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

I had a bit of bother last sunday a rubber bush popped out on my gear selector linkage so i could not change gears. I was stuck in 3rd and managed to get to a layby. I changed it to 2nd from the engine bay and slowly got home using that gear only.

Luckily the damaged bush was just ontop of the wishbone when i opened the bonnet. You can see it here next to a replacement that cost just £1.48 PN:4259848


I wanted to buy an entire new gear linkage rod from Fiat but it is the only one of the three no longer available. ePer does not show this bush as replaceable on the rod.


This was another lucky moment, further down the gear linkage is a bush (part 2 in this diagram). I ordered one out of caution and it was exactly the same bush as the one that ePer does not list for the broken rod.



To get the rod out of the car I had to jack it up fairly high and unscrew one bolt, shown here.


Here it is, one end has a proper all metal ball joint infact all but two are this type.




And the other end takes that rubber bush.


So I had to press the new bush into the rod using a bench vice. I found a tapered pipe fitting in the shed with the exact same smaller diameter as the hole in the rod so I cut it now and used that to guide the bush in. I also heated the bush in boiling water for about 5min to soften it up.



So far that was all easy now the hard part getting the rubber bush to push onto the balljoint that is attached to the gearbox itself. It took me almost 4 hours to fit. I was trying all kinds of C-clamps, balljoint pullers and wood working clamps. In the end a wood working clamp that I chopped down in size and notched a grove into got it on. There is almost no room to work everything is in the way, subframe, steering rack, drive shaft, brake pipes, power steering cooler pipe, other gear linkage rods, gearbox case.

Someone has had a mess around with this before because the bottom nut in this next picture was rounded off, plus the inner wheel arch has some damage from someone prying somthing against it. I really would have liked to unscrew that nut and fit the balljoint into the bush in the shed. I will try and order a new balljoint from Fiat so if it happens again i can saw the damaged one off (no room to grind).

Top arrow shows the successfully refit gear linkage rod.


Here is a digram of the overall system,


I have taken measurements of the rod so If needed I could try and replace it with proper rose joints. Like this: Ive read of many other people doing it on other cars. Plus I have the other two rods new from Fiat.


Now that it is all fixed it turns out my car has always had a sloppy gear linkage since I have owned it. Previously There was a rubbery squeek when changing gear, thats gone. Going into fourth seemed like a very long throw I thought it was the norm and thats gone. Going into reverse I would sometimes have to make more than one attempt and thats fixed too. Changing gears feels really solid now, im very happy but it was hard work.

Interestingly when I boiled the original damaged bush in water it went back to a near perfect shape on the outside.

My car passed its MOT today with no advisories. Very pleased. The tester was quite complimentary about the car too.

This years certificate has changed a little, it now shows your last four milage records. I really like that change.

My last four are;
51730
48847
46008
39505

I can get back to buying new parts soon once my insurance is out of the way. Should be refurbed wheels next I think.

That car is stunning. A real credit to you

Wow Adrian i really enjoyed reading through all the tings you have done to your motor.. And it looks really awesome. At the moment i have no where to do the work on mine but soon i am getting a large garage.. My motor is looking quite tired at the moment so i am raring to get in and tidy it up an customize the car.. I have not done any customizing now in many years and recall an old Ford escort Mk1 i once picked up and spent many hours and money customizing that.. It was a head turner in its day.. I like cars which have potential to customize and look good after it.. The Fiat Bravo Mk1 is definitely that.. And you have wet my appetite seeing the excellent work you have done on yours. Very impressive what you have done.. The door handles on mine have those covers over the handles which have rotted away and i intend changing them.. Also the ally metal around the base of the door mirrors has chipped away so will remove them and spray up or change if needed.
anyway again an excellent column bro..

Hey thanks for the compliments fiorino and welcome to the forum Nice to hear you are getting a garage soon not having one myself really drives me crazy and limits so much of what I can do. Im looking forward to seeing any pictures and updates about what your doing with your 1.8.

If you have not seen the guides section yet check that for ideas aswell. https://www.fiatforum.com/bravo-brava-marea-guides/

I should be sending my spare set of wheels of for that refurb shortly.

fiorino1 said:

Wow Adrian i really enjoyed reading through all the tings you have done to your motor.. And it looks really awesome. At the moment i have no where to do the work on mine but soon i am getting a large garage.. My motor is looking quite tired at the moment so i am raring to get in and tidy it up an customize the car.. I have not done any customizing now in many years and recall an old Ford escort Mk1 i once picked up and spent many hours and money customizing that.. It was a head turner in its day.. I like cars which have potential to customize and look good after it.. The Fiat Bravo Mk1 is definitely that.. And you have wet my appetite seeing the excellent work you have done on yours. Very impressive what you have done.. The door handles on mine have those covers over the handles which have rotted away and i intend changing them.. Also the ally metal around the base of the door mirrors has chipped away so will remove them and spray up or change if needed.
anyway again an excellent column bro..

