DSC_00824.jpg

Punto (Mk1) 1994 Punto Cabriolet ELX 90

Introduction

This is my recently acquired '94 Cabrio ELX, I bought it very cheap as a project to do up hopefully for the summer.

Initial Thoughts
When I went to look at the car the first time it was obvious its quite tatty. it has dents everywhere, scratches, moss growing in places etc. I took a test drive (fortunately it wasn't raining so put the top down) it is a pleasant drive, rides quite well but my main concentration was on the engine, the 1.6 is not fast... It's not slow either but its very mediocre... Secondly it has VERY short gears which I don't understand since surely the 1.6 would have longer gears than the other models yet it doesn't, in fact all the Cabrio's have shorter gears than their hardtop equivalents, presumably due to the extra weight. At 70mph in 5th the engine is spinning at just over 4000rpm :eek:

Background
The car came with the original manual which I assume is probably a rarity as many of them will have been lost/not passed on between sales. The car includes the original sales receipt from 1994 and some service history for the first 5 years of its life where it only covered about 1500 miles a year which probably meant it was a summer only car. Then there is a 9 year gap between 1999 and 2008 where I have 0 history for the car. From 2008 to 2016 I have MOT's and the odd service receipt, in those years its only averaged about 1000 miles a year too, with it passing every MOT after general serviceable items were replaced such as bulbs, worn brakes/tyres, wiper blades etc.

So here is the car as it stands now after a very quick wash,









A few months later and half a polish

Polish_Punto.jpg
Went for a 10min drive today, the longest I've actually driven it since I test drove it for the first time.
I've now changed my mind on the timing being out, it pulls very well low down around 1500-3500rpm, I mean I've been driving a 769cc Panda for the past 3 years so I'd gotten used to being above 3000rpm if not nearer to 4000 to get any go :D but the 1.6 is quite nice and grunty low down, where it falls flat is high RPM, beyond 4000 it starts to feels pretty flat but I'm guessing that might just be a characteristic of this engine? Time will tell when I actually tax & insure it (hopefully in 3-4 weeks) and I start driving it more.

Things to note, fuel pump is still sounding very loud, outside the car at idle you can hear it from around 5-6ft away whining and inside the car you can hear it until about 3500rpm where the engine noise drowns it out but needless to say its a very distinctive whine...

It also has a slight exhaust leak at the flex joint coming down from the manifold (n), I suspected there was a leak somewhere because it pops a bit on the overrun if you slam the throttle shut above 5000rpm. Hoping I can get that part repaired as I imagine the manifold is a pig to get out.
 
I have to say I never considered that you would be using a 3/8" breaker bar... I didn't know they existed!

1/2" drive should be a minimum, I think that for really crazy stuff there are 5/8" drive sets too!

At least you can now drive it to somewhere with serious equipment...
 
Last edited:
Blimey, i didn't even notice you said you had 3/8" breaker.... yeah, get some 1/2" sockets and a decent length 1/2" breaker, them wheel bolts will come straight out. I had a 3/8" breaker once that was part of a tool kit someone bought me as a present, first thing I tried to undo that was tight i just snapped it, the square drive just snapped off in the socket. Utterly useless. Don't need many really if you don't wanna buy a whole set, 15, 17, 18, 19 will do for most stuff fiat, not all but most - can't remember size of hub nut or crank pulley but they are both bigger than 19, can't think of anything else off top of my head though.

Tbf though, too many people use 1/2" stuff for everything and its really easy to over torque stuff - i tend to use my 1/2" stuff for undoing things and my 3/8" for doing stuff up - I even threw my old 1/2" torque wrench away and replaced with a 3/8" one.

PS> Only threw the 1/2" away cause it was uber old and i didn't trust it to torque to what it was set, having looked at torque ranges i went for a 3/8" torque wrench as it goes high enough for pretty much everything except hub nuts. That said, I'm not one for using a torque wrench on much, few key bolts i will always torque mind
 
Last edited:
More brake cleaner bought in yet another flash sale, I'll be stock piling the stuff soon ;)

Got a friend with better tools to come and help me and we finally persuaded both front wheels off after an ordeal, we decided to leave the rears as I had no pressing matter to remove them. Cleaned up the discs, calipers and looked at the pads, pads are getting low but will leave them for now. With that being the last thing I really wanted to check I am now pleased to say the car is taxed and insured :slayer:

Went for a maiden voyage to the petrol station and back, engine is pulling well so far, extremely short gearing in 1st and 2nd is strangling acceleration though :(
Brakes feel a little weak, I'll see if it gets better with more driving if not I might try and change the fluid + bleed the system.
But overall very happy that it doesn't have to sit in that car park any longer :D
 
Glad to hear you are back on the road. I agree with you about the gearing, but it has enough low down grunt to pull well in third. Although it is not something I often do, it will pull quite comfortably at 30mph in fifth. Unlike some other Puntos, you will find it continues to pull well with four people on board.
 
