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Grande Punto DlightSwitch's Blue T-Jet.

Introduction

Hi all,

After reading these forums for a while and posting the odd silly question here and there, I'm proud to say I finally own a T-Jet :D:D



Standard for now but I do have plans for it:

Looks

  • Tinted tail lights
  • Tinted/Abarth headlights
  • Black Mirrors
  • Black Alloys
Handling

  • Coilovers (Either JOM or FK AK)

Performance

  • Forge Induction
  • Forge Intercooler
  • Abarth Turbo
  • Some sort of custom exhaust

I'm open to suggestions though, if any of you have any ideas on what else/different to do to my car then feel free to let me know :)

Thanks for looking!
It's been a while! :eek:

As you may know from other threads on the forum, my clutch started slipping :(

After much debating, ringing & under-3k driving, I managed to get an uprated Abarth SS clutch, with a new standard flywheel. I was inches away from buying the TMC Motorsport Monomass conversion, until they told me it was + VAT :rolleyes:

A few days later, and I'd already encountered a problem. I specifically ordered the LUK Flywheel from Euro Car Parts (After countless emails ensuring it was the right one). However, it came in a Valeo box! :bang:

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So I was straight on the phone to them, they can't understand how it happened because apparently Valeo don't make flywheels.. :confused: After reading the part number on the invoice, box and flywheel itself, the bloke on the phone agreed it was the wrong one! He told me to just post it back to them, and they'd post me a new one, which of course wasn't good enough; with a slipping clutch on a daily driver, time wasn't exactly on my side! After a while of convincing, he sent a driver with the correct flywheel up to Newcastle to drop off the flywheel at my local store.
What's next, you may ask? I go to the local store the next day, only for them to know absolutely nothing about it!! But luckily after 5 minutes of chatting to the guy on the desk, the supervisor came over and realised they'd set the flywheel aside for me. PHEW!

I'd spoken to a few local garages, including the Fiat dealership, and nobody really filled me with confidence that they'd be able to do the job properly. :bang:

After exchanging a few emails with ProAlfa in Watford, I got the car booked in. The guys seemed really knowledgeable, so that's why I figured it was best to go with them.

Firstly, as I do before any long journey, I checked the oil, tyre pressures and of course gave the car a wash and wax. So here it is gleaming the day before I set off:

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Still gleaming halfway there, had to park up at a service station because nature called. ;)
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280 Miles and 48MPG later, I arrived at proalfa
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Bloke was very friendly, showed me the special tool for fitting the self adjusting clutch:
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After a bit of a look round the garage at some of the other cars in there, I signed the papers for my courtesy car (2.0 Alfa 145 :D) and off I went to stay with friends in London for the weekend!

There were some issues with the new concentric slave cylinder not fitting, myself and ProAlfa tried our best to ring up and get a new one in time, but with no luck. So the old one was cleaned up, reconditioned and put back on. Thankfully no leaks :)

The rest of the pictures were taken by ProAlfa

Old flywheel & clutch
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New Flywheel
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New Clutch
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New Clutch installed
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T-Jet on the ramp
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I also decided to have the oil seals and oil changed in my gearbox, whilst it was off, to keep everything running smoothly. :)

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The next day I picked the car up, and after many compliments from the guys at proalfa (It drives nicely, the engine bay is dressed up really well.. etc. :)) I was off happily motoring again!

If you've read this far, well done! (y)
 
Well what a mission that was then! Hopefully well worth it in the end! When reading it I though 'uh oh another cars going to be up for sale' haha glad to see its all sorted now though! :)

Yeah I'm glad it's sorted! So nice to actually be able to put the power down again!
I don't know what it is, so many good Grandes for sale at the minute!

Wayyyy well done for finally getting it sorted, the guys at proalfa I really great guys, they did the turbo on my t-jet :)

Yeah you and Vance have both been there!
Definitely worth the journey, they are superb!
 
must just ask mate, what do you use to wax your car? i.e. applicator pads? which wax? etc.

The ones I use have been covering my car in swirl marks, and tbh, i dont think there's any on yours from the pics

I usually use Dodo Juice Purple Haze, as it gives the best shine and 'wet look' for my colour. However since I knew I'd be travelling 600+ miles that weekend, I gave the car a coat of Collinite 845, it doesn't quite produce the same shine, but it's really durable. I always apply my waxes with a Meguairs Foam Applicator pad.

My car had swirls when I got it, but doing plenty of reading on Detailing World and investing in a Dual-Action Machine Polisher has cured that. :D There are a few minor swirls still, in areas I couldn't do properly with the large pad, but they'll be getting sorted out soon, I've got some smaller, better pads now.
 
DIS IS SO SICK! Thought of NOS?

I'd be lucky if a shot of NOS didn't blow the welds on the intake!






















(Fast & Furious Quote)


In all seriousness, (though I'm not sure if you are serious), NOS would be an option to get more power out of the car, as any more would max out the injectors. But I wouldn't want to as it would probably melt the pistons as well as my turbo.
Also I'm not a racer, so I wouldn't go to extreme lengths for a bit of extra power, I'm happy with it how it is right now :)
 
It's not Booth with a fake account is it?! I see he's been banned...

Nah Boothy loves my car.

i am being serious i asked on a post wether this was the ryt kinda site for this stuff. i want to build a showcar u see

Well you can find pretty much everything here to build a show car, from ICE to Tuning. It's not the kind of site that has mass appreciation for show cars, but you'll be able to find all the info and help you need.
 
thanks for the reply mate (regarding wax etc)

I literally cleaned my wheels today using showroom shine (not brilliant I know, will be investing in better stuff shortly) and by the time i got to work (9 miles) the wheels were full of dust and nearly grey again.

My wheels are black and hard to keep clean, but surely not that hard?

Sounds like a machine polisher is the tool for the job!

@GrandePuntoSporting if you ever install NOS please let me know as always been interested in that stuff ;)
 
thanks for the reply mate (regarding wax etc)

I literally cleaned my wheels today using showroom shine (not brilliant I know, will be investing in better stuff shortly) and by the time i got to work (9 miles) the wheels were full of dust and nearly grey again.

My wheels are black and hard to keep clean, but surely not that hard?

Sounds like a machine polisher is the tool for the job!

@GrandePuntoSporting if you ever install NOS please let me know as always been interested in that stuff ;)

No probs mate. If you clean the wheels properly it will be harder for them to get dirty again, but you could invest in a wheel sealant if you care that much. I just use the collinite on the wheels and it works well.

Before you invest in a machine polisher do a lot of research, there's some great threads on detailing world. You can't really do much/any damage with a Dual Action polisher but it would be best if you got yourself comfortable with it first. If you were near me I wouldn't mind doing a panel on your car to show you what a difference it makes :p
 
Yeah hopefully! Just dont want to put effort into cleaning for it to get the same within a day. Just curious, how long would it take you to clean everything i.e. windows, wheels, car + wax? Usually takes me around 2 hours.

Yeah I will research, can't get one yet anyway so got a while to look.

cheers mate
 
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