Punto (Mk2/2b) Redline Featured Punto Mk2

Welcome mate can't wait to read about the rest , did not realise we both went the same vent path though . And I will talk you into being on the FF stand at Chepstow
Steve

good job mate

And u know u wanna join us on the FF stand

Don's Punto: Introduction

September 3rd 2002

Bought the Punto, (with aid from the parents natch) on my 21st birthday. Took it out for the first time, was overjoyed. Tinted windows, 14inch wheels, cd player that didn't constantly jump, 8 inch SUB!!, recaro designed seats. What a car!

Previously, I had owned a Cinquecento N reg and a Punto Mk1 60S 1.1. The Mk1 was lowered 60mm and had 15inch alloys, it had some abuse on the roads

I always had the idea of modifying the Punto, not because I knew ANYTHING about modifying but because films like Fast And The Furious seeded an interest in me.

Life was difficult for myself around this time, my parents were going through a lengthy divorce and I needed something to take my mind off things. I was driving recklessly and in-turn disrespecting my car and other road-users by driving like a plum. My first crash was in the December of 2002, I decided to go rallying up a remote area above Port Talbot in the Punto. I ended up slipping on ice and hitting two banks, about £250 worth of damage.

So you could say my incentive to start modifying was A: My parents divorce and B: The fact I kept crashing my Punto.

The second crash was around March-April of 2003. I had already started tinkering with modfying; making massive faux-pas like neons on the outside of the car that you can see... However, I hadn't really done much of significance, I think I may have fitted a bodget & leggit K&N off my old Punto. Inlet Vacuum anyone? lol.

Halfords
I needed to stand out a little, I hoped that Halfords would help. At the time, their fitting bays were actually fitting bays. They'd fit nearly anything on a car and were quite good at it too. They fitted my 17inch Momo Quasars, a basic boot install with one Vibe active sub, a custom stealth shelf, pioneer speakers and a basic Alpine head unit. I'm pretty sure they lowered it too, on springs and dampers...Can't remember what make of lowering kit...Spax, I think. I even bought some Varad under car LED's, although you could still see them. Neons started to go inside also, all blue, none that you could see. Eventually, Halfords disbanded their fitting team. The French fools, they could've made lots of money. I had spent £4000 with Halfords by the time they had been disbanded. My limited knowledge in cars was definetly improved in Halfords, there was one rally mechanic/driver called Owain who helped the most. He helped me refine this car until the end almost. Unfortunately, he wasn't there when I made some big mistakes but he was always a phone call away to help me if needed! Also through Halfords I met people who introduced me into the marvelous world of Nitrous Oxide. They took my ICE install as far as they could, or as they far as they were allowed to go. I needed fibreglass, custom installs...again my VERY limited knowledge would only let me get so far...at the time

Anyway, the crash... I made the same old stupid mistake that many drivers make, a middle age woman was pulling off from a roundabout junction she went to move, suddenly applied the brake, I saw her go & didn't see her stop *BANG*. The damage wasn't too bad, bonnet was bent; her back end was mangled; nobody was hurt. I apologised, she claimed, life went on. As a side note, don't you just love the people who rubber-neck looking at you like a piece of **** when you crash, as if they've never been involved in an accident in their life.

I had my excuse, I needed a new bonnet and bumper. Time to start looking for body bits and time to start dipping into my savings.

Novitec

These guys to me are the elite Italian modified specialists in Europe. German efficency. Although I was TRYING to deal with a seemingly dodgy UK based supplier of Novitec parts, I found it easier to import the front, rear bumper, bonnet straight from Novitec. I had already purchased and sprayed the Punto sideskirts (which I bought from ABStyling just before the aforementioned crash). The parts arrived, they were awesome (was a bit tricky to fit the chav Halfords mesh), fitted the bits within a week. Life changed.

