Hey guys 
,
Just dropped by and wanted to say “Hey” to everyone on FF. My Name is Paul from Newport South Wales; I’m 19 and, not a boy racer.
As you can tell, I’m totally new at all the car things and what not so; apologies in advance. 3-Weeks ago I bought my first car; A “R” Reg Fiat Punto Mk1 1.2 16v Sporting with 74,000 Miles on the counter, for £800.
AS with most first time car owners I was ecstatic when I got it and started doing all the lil’ things newbies do to their car. First, I cleaned it all nice and proper and drove it around for a bit to see how it handled and, I loved it!
So, onto the developments.
I started doing the interior first. There was some wear and tear in the interior (Broken bits, missing pieces etc) so I went down my local Scrap yard and started harvesting the once loved, by-gone fiats out there. I managed to replace most of the broken things (Missing Belt clip holder, Driver side seat plastic casing (Near the height adjustable lever), spinning bin thing (Back driver passenger side) and other minor things).
Then, I turned my sights onto the exterior. If I’m being honest, it’s not all that bad. Some light denting, and minor scratched but nothing a bit of cleaning and waxing cant fix. Also, I had some badges sorted out to replace the old worn out ones... I only managed to get the “Fiat” badge since my local dealership told me that they were not making anymore “Punto Sporting” badges *Cries* so, one is new, the other old.
I attempted trying to fix my stone chips with the Halfords Chip repairs things but, it didn’t go down too well and I resorted to wet and dry sanding... Which went even worst :bang:. Bruised and battered by the ordeal, I thought I’d leave that job to the professionals and started a lil’ dent/scratch repair fund.
Whilst I wait for that to mature, I started looking under bonnet. The machine seems to be in good nick but, there was some significant damage to the pipe leading from the air filter box to the engine itself. So I thought on replacing that pipe (£44.61). After being quoted that amount I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone and replace that with a new air induction system to improve engine performance and fix the problem of a gashed pipe.
So, here are the newbie questions which I hope you could help me with;
a.I bought the car with only a BLUE key which, unlocks the car and starts the engine... however, it’s almost broken (bent severely) so, should I get a replica of this key moreover, would it work as the original without any major problems? (I’m keeping well away from the red key topic by the way)
b.If I end up filling up my lil’ dent/scratch repair fund – how much would I be looking at to fix the scratches, dents and chips... How about a respray?
c.I’ve heard bad things about K&N filters and have been reading up on the amazing GSR intakes... However, as I’m a student with limited funds, I was wondering if I could make my own Air induction system? What would I need moreover, is it advisable to do so? (My Dad is an *computer* engineer but is quite know legible about cars but not engines – so any thing like that he may be able to help)
d.Disconnecting the battery... Any problems that may arise having only a Blue key? (The radio/CD player is not the factory one).
I hope you’ll be able to help me on this, and any thing that may be useful or tips – feel free to post!
Thanks for the help!
Paul
,Just dropped by and wanted to say “Hey” to everyone on FF. My Name is Paul from Newport South Wales; I’m 19 and, not a boy racer
.As you can tell, I’m totally new at all the car things and what not so; apologies in advance. 3-Weeks ago I bought my first car; A “R” Reg Fiat Punto Mk1 1.2 16v Sporting with 74,000 Miles on the counter, for £800.
AS with most first time car owners I was ecstatic when I got it and started doing all the lil’ things newbies do to their car. First, I cleaned it all nice and proper and drove it around for a bit to see how it handled and, I loved it!
So, onto the developments.
I started doing the interior first. There was some wear and tear in the interior (Broken bits, missing pieces etc) so I went down my local Scrap yard and started harvesting the once loved, by-gone fiats out there. I managed to replace most of the broken things (Missing Belt clip holder, Driver side seat plastic casing (Near the height adjustable lever), spinning bin thing (Back driver passenger side) and other minor things).
Then, I turned my sights onto the exterior. If I’m being honest, it’s not all that bad. Some light denting, and minor scratched but nothing a bit of cleaning and waxing cant fix. Also, I had some badges sorted out to replace the old worn out ones... I only managed to get the “Fiat” badge since my local dealership told me that they were not making anymore “Punto Sporting” badges *Cries* so, one is new, the other old.
I attempted trying to fix my stone chips with the Halfords Chip repairs things but, it didn’t go down too well and I resorted to wet and dry sanding... Which went even worst :bang:. Bruised and battered by the ordeal, I thought I’d leave that job to the professionals and started a lil’ dent/scratch repair fund.
Whilst I wait for that to mature, I started looking under bonnet. The machine seems to be in good nick but, there was some significant damage to the pipe leading from the air filter box to the engine itself. So I thought on replacing that pipe (£44.61). After being quoted that amount I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone and replace that with a new air induction system to improve engine performance and fix the problem of a gashed pipe.
So, here are the newbie questions which I hope you could help me with;
a.I bought the car with only a BLUE key which, unlocks the car and starts the engine... however, it’s almost broken (bent severely) so, should I get a replica of this key moreover, would it work as the original without any major problems? (I’m keeping well away from the red key topic by the way
)b.If I end up filling up my lil’ dent/scratch repair fund – how much would I be looking at to fix the scratches, dents and chips... How about a respray?
c.I’ve heard bad things about K&N filters and have been reading up on the amazing GSR intakes... However, as I’m a student with limited funds, I was wondering if I could make my own Air induction system? What would I need moreover, is it advisable to do so? (My Dad is an *computer* engineer but is quite know legible about cars but not engines – so any thing like that he may be able to help)
d.Disconnecting the battery... Any problems that may arise having only a Blue key? (The radio/CD player is not the factory one).
I hope you’ll be able to help me on this, and any thing that may be useful or tips – feel free to post!
Thanks for the help!
Paul
