General Broom Yellow HLX

[Liquid Knight]

Three weeks to the next track day and I'm selling parts to buy parts.

I'm sure two hundred miles of hilly roads did the clutch and suspension the world of good. :devil:

 

[Liquid Knight II]

New me.

Due to an issue with the Fiat Forum and Hotmail I have had to re-register.

Got plans for this evening (at work) so I'll have an actual update tomorrow.

 

[Liquid Knight II]

With a little Health and Safety to stop the ramps sliding on the floor...

...I've managed to save about another three kilos from the Bravo.

She sounds a bit more ASBO now but that's only an issue if I have to leave or get home from work early.

Ah. Never mind.

 

[puntofan01]

Are you not going to get it MOT'd again?

 

[bluejohn125]

The back box of my 1995 Tipo fell off recently, I had the opposite repair done i.e. kept the centre box and had a straight pipe fitted to the rear section.

It quietened things down a bit compared to just having the broken pipe, it's an acceptably fruity Italian note that is noticeable when you first start up but seems fine after that.

Passed the MOT no problem.

 

[Liquid Knight II]

Are you not going to get it MOT'd again?

I can weld it all back together for the MOT.

Fans of the "grumpy" thread will know that last week I encountered this chap...

...driving on the wrong side of the road as I went round a blind bend.

To avoid a head on collision I hit the grass verge.

I inspected the car for obvious damage and thankfully there is none to the suspension, steering or other places I could check by eye.

Yesterday I had new tyres fitted and the wheel that hit the verge...

...is buckled slightly. Not enough to need refurbishing but more than enough weights to balance for it to call the other wheels "Bra".

:bang:

 

[Liquid Knight II]

My now cat' back exhaust sounded like it was leaking so I took it off today...

...I should take due consideration when I lower the car later.

The mystery "clunk" when I put the car in reverse is solved.

All those cakes I made when I had insomnia came in handy. Forget the Bake Off this is how to apply icing (exhaust putty at least).

All sealed, nut and bolts torqued and I could still hear what sounded like a leak somewhere in the middle. I inspected all the welds for carbon while the system was off so I know it couldn't be that.

This...

...heat shield was touching the pipe so it fell off.

That's a clean exhaust sound, quieter inside and a few grams weight saving.

 

[Liquid Knight II]

More daily driver duties, dropping Mum in town and getting two new-ish tyres for the charity drift MX5 I have been building for a mate. While I was wating for the tyres to be fitted I visited my local scrap yard and instead of buying a "universal" lip splitter/spoiler for my Bravo I spotted a bit of trim on the floor.

£2.00 later and I have some trimming, drilling and tiger sealing to make it fit.

Also according to these guys...

https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/uk/lincoln

...the weather is looking wet in the morning so I'll be replacing my slightly pink rear fog light bulb with a super bright red LED one. So that's the whole rear clusters upgraded to LED's finally. I was waiting for Autumn to kick in but track day spray I think you need to have your fog light on. Not 100% about that but it's better to be prepared than black flagged.

 

[Liquid Knight II]

So a bit of faded polycarbonate from on of my old Uno rally car windows, some nuts, bots and washers from the depths of my shed and the £2.00 and I have the beginning of a splitter.

Might work. :devil:

 

[Liquid Knight II]

Five days to go and I dropped a nut while swapping fog light bulbs so I took this lot out to find it.

Just over eight kilos saved.

 

[Liquid Knight II]

More weight saving...

...the back seat was 80Kg by itself. Belts, brackets, trim and sound deadening about another 10Kg.

Trail fitted the splitter. Not bad for £2.00 and an hour or so. Just waiting for Apex to deliver the springs.

 

[puntofan01]

Poor Bravo, lol!

 

[Liquid Knight II]

"hi lk

unfortunately these springs have been discontinued and will be getting removed from the website would you like us to source you a alternative ? as it stands no funds have been taken from your account awaiting your decision there will just be a shadow fee showing on your account
kind regards
Apex"

:bang: :bang: :bang:

Just as well I have plan "B".

 

[Liquid Knight II]

Poor Bravo, lol!

It gets worse.

I had to grind some of the seat and belt bolts out so it will never be a car again.

Bravo HLX van anyone?

 

[Liquid Knight II]

So I spent the morning chasing around all my local part suppliers looking for a set of Bravo HLX or HGT springs. The ones on my car are eighteen years and 126,000 miles old so even standard ones would be stiffer (in theory).

Some didn't do any parts for cars before 2005 and others couldn't get anything before Monday. Fiat want £217+VAT for the front pair.

I spent the afternoon in my shed. A pair of Punto GT rear springs.

Modified a pair of Coupe' front springs.

Of course I had a few issues. My 18mm ring spanner has disappeared so I needed to improvise a little.

Only a couple of jobs to get done and my Bravo and I are good to go.

 

[Liquid Knight II]

High enough to get on my driveway, negotiate speed ramps and potholes; low enough to wear apple bottom jeans. :devil:

 

[Liquid Knight II]

Polished the old girl today and hovered all the pine needles from last years Christmas tree, dust, fluff and stuff from inside the car. Then I noticed the passenger side rear brake was making noise.

I took the assembly apart, couldn't see anything. Same for the drivers side and then noticed the dust shield on the passenger side front was rubbing the disc.

:bang:

Now my back brakes make noise. Lucky it's a sixty mile drive to the track so I can let them back in again.

 

[Liquid Knight II]

My target time for this session was one minute and thirty seconds.

My best lap was on twenty four point eight.

 

[bluejohn125]

Great Success !!

Looks like you had a nice day for it, car looking good.

Are you now going to park her up for a bit?

I'm contemplating a final bike track day at Oulton Park this Friday... :devil:

 

[Adrian Bravo]

Well done liquid that looks like great fun! car looks very flat in all the photos.

My target time for this session was one minute and thirty seconds.


My best lap was on twenty four point eight.