I had an ok car, not many people had my bodykit...I needed more...more. I wanted the best Punto, not an ok Punto. Leather, wheels and that blasted ICE.

i like that

Always loved the novitec kit for the mk2. And so sexy in black - good work

Welcome theres some nice work gone into the punto have you got contacts for theretrim on your door cards?

saw this punto in Redline there aint many puntos or fiats that feature in Max power/fastcar/Redline, i hope to someday add my name to their list too

Nice work

Dave

Don's Punto:The Agony And The Ecstasy

Nitrous, Leather and Superchips? Oh my.

Going into my first year of 'modifying' without much clue as to where as I was going, aside from a theme I had in my head since the beginning. Which was 'blue light inside, silver in the middle, black on the outside'. I needed speed...not the drug, I needed bhp/torque. New engine right? Yessss, but we'll come to that later. I was given the option to have Wizards Of Nitrous installed, I was even given a chrome bottle for free. I was using it all the time, don't think the little 1.2 liked it. Tough. 1st gear, pssshhtt, 2nd gear...psshhht...3rd gear pssshhtt....4th gear psshht. Pissing on 1.4's hahah, happy days. However, at £25 a time and each bottle lasting 2-3mins...it was getting a little costly. Fear not though, I had made a few upgrades to the engine bay before N20. I had a TD superchip fitted, made a SMALL difference. A K&N which was made for my car, not a chav 1.1 one and a full exhaust system by Peco :S

Ok, the car was sounding a little better, went a little better but it needed more. Looks were very important and the interior was ghey. Fortunately I was recommended to Silver Lady (01639750076) who in 3 weeks sorted me out with the highest quality leather I've seen. Even Redline said, 'Gosh this is an awesome trim'. The bar was raised, I now had AT THE TIME a farely rare kit and a full re-trim.

The Third and Final Crash

December 19th 2004

I had been driving the Punto for ages in the state it was in. I had been looking after it don't get me wrong but I lacked inspiration. Most people had seen my car now and they were farely impressed, I had dehandled and debadged it and was in the process of delocking it! (That story is for later) So, on the 19th I slid on ice again and caused about £2k of damage. The bodykit was ok however the rest of the passenger panel and surrounding areas were not! £2k later, 2 months later, polished the engine parts up, de-locked, full service, everything repaired. The front end was practically a new car...all was well. Until I decided to change the engine and brakes...Oh dear!

Oh, so many happy memories

I've gone ahead of myself, the memories just keep on flooding back to me. I believe it was near March 2004 when my gearbox, clutch and diff blew up. 1.2 + Nitrous + 17s + driving like an arse= Problems. At least my engine was still in one piece (and still is).
I remember driving home and the car feeling though it was losing traction. Obviously, there is no way I had enough engine power to lose traction on 17s...was a weird feeling. I think it was near the new Morfa Stadium where the car decided that it had enough and wasn't going to move any further. Had to have it rescued by RAC (well, a company contracted to RAC), they fitted a new clutch (which cost a **** load and apparently the old one was found to be fine when we nosed in the BIN!) and I had a very friendly company, J&J motors in Skewen to fit me a recon box and diff for free. Happy days, the car was back. Had a new exhaust system fitted in Longlife, Cardiff too!

Broken engines and empty promises

Right, new engine..Needed to be different. 1.8 HGT & brakes, bought from a scrappies in England. Found MGR to do it for me, the same company that did my bodywork. Few probs..

1) Engine had a large crack in the bottom end (Was told that it only had a crack in the air-con unit)
2) Brakes came with no calipers, hubs or anything else..Nice one.
3) No loom, 1/2 a driveshaft

I gave up. MGR weren't going to wait around, I had to do something. I couldn't send it back, I had lost all patience. Should I have rung them, I would've told them 'You're all a bunch of blind, thieving *****'. That's how much patience I didn't have.

So, what now? Do up my 1.2 8v, it's the easiest thing. Why waste loads of money? Because;

A: I can
B: Why modify anything at all? Because you want to be different. Why modify your 1.4GT with a bigger turbo? Because you've got a track car? That makes your car practical for use on the track, my Punto isn't practical. The Punto is about extremities, it's about being different. Not just about trying to go as fast as I can and losing my license. Yes, I was pissed that I didn't have a bigger engine but believe me I wouldn't have abused it. I still remain with no points on my license and have never been stopped other than for police to look at my car.

