Bravo (Classic) Bringing my Bravo back to life

[multipete]

Looks very very clean. Nice one !

 

[StevenRB45]

Looking good!

One thought would be, do the sills first. Would hate for the shell to be beyond fixing (god forbid) but you only find out after you've done the mechanical work.

 

[Darkhail20]

Great work! It looks nice.

 

[franglais]

Looking good!

One thought would be, do the sills first. Would hate for the shell to be beyond fixing (god forbid) but you only find out after you've done the mechanical work.

:yeahthat:

 

[puntofan01]

Zinraf have you had chance to get the Bravo on a ramp?

 

[Pomeo]

Hey all,

Haven't posted in here for a few years, so I thought I'd make a little thread about my Bravo. So I bought my 2001 Fiat Bravo 1.2 16v Formula back in 2010, and loved having it on the road until 2014, when the gearbox gave up and I decided to buy an Audi A6.

I'll try to keep this post updated as I get along, are there many other Bravo's still going? I'm starting to feel they're almost as rare as my RX7, as I never see any on the road! :: Would love to see what other people still have.

We bought our wee Black 2001 Bravo 1.2 16v Formula back in 2001 brand new. It's been sorned due to a small front end smash around 5 years ago. If it hadn't had the rear bushes and suspension done and a new front sub frame I'd have scrapped her but she is too good to scrap (well then anyway) and has been sitting in the driveway since.
She has alweays started no bother at all until 3 months ago when I decided to asses her and see how she stands now. She has been a reliable work horse.

Only real problems until now have been clutch 2007, sump 2008 and sub frame 2011 and cylinder head gaskets..

Good luck in your quest.
Pomeo

 

[varesecrazy]

Hey all,

Haven't posted in here for a few years, so I thought I'd make a little thread about my Bravo. So I bought my 2001 Fiat Bravo 1.2 16v Formula back in 2010, and loved having it on the road until 2014, when the gearbox gave up and I decided to buy an Audi A6.

View attachment 193050
(My 3 cars, Bravo was my first, then got the RX7 as a project/second car, and the A6 replaced the Bravo)

As the Bravo was my first car, I kept it and it's been left awaiting repair for almost 4 years now, but at last I've finally started trying to bring her back to life!
are there many other Bravo's still going? I'm starting to feel they're almost as rare as my RX7, as I never see any on the road! :: Would love to see what other people still have.

I met a chap from East Anglia last week . He drove over to Gloucestershire in his silver one to collect the alloys from my old marea.

Nice car ..( i should have taken a pic)

There is a bravo in regular use where I work.. not in shiny condition.. but pretty sratght.

Yours is in lovely condition.. probably best colour too.

Weigh.up what its worth to you.

Getting the rust out properly is more work than the cars value.

Whereas a basic mot standard patch is not going to save it in the longer term.

Did all this with my marea ( and too many punto's..)

 

[Bravaheart]

Good to hear that there are other Formulas around. I look forward to hearing more about yours.



Varesecrazy. Unfortunately, you were too far for me travel to collect personally.

 

[bluejohn125]

My 2001 green Formula is stuck in the drive waiting for me to find a way to un-immobilise it, before seeking a new owner....

 

[delbag]

Wow! It's great to see a fellow Bravo being taken care of.

 

[Zinraf]

Thanks for all the messages!

Looking good!

One thought would be, do the sills first. Would hate for the shell to be beyond fixing (god forbid) but you only find out after you've done the mechanical work.

I agree with you completely, however I'm very much in the mindset that any car can be saved from rust...even if it costs quite a lot! I have a lot of emotional investment in this car, and I stubbornly refuse to believe that it can't be saved

Zinraf have you had chance to get the Bravo on a ramp?

Not a ramp, but had it jacked up and a good look around underneath from a friend that has a better understanding of rust and what not, it might take a good few hundred pounds of repair but he's confident it's perfectly repairable!