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EDIT: and im very happy my thread has passed the 20,000 views mark

Hey there Adrian no probs.. I was reading your article on the rear light units that is interesting stuff, thing is there are no breakers yards round here so how does one get hold of the rear light seals from a Mk2? I note on my light units there are sort of white dots inside which leaves me to think there is damp that has got inside the light.. I have a couple of pics on this pc some place will have to look for them but be warned its no where near as good as yours lol its quite sad at the moment.. But i was given it.. Just got it through the MOT passed with no work having to be done on it.. Brand new Timing belt.. But i can do all that no probs.yes will upload soon bro.. Thanks.. I have put another question up on here about the alarm system which is doing my nut..

I changed my engine oil today. I do it every 12 months or every 10,000 Miles.The original schedule is every 12 months or 20km (12427 Miles) hence the name of the oil Seleina 20k. I have decided to do my annual oil change around the end of February / begining of March after the winter because I have read that an oils properties can be damaged in very low temperatures. Every little helps.

- New Oil Seleina 20k 10w40
- New Fiat Oil Filter PN:71736159

I got this massive oil funnel but it was ever so slighlty bigger than the filler hole so I managed to find a perfect drinks bottle this time round, funnels with long necks are useless on my car because the inlet camshaft blocks them from fitting in.



I ordered a new sump plug washer from Fiat which turned out to be a new design. Its a little thicker and has a bit of rubber around the inside of the washer. For what it was worth I decided to stick with what I knew worked and bought a replacement copper washer from the internet.



For Mk2 rear light seals try eBay fiorino, the part isnt listed as seperatly from the light on Fiats Parts Catalogue, maybe you could even buy the cheapest mk2 rear ligts just for that part. Or contact this seller through eBay and ask for the seals, he has sold me lots of parts with no issues http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261153123704 (Seller http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/midlandcarbreakers?_trksid=p2047675.l2559)

fiorino1 said:

Hey there Adrian no probs.. I was reading your article on the rear light units that is interesting stuff, thing is there are no breakers yards round here so how does one get hold of the rear light seals from a Mk2? I note on my light units there are sort of white dots inside which leaves me to think there is damp that has got inside the light.. I have a couple of pics on this pc some place will have to look for them but be warned its no where near as good as yours lol its quite sad at the moment.. But i was given it.. Just got it through the MOT passed with no work having to be done on it.. Brand new Timing belt.. But i can do all that no probs.yes will upload soon bro.. Thanks.. I have put another question up on here about the alarm system which is doing my nut..

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I managed to get a new engine undertray cheap. This one is part number 46468298 for the HGT and Marea 2 liter. It is listed as M6 compatability on ePer where my 1.8 trayt is M5 compatability. I took the chance and bought it anyway.

The only two differences I could see between my old bashed up 1.8 tray and this 2.0 tray was first a big round hole at the bottom of the tray that looks like might be for access to something like a drain plug? The second difference was the 1.8 tray has a kind of foam stuck to the inside where the 2.0 version has nothing stuck to the inside.

I painted all the metal fixings, then smothered them in copper grease. Plus I had the right size stainless steel bolts and washers to replace the stanard ones.





Heres the 1.8 version


My drivers door check strap was making a horrible clunk so I replaced that with a new part. Its a rubbish job because I hate removing the fragile door cards.

My front windows squeek in the frames on and off so I bought a new inner seal. Its rubber with a kind of flock on the glass side. I noticed on the cars originals the flock has rubbed off leaving a hard rubber that I think was squeeking on the glass. I will have to see how that goes.

Heres a pic


My car is on exactly 52,000 Miles today.

Finaly my spare set of wheels are at a powdercoating place to be refurbished in a silver with a metalic fleck. I want a colour like the Fiat 500 15" Sport alloys I had on my 1.4

I found some very cheap and new Pioneer front speakers and tweeters for sale. Upgrading the speakers was not something I had ever planned to do or even felt the need to do. I always thought the Bravos standard sound system was very good. But since this aftermarket Pioneer kit is specifically designed for the Bravo, Brava and Marea making it a 100% direct fit I could not pass up on it.

Here is the box, I did not pay £58.95 I paid £8.00
Pioneer TS-575 80W




Nicely packaged;


Tweeters. Looked like good quality, heavy, nicely moulded plastic


Front door speakers. These are a lot heavier than the originals. The front speakers on a Bravo have an odd one off shape, the beauty of this pioneer kit is the fact it will fit directly with no messing about or cutting things up.

I have bought some black speaker fabric to put ontop of the front speakers. I do not want the blue to show through the door grills, plus the fabric will help keep rain out.