You legend. Never known anyone so determined!.

Don's Punto: Futher turmoil

I'd like to get into my car please...

Bodykit was on, engine was sounding better going better (though there were still to be changes needed). I had put a set of DTM mirrors on, had a mate do a single wiper conversion for me (though I had to buy a single wiper) and everything was going fine until...

'Umm, I can't get into my car'
*Clicks hidden solenoid door button*
'Umm, hello solenoid.. work please?'
*Hits hidden solenoid door button*
'Oh my god, I can't get into my car'

The car was in the middle Swansea. The time was 11:30ish, I couldn't get into my car. The solenoid had broken or something. I only had it fitted recently (not by MGR ). Damn.

*Rings RAC*
*RAC arrive*
*Try to get into front windows...fail*
*Try to get into back windows..fail and cause damage*
*Try to smash front passenger window...fail*
*Try again...fail*
*Try again!...Manage to make a small crack which eventually shatters the glass, fortunately I have 3m window tint which protects the glass from going everywhere. HOWEVER, after much moaning like 'I have to get back to my missus'...the RAC contracted 'after hours' recovery service company decide to make as much mess as possible and glass flies everywhere.*

Needed new glass obviously and new tint. Almost couldn't get the tint because VOSA decided darker front windows tints are illegal. I wonder..maybe it's because they want police to see people on their mobile phones? Ever heard of privacy, VOSA? Thought not. ANYWAY...

The 'company' that first fitted my door solenoid kit didn't do a good enough job, obviously. Having heard that they didn't have the best rep', I went about with a mate to sort it out. Worked off and on for the next few months, by which time I became quite good at breaking into my car.

Oh and DTM mirrors? The mirrors were rubbed down before spraying however, there were small holes in the plastic which meant that air was trapped inside. Hot weather+air holes trapped inside paint=Paint blowing up.

The good news?

The worst was yet to come!

Don's Punto: My worst nightmare...

I've not been looking forward to this. For one I must be careful of libel, as a court case could always be around the corner. For the other, it's a bloody long story. I was recommended by 'friends' to take my business to a 'company' in Wales that 'specialised' in ICE. The fee was £2500. I'm still trying to find the owners of the company, I have a legal document requesting their appearance in my local court...they have decided to hide so far.

First, taking a company to court lawfully.
Nobody is perfect.
All humans are fallable.
By law you MUST give the company you're dealing with a chance to rectify a problem, if then there is no feasible way of repairing this problem ask for a refund. Should a refund be declined, then contact a solicitor. I thought it easier to post the letter I sent to this 'company', with all names removed naturally...

"15/05/05

Without Prejudice,
RE: (COMPANY NAME REMOVED)


Dear (NAME REMOVED),

In the strongest terms I wish to complain, regarding the abysmal service I have been given at your (COMPANY NAME REMOVED) branch.

On November 22nd 2004 my car, a 2002 Fiat Punto, was received at the above branch, post consultation being given two weeks prior, for the installation of three small LCD screens/power cap in 3 separate sprayed fibreglass builds, an MDF subwoofer box build, a door solenoid switch and wiring.) The Manager, (NAME REMOVED), promised that all work would be completed by the 13th December 2004. I was informed that the car was delayed by three days, and would be ready on the December 16th, following innumerable phone calls, I was eventually informed that the car was ready to be picked up on Christmas Eve, this was an extremely busy day for myself in my own business. Arriving in (CITY REFERENCE REMOVED) at 3.30pm with two colleagues, we noticed several problems with the car, including, dents, blemishes, sanding lines, and paint reactions on all of the fibreglass parts.

Before taking the car home as it was New Year soon, I was informed that my driver’s window switch was damaged, making it impossible to close the window, and that my heater system was not working. ‘(NAME REMOVED)’ an employee of (COMPANY NAME REMOVED) said that the window was not working upon delivery, however it was working perfectly whilst I travelled to (CITY REFERENCE REMOVED), of course, had your company proceeded with correct methods, the car would have undergone a complete electrical test, prior to accepting the car.

