General Fixing small issues on the HGT. HELP Please

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General Fixing small issues on the HGT. HELP Please

gdourado

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Hello,

Good afternoon,
So it is time to start fixing up the HGT to get it as mint as possible.
I have identified the first issues I wish to tackle and so I need some help in the best way to proceed.

These are the issues and my questions:
- Fix the cloth on the door cards.
The cloth is in great condition. No tears, no spots, not even dirty.
But it is sagging from the door. As if the cloth is not properly glued to the door card.
Can the door card be disassembled and the cloth glued back on?
Can an upholsterer do it properly?
Or is it better to try and get some new complete door cards?

- Side skirts are starting to peel the paint.
The Abarth side skirts are starting to peel at the edge where the sideskirt meets the body of the car.
Can they be easily disassembled tomatoes them to the painter and have them repainted? Or are they assembled using clips that will break and need replacement?

- rubber gasket on the door frame. They need replacement as they are “punctured” where the edge of the door where the side mirrors go, press against the rubber.
Can these rubbers be easily replaced?

- Flush the cooling system.
I want to do a full flush of the coolant, run a couple of full cycles of distilled water to clean the insides of the engine and then use new coolant.
Since I am doing that, I also want to install a brand new coolant tank.
Is the coolant thank HGT specific or can I get a coolant tank for any 188 Punto?

Thanks for the help!
Please help me keep a very nice condition HGT on the road.

Best wishes!
 
The door cards can be removed. A few screws that need to be removed and then it gets pulled off with care - ideally you need a v shaped tool at each clip to avoid breaking something - they are quite hard to pull off . I am supposing It would be simple for an upholster to redo the cards. The base is something that looks like hardboard.
 
Hello,

Thank you for the help.
I have been to the mechanic, upholsterer and painter today.
I am trying to sort out the car to have it as mint as possible.
I really think it deserves it as it is a great car.

So first thing is first.
The door cards. They are currently like this:
10-A5-B64-B-6-F2-E-480-E-8-D99-999-D92-D961-B6.jpg

1-BCE0262-1-D5-B-48-C4-A62-F-FF27-AC8-DBA1-D.jpg


The upholsterer said that it is the foam inside the cards that has rotten with age and so the cloth doesn’t have anything to be glued to.
He says he can redo the foam and keep the original cloth as it is in great condition.
So that is great news.

The mechanic said the car needs a new valve cover gasket.
He also says there is some play on the steering that needs to be sorted.
As for the coolant, he said he will change to expansion tank for a new one, flush the old coolant 2 or 3 times and then fill it up with Paraflu coolant.

I will go ahead with these repairs now and have a great car mechanically and with mint interiors.

As for the seal gasket on the doors, they are currently like this:
878-AB9-D4-7-CFA-459-A-9029-C16-BACC61-EDB.jpg

FEE42873-1418-4108-8-E65-39-C19-AE792-B9.jpg

7-AA01-E51-F032-4084-8-EF9-0-A9413-A81599.jpg


I have been to the Fiat dealership and I can order new ones, but at the price of 150 euros plus VAT for each one.
So 400 euros just for the two seals.

That is a bit though to swallow, so despite having the seals mess up my OCD everytime I open the door, I am putting it on hold for the moment.

I’ll keep this thread updated.

Cheers!
 
That is a bit though to swallow, so despite having the seals mess up my OCD everytime I open the door, I am putting it on hold for the moment.

I have the exact same problem in my Punto, those gaskets are a bit teared up on that spot, and it also bothers me. But it's too expensive to replace them, it isn't really worth it.
I try to remember myself that it's an old car, and things like that are part of it, makes no financial sense to have it in mint condition. 20 years on a car, are 20 years on a car. Specially rubber doesn't hold up nice with time.
 
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