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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

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I was interested in your post to Chesh about the Bertone number as ours was first registered in August 1994 and would appear to build number 004793. How close it that to yours?
 
I was interested in your post to Chesh about the Bertone number as ours was first registered in August 1994 and would appear to build number 004793. How close it that to yours?

The car is living in my sisters garage and I won't be going there until Saturday or Sunday so I'll let you know then (y)
 
So I've been ordering some bits and pieces to get started on the Punto this weekend/next week and I was looking for a Haynes to order, plenty available for under £10 on eBay but none of them specifying what models they cover, after some more digging it seems they only cover the FIRE engines! (1.1, 1.2 60, 75 and 85) Is this true, where can I get a workshop manual that covers the 1.6??

Also some completely random questions, anybody know if the the driveshafts are wet or dry type?

Sump appears to be leaking oil, looks like maybe just the gasket but somewhere in the back of my mind I remember something about leaky sumps being common on mk1's?
 
Neither the 1.6, nor any version of the Cabrio is covered by the Haynes Manual, you need to obtain the Porter Manuals version which covers all models. Before you go too far investigating the sump, check that the oil isn't coming from the cam cover gasket. This is a common problem (one I have to attend to again).
 
Neither the 1.6, nor any version of the Cabrio is covered by the Haynes Manual, you need to obtain the Porter Manuals version which covers all models. Before you go too far investigating the sump, check that the oil isn't coming from the cam cover gasket. This is a common problem (one I have to attend to again).
Thanks, I'll look for a porter manual.
I'll look at the cam cover gasket first but it does appear to be seeping from around the sump.
 
Porter manual not much good, a small bit of info only, What do you mean by wet or dry driveshafts?
 
Do the driveshafts have CV boots that hold the gearbox oil (at the gearbox end of the driveshaft obviously) making them the wet type, or are they dry?

When I took out mine, no gearbox oil has leaked out.
So I guess you'll call that a dry type?
 
Regarding the sump leak, I can confirm that the "Tipo" engines do have rotty sump pans so that might be your problem... you should be able to drop it and fit a new gasket, do some de-rusting / de-sludging etc.

It's interesting that the cabrio seems lower geared than other 1.6s... did you see this documented somewhere? A bit of a shame but at least you will be able to run it at the revvy end of the power band and get some benefit from the MPI improvements that the 1.6 90 HP received. The earlier Tipo / Tempra 1.6 with the SPI gave hardly any more HP than the 1.4s (more torque though). The induction was very strangled on those cars.
 
Do the driveshafts have CV boots that hold the gearbox oil (at the gearbox end of the driveshaft obviously) making them the wet type, or are they dry?

I have never come across a CV joint that shares the gearbox oil, where did you come across that? I would not like that set up as if you damage a gaiter the gearbox oil is gone! They are a separate joint with a seal on the gearbox housing. http://www.onlinecarparts.co.uk/febi-bilstein-1872718.html. If you are pulling then shafts do the seals at the same time, they are cheap. I will be doing mine when I do the clutch also the crankshaft seal behind the flywheel.
 
its pretty common on quite a few older fiats...

classic pandas, early cinquecentos and some seicento have wet shaft boxes. And yes its a crap design, you have to be on it with them cause as you can imagine, when one goes you have to pick up on it fast or you need a new gearbox lol.
 
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I have never come across a CV joint that shares the gearbox oil, where did you come across that? I would not like that set up as if you damage a gaiter the gearbox oil is gone! They are a separate joint with a seal on the gearbox housing. http://www.onlinecarparts.co.uk/febi-bilstein-1872718.html. If you are pulling then shafts do the seals at the same time, they are cheap. I will be doing mine when I do the clutch also the crankshaft seal behind the flywheel.

its pretty common on quite a few older fiats...

classic pandas, early cinquecentos and some seicento have wet shaft boxes. And yes its a crap design, you have to be on it with them cause as you can imagine, when one goes you have to pick up on it fast or you need a new gearbox lol.

As blu said it did used to be quite common, my old Panda had them which is precisely why I asked if the Punto uses them because if the CV boot splits you lose your gearbox oil! Something I always kept on eye on with the Panda.
 
It's interesting that the cabrio seems lower geared than other 1.6s... did you see this documented somewhere? A bit of a shame but at least you will be able to run it at the revvy end of the power band and get some benefit from the MPI improvements that the 1.6 90 HP received. The earlier Tipo / Tempra 1.6 with the SPI gave hardly any more HP than the 1.4s (more torque though). The induction was very strangled on those cars.
I'll come to discuss the gearing later on when I've got the car on the road again as I've only driven it for about 20mins since I got it but yes the Fiat manual which came with the car has all the gearing specifications.
The regular hardtop hatchback gearing for the '90' 1.6 is,

Gear Ratio
1st 3.909
2nd 2.157
3rd 1.345
4th 0.978
5th 0.808
Reverse 3.818
Final Drive 3.867

The Cabrio 1.6 90 ELX is,

Gear Ratio
1st 3.909
2nd 2.157
3rd 1.480
4th 1.121
5th 0.902
Reverse 3.818
Final Drive 3.867

So first and second gears are the same between the Carbio and hardtop 1.6's but 3rd is shorter/lower in the Cabrio, 4th in the hardtop is a slight overdrive whereas in the Cabrio it isn't and 5th is quite a bit longer in the hardtop compared to the Cabrio.
I'll make a thread with the gearing for all the models/engines soon as it might be useful in the future.
 
and something i plan to rectify on Charmander at some point - would be easier if it had cable gear selectors rather than rods though lol. Could just swap it for a later box off a cento then...
Trying not to encourage going off topic in my MM thread *ahem* but I believe if you ask Dragon Man he might be able to help swapping Char' from rods to cable selection as 1993 onward Panda's used cables (y)
 
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