Upon returning home on a cold and wet night, I found further faults, which four witnesses listed over the next two weeks, (a copy of same is enclosed).
‘(NAME REMOVED)’ was informed of my great displeasure, I had paid in advance for the work to be done, which was shoddy to say the least however, due to the centres’ workload; I was delayed until the middle of February for the work to be rectified. At this time ‘(NAME REMOVED)’ admitted that the heater problem was “probably their fault”, but that they had not charged me to fit the solenoid in my door, and that for all the delays they had upgraded my speakers in the doors. Several calls later, whilst my unusable car was garaged, I finally was able to speak to the manager (NAME REMOVED), who said, quote” I did not realise that the car went out without heaters working “ and went on to say “Bring the car back in two weeks, and I will ensure it comes out right”.

Towards the end of February 2005, I returned the car with the witness’s detailed lists of jobs to be rectified, and handed it to ‘NAME REMOVED’. I was assured that the extensive problems would be rectified, and I said before leaving, ”There was no particular time limit to ensure you reasonable time to complete the work properly.”

After innumerable phone calls during the two months, and because of admitted errors on their part, on the 15th April, the Manager asked that I pick up the car, it was supposed to have been picked up the previous week, but I was told that ‘(NAME REMOVED)’ was in (CITY REFERENCE REMOVED), and that the sprayed fibreglass panels (which were re-done in another shop were incomplete and unsatisfactory).

On April 15th when it was to be picked up, I was asked to leave it until 5.30pm as it was being cleaned. As we approached the (COMPANY REFERENCE REMOVED) I noticed my car on the road outside your premises. ‘(NAME REMOVED)’ informed me in front of three witnesses, that he and other auto electricians had been unable to repair my heater, but had managed to repair the window switch. By now as you may imagine, after over three months of waiting, I was utterly fed up, and returned my car to my garage.

Even though I asked for fake metal flooring to be placed in the boot, this had not been done. on April 16th, I took the car to a car expert (C.V. enclosed), to do that job, once he opened the boot, and listened to the speakers, he noticed a rattle, further investigation revealed that (a) the boot install did not fit and (b) the install was loose. A quote taken from the expert regarding the work done for the boot install by (COMPANY NAME REMOVED) post investigation was “This work is a total fire/health and safety hazard” followed by “Should you have had to brake sharply, there would be a 99% probability that the contents of the boot would have shot through to the front” and then “The wiring behind the dash was probably the most botched job I have ever seen”. Looking behind the dash myself, I saw bare-wire 12-Volt neon cables, and unused excess cable going nowhere. I verified with the expert that the wiring he examined was not completed by myself because the neons which were attached to some of the wiring worked correctly before entering (COMPANY NAME REMOVED). The fibreglassed screen mounting fitted in the boot was loose, and only held in place by double backed tape, the screen within the fibreglass mounting was also loose. Further investigation revealed badly attached neon tubes beneath the driver’s door (to the point where they have now fallen off), the wiring from the door screens to the dash running through sharp bare metal drilled holes have no rubber grommets.

I have paid to have all health/fire safety hazards rectified with the car expert, as I was warned that the car was dangerous to drive.
Assuming you will make your own investigations into this matter, I shall expect a refund in full from your company.

Awaiting your response,

I am
Yours sincerely

(MY NAME REMOVED)
Director.


c.c. (SOLICITOR'S NAME REMOVED)

Enc."

I gave them 2 chances, asked for a refund and was basically told that it was my fault for rushing the company. I ended up talking to one of the owners of this 'company' through e-mails, his tact resembled his employees lack of skill. We were polite, they were not. We sent legal request letters, with all proof (THAT THEY DEMANDED) however, they said that the photos I sent them weren't clear enough. Funny that, my mechanic of over 30yrs (who has in the past worked with Makkinen in the WRC) said they were clear as day to him.

Many months after, I actually ended up talking to the person who worked on my car. Through MSN, not in person. Funny thing is, he never worked for the company.

