Bravo (Classic) Van with a difference!!!.

Just read this thread front to back, much to the Girlfriend's dissapointment Reminds of the a series called "A car is born". Keep up the good work mate =] Really looking good

Keeping everyone on the happy side, heres another update

First, a tribute to a car that made the van project possible

As I got it, Abarth bumper on the roof


Durrrrty :yum:


Turbo lump!!!


But alas, over 2 years I had the time to strip it. So as it was this morning


With un-smiley face as it knew its impending doom


Farewell to a keypoint car in this project :worship:

Now onto a more upbeat note, some of you know I hate space savers

So with all the wheels and tyres lying about I decided 2 spares are better than 1

Using a Mk1 Punto wheel (yet another tribute) and a brand new Nankang I found in a ditch (I await the jokes!!! :nerner Good combo


Time to clean it up...


And again...


When the paint has dried, result


Waste not want not. Painted another wheel while I was at it


So thats the wheel sorted. Now for the tyre

Autoglym tyre shine? Pah! Tango for a professional finish :devil:


It does take a while to dry mind you...


I found this mess in the boot, I'll sort it when I get the chance


As a result of my old van going to its death, I'll be fitting these when I get the chance :yum:


Very bold :tempt:


So stay tuned...

you puttin turbo lump into this one? or stick it in that punto gotta hand it to ya though man u do alot in little time! nice one

hmm looks interesting, and sad to see the bravo shell go :*(....
cant wait to the outcome you never stop do you, always finding something to do.

wilko92 said:

you puttin turbo lump into this one? or stick it in that punto gotta hand it to ya though man u do alot in little time! nice one

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Cheers! Thats one heavy lump of an engine, I failed to lift it! I did think about putting it in my Bravo then thought better, I'll rob the turbo and sell bits of the engine to pay for a refurb Someday that turbo will be used on something here...

Bravo16VSpoonz said:

hmm looks interesting, and sad to see the bravo shell go :*(....
cant wait to the outcome you never stop do you, always finding something to do.

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Not pleasent seeing the car being destroyed before me but it means theres room for new stuff and maybe a few more Bravos to strip :devil:

Gotta keep busy or I'd go insane! :spin: Still plenty of tricks left too...

Update time!

About the towbar though

First, I fished it out. Twas 1pm and nice and sunny


You can see the sledge out, I needed to straighten it a little bit


I have never seen as much rust on a lump of metal. Got the grinder and made a brown cloud :yuck: thank goodness I had a mask on...


Now once it was relatively clean, hammerite time


And I left that to dry, conveniently I had "company" while I waited... :yum:

Now its 9 pm...


Off with the bumper, impact blocks and metal covers...


Ally oop!


Then, an unrelated major disaster struck, so spent the next 2 hours at that :bang:

Now its past 11pm...


I also had to straighten this bracket with a stilson as it was bent out of shape


But it's sitting on and bolted in position


Just needed to trim the bumper... Image 1000!!! :worship:


And the result after further adjustment


Daylight pics will follow as will a clean of the boot, iron filings everywhere, don't want those to go somewhere they shouldn't...

I'm fairly happy with the result so far, just need a ball hitch (to the inventory in daylight )

Untill the next update...! :yum:

Twas sunny earlier and more importantly dry

I got this at the weekend thinking I had none


And while looking for cable this morning... :doh:


Oh well No innuendos about that bracket!!! :nerner:

Cable fed through and ready to strip


Tidy it away


Using the holes on the rear panel to keep it all hidden


On both sides


Just need scotch locks and job done


Now a bit of a problem, the space saver wont fit in the well :bang:


But well get round that...

So as she stands


Untill the next update people... :chin:

its coming along.. Needs some spacers though, wheels are so far under the arches!

it does look wide that front end

I think that's mainly because of the wider marea wings and shorter bravo wishbones.

btw I always look forward to updates on your projects, there's always something you don't expect

blu73 said:

its coming along.. Needs some spacers though, wheels are so far under the arches!

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MickeyBravo said:

it does look wide that front end

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GWBoes said:

I think that's mainly because of the wider marea wings and shorter bravo wishbones.

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All correct, the Marea wings make it seem as if the wheels are stuck well in, standard wings wouldn't look too bad but not a fan of the standard wings! I'll be getting rid of some old stock to make way for some 15 - 20mm hubcentric spacers as many of you suggested

GWBoes said:

btw I always look forward to updates on your projects, there's always something you don't expect

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Cheers! Theres a few parts of this car I havn't gone near there may well still be a few surprises left...!

yer i know about the marea wings,theyre the same as the hgt.Thats the only thing letting my car down from looking like a hgt...the wings lol
i could get some but i dont think id be able to bend the corner of my bumper extension round and fit proper..i doubt a garage would be able to do a good fit too.
Hence the reason i left them x

A small update

I think I've gone mad, I'm working on 3 cars at once

Now I decided enough was enough so I got mew wipers


The scotch locks are for the wiring of the socket, which I didn't get pics of yet

But the wipers are a beaut


Keep watching...!

Just bought a set of them for my seicento and another set for my vito, best thing since sliced bread

i bought some nearly new had them for a year but they kinda worn out..obviously.I was going to get some more BN ones but i opted for Bosch normal wipers alround and tbh theyre crackin wipers,had them 2 years now and still move the water off without smudging.I will get some flat blade ones next ime round tho

Yeah Bosch wiperrs are good, but expensive generally. Up until i had the flat wipers i always went for bosch drivers wiper and cheapo passenger and rear wiper. My van has cheap flat blades and my seei has proper ones (Valeo) and its seems, like everything, you get what you pay for..

i had valeo ones on my sei, but got them cheap as i work at halfords

As summer has officially ended here (hello downpours ) I got testing my wipers, its a total culture shock to what I had before which were beyond theyre sell by date and just useless. Got in halfords Newry for £23, double the price down here in the local tip of a town

I was watching a certain film on saturday and oh my I spotted something....

Everyone remember this Mitsubishi Eclipse from the fast and furious (the slow and the tame)?


Now look at my wheels...




Oh boy...

I may change those when finances permit!

I'll leave you all with a teaser photo, I pulled this out of thin air, needs a refurb...


Untill the next update...

Bravo 1.2T????
That would be something.

aurick86 said:

Bravo 1.2T????
That would be something.

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That wont be for a while but someday, someday... Collecting the bits for now

The way I look at it is why spend x amount of money on a fancy newish car when you buy a wreck and do it all up using said amount that was funding for the newer car?

Exhausts are the theme of the day, I'm on a coffee break

Out with the old, pile of rubbish...


And a while later, ready for welding


Ooooh the noise from that :devil:

If youre wondering, the exhaust was too low for country roads in Ireland and surprise surprise it hit the road on a road I was unfamiliar with. So off that came and newish pipe cut to suit...

Stay tuned I'm not finished yet...! :yum: