General imola the blue cinq sporting (the free cinq)

[Lecook]

finally got the skirts in color.. had massive problems with the primer reacting with the base coat for some unknown reason...

so after several attempts to fix it i just whacked loads of laquer on them and gave up... theyre not the best but they look alright from a distance

not yet fitted as i ran out of light pissing about trying to get the single wiper mech conversion sorted but i did get them test fitted... which leads me to my next problem.... i need to fit front inner arches.... pitbs.... as i have rolled (ish) the front wings theyre going to be a nightmare to fit and make look well.... so hopefully tomorrow after ive sorted the wiper mech i can get on with that...


also the postie bought some new dustcaps.. the obligatory fresh set of blue dice to go with the new wheels

also finally got the tracking sorted... the rear end is sat waaay to high and seems to be unstable at high speed... i nearly wrote her off yesterday when.... 'driving'...quite... spirited...... (think i covered myself there :devil::devil: ) behind a s3 when the back end decided it no longer wanted to grip, bit of a brown trouser moment but she pulled straight.... :worship::worship: i think possibly a mixture of tyre pressures... to much right foot on a corner and the ride height were the contributing factors as it was totally dry.... so a little extra wind in the tires and hopefully job will be a gooden... if not ill be looking into possibly a faulty shock maybe....

currently waiting on a new wideband lambda to arrive awsell as the adapter for the oil pressure sender to be fitted and then hopefully i can get on with sorting the paint on the bonnet and wings

 

[Piratejack]

Always read your thread, just never commented. Skirts look mint! Such a good colour for this car, wish my silver sei was this colour

 

[Lecook]

so today a few goodies turned up... i was so excited to get them fitted and fix the thing that i forgot to get pics but the following is now fixed and fully functional

wideband sensor/new oxygen sensor fitted and now reading as it should

new oil pressure sender and m14x1.5 male to 1/8npt female adapter fitted, gauge now working and functioning as it should

single wiper conversion done with the original cento mech (well...3 were used ) massive hassle whist building it but i think it looks cool

A fresh bosch aero wiper fitted

temporary pea shooter exhaust trim fitted as the lack of one burnt he paint on the freshly painted abarth apron :bang::bang:

and i've finally wired he ecu lambda pin to the wide band controller, set to send the signal in narrow band and display on the afr as wide band, i was having some problems with emissions on the mot and a few idling issues with it being a little lumpy and a weird missfire when you opened the throttle to 100% whilst criusing, so now the car drops back to idle nearly instantly and does'nt momentarily miss fire when you whack you're foot down

i've also decided the uniroyal rainsport 2s.. as good as they are in the wet arent my favorite choice... they have a rather soft sidewall and that i think with the ride height at the back means it just doesnt feel as planted as it did, so ill be looking into replacing them with some yoko A539s in the 185/50/14s next year as they seem to have the stiffer side wall and are just epic tyres imo, however the ride quality is 10x better so swings and roundabouts there...

Also im after a set of 60mm lowering springs to bring the rear of the car down again, more for looks as i like the way the rears have a nice bit of camber so thats on the todo list...

apart from that.. i plan to get the turbo engine build underway... keep an eye on the other thread to see how that goes


cheers
Lee

 

[Pirus]

Just spent half hour sorting out those wiring diagrams and youve already got it sorted. Typical

Looking good though otherwise, how did you manage the single wiper conversion with three cento wiper motors?