Shocking isn't it? He wasn't even on the books. Apparently, when I took my car back this 'company' they said 'What a ****! **** him, we aren't going to work on this'. Which meant, the chap I was talking on MSN ended up trying to finish it for me in time.

I don't hate him, he was working night and day to do my car because he was working alone. He didn't have much experience because he wasn't a professional!

In my next account, I'll be talking about the rectification (took about 6-8 months) and my mechanic who basically got the car to a very high level.

Without him, 3 years would have been lost.

dude sorry to read your last entry, that company sound like cowboys and deserve everything thats thrown at them... Keep at it, i would go all the way with taking them to court and getting your refund although these things tend to take along time, but keep on at it. Also hope you get the engine sorted out soon too

very interesting read so far, you've gone through a hell of a lot of trouble with that car :O

Don's Punto: After flames...retribution

So the aformentioned 'company' had 'fixed' my car? Obviously not, haven't you read the last part? Heh!

As I was driving home the second time round, I knew I had been ****ed over. However, I was very happy to finally have it in my garage. Of course things weren't going to be happy for long! I had THE punto, the ****ing nightmare Punto which has caused me 3 years of constant grief. Anyway, I brought the Punto across to Chris the mechanic/auto-electrician/sprayer/panel-beater etc etc and he started to nose around the work THE SECOND TIME around. He had already removed surplus wiring that was totally pointless but still you couldn't fit your hand under the amount of **** that was behind my dash. I asked him to fit some new neon-wire throughout the front of the car and to strengthen the boot-build/re-spray a few bits of the dash and fibreglass.

He found more uninsulated wiring. For those who don't understand this last sentence, Chris found wiring that wasn't secured or protected in anyway. Thus, if a positive power cable were to touch a negative cable or visa-versa, sparks would fly and things could catch fire. Which, they inevitably did.

As Chris was figuring out the jigsaw of wiring, dodgy wiring eventually sparked and smoke came from behind the dash. Quickly, Chris ripped a bottom part of the dash off and just started ripping wire out, that stopped the smoke. He then disconnected the battery.

We were both emotional wrecks, I had never hated anyone in my life until that day. I hated those amateurs for their total disregard for my safety, I hated myself too for trusting them so easily.

I think it took 2-3 months of careful colour-coded re-wiring, proper insulation, kinky neon-lit fuse-boxes and patience to put things back on track. K&J, a local retailer also helped out by sponsoring me at this time. I had free service parts and some free MOMO pedals, w00t. I have about, if you count them individually, 80 seperate neons and LEDS within my car. Chris has to re-wire about 1/2 of them. The car returned to me in MUCH better condition.

I decided to decal MODIFIED MOTORS and www.swpas.com on my rear windows in respect of the fact that there were decent professionals out there.

Unfortunately, car entertainment and design is not Chris B's forte`. I looked to a Swansea ICE company for that and even then disappointment loomed.

FINE, I'll learn myself

All this story may seem like one big dramatic sob-story but it's all true. I've stuck through it and soon (as in next week) the story comes to an end. Christ, I could go on about how my health took a turn for the worse after the fire but I'm focusing on the car for this one!

So, I took the Punto to somebody who could design boot-installs. In fairness, the design was good. The EXTRA dynamat was good, the wiring however was poor. The fact that my glovebox had it's paint scratched and now had a big hole in it (due to them TRYING to fit a part) was a painful start. They gave me compensation, I'm not telling you what. Yes, it was car related. I asked for Keeley in a thong but they declined.

Mmmm, Keeley in a thong...

That was it. I spent the next 2 months, researching ICE. I re-wired all of the ICE. Checked resistance, moved power-cables, fitted 0-noise cabling, sorted out the BIG 3. Everything was sweet. I'm not just saying that because I did it. The difference was tremendous. I went for clarity/balance/richness of sound, I believe I got it.

Check back on Friday for the final part of this story, some of it's good...some of it's not so good.

