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

Adrian Bravo said:

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.

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thats correct but when i did the clutch slave recently i had to be very carefull with this mount as its quite corroded and didn't want to snap it off......have to investigate the options more thoroughly.

Forgot to say, I had stick on weights put on the alloys rather than the old syle clip on ones.

The Handles
The Bravo handles as we all know rot with age. You can go for Marea hard plastic handles, Alfa 147 handles which have a gap between the bodywork and handle or original replacements that will rot again. I present to you the latest option Fiat 500 handles! When I was looking at a 500 in the showroom I realised the handle had all the right proportions so would most likely fit.

They are made by Valeo. The mechanism design is Identical to Alfa 147 handles The added bonus these handles give is being completely flat so they will fit flush with your body work. They are made out of plastic that has been metalised, a process where plastic is coated with a metal. The finish is a very nice mirror chrome.

0735485872 RHD Right Side Handle (has key hole)
0735485875 LHD Left Side Handle (has key hole)

If you wish to de-lock the passenger side order all right hand drive parts. If you wish to de-lock both sides then obviously you can order a mixture of left hand drive and right hand drive parts.





I think it’s a shame the pin that holds the handle mechanism is not removable like the old handles because this prevents you completely disassembling the handle.


Preparing The Handles

First remove the white handle rod clip. This is fairly easy, I pinched the tabs together with some long nose pliers. Keep this part you will need it later.


Second remove the lock rod. This could go very wrong if you don’t take some care. Make sure you do not brake the black part of the lock unfortunately it is only plastic. First lift the white clip and move the rod from under it, then the rod will just drop off. You are left with the white clip inside the black lock mechanism. Carefully squeeze the tabs together and it pops out easily if you get it just right.


Modifying The Handle Rod Connection

The big different between these handles and the originals is the Handle rod connection. This causes two problems 1. The size causes it to hit the window runner and 2. The rod connects to the wrong side of the handle.

I think the large piece of metal is there to add extra theft protection or to add weight in the handle pull mechanism. Either way its got to go for our use. It is relatively easy with a hacksaw though the metal is quite dense so a good hack saw blade is needed.

First cut off this section of the metal. Put some masking tape over the mechanism to stop filings getting everywhere.


Half way through the cut.


All the way off, You may need to file the back down to smooth off any sharp edges and level it out with the rest of the part.


Next you need to cut off the part that interferes with the window runner.



I filed down the sharp edges to prevent any paintwork accidents.


Next you need to remove the lock cover, this will give you a hell of a lot more manoeuvrability when fitting the handle to the car. . Take out the three smaller Philips screws, for the rearward one turn the black lock mechanism to the side. When the screws are out you can separate the metal base from the chrome body by a few centimetres. I found using cable ties to pin the handle mechanism in the open position is very handy.

Open it up and you will see a white plastic body held into the chrome outer body by four clips. The rear two clips are very easy to undo with a small screwdriver I just pushed the white tabs inwards.


The front two are a little harder to undo. Imagine this is still connected where you see the flat head screwdriver here I turned it clockwise against the white insert . This let the clips pop free.


You should be left with two hopefully unbroken parts.


Fitting To The Car

Removal of originals

You will obviously need to remove the door card first. On the end of the door is a torx bolt holding the handle remove this. Inside the door panel is a 10mm bolt holding the front of the handle.


Silde the handle forward towards the front of the car then pull it away from the door towards you. Next you have to remove the rods from the handle, put simply this is a nightmare and you will just have to do it your own way. I did it without causing any damage. You can leaver the handle rod of the door handle with a screwdriver from inside the door. Then remove the locking rod from the handle and the door mechanism.


Now remove the two plastic rod clips and fit them to the new handle. You should also have two spare originals in case you brake any.


Prise the lock barrel retaining pin from your original handle to get the barrel out.


You may need to wind the handle rod adjustment up a little so that the handle closes completely.


Now to the most miserable and difficult job I have ever performed on my car, Fitting the handles. I removed the back lower electric window rail, its just two 10mm bolts. Then remove this plastic support shown here, it is just one 10mm bolt.


Then you can undo the three torx bolts holding the latch mechanism. This will give you enough freedom to remove the locking rod. Fit the locking rod to the handle then fit the handle to the car without the barrel cover.


Back inside the door you will be able to fit the locking rod to the locking mechanism. Then you will be able to make any final adjustments to the handle rod and fit it to the handle.

Check everything works, and never ever leave the key in the car because it will lock itself if things are not perfect.

Finally fit the lock cover and put everything back as it should be. Well done that was extremely difficult.


To Paint

First remove the front hinge and weather seal, this is just one Philips screw.


I used cable ties to hold the handles in the open position. You can then paint in all the gaps with ease.



I wont give any advice on actually painting because it is a highly skilled art that I am certainly no master of. Check prices at your local bodyshop, your cost in materials vs a bodyshop price will not be that big.

I really need to stop looking at this thread, makes me miss my little Bravo

I got a new expansion tank cheap so fitted that today.

Before


After

1996 Fiat Bravo 1.8 HLX Ink Black Enigne Bay

I made a rubber matt for the bottom of my Battery Tray to stop the batter rubbing the paint off. My battery is longer than the plastic leak catch tray my car comes with, that does not mattery because the Optima battery is a gel battery so the leak catch tray is not needed. This new battery try is going for powdercoating soon.

