Bravo (Classic) 1996 Fiat Bravo 1.8 HLX - Ink Black

I finally found one of these for sale. £26.00 got me an immaculate and fully working AD182H4 CD Head Unit Very Happy. My iPod connector will work perfectly with it too.

Finaly got one of these, it even has a manual Fiats original ECU reader the FL Tester

That's cool - should work on the coupe too ?

ooh very nice, glad your still running in the bravo adrian. I got rid of mine i miss it a little

be nice to see some photos of how it is atm ?

Chris the FL Tester uses a cartridge system. Not sure if the cartridge it has will work with a coupe I still need to try it with my Bravo when i get it back and ill try it on my sisters 1998 cinq. I can only hope it has the latest cartridge before the FL Tester was replaced and it will cover everything, probably wont happen like that though

Spoonz, I dont plan on getting rid of the Bravo anytime soon. My 1.8 is in a bodyshop having some rust repairs done to the underneath. Im supposed to get it back very soon so fresh pictures will follow close behind. I should have some photos of the rust repairs in progress soon too.

My car has got a nice new windscreen, the original cracked round a stone chip on a very hot day last year.

Bad news on the FL Tester. Now that I have it working I can see the cartridge I have only reads 9 ECU's.

If anyone knows where i can get FL Tester cartridges let me know.

I had some new wishbones, track rod ends and anti-roll bar drop links fitted. The drop links have Polyurethane bushes. Its given a massive improvement in the cars handling which i wasnt really expecting. I would recomend replacing those parts especialy the wishbones to anyone with an older bravo/a. Wish I had done it a long time ago.





I also changed the oil today. Original filter and Selenia 20k. Then cleaned up and painted every part of the front subframe I could get to in Hamerite.


Repaired some damage to my undertray. It was in that state when I bought the car.


I have some new top mounts and ARB bushes that I want to get fitted. I plan to get some new springs shocks and a stainless steel exhaust system plus I already have an original cambelt kit, thermostat, waterpump and new spark plugs to fit. Didnt manage the cambelt today because of the good old rain.

How much did all the suspension parts you have already fit you cost?

shop4parts are doing an offer on a lot of parts so with the club discount I got, both wishbones for just £51.50 and both track rod ends for just £16.80.

The poly drop link bushes where about £20.00. I already had the new drop links cant remember what i paid for those.

The poly ARB bushes where £35.00. The topmounts where £62.00 each but as I said neither of these have been fitted yet.

May invest in some of these next week as they are very good prices! Nothing seems to need changing but its 12 years old so cant hurt!

I decided to cut the ruber boot on my old track rod end expecting it to be all shiny inside. it wasnt rust poured out The rubber seal was not damaged but it was not a tight fit at the top.

Today I made a flip key fob for my Bravo with remote central locking;

This was on eBay for £15, I offered the seller £5 and he accepted. I was expecting it to be terrible and expected to bin it but when I recieved the item it was not to bad. Definatly looks better quality in person than in pictures. The metal button and sides are a solid all the way through and not simply a metalised plastic.

I bought this because it was designed to convert a punto RCL Key to a flip key by putting the factory circuit board/transponder chip inside the new case and getting the key cut. Whats important about this key though is it uses the same shank design as the 1996-2001 Bravo.

The punto key;


My original Key:


Obviously my 1996 Bravo remote central locking board is different so I had to do lots of work on the inside of the flip case to make it fit. I had the shank cut and got a copy of my transponder chip to keep my original keys untouched. Unfortunalty I had to do a lot of work on the flip key's shank as it wasnt a perfect re-production of the fiat design but I got the shape to match in the end.

The immobiliser deffinatly reads the new transponder chip which is a black rectangular chip faster than my original mk1 key's pill style transponder chip's. My total spend was £25

Next I am hoping to get a custom stainless steel exhaust made with a standard style tip ofcourse

Nice job
btw I've never seen a bravo key like that. It looks like a punto mk1 key with prefab central locking. Then again I've also never seen such an early bravo with central locking.

Thanks GW

I was not happy with the blade so i decided to change it, it must be 100% reliable and perfect. So the flip key blade can be removed as it is fixed in with a roll pin. I knocked the cheap quality blade out. Bought a new blade on a normal key and had it cut from my red key because its not warn.

I cut the blue end off the new key then shapped and filled it to fit into the flip case.


I spent another pound and got these two black metal Fiat logos (14mm diameter) Finnishes it off nicely

As JoskeJTD said a while back every Bravo, Brava and Marea owner should consider replacing thier bonnet catches. I paid £30 in total for a new set.

The torsion spring on my backup catch had just snapped. Seen here on my new part;

More pictures for pictures sake;




Ive also recently had fitted some Blistine B4 Rear dampers and new rear springs fitted. Its a nice improvement.

Next week im having an original Valeo 3 piece clutch fitted and the gearbox oil changed for Some original Tutela oil. My cars still on 49,000 miles

Had the new Valeo 3 piece clutch and Tutela Gearbox oil fitted today. Im starting to think the old clutch was slipping ever so slightly because the car seems to have much sharper acceleration now. Really happy with the change that I was not expecting I just thought the thrust bearing was running in a grove in the pressure plate

Next im doing something about the exhaust its starting to sound a rattly. So ive bought a new downpipe since my flexy is going, got a new NTK lambda sensor because I may aswell change that too, got all the mounts and gaskets. Just going to try a couple of places to see how much a stanless cat-back will cost. Im going to keep it 'quiet' and have the tail pipe same as stock.

Finaly I have a stainless steel exhaust. I had this made/fitted at Longlife in Stockport. The guy I delt with was helpfull and keen.

I asked for a stock style tail pipe and close to stock sound as possible with the realistic expectation that the sound would be slightly louder. I would say its close to standard on idle and low revs but its got a deaper note and a bit more volume when you push it. I will have to drive it more to be sure so ill post about that in the future. My girlfriend will probably say something if its louder so that will be interesting :devil:. Oh and it seems to rev a little easier.



The guy has not cut my bumper that little notch in the left corner is standard. He shaped the new tail close in. I am happy with the tail, its look was vert important for me.







My bumper is not scuffed its just some reflection i had to go out and check after seeing the photos

Also had a new downpipe fitted and some brackets rubbers and gaskets.

I made a booboo with the Lambda sensor by not double checking on NGK's website. Something in my original fiat documents is wrong beacause the part number I bought is a Barachetta part so thats for sale in the classifieds and eBay cheap. I will buy the right one to fit sometime very soon. I plan to renew every sensor, coilpack, etc slowly for original branded parts.

Next Im on the look out for new subframes, . I want to get my spare set of wheels refurbished in a nice metalic like my old 500 wheels where.

Got a New Original Radiator fan for next to nothing, fitted that today.

Cool, Classic bravo's are dying out now and yours looks spot on .

That exhaust is awesome, Looks OEM but made with stainless .

Adrian, that's a lovely car you've got yourself there, though you are a bit of an obsessive!!

I have a question about the mudflaps - did you fit them yourself? I just bought a set of genuine Fiat rear mudflaps from ebay - they're fine but I'm damned if I can see how to separate the little stubby original black corner pieces from the rear bumper. There are 2 screws at the front that go into the wheelarch liner, but at the bottom the black bits seem to be moulded onto the bumper.

Any ideas anyone?

Cheers