 

[Sir16v]

3 used? i managed single wiper conversion with just uno motor,easiest bit to fit,just slight trim to heater box plastic and went straight in

 

[Lecook]

Just spent half hour sorting out those wiring diagrams and youve already got it sorted. Typical

Looking good though otherwise, how did you manage the single wiper conversion with three cento wiper motors?

lol sorry buddy... i got impatient and figure id try the old fashion way lol,

the mechs were an absolute arse ache to be totally honest the plastic ball joinst break really easily and the pressed in ball studs are rubbish aswell, ill see if i can get some pictures of it tomorrow in the daylight, its not pretty and the water cover for the fan motor has to be ditched but now it finally works and hasnt broken like the 1st, 2nd and 3rd attempt, basically the name of the game is to take the nearside wiper mech arm off the middle of a spare mech ( looks like a p-shaped piece of metal and swap it out for the part of the mech that connects the mech to the motor (makes more sense when youve got it all infront of you) this then gives the single wiper the longer throw, however i had no end of troubles with the plastic ball joints popping after a few mins aswell as the pressed splined ball studs popping out of the rail... in the end i welded the ballstuds in and now (touch wood ) it doesnt break to be honest the worst part is adjusting the throw and where it parks very time consuming and lots of pulling bits off and refitting time and time again...

ill see if i can get some pics tomorrow for you

 

[Lecook]

3 used? i managed single wiper conversion with just uno motor,easiest bit to fit,just slight trim to heater box plastic and went straight in

yea i did contemplate the uno wiper but ive seen how they bolt through the center of the scuttle and imo just look a mess... the use of the cinq mech makes it look alot more oem and once the carpet covers are back on it just you dont see it all

 

[Lecook]

just a few pics from today

also to add.. it could do with a slightly longer wiper blade.. maybe a 20" or a 21" but as i had already bought a pair of 19" ones i figured i may aswell put them to use for now, the mechs still in testing as i dont 110% trust it atm but when its proven and working fine im sure ill get a slightly longer blade

 

[Sir16v]

yea i did contemplate the uno wiper but ive seen how they bolt through the center of the scuttle and imo just look a mess... the use of the cinq mech makes it look alot more oem and once the carpet covers are back on it just you dont see it all

i used moulded rubber cover on mine,tidiest part of that car, dont mind centimeter of over lap i used 24" blade,covers whole windscreen side to side

 

[ycming]

is so easy to it with the cinq mech, all you needed to is extend the throw.

And you could get that from another cinq mech.



Like that !

Ming

 

[Lecook]

is so easy to it with the cinq mech, all you needed to is extend the throw.

And you could get that from another cinq mech.



Like that !

Ming

thats exactly how i done it the first time round lol.. but i had to butcher another mech because the plastic ball cups were shocking lol.. i broke a pair so had to steal another set from the 3rd one lol

now i need one for the greeen cinq when that finally gets resprayed and put back together

 

[Lecook]

So its been a while.. the single wiper conversion is still going strong.. the engine is still leaking oil.. the tyres are still aweful however i went for a awesome blast down some of suffolks finest roads on the way to a show with Cento186 and she handled lovely... full on 4 wheel drifts out of corners trying
To keep up with his clio trophy massive smiles that day and has made me fall in love with driving her again..

A few cosmetic mods to be sorted in the comung minths aswell as a bunch of goodies to be ordered for the turbo build... im quite tempted to put the det3 on the 16v just to see what gains can be had and then buy another for the turbo build,

 

[Lecook]

so... they say all good things must come to an end... and this is the case with imola...

a few days ago i lost total compression from the engine (i was kinda expecting it) this engine has been used and abused... thrashed.. tortured and now after 8 or 10 months of hard abuse and a total lack of any maintenance its finally thrown in the towel...

so... the plan now... as imola is beginning to show her age, is to strip her down, remove all good parts and transfer them to the new project, the 8v turbo


plans for imola arent yet set in stone.. however i know she will form a trailer of some description

i cant simply crush her, shes been at the heart of many smiles and many sleepless nights, shes enabled me to meet some great new people and make many new friends..ive learnt a hell of alot about centos and have replaced practically everything at one point or another...

so ... dont hit that unsubscribe button just yet, i may keep this thread alive with the trailer build

cheers to everyone thats helped me out along the way...

lets hope the next will be 10x the car imola always was


and heres a link to the new build
https://www.fiatforum.com/members-motors/416315-jenson-1995-green-sx-899-1242mpi-8v-turbo.html

Cheers again guys

 

[centralcentos]

