Punto (Mk2/2b) Meet my Punto Chirpy :)

Quick update...

Due to there only being a couple of pay days till Christmas I've decided to put off buying a set off alloys and tyres! Instead I'm going to refurb the original wheel trims and refit them back on the car! Looking back at old photos made me realise how much better they looked even though they were battered, these new Halfords ones just look naff. Might even try them black for a change! I will post progress as I make it, I'm hoping to start in the next week or so. All opinions and ideas welcome!

As for the bulb decision I've decided on Oscan night breakers for the main and dipped beam. Just need to figure out which bulb type I have and to then buy them : )

In the mean time here's an artistic shot of chirps! Enjoy



Sutty

the Mk2b like you have uses H7 bulbs for the main beam and H1 bulbs for the 'high beam'
osram nightbreakers are the way to go, although I find the headlights on my 5 door are extremely good

H7 H1 H4 are the size of the bulbs not the brightness each car uses a specific size which is not interchangeable

there is no benefit to changing the side light bulbs generally you can't see them with the headlights on anyway.

Rear lights are fitted with specific ratings you can't go above those, the wiring for the rear lights is pretty flaky anyway up the ratings and you'll probably burn out the earths so leave the rear lights well alone

changing the side lights or rear lights will give you a bulb out warning on your dash which means when you do really have a bulb out you won't know

My Video on changing/upgrading front bulbs

Just to add if you do use LED side light bulbs it will flag up a bulb failure light on the dash but LEDS will last about 10x longer than a standard bulb as there is no filament that will get weak an burnout

AndyRKett said:

the Mk2b like you have uses H7 bulbs for the main beam and H1 bulbs for the 'high beam'
osram nightbreakers are the way to go, although I find the headlights on my 5 door are extremely good

H7 H1 H4 are the size of the bulbs not the brightness each car uses a specific size which is not interchangeable

there is no benefit to changing the side light bulbs generally you can't see them with the headlights on anyway.

Rear lights are fitted with specific ratings you can't go above those, the wiring for the rear lights is pretty flaky anyway up the ratings and you'll probably burn out the earths so leave the rear lights well alone

changing the side lights or rear lights will give you a bulb out warning on your dash which means when you do really have a bulb out you won't know

My Video on changing/upgrading front bulbs

Fiat Punto How to Replace a head light bulb - YouTube

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Thanks for sharing your knowledge! Your post/video has answered all my questions! Being new to bulbs I just thought the sizes were brightness levels! I only really wanted to change the side lights for aesthetic purposes more than anything! Looks like I will have to find another way to improve the rear lights then!

jordan1293fiat said:

Just to add if you do use LED side light bulbs it will flag up a bulb failure light on the dash but LEDS will last about 10x longer than a standard bulb as there is no filament that will get weak an burnout

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Thanks for the advice!

Help needed!

I've got a problem with my punto but not really sure exactly what it is! The basic symptoms of the problem are as follows -

1, once the engine is warmed up, half way on temp bar and doesn't seem to take any longer to get there than usual, the air that comes out of the vents is only just warm rather than its usual temperature. The fan blower motor is working. Also when driving with the blowers set to zero I can feel a slight cold draft inside the car. It seems to be coming from the two central dash vents.

2, the engine is idling at a higher rpm than usual. Normally it sits around 900 rpm but is sitting anywhere from 1200 to 2000 rpm. This happens when the engine is cold and also when warm but not moving like being stuck in traffic. Also the rpm takes longer to come down when I'm either gearing down from 4th to 2nd or any gear down to first. Usually the rpm matches the speed of the car but it can still be doing 2000 rpm at 10 mph after coming down from 30/40 mph.

Are these problems related as the have both come about at the same time?

Hopefully what I've wrote makes sense and if any of you can help advise/diagnose my problem it will be greatly received

Cheers, Sutty

Bulb update!

Having listened to all the advice off you guys on recommended build type I've decided to go Osram night breakers h7 for the dipped beams and a set of 501 led canbus side lights! Is it worth upgrading the main beam? They should be here Friday and fitted this weekend. Cheers for the advice it's much appreciated

Radio question!

I've got an aftermarket head unit fitted in my car that the last owner installed but I don't think it's been wired up properly. You gave to turn it on and off manually rather than the ignition doing it. How hard is it to wire it up properly as it should be? Although it's no a big problem it's just rather annoying! Thanks in advance.

Sutty

Punto Sutty said:

Radio question!

I've got an aftermarket head unit fitted in my car that the last owner installed but I don't think it's been wired up properly. You gave to turn it on and off manually rather than the ignition doing it. How hard is it to wire it up properly as it should be? Although it's no a big problem it's just rather annoying! Thanks in advance.

Sutty

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As far as I am aware the unit hasn't been wired incorrectly it will have ISO adaptors which makes it work and doesn't use the canbus which is where the factory unit gets its ignition on off info from

Aftermarket units don't use canbus so you would have to manually find and wire the 12v ignition live because it don't think there is one behind the head unit

Your best bet may be to wire from the cig lighter socket as I'm sure that works off ignition

Reeves2k2 said:

As far as I am aware the unit hasn't been wired incorrectly it will have ISO adaptors which makes it work and doesn't use the canbus which is where the factory unit gets its ignition on off info from

Aftermarket units don't use canbus so you would have to manually find and wire the 12v ignition live because it don't think there is one behind the head unit

Your best bet may be to wire from the cig lighter socket as I'm sure that works off ignition

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Thanks for the info, I'll take the unit out and have a proper look at it!