Will look forward to reading the rest on friday! This is more like a blog... and have you got any pictures of the transformation in progress?

jeeez i dont even know what to say mate teribble that it came out so bad with your car .

even though i must say it looks very nice..
but tbh dont you think youve gone too far with the car and regret all the things done

i`ll get back on friday to read the next part of your story

I cant believe all the **** that you and your car have been through and u still tried to carry on, respect to u for not giving up.

I actually enjoy reading about it though

My eyes blur when i read that much writing on this forum without sig breaks

Jordan

Don's Punto: The Final Chapter?

Just drive my car

The same conversation was always taking place;

'When's the Punto ready, don?'
'I think it'll be finished 100%, for definite, without doubt in 2 weeks!'
'2 weeks! You ALWAYS say 2 weeks!'

They were right. I did always say 2 weeks but this is what I was always told. I felt moronic but there you go. I had achieved much so far, though I had achieved nothing if nobody could actually see the car. Fortunately, I knew somebody who was quite friendly with REDLINE. I had the photoshoot in November 2005, I was in March 2006. Issue 101

I was really lucky with the weather in NOV too! As I got in the garage for the shoot, it rained. As I came out it stopped. I must've spent 2 nights solid cleaning the car with my mate, Rob. She was gleaming, wasn't a mark in sight. Ever since the beggining of the thought 'I'd love the car to be in a magazine', I always knew that THIS was the time she had to be the cleanest she'd ever be. I remember back to the time (about 2 years ago) I had the black looking like glass...Oh dear!

I don't remember mentioning my new alloys. I didn't really get them until early 2005. Chrome wheels were a dangerous choice. I knew I had to go bigger than 17s, why? Because I can. I should've learnt from the fact my ****e box couldn't handle 17s but there you go. I went on instinct, most peoples said that I had a good eye when it came to styling. They said I had a nack of putting 'over-the-top' parts on without actually making it look 'over-the-top'. Maybe I was lucky?

Nevertheless, the 18s went on and changed the look of the car. She was looking awfully 'gangsta'?

Stereotypes are great aren't they? They're for those of us who need to dogmatically put people into categories. Makes it easy for us to judge others, easy for us to disrespect. I'm called a chav with my chrome alloys, I'm called a goth when I listen to Metallica and play my guitar/drums/bass. Either way, people who stereotype are ignored by me.

My car was finally in REDLINE, all my work had been completed. She was working 100%, people finally said 'Ah, your car looks great, Don!'. WOOHOO!

Though, that's not the end of my story.

Hah, I bet you thought that would've been a great ending right?

Wrong.

Come March time, I was bored. I couldn't take it out, weather was ****. Engine bay would've been wrecked.

I thought 'Hmm...what's this...A website selling Punto Parts? Ooo, new stuff!'

I bought a camshaft and an outlet manifold (minus the cat)...7 days delivery? Awesome!

1 and 1/2 months later, the outlet manifold arrived.

3 months later, the cam arrived.

By which time, my mechanic had rebuilt a mini from scratch. He had also gas-flowed the Punto head. I had polished up loads more parts in my engine and bought all the new service parts and silicone hoses/iridium plugs. So within 5 days from today, the Punto is being rebuilt. I know that when this is done, that SERIOUSLY will be it for me. Somehow, randomly my little blue LED alarm light has broken. She hasn't moved since November? HOW THE **** CAN A LED BREAK when the car hasn't gone anywhere?

You must understand, with all the parts aforementioned in this topic looking after this car will be enough. Just changing the tyres, doing an MOT, changing minute LEDS, taking 3 hours at a time cleaning the engine bay is enough for me!

Owning this car is hard work, it WILL be the last modified car I own. I always wanted to do it, deep down. Yunno, drive a car like this and be noticed?Christ, people pay more attention to my car than they do a Ferarri! Ok, they may not be true car experts? Still, it makes you feel good. Most of us won't own a supercar, when we do we'll be too old to even get an erection. **** Viagra.

Anyway, thanks for reading this long story and thank you for your positive comments. I am open to your probing questions if you have any. I shall try and answer them to the best of my knowledge. Please don't be rude though. Show some tact. Thanks again!