Wow just looked through the build thread ..shed a tear at the last comment :'( poor imola at least her spirit will live on and oh iv messaged you on Facebook
Ryan

 

[Lecook]

wow so what a weird turn of events... big updates to come in the next couple of days



imola shall live.... boosted

for now

 

[woj]

Excuse me about being totally blunt about this - I don't care which shell it will run in, just make it run

 

[Lecook]

so this happened...

black dash from an early 899 cinq

sporting loom swapped onto it

and in... complete with low mileage backlit switches

fiat coupe turbo leathers fitted

and the carpet scrubbed (looks brown in the pic for some reason...)

and rear seats im not sure how long these will last though... theres basically no leg room with the custom runners on the coupe seats

holy..... meh... im not going to lie... i didnt even clean the bay properly, but sei pas steering rack fitted, new painted master cylinder and brake servo with new front brake lines

engine and box finally bolted together

and then..............

TADAAAAAAHHH

and matt (young efficient??) travelled 4 hrs to lend me an engine hoist and help me to put the engine in on its mounts absolute star even if he is a little bit of a ..... :tosser:

so the palio bob was swapped out for the time being for the original pipework that came with the kit from his woj'ness as i dont have the correct piping and im in a bit of a rush to get things done

intercooler mounted and pipework all connected up so can i officially call it boosted now blu??

so the original plan was to drop the engine in and do a smooth and tuck in the engine bay.. but im in serious need of the car back and with everyone telling me to pull my finger out and get it done ive done exactly that...

really appreciate the helping hand from matt and the totally random weekend weekend that followed

So whats left

• i need to find room to fit the air filter
• mount the oil cooler
• buy oil cooler pipework
• lay the engine wiring loom and connect it all up
• make the relay/fuse board for the gauges and wideband
• buy pod for the gauges
• wire in the remote central locking immobiliser alarm and remote start

• swap out the old fuel tank for the new one
• bleed up the brakes
• buy oil
• buy coolant
• fill gearbox with fresh oil

• fit gear stick and selector rods
• fit jubilees on any of the coolant hoses that arent sorted
• work out why the heater blower motor is'nt working
• cut the chassis leg to remove the snapped captive nut to mount the wishbone and replace
• order and fit a new cv joint
• order and fit track rod end
• fit wiper motor and mech

then its just a case of getting the front suspension back on tracking it up and then taxing her

hopefully if i can get through the list quickly then she will be at least running before the end of the month even if shes not back on the road

cheers


lee

 

[blu73]

Mmmmmmmm, I'll allow it..

I'd stick the oil cooler over the passenger side, behind where the fog light would be.

air filter, easiest thing to do is to come across from the turbo a bit and then a bend up towards the headlight - can either have it there or get another bend so it sits under the master cylinder and over the gearbox. Or run a enclosed filter like a CDA and run a pipe from it across near the passenger wheel somewhere, if you go up over the box and then down towards the rear of the inner arch its nice and cold down there (even put a few slits in the inner arch to help airflow if you so desire).

 

[woj]

If you are posing to be a tasty looking female on that one pic - it's really not working I hope the car will work better than this poor attempt

The airfilter piping that you got should all work fine, I can see plenty of room for it where I think it should be.

I can also see that you sorted out the EGT probe thread problem, but I do not see exactly what happened.

I'd also suggest to heat wrap the piece of metal piping for the inlet. This is stainless that is normally not advised for inlet piping due to heat characteristics (or so I've heard, and I could not get my hands on a suitable alu pipe).

Lastly, beware that the cabling on the EBC valve is fragile, put the valve such that the cable is not stressed in any way

 

[blu73]

having looked at the pics again i really don't like this water pipe



On my old sei I had it come up a little further across and then i have a aluminium tube along the slam panel. Paul has had to change it again since getting the ram horn style mani and its a pretty decent solution but i don't have a pic - but it comes up and then into a metal pipe along the front of the rocker cover.

Forgive the crap MS-Paint skills but this kinda route