Hi Sutty, the car looks great after you polished it! Just wondering what equipment and products you used to do it?

roger057 said:

Hi Sutty, the car looks great after you polished it! Just wondering what equipment and products you used to do it?

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Thanks! I used a Chicago pneumatic machine polisher and for the polishing paste used 3m fast cut plus on a green mop followed by 3m final glaze on a black mop. I finished it by using a g3 wax by farecla all materials other than the wax were borrowed from work and done at home on my drive way. Took me around 3.5 hours in total

Small update!

The led side lights arrived and have been fitted! Must say I'm very impressed with them, they improve the look of the car ten fold. Just awaiting the osram dipped bulbs now! Also considering upgrading the main beam too seen as winter is upon us!

I'm thinking of painting some of the interior trim inside the car, my colour theme is black for additional bits alongside the dark blue body work. Not sure what to paint, any ideas as to what colour too?

Jobs for this week -

Begin refurbing factory wheel trims.
Fit new dipped bulbs once arrived.
Partial debadge, mostly chrome word badges.
Clean engine bay.
Compose list of bits to buy in two weeks once I get paid.
Do a mini winter check/top up of fluids in engine.
Possibly begin colour coding door handles and wing mirrors. Would the door handles look better in gloss black or body work colour?

All opinions and advice are most welcome!

Cheers,Sutty

Advice needed!

I'm planning on changing the look of my side repeaters by painting the beige plastic back gloss black. Not sure what else, if anything, to to to them to improve their look! Has anyone got any ideas or photos of their painted side repeaters?

Cheers, Sutty

Side repeaters are often smoked

Ie let light through but look black

Ebay has loads - been done laods

Ziggy

Ziggy122 said:

Side repeaters are often smoked

Ie let light through but look black

Ebay has loads - been done laods

Ziggy

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May tint the clear plastic, I'll see what it looks like when the backs painted first. Just want to lessen the fried egg look a bit and improve its look.

Punto Sutty said:

I'm planning on changing the look of my side repeaters by painting the beige plastic back gloss black. Not sure what else, if anything, to to to them to improve their look! Has anyone got any ideas or photos of their painted side repeaters?

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As I can be a lazy so-and-so, I bought mine -- like my salmon -- pre-smoked...!

The car looks really tidy as it is especially now you've sorted the bodywork. You've got some good ideas and some not so good... the Fiat wheeltrims are fine - nice and chunky - so a refurb is ideal but NOT in black / grey, just standard silver. The standard car colours look great, pointless to remove / code rubbing strips, code handles and mirrors since there is plenty of black still on the car. It's a 5-door Punto, so no real point pretending it's a glamorous, sporty roadburner! It's a cute, effective, stylish, nippy little Italian hatchback.

I understand you're fairly excited and keen to personalise it, but I reckon it's one of those cars that would be best left standard and just improved sensibly and sympathetically... debadging should be to a minimum and definitely not the grille !

I reckon if cash is tight yjen concentrate money and effort sorting any mechanical and maintenance issues and you'll get you pleasure there - for example with the age of the car you could think about changing brake and coolent fluids etc, and if some tidy standard Fiat 14" or 15" alloys come along, then fair enough...

Enjoy the car...

homeward said:

As I can be a lazy so-and-so, I bought mine -- like my salmon -- pre-smoked...!

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They look quite nice, what colour is your bulb? Going to see how they look with just the backs painted first with clear plastic cases.

bluejohn125 said:

The car looks really tidy as it is especially now you've sorted the bodywork. You've got some good ideas and some not so good... the Fiat wheeltrims are fine - nice and chunky - so a refurb is ideal but NOT in black / grey, just standard silver. The standard car colours look great, pointless to remove / code rubbing strips, code handles and mirrors since there is plenty of black still on the car. It's a 5-door Punto, so no real point pretending it's a glamorous, sporty roadburner! It's a cute, effective, stylish, nippy little Italian hatchback.

I understand you're fairly excited and keen to personalise it, but I reckon it's one of those cars that would be best left standard and just improved sensibly and sympathetically... debadging should be to a minimum and definitely not the grille !

I reckon if cash is tight yjen concentrate money and effort sorting any mechanical and maintenance issues and you'll get you pleasure there - for example with the age of the car you could think about changing brake and coolent fluids etc, and if some tidy standard Fiat 14" or 15" alloys come along, then fair enough...

Enjoy the car...

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To be honest I'm treating the car more as a hobby to give me something to do with my spare time during the winter. Although I paint cars for a living I do genuinely enjoy doing some aspects of the trade.

My main aim as far as personalisation goes is this - Make it stand out by keeping it as original as possible and only tweeking little bits here and there. I don't want it to look like a Chavy teenagers car!

I'm sure some mechanical issues are only just around the corner especially with winter approaching!

Thanks for your commenting