yep mine's a mk1, one of the last mk1s made.

i'd highly recommend the marea lights, they look better and they give more light and they are easy to fit, the only problem is finding a pair. scrapyards are the cheapest, you can get 1 light for £20 or a pair for £35 usually, on ebay they go for more, sometimes for over £100.

i'll never understand ebay, where do all the mugs come from? people regularly pay more than the RRP for things on ebay. it just doesnt make sense. i think a lot of people see ebay as the only source of car parts, well ebay and halfords. the fools. ebay can be good if you're patient, but scrapyards are always the cheapest and most fun way to get parts. you never know what you'll find.

jug said:

but scrapyards are always the cheapest and most fun way to get parts. you never know what you'll find.

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You know, I love the idea of going to scrap yards, but a few things put me off:
-All the scrapyards around me are tiny
-I dont really know what im doing in terms of cars .. so cant talk to the people who work there/own them without feeling completely inadequate
-I'd have to go by myself Mr lonesome

cue one painted engine cover





Normal paint will surfice fella, just use plenty of primer and laquer

Dan

Skate2create that looks much better, especially as the 1.2 has black plastic on top of the engine, your's looks like metal, good choice of paint. and you even did the fiat badge in the same colour of your car. great minds think alike

llol_slim you'll be surprised how friendly people can be a scrapyards, they often look like oily bruisers but you can actually get some great free advice at scrapyards. if you dont know how to get something off a car they will be more than happy to help or even remove it for you at a small price. i bought a gearbox for £70 and had it removed for £5 a couple of weeks ago, well worth the fiver to save myself the hassle. so you dont even need to have tools or mechanical knowledge, if you can point at something and ask "how much?" you'll be fine. i often prefer small scrapyards, the choice is limited but its easier to build up a relationship with the owner. if you need something they havent got just ask, they will often know someone who has it, or can get it, or they'll get it in for you. just dont feed the dogs, they arent the kind of dogs you can stroke.

jug said:

llol_slim you'll be surprised how friendly people can be a scrapyards, they often look like oily bruisers but you can actually get some great free advice at scrapyards. if you dont know how to get something off a car they will be more than happy to help or even remove it for you at a small price. i bought a gearbox for £70 and had it removed for £5 a couple of weeks ago, well worth the fiver to save myself the hassle. so you dont even need to have tools or mechanical knowledge, if you can point at something and ask "how much?" you'll be fine. i often prefer small scrapyards, the choice is limited but its easier to build up a relationship with the owner. if you need something they havent got just ask, they will often know someone who has it, or can get it, or they'll get it in for you. just dont feed the dogs, they arent the kind of dogs you can stroke.

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cool thanks for that, just a case of building up my confidence then!!
Maebbe if i can persuade a friend to go with me id feel a bit better
Thanks
Laurie

Hi

Lovely car hopefully mine will look that nice one day, heraldic blue is a real classy colour!

where did you get your rear mud flaps from there really nice?

also as for the rear lights theres a few european cars which have made there own! have a look on a few of the european bravo sites might give you some good ideas, i dont like only havin 1 reverse light though either, as you say symetry is important!

Donny

nice car but iwant to find out ,, i got the same fiat bravo 1.8 hlx and iwant to lower it 45m can i still put 17inch wheels on it without a problem..

andrew

llol_slim said:

cool thanks for that, just a case of building up my confidence then!!
Maebbe if i can persuade a friend to go with me id feel a bit better
Thanks
Laurie

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I remeber when I went in after Marea handles for my car, they guys asked me what kind of car I had and I said Brava. I was then asked, well are you sure they fit? How do they fit? I thought they were being know-it-alls trying to tell me they wouldn't fit when in fact they wanted to know how I made them fit for their future knowledge

I now go in armed with screwdrivers etc. and it's like going to the shops for milk, you always come away with more than you intended to (and a few extra screws/ bulbs in the pockets ).