Good luck in your quest.
Pomeo

Thanks Pomeo! Most sensible people would have scrapped this car by now, but it's been too good to me in my ownership as my first car. Had similar issues with mine headgasket, sub frame, sump, exhaust etc but it's all apart of Fiat ownership I feel aha

Weigh.up what its worth to you.

Getting the rust out properly is more work than the cars value.

Whereas a basic mot standard patch is not going to save it in the longer term.

Nice to hear that there are still some around and about, I barely ever see them around here. The cars sentimental value to me is far higher than the value of the welding work. By the time the car is back on the road it will probably have cost me nearly £800 (Doing all work but welding myself/with my dad), and I know the car will still be barely worth a quarter of that. But I'm hoping the rust work is done to a high standard and I can keep this car for a very long time (Ideally keep it forever side by side with my RX7! )

UPDATE:
We got her running again! For the first time in a couple of years, which is so satisfying.

So far we've replaced the gearbox/clutch, the sump, wishbones, inner CV boots, drop links, sorted the alternator charging, cleaned up the brakes (though I'm thinking I might like to upgrade these to something vented soon).

The work on the front end is so close to being done, tomorrow I'm hoping to finish off tightening a few nearside suspension components, replace the brake hoses on both sides and then get it back on the ground to make sure everything is working again!

I'm working on getting it booked in for the welding work in the next couple of weeks, after which it'll be MOT time - it's coming together and I'll try and post another update at the next stage!

 

[bluejohn125]

You'll really enjoy your first drives when it's done, the Brava / Bravo 1.2 has a particular feel on the road, quite zippy and precise except for the twitchy electric steering !

 

[CFREITAS]

You'll really enjoy your first drives when it's done, the Brava / Bravo 1.2 has a particular feel on the road, quite zippy and precise except for the twitchy electric steering !

The Bravo doesn't have electric steering .....only the Punto mk2 onwards had electric steering

 

[puntofan01]

I had thought that meself, lol!

 

[bluejohn125]

The Bravo doesn't have electric steering .....only the Punto mk2 onwards had electric steering

Well it's some kind of hybrid on my Brava then... yes it has PS oil and reservoir but it is connected electrically, and is not a conventional hydraulic pump driven system like my old Tipo.

My point is that when they went to this more efficient system they lost any nice weighting and feel, it became too light and twitchy and for no good reason. Fiat were already on their way (unfortunately) to losing the real feel of driving an Italian car, each new model had become worse and worse in terms of no control balance and now very grabby brakes!

Actually my Tipo PS has sprung a leak on the banjo fitting, I'm hoping it just needs a new crush washer !

 

[Schumi2001]

Having owned a 20v Marea, I always wondered how a Bravo would go with the 1.2 16v engine. It's a great engine (Always regret not buying a Mk1 Punto Sporting back in the day) - but I assumed a Bravo would be too big for it.

Would be interested to know if there's any way to reduce the assistance of the electric PAS - shouldn't be too hard to do.

 

[Zinraf]

You'll really enjoy your first drives when it's done, the Brava / Bravo 1.2 has a particular feel on the road, quite zippy and precise except for the twitchy electric steering !

Had the car for about 8 years now as it was my first car and I loved it! Just hoping that I won’t be disappointed in how it drives after getting so used to my other cars I do love the engine though!

 

[Zinraf]

UPDATE:

Managed to get the car on lowering springs, looking a little less like a monster truck now

The welder was here today and managed to get the passenger side sill completely done, he’ll be back on Monday to (fingers crossed!) get the drivers side done so I can take it in for an MOT on Tuesday!

Must say I’m very happy with the progress, and excited to see it getting so close to being done. I’ve ordered some new badges as well as mine are very faded, and I’ve just need to source some vented front brake calipers/carriers so that I can upgrade to the vented discs and pads I have.

 

[bluejohn125]

Vented discs on a 1.2 ??

Seems a bit of unnecessary hassle unless your originals need doing anyway.

If your Bravo is a Formula, did it come with ABS and the bigger rear drums? My Brava Formula has this setup, and it's plenty good enough!