Glad to hear you are back on the road. I agree with you about the gearing, but it has enough low down grunt to pull well in third. Although it is not something I often do, it will pull quite comfortably at 30mph in fifth. Unlike some other Puntos, you will find it continues to pull well with four people on board.
Does seem to pull very well in 3rd and 4th since they seem like much more suited gear ratios, you can actually seem to pick up speed in those gears, 1st and 2nd feel like I'm running out of revs very quickly. Am tempted to look into getting a gearbox from a hardtop Punto 90 as they had longer ratios, although finding one however.... :rolleyes:

Didge3: how many revs is it doing at 70mph in 5th, out of interest?
Haven't actually got above 50 yet but from memory when I drove it home when I first bought it in February it's near 4000rpm in 5th, not sure what Fiat were thinking when they put the same ratios from a Punto 60 (1.2 8v) in the 90 :bang:
 
Haven't actually got above 50 yet but from memory when I drove it home when I first bought it in February it's near 4000rpm in 5th, not sure what Fiat were thinking when they put the same ratios from a Punto 60 (1.2 8v) in the 90 :bang:

Christ! Sounds like it's slightly lower geared than even my Grande 1.4! That's doing around 3500 rpm at 70mph.
 
Good to see you and the car are rolling again.

The Fiat SOHC 128 / Strada / Tipo engine is not a revvy thing, just a torquey 8v with no crossflow. Yours is the ultimate incarnation with a freeflowing MPI manifold, so it should be as efficient as possible especially compared to the crazy back-and-forth setup Fiat used on the SPI Tipos and Tempras!

Did you sort you stuck wheelbolts? A decent one of these wheelbraces is generally a good investment anyhow...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/17-19-21-...035089?hash=item4adf4e5e91:g:xYwAAOSw54xUWe~T
 
This post contains affiliate links which may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.
Christ! Sounds like it's slightly lower geared than even my Grande 1.4! That's doing around 3500 rpm at 70mph.
Yeah, from memory my GP 1.4 was a hair over 3500 at 70, this is geared similar to my old 750cc Panda which was at about 3900 @ indicated 70mph.

Good to see you and the car are rolling again.

The Fiat SOHC 128 / Strada / Tipo engine is not a revvy thing, just a torquey 8v with no crossflow. Yours is the ultimate incarnation with a freeflowing MPI manifold, so it should be as efficient as possible especially compared to the crazy back-and-forth setup Fiat used on the SPI Tipos and Tempras!

Did you sort you stuck wheelbolts? A decent one of these wheelbraces is generally a good investment anyhow...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/17-19-21-...035089?hash=item4adf4e5e91:g:xYwAAOSw54xUWe~T
Yeah I didn't really think these engines were designed to be top end power, which is why the short gear ratios don't make sense, the hardtop Punto 90's got much better gearing than the Cabrios, it would make sense to use longer gears to make use of that 2500-3500rpm torquey range.

Wheelbolts eventually came off with a 1/2" 3ft breaker bar and a lot of effort, whoever put them on obviously didn't want them to come off ever again :rolleyes:
Thanks for the link, looks like a worthwhile investment (y)
 
This post contains affiliate links which may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.
seems random they would put one set of ratios in the hardtop 90 and another in the cabrio.. fiat do the most random stuff sometimes!!! Still you could swap one over, or even from a GT although perhaps they would be too long, they certainly don't feel short in a GT but tthen it will have a huge wave of torque by comparison.....

or... :idea: Do a GT swap into the cabrio - seen a few over the years and would be an epic car.
 
Just to confirm that mine revs at about 4,000rpm at 70mph.
Also confirmed today, pretty much bang on 4k at 70 (n)

or... :idea: Do a GT swap into the cabrio - seen a few over the years and would be an epic car.
Think I'd rather turbo the 1.6, seen it done, not anywhere near as easy as a GT swap but would make for something more interesting :devil:

Having driven an actual journey today the gearing is really annoying, I feel like I am changing up gears constantly during acceleration and I'm by no means going flat out, this is just normal acceleration. Simplest option = bigger wheels. Will sort something out once I've recuperated some funds after paying the rather lofty vehicle tax :mad:

Additionally the amount of body roll is hilarious, I didn't ever expect it to handle well but it rolls so much in a corner its comical, although that's probably because I'm comparing it to a 700kg lowered Panda
 
Last edited:
Back
Top