Dan, I agree I do love your engine cover, will have to see if I have any silver left after the interior You're right, these 1.2s never get that hot, useless at winter cruises for keeping warm

Sorry jug for hijacking

Helz said:

I remeber when I went in after Marea handles for my car, they guys asked me what kind of car I had and I said Brava. I was then asked, well are you sure they fit? How do they fit? I thought they were being know-it-alls trying to tell me they wouldn't fit when in fact they wanted to know how I made them fit for their future knowledge

I now go in armed with screwdrivers etc. and it's like going to the shops for milk, you always come away with more than you intended to (and a few extra screws/ bulbs in the pockets ).

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i can imagine they probably are all like that Just me knowing sod all about cars, makes me feel inadequate..
My girlfriend sais she will come with me, so atleast im not going by myself
laurie

snaggydebenz said:

nice car but iwant to find out ,, i got the same fiat bravo 1.8 hlx and iwant to lower it 45m can i still put 17inch wheels on it without a problem..

andrew

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havent tried 17s on this car but ive ben told by a few people that they will fit fine as long as the width is no more than 7".

Donny XP said:

Hi

where did you get your rear mud flaps from there really nice?

Donny

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the front and rears were fitted when new by fiat. check out scrapyards because fiat will cost you

I had one of these from new in '99. One of the last "S" plates... I absolutely loved it... drove it literally around Britain on the first weekend. Took it in for a 1000 mile check up on day 3 of ownership!! I ended up taking it to the French Alps more than a few times. Ahh, happy days! Anyway - I only had the car for a few months, but still base my new car purchases on it!!! First car I had with Air-Con!! I am very jealous of yours!!!!!

Your Bravo looks very cool, just the right amount done without being over the top, very subtle and very nice. As someone else said,the wheels look bigger than 15's, what size tyres are you running on it??

the tyres are 195/50/r15 nankang ns2's. firm enough to corner hard yet soft enough to make pot holes managable. and they cost next to nothing. compared to the 205/45/r16's i had not long ago they are much cheaper and dont seem any less capable on corners. i never thought i'd be happy with 15s but i really am.

thought i'd post a couple of new pics.

i started a new job 2 weeks ago so i'll be travelling to gateshead, bolton and hull quite a lot. i decided to treat myself to a better PDA with newer TomTom software on. its a great gadget that does all sorts, and it fits onto the dash nicely with my homemade bracket. those holes on the front of the stereo adapter are handy


i thought my engine bay needed cleaning up for the summer so i bought a blue air filter the exact colour of the car (i love ebay) and i've painted the top of the engine 2 shades of aluminium and painted the fiat logo on the sparkplug cover the same colour as the car. its a nice place to be now



next on the agenda i think a marea centre console (finally), and i need to repalce my engine bay undertray because it had to be destroyed to get it off a few weeks ago. they aren't as easy to find as you'd imagine

i think it would look better with bigger wheels. i had mine on 18s and cilovers the handling was brilliant. shame it was so slow.

i'd possibly go to 16's if the right ones came along but 17s arent really an option for me, its too big unless you have a big saloon (e.g. alfa 156), and preferably a TD with the torque to turn them. i prefer performance to looks and 17+ does kill your performance. i cant imagine what 18's would do to it. plus i go through tyres like there's no tomorrow and my 195/50/15s only cost £33 fitted and balanced.

yeh was quite slow thats why i got my gt but it did look sweet.

What exhaust back box have you got on there, is it a universal one made to fit or something specific for a Bravo? - Looks good whatever!

its just a good quality stainless tail pipe (£5 on ebay), fitted by cutting the original tail pipe off and joining this one to the backbox. it looks good, you cant tell its not a true backbox, it doesnt affect performance (aftermarket box's have been known to reduce performance more often than improve it) and best of all it doesnt make 14 year old girls stare as i drive past because you cant here it from 2 miles away. my car is silent except when i make my air filter roar. exactly what i wanted.