. It seems 16valve engines where a big selling point back in the mid 90's. I remember a lot of advertisements pushing 16v's, I think this pushed 12 valves aside. Theres pictures in my gallery and engine rebuild thread.
https://www.fiatforum.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=1914&page=6

Next spoiler and more rust prevention. I am going to paint the underside, sills and subframes.
 
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Very nice example mate. I thought iv spent a lot of time on mine but you have taken it to another level, nice work (y)
 
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Thank you Richboy :D

I went to the scrap yard today to pick up bits for a friend. Well their where two Bravos in my colour!!! :eek:. So I bagged a good as new rear bumper in my colour for £25.00



Its a shame that every other panel on both where scratched or damaged, I would have taken a passenger door, bonnet, and maybe front bumper.

I have a passenger wing on the way in the post.

Next Wednesday im working on the rear;

Clean and paint(lots) under arches
Clean and paint rear subframe
Clean and paint rear sills and underside
Clean/polish Fit new bumper
Clean polish rear wheels
maybe paint rear drums black.

I put my hands under the rear arches today and the metal is caked with mud inches thick!

If anyone sees a bootlid with spoiler in my colour let me know (y)

Edit: If those other cars where not damaged I would have bought every removeable panel as spares for mine. A couple of people on my street have commented on how good the cars looking :D
 
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That tends to be the way with scrapyards, the rear of the car is perfect but when it comes to the front and side, there is always damage of some sort. How comes u got a new bumper? Arches are a pain to clean, if u clean them regularly its not that much hard work:)
I used tiger seal on my hlx spoiler, it really does stick nicely and its solid, cheaper as well(y)
 
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How comes u got a new bumper?
The paint is blistering in places and theres a pathetic touch up on the right side you can see in the pics. I was going to get it resprayed but luckily I found the replacement today.

Other issues my car has is;
A very small dent and minor scratches to primer in the bonnet from my spineless neigbour reversing into it, I pushed it out looks ok.
Passenger door and bonet is slightly off colour from certain angles (been resprayed it seems)
Front bumper has an extreamly minor scuff thats been very well touched up.
Worst part is the passenger wing that has a bend in the arch lip, but I should have recieved my replacement by this time next week.

All minor stuff I suppose but I want it sorted.
 
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The paint is blistering in places and theres a pathetic touch up on the right side you can see in the pics. I was going to get it resprayed but luckily I found the replacement today.

Other issues my car has is;
A very small dent and minor scratches to primer in the bonnet from my spineless neigbour reversing into it, I pushed it out looks ok.
Passenger door and bonet is slightly off colour from certain angles (been resprayed it seems)
Front bumper has an extreamly minor scuff thats been very well touched up.
Worst part is the passenger wing that has a bend in the arch lip, but I should have recieved my replacement by this time next week.

All minor stuff I suppose but I want it sorted.


I had that problem with blistering bumpers. I resprayed them both in the end. The minor things on a car become major as u know its there and starts to bug you after a while imo
 
Thanks Wil :D

Some of you know I had an fueling problem recently. I changed the fuel filter then relays then injector. The Injector did the trick and car seems ok again now. Im crossing my fingers and touching my woods :confused:

A thread was here: https://www.fiatforum.com/bravo-brava/199721-fuel-intection-related-stalling-stuttering.html

I was thinking about setting a small yearly budget for the car that I can use to replace the odd part before they fail. After all the car is 12 years old, replacing things like the lambda, bonet latch, injector before they fail could help keep the cars reliability.

Oh yeah the wing I got by post was a total let down. There was a wing in the scrap yard. I waited to see what the first was like and it was crap, went back to the scrap yard and the other is now damaged :bang: I should have bought it :(

Keep an eye out for Bravos in my colour please! Its a very rare colour! ;)

Parts Wanted!
1.Passenger Wing In colour code 623/A Metallic Degas Grey.
2.Boot glass to take OEM spoiler.
3.Leather or Dark Mk2 Interior Solid colour Grey/Black door cards.
4.Mk2/V2 Sunroof.
5.Marea Centre console.

And others not so important:
-Original CD head unit.
-Pollen filter and housing
-Red Cinq sporting seatbelts
-Mk1 Front fog light switch bar
 
i hope your pretty skinny if you want cinq seat belts, i had them in my old punto, and fat people had to sit in the back :p (there quite short belts)

i would also advise you to glue on your spoiler, tiger seal it on and it wont budge trust me, it seems completly waste of time to change a window when gluing it on will probably hold it better.
 
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