I have already got all stainless steel fittings for the new battery tray;
4x M8x20mm Hexagon head bolts - (Mounts the tray to chasis leg)
- with 4x Form A washers
4x Flanged M6 nuts (for the fuesebox and MAF mounts
1x M8 Flanged Nut - (for the battery strap)
- With 1x Form C washer
1x M6x20mm Flanged Button Head Allen Bolt. (for the battery strap mount end)

I sent off some bits for powdercoating in Semigloss black.

This was the scrap yard parts before (new parts are the battery tray and one of the engine steady brackets);


Heres the after;



I have a Powerflext Insert for this but im not sure if its 100% correct. I need to see how the dog bone on the car goes into the engine sway bracket. The Powerflex bush seems to not be tall enough.












All Stainless Steel fittings. and ive copper greased all the threads.

Wow they look great....certainly going to make a difference under the bonnet

Got a job done today that I have wanted to do for a long long time, Changed my Mk1 horrible washed out grey coloured instrument surround for a Mk2 black surround.

Heres the pics;








The headlight adjuster had a different socket from Mk1 to Mk2. The Mk1 has a notchy movement it only goes into four positions, 0, 1, 2, 3. The Mk2 adjuster has a smooth movement but its still numberd from 0-3. Kinda annoying because I would have liked to have it for a spare. The dimmer switches where the same.

I managed to find a New original and correct oil filler cap



If you remember when I had my rocker cover powdercoated and ordered a new oild cap but the design had changed to this yellow part that would look utterly out of place.

Loving all the work, time and devotion
Can't wait to see more pics and progress, I really need my handles done next.

Great work dude.

Car passed another MOT today with no advisories. I need to get more little projects sorted soon, not done much recently.

I did a some service items today;


- New Oil Seleina 20k 10w40
- New Fiat Oil Filter PN:71736159
- New Spark Plugs 4x NGK BKR6EKC
- New Coolant Paraflu and distilled water 50/50


I though id post about the ignition coils. I have never seen any figures for the resistance of the primary winding on the Hitachi coils for the Mk1 1747cc 1.8





I have one original spare and the four on my car so here are my results.


New Spare: 0.7ohm
Cylinder 01: 0.7ohm
Cylinder 02: 0.7ohm
Cylinder 03: 0.7ohm
Cylinder 04: 0.7ohm


Here is a pic of the used spark plugs NGK BKR6EKC;

Since I bought the car the Mk1 sunroof blind was saggy and the sunroof frame twanged as I drove so I wanted to try and fix both problems. This means dropping the roof lining and taking almost all the trim out. I also want to try some Dynamat sound deadening under the rear quarter trim, rear floor and rear arches.

This pic might be useful for people looking for the CD Changer cable in the boot. You can see it wrapped in foam with a cap on the terminal.



Starting to take everything out.


Another tiny improvement here, I managed to find a courtesy light without the big black dome thing sticking out


The Mk2 sunroof blind is redesigned and does not sag, the one I got matched my roof lining colour.

These two pictures of the sunroof blind should be helpful to others. The black T sliders shown here are spring loaded they have a W shaped spring inside. So to get the blind out you have to carefully push the T's inward. The spring is stupidly strong though.




I put a strip of Dynamat on the back side of the rear aluminium sunroof frame rail but could not take a picture of that. I think it will stop it rattling, it has damped the movement. I could not put a strip on the front rail because it would have stopped the sunroof blind moving.

While everything was off I decided to put just a couple of narrow strips of Dynamat across the roof skin. If the sunroof frame was not in the way I would have covered the entire roof completely.



Tomorrow I should have the sound deadening done on the rear.

I will never buy a car with a sunroof again new or used. Just too many negatives.

So the sunroof frame does not rattle anymore fantastic!

Today I started putting the Dynamat Xtreme on my rear quarters. I think this area will give the biggest gains in road sound reduction, that area kinda looks like a megaphone with nothing but the door card between you and the amplified sound of the wheel arch inside.

First I made some paper templates;


I made this in two parts because my sheets of dynamat where only just short to do it in one;


These Quarter templates where nice because I could just flip them over and reuse them for the right side of the car. I found a pair of scissors cuts the mat nicely;


You can see Fiat does have two small patches of sound deadening on the wheel arch;


The dynamat feels really good in the car, I think it will make a difference.


Left some space for the rear quarter card near the seatbelt bolt. The dynamat is much thinner than I though when rollered down onto the car, I had a small worry it would be a bit thick for the trim to go back.


This is how both sides looked at the end of today, it took a long time. I might do more of the silver seam tape tomorrow, I think its only point is to cover the sticky bits at the edge of each sheet.


Tomorrow I am going to do the spare wheel well and some of the rear floor, if I do not have enough I can do under the rear seat bases at a later date without having to remove half the car. So tomorrow I am going to do everything not accessible with the interior in then clean and refit the interior. Ill neaten up the wiring a bit as well.

If it makes a good difference I will probably do the front doors and inside the boot lid. Fiat already put a massive piece of sound deadening on the inside of the firewall up to the front seats.

Our garden has also been transformed into a Driveway, its made my life so much easier and helped with my sanity

good work sir - that should make a big difference.

Have not driven it yet, got the rear floor area and spare wheel well done. Doing the tape over the joins took forever but it is necessary to stop the sticky gunk stuff getting everywhere. Got the carpet back in. I can put all the trim and seats back in tomorrow.

Had just enough mat to meet up to the factory sound deadening at the bottom of the spare wheel well. Its hard to see in the picture but the dynamat goes all the way forward to the factory stuff that goes under the rear seats. I could do that last middle bit under the rear seats at a later date.


You can see the three stainless steel bolts on my bumper with the stainless steel top hat's, and my matching rear lights


I might splash out on some new rear speakers to match my pioneer fronts.