Today I fitted the front tweeters. Here are some comparisons.




While everything was unpluged I put electrical contact cleaner on the connector plugs.


And here is a pic of the tweeter cover in the dashboard incase anyone wondered where the retaining clips are fitted.


The tweeters have made a massive difference on thier own so im looking forward to getting the door speakers in when my fabric arrives. Im not looking forward to taking the door cards off though, I hate that job

I also replaced the plastic trim on the inside of my boot lid, the cars original had a small crack. No surprise that the rear washer jet pipe had come away from the motor shaft. The pipe actually made a familiar rattle inside its retaining clips so I decided to strip it out of the car and bin it. Inside the roof of the car the pipe was also broken in half. I had blocked off the rear washer piping from the engine bay when I bought the car anyway without even trying it.

Today I found out what had started rattling inside my drivers door. It was a stowaway Sealy screwdriver!!! Must have been inside before I bought the car;


The speaker fabric I ordered turned up in the post this morning so I could fit my new Pioneer front door speakers.


I was going to stick the fabric directly to my new speakers but then realised it would be a better solution to stick the fabric to the inside of the door card. Its not a work of art from inside my scissors where pants for this. plus some chalk would have helped to mark out the material.


From the outside it looks much better than the original open vents;


The Pioneer kit came with stupidly long screws but the original screws where just the right length so i stuck with them.


Too many pictures????


Heres the original factory speakers PN:46422485;



The Pioneers are a big improvement. I also sprayed some waxol cavity wax into the doors and cleaned all the electrical contacts.

I also bought these Grayston wheel bolts 16x ready for my new wheels. They are tuner style apparently. I got them because the key goes inside the bolt head meaning the bolt holes on the alloys wont get scratched by the head of the wheel brace.

Bolt specs are:
M12 x 1.25
28mm Thread Length
60 degree taper

Were those the speakers in the classifieds? I'm not surprised that you bought some Bravo-specific upgrades knowing your obsession... they are worthwhile aren't they? I'm just surprised that it gtook so long.

I did the same for mine a while ago... but I couldn't understand why if you buy new component (i.e. seperate) speakers they come with a crossover unit, but the standard Fiat door speakers and tweeters don't seem to need one (the wire colours are the same for each side).

Incidentally if you upgrade the rear speakers you can buy some add-on plastic collars to allow the new items to match the snug fit of the originals up against the corner shelves.

What's happenning with the 2nd set of wheels?

I dont know if the speakers where for sale in classifieds, i found those on eBay. Definatly worth while. Ill probably keep the Original set of wheels after my refurbished set go one. I have a 9th wheel aswell but it has a vert slight flat spot on the inside plus the paint has completely pealed. If someone wants it for free they can have it, otherwise it will likely get thrown out.

Im still undecided about getting new tyres and which tyre size. either 185/55/r15 or 195/50/r15 wondering how the 195's will look on 6j wheels

bluejohn125 said:

Were those the speakers in the classifieds? I'm not surprised that you bought some Bravo-specific upgrades knowing your obsession... they are worthwhile aren't they? I'm just surprised that it gtook so long.

I did the same for mine a while ago... but I couldn't understand why if you buy new component (i.e. seperate) speakers they come with a crossover unit, but the standard Fiat door speakers and tweeters don't seem to need one (the wire colours are the same for each side).

Incidentally if you upgrade the rear speakers you can buy some add-on plastic collars to allow the new items to match the snug fit of the originals up against the corner shelves.

What's happenning with the 2nd set of wheels?

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If I were you I'd probably take the plunge and upgrade to 195s just for the hell of it - you've improved the car's suspension etc so why not take advantage of that and get slightly wider tyres that may protect your alloys from kerbing a bit.... Unless there's plenty of life in your existing tyres but you can always put wider tyres on the rear, say if you only needed to do 2 right now.

I think the Nexen N2000/3000 you used before might still be available but seem to be getting phased out... I like them on my car.

You could offer your 9th wheel to WrightyHGT - he's got a mismatched Marea alloy on his and yours are quite close to the HGT alloys (from a distance anyway...)

Adrian Bravo said:

Im still undecided about getting new tyres and which tyre size. either 185/55/r15 or 195/50/r15 wondering how the 195's will look on 6j wheels

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Well let me help you

Not much of a noticeable difference between 185's and 195's unless you are really pushing the car.

Best off with the 195s as they're cheaper and have much more of a variety

As for how they look on 6j rims well here's a set on my dads Bravo. Linky

Image not uploaded on ff and the car is filthy in the photo!!!

i have to say adrian, your bravo looks fantastic and i love the fact your using genuine parts, it hasn't got stupid aftermarket wheels or plastic body kit, it looks how a bravo should look, standard is the way to go with bravo's.

