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Seicento "Grey Matter" - finally back in a Sei!

Introduction

Hi! My name's Jesper and I live in Odense, Denmark. 33 years old and I've been hanging around in here since 2006, mainly lurking in the shadows.

Back in 2005 I bought a money pit of a Sei and now I've gone and bought myself one, again. Same colour, different everything apart from the money pit detail.
I couldn't resist when I got this offer from a acquaintance of mine whom I got to know when I had my first Seicento. He's a good man - I think he just lost his patience and reprioritised to focus on his family and business rather than pouring funds into something which will only depreciate further.

More photos will come at a later point, so this is merely an introduction. CBA to was and polish it, yet - too much mechanical stuff needs to be done.

The engine and gearbox have done 99.600km at this point and nothing apart from brakes, cooler and a few cables has been done, mechanically since 1999 and it has only been driven occasionally three Winters.
Underseal was done years ago and will be done again before I store it for the coming Winter.

The following changes has been made by the previous owner:

Rear arches rolled (proper job)
Yellow Koni shocks
60/40 lowering kit (KAW and Ventura)
6.5x15 ET32 Barchetta steelies @ 15mm spacers with Nankang 165/45 :yuck:
Debadged front and rear + poor job of covering the boot lock :rolleyes:
J&R pod filter (n)
280 degree C&B cam :devil:
Head ported and skimmed
Different inlet manifold
Custom 2" exhaust (loud li'l' bugger)
Gas bonnet struts
Supersprint exhaust manifold
Bosch chip

It also had quite massive custom skirts and bumpers with Smoor wheels, all of which was sold at some point. I'm not allowed to copy photos from the site, so you'll have to live with a link to the profile at "bilgalleri.dk"

http://www.bilgalleri.dk/galleri/1450-fiat_seicento

Interior:

Custom leather/green alcantara with yellow stichings
6.5" speakers in the parcel shelf (but why? :confused: Can't hear'em anyway!)

In the deal I managed to score his NOS 14" Abarth wheels which will be fitted at some point. I will likely go for 165/55-14 as they are road legal (+4,73% circumference of 165/55-13) and a lot cheaper than 175/50-14. Possibly a bit more comfortable as well and they should fill out the arches nicely.


What needs work:

Likely the clutch and cable, beforelong
Paint falling off on the left, front wing
Fronts discs and pads
Stock air filter case with some mods
Different exhaust (CSC or whatever I find with a good price/quality ratio)
40mm TB
New headlights (on their way)
-35mm H&R springs (maybe - prev. owner lost the papers on the existing springs)
New strut mounts (so might as well change the springs)
Likely every suspension bush on the car, lol
Fluids change
Cambelt, tensioner, waterpump and refitting a cambelt cover
Rubber side strip for the left side of the car.
Paint my set of Abarth skirts and fit them if I ever find an Abarth roof/rear spoiler.

There used to be a 40mm TB on the car, but Tricker turned up the fuel regulator and at some point it started having a heavy smell of petrol inside the car. At first, the remapped chip was replaced with the Bosch one (I still have the remapped chip). As this made no difference, a stock TB was fitted and the 40mm one was binned/sold.
I hope a 40mm TB with an untouched regulator will work out with the remapped chip as the engine was pushing past 85BHP in its time.

I want a "sleeper" car which runs faster than it looks, drawing as little attention as possible until I floor the throttle! :yum:


Idle is sort of lumpy once the engine gets up to temperature. A stop/start of a thoroughly warmed up engine has it idling on the verge of stalling.
I'm contemplating giving it an ECU reset as per: https://www.fiatforum.com/cinquecento-seicento-guides/94040-how-change-ecu-chip.html
Welcome on the forum! Nice Sei! Like the interior, wheels and exhaust. The barchetta steelies really look nice on seis, seen more sei with them and look great...
 
Thanks!

The interior really does look good and was by itself a good reason to spring for this car rather than any other. Back when I had my first 'cento I came within a three hour drive to get my hands on this exact interior but ended up backing out of the deal.

You guys make me feel old 'cause I don't fancy those wheels too much, lol! Well, mainly the tire profile.
I've always had a soft spot for the Abarth alloys!

On the other hand it makes me sort of confident I can actually sell them to get funds for putting rubber on the Abarth ones.

Exhaust is loud like no other, especially inside the car. Could get it modified, but then again it should be possible to sell and refinance something more subtle.

Can't really decide whether to keep the drop or raise it slightly. It really sits kind of right, doesn't it? Harsh as hell, but ooooooh tight corners and roundabouts are bound to cost me a point on my license, haha!
 
Made a sucky video with my aging phone:

[ame]http://youtu.be/ToryYaR5NT4[/ame]

Steve's announced that a 40mm TB will be coming my way before long! :D

This weekend I'm going to take a look at a car for spares. Cheap and with a couple of months till next MOT.
 
Pulled the plugs and found a set of Denso K20-something which were rather dark. They are comparable to NGK BPR6ES so I backed off on the fuel regulator and gained both a smoother idle and a nippier car altogether.
Will likely have to pull the plugs a few more times in a poor man's way of getting close to the right AFR. Once I get close enough I will locate a rolling road and have it sorted the best I can.

Honestly, I'm not sure whether this is the right way to go, but it's how I've treated my motorcycles for year and have never had problems. On the other hand this is a Fiat, i.e. a car with certain personality traits! :rolleyes::p

Changed the air filter for a fresh one, changed the plugs for NGK ones and topped up both oil and coolant after I wiped off the AIT with alcohol.
The oily, JR-filter (K&N-type) has been replaced with a modded (front cut off) filter housing I got for free along with the breather hoses.
There is no difference in power delivery but at lower rpm the engine is a bit more quiet and truly feels more calm. Still makes me want to get the rev-limit moved closer to 8.000rpm!

Nankangs are poo! (n) At least with this profile! A bit of spirited driving on dry tarmac in +20 degrees had the tiny car literally go sideways and AFAIK the Cento isn't prone to oversteer. The mix of springs is likely not helping, either!

I'm on the scout for some 13" Winter wheels. Hopefully I can find a decent set of Sporting ones. May have found some cool retro wheels but the seller isn't picking up his phone! :cry:

A couple of photos of the interior:
 

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6.5x15 ET32 Barchetta steelies @ 15mm spacers with Nankang 165/45

Nankangs are poo! At least with this profile! A bit of spirited driving on dry tarmac in +20 degrees had the tiny car literally go sideways and AFAIK the Cento isn't prone to oversteer.

You're surprised? You might get away with one of:

cheap tyres
wrong sized tyres
exuberant driving

But you're never going to get away with all 3!
 
I was not expecting much so I am mostly surprised I didn't have to push harder than I did.

Logically such a profile on such a wide rim does nothing good for performance. Honestly, these tires shouldn't be available, let alone legal.

The :yuck: smiley was no coincidence. :)
 
Seller suddenly wants double the price for the car I was keen on for parts! (n) Will find another at some point, I hope.

Off to look at a set of wheels tomorrow. Old-school set of 5.5x13 ET25 and then I can start searching for some 165/55 tires. If the rims aren't worth refurbishing they'll get 155/65 winter tires. My old Sei ran on 155/70 Goodyear UG7 - good grip but kind of bouncy.
If all else fails I've found two sets of Sporting wheels with good rubber within 150km. :)
 
Why not stick some 195/45/15s on the wheels you have? Or see J333EVO's track car uses Toyo R888's in 165/45 15 on 5.5Js.

I'd think, on the wheels you have, you can run the wider tyre safely (and probably ditch the spacers, at least at the rear).

Incidentally, Multipla steelies are 6J 15", around 31 ET.

Aaron and Emma's thread here.
 
195/40-15 is legal as well, and I never considered these so you definetely have a valid point.
Multipla steelies is in fact also a good idea!

As far as MOT goes, I am only allowed to increase track width 20mm total and spacers are illegal unless they are fitted as standard equipment with a specific set of wheels (i.e. Abarth alloys w/10mm spacers on an Abarth).
As mine is not an Abarth, spacers are not allowed.:rolleyes:

5.5x13 ET17 is legal, as is 6x15 ET24-31 but 6x15 ET20 is not unless an approval comes with the rim. 6x15 ET41 w/10mm spacers is also illegal, due to 'unknown stress of the struts, brakes and trailing arms' (I sh** you not, that's what the paragraph says).
What's legal and what I might get away with come MOT, are not necessarily the same, of course. I merely want to play it by the book.

You couldn't know any of this so I should've pointed it out earlier. I still really appreciate your input as I'm aware you (and Aaron) know your stuff. I've been a member for many years and will gladly follow your advice blindly. :)
Will reread that topic - followed it back in the day but remember nothing except it was cool, lol.

5.5-6x13 rims with a proper offset are generally easy to find and cheap, too. There's very limited interest in this size so I can get a set of somewhat cool wheels with good quality rubber at a decent price. I never liked the idea of saving money on tires - now I know why!

My set of NOS Abarth wheels must go, as well. Can't fit them legally unless they can work without spacers?
Reducing front track width doesn't appeal to me, though I'm unsure of the possible consequences, handlingwise. :confused:
 
Odense is far from Copenhagen-East (what Malmo effectively is ;)), but registering the car there would not fly with the Skat (purpousely used this word).

My wife used to live in Denmark and my impression of the system was that as long as you pay your car's taxes (especially when you make the suicidal decision to import your car into Denmark from outside) it can be falling apart and it would still get the MOT. At least my personal experience tells me this.
 
I don't mind rules, but to allow a 20mm track increase and ban spacers doesn't seem logical in any way. I get the fact that non-hubcentric spacers is/can be a troublesome solution, and I understand that an extreme track widening will strain the suspension differently... I just don't see the difference between fitting rims with an offset of 25 or fitting 10mm spacers on an ET35 rim. :confused:

We'll (wheel?) see what I end up with!


Odense is far from Copenhagen-East (what Malmo effectively is ;)), but registering the car there would not fly with the Skat (purpousely used this word).

My wife used to live in Denmark and my impression of the system was that as long as you pay your car's taxes (especially when you make the suicidal decision to import your car into Denmark from outside) it can be falling apart and it would still get the MOT. At least my personal experience tells me this.

SKAT (irony: Means 'tax', 'honey' w/ref. to spouse and 'a treasure'!) would have a great time sending me bills and fines, were I to have the car registered in another country!

Anything can often pass MOT. Trouble is that won't keep the police from fining you five minutes later! And you may be fined pr. spacer, as in one fine for each wheel. That's a whopping €700 fine in my case, IIRC!
The same goes for a pod filter if the induction noise is loud enough.

Also, we're allowed to fit a turbo (German/Novitec TÜV/ABE is considered valid proof of safety, emissions etc.) but bigger brakes is either illegal or taxed, unless you get them declared at MOT. Even then you can still get into trouble, when a tax-striken mod hasn't been paid for.


Therefore I'm looking to reduce noise and too-flashy wheels. It's a car for me to drive in, not one I've bought to show off to the rest of the world, in which case I'd start with a turbo, give it a three-tone paintjob and fit 8x17" chrome wheels just 'cause everybody else has them on their cars... :p

I want some sort of balanced, adult-chav, Ying/Yang contrast-thing going on, apparently.
 
Stuck some injector cleaner in the tank and brimmed it today - definetely makes a difference, as when I pulled two spark plugs after the drive home,taking a 160kph detour on the motorway (sorry, sort of), the plugs are all clean. Looked a bit on the lean side (white porcelain, no blisters) so gave the regulator a twist.

Came home to my new 40mm TB, so Sparky5's now on my list of "Cool People I've Dealt with and will Gladly Trust" :p(y)

Back in the day I had a Tricker TB fitted. Steve puts Tricker to shame as far as perfection goes - good job, man! All pretty and shiny!

Won't get it fitted before Sunday, though. GF keeps mumbling something about her birthday on Saturday and people coming by, so apparently the Fiat has to come 2nd... BAH! ;)
 
Yet another sucky video which doesn't come close to describe teh noiz from teh zorst:

[ame]http://youtu.be/aiLaJtcMvNU[/ame]

Engine is warm and i turn it off, restart immediately and it's as if the idle control has been reset thus tries to stay around 500rpm-ish unless I blip the throttle or wait long enough (20sec tops). It'll settle around 7-800rpm eventually.
When the engine is cold it runs smoothly at ~1.100-1.200rpm for less than a minute and then settles between 900-1.000rpm till it's warm.
Sounds and feels a bit like a lumpy 3-pot engine during idle. Could pull individual ignition leads to see if any one missing causes different changes than others?

At around 1/4 throttle it runs rich - especially when cold! Something tells me it's the chip being weird, but maybe a compression test should be the next step?

Plugs are NGK BKR7E w/0.8mm gap like I ran in my ol'Cento for three years.
 
Came home to my new 40mm TB, so Sparky5's now on my list of "Cool People I've Dealt with and will Gladly Trust" :p(y)

Back in the day I had a Tricker TB fitted. Steve puts Tricker to shame as far as perfection goes - good job, man! All pretty and shiny!

Thanks for your comments, I do try and do the best job I can.
 
Packaging alone is well beyond anything I'm used to. (y) A proper job from A-Z, so all compliments are well-earned.

If the car doesn't respond well to the bigger TB, I'd rather blame the car.

I am expecting it to respond well, though. Have found a bit of potential help for a future remap and I'm tempted to fit a wideband lambda with an A/F-meter, as well. Can't hurt anything but my wallet!
 
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