I got my Powdercoated wheels back and decided to go for all new tyres. I decided it makes sense to fit a new tyre so hopefully they wont have to be removed for the maximum amount of time possible. Plus I wanted a more expencive tyre than the Nexen.

185/55 R15 is the factory tyre size I decided to go for 195/50 R15 which is listed as an option in the manual. Im really happy with how the tyre sits and looks compared to the 185's

I decided to buy Michelin Pilot Exalto PE2 tyres. It is like driving a different car with these tyres on they are so much better than the Nexen's I had, so much firmer and changes the steering feel a lot.

I was almost going to get Continentals I had before but the Michelin sales blurb says they are "developed to provide crisp and responsive handling " Where as the Continental say "designed for luxury and mid-range passenger cars." That made me think the Continental might be more of a softy kind of comfort design.

Heres the full blurb;

Michelin's Pilot Exalto PE2 is an entry level ultra high Performance summer tyre designed to raise both the status and performance of small sporty cars that use low profile-sized tyres. Inspired by Michelin's World Rally Championship (WRC) tyre design and architecture the tyre has been developed to provide crisp and responsive handling in both wet and dry conditions combined with superb steering response.

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Here is the calculated differences between both sizes;

185/55 R15
Sidewall: 101.80mm
Radius: 292.20mm
Diameter: 584.50mm
Circumference: 1836.30mm
Rev's/Mile:876

195/50 R15
Sidewall: 97.50mm
Radius: 288.00mm
Diameter:576.00mm
Circumference:1809.60mm
Rev's/Mile:889
- Previous 60mph would now show as 59.1mph

Heres some pictures of the wheels before fitting. This is a powdercoat. The finnish is really nice, the colour is exactly what I wanted.


Heres the tuner style bolts, These where a great buy because the long key means you cant scratch the powdercoat off holes with the wheel brace.



The camera really pics up the metalic but its not as in your face as the pictures suggest.




The mating faces are clean aluminium not coated. I applied a slither of copper grease to stop them reacting against the hubs.



Heres some pics of the wheels on the car. They sit perfectly, everything is just what I wanted. I also got some black and silver Fiat badges. I alighed the text to have the valve underneath.

Heres a load of updated pictures. The weather was pants so i just found the closest quiet road I could.





This one shows the Fiat 500 Door Handles.


These show the Stainless Steel exhaust.











Managed to take another photo of the red sign





I have had these Bosch wiper blades for four years!




Caution.


The interior picture turned out pants. Just trying to show the CD-Player.

Im very happy with the refurbished wheels everything turned out just as I wanted. The 'tuner' wheel bolts are relly nice because they remove all chance of damaging the alloys. The different tyre profile gave just the look I wanted. The alloy colour and finnish was perfect. The new Michelin tyres make the car feel completely different, better in every way.

I have the car looking just how I want it now. The only looks changes I would possibly make in the future are;

HGT wings and front bumper without headlight washer jets,
Definatly a non-sunroof roof skin,
Maybe HGT Side skirts,

I am saving up for a respray in the distant future.

Next Im going to ask a few fabrication shops about making petrol tank straps out of stainless steel. I have some brackets for the engine bay I still need to get powdercoated. Id like to get a new battery tray powdercoated.

I need to track down a proper black surround/vent for the instrument cluster. Mine is just off black. I think Brava's have solid black ones.

The interior is just as I want it apart from the sunroof. I might get a Marea centre console.

Looking very nice there Adrian.....would almost seem a shame to fit the hgt bits you mentioned as got to be one of the best HLX's around.

Adrian Bravo said:

Id like to get a new battery tray powdercoated.

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I wasn't aware they still made the battery trays... does your have the relay mounts at the front?? mine is very ropey and is in dire need of replacement.

Hey wrighty, Thanks! I know what you mean about the HGT bits, I had the same feeling myself.

With the battery Tray I have no idea if they are still available or not from Fiat direct. On both my 1.4 and 1.8 the battery trays have a small stud on the front where the fuse/relay box bolts onto. So the fuse/relay box is a seperate part. Might be worth having a look through ePer, I dont know if there are different battery trays per model. At the back of the battery tray there is another couple of holes where different parts can be mounted on the 1.4 its just a hanger for the wiring loom, on the 1.8 it holds a bracket for the MAF sensor. My 1.4 and 1.8 battery trays where identical though.

You might be able to use a tray from an alfa since the chasis leg is the same.

wrightyHGT said:

Looking very nice there Adrian.....would almost seem a shame to fit the hgt bits you mentioned as got to be one of the best HLX's around.




I wasn't aware they still made the battery trays... does your have the relay mounts at the front?? mine is very ropey and is in dire need of replacement.

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