General start of the abarth rebuild/1.4 16v conversion

[Cento Painter]

So Andy are you still on for Stanford ?

 

[andys cinq]

So Andy are you still on for Stanford ?

Without any doubt i shall be there leaving down here at 6.45am and bringing buttflap with me so he can get there

 

[Cento Painter]

Dont forget me !!

 

[andys cinq]

After slipping and sliding about over the last few days with all the rain,i couldnt stand staying on these crap dunlop tyres:yuck::yuck::yuck: talk about having to stay off any power when going round any corners as the front was just washing out all the time so got a nice new set of yokohama a539s yet again and all i can say is what a transformation they have made to the handling/grip levels.
The dunlops are only just going over the halfway point so they have gone in the scrap tyre pile and i WILL NEVER recommend them to anyone in fact stay well away from them,the sonars/nankangs i had on my original cinq were a 1000 times better than dunlop.....if you want true ditch finders fit DUNLOP

 

[blu73]

lol, i have them dunlops on my turbo atm, except with hardly any tread left, crap tyres indeed.. I can't afford new tyres yet but was planning on them ones, had them on my old turbo and remember rating them highly.

 

[Honeymonster]

Yoko's MMMmmmmmmm :yum:

 

[Lecook]

I got a set of them definitely going to replace with yokos when they need it, excellent in the dry not so great in the wet but I'd recommend them to everyone

Good choice lol

 

[andys cinq]

I got a set of them definitely going to replace with yokos when they need it, excellent in the dry not so great in the wet but I'd recommend them to everyone

Good choice lol

Well i have had no problems with mine in the wet so u obviously aint getting the temp in the tyres up mate drive harder

 

[Lecook]

Lol mines having a few repairs at the moment and the front shocks are dead and so are the balljoints so she don't handle too well in the wet or dry at the moment but she's still clean and will have the hole welded up today so she on the road to repair

Did you get the spax shocks in the end or not buddy?? if so what are they like I think I may need to invest

Lee

 

[andys cinq]

No not got them yet but they are still on the cards as is the cage
Well the bonnet hinges were well and truely knackered as they opened all the way instead of stopping at the stops so probably why i thought the bonnet had locked and even stayed shut when i gave it a little tug but with the force of air hitting it the lock gave out.
After fitting the bonnet cinq got a wash a couple of days later and then i saw how dirty it was so outcame the t-cut to give it a quick clean up and it made a massive difference

 

[Cento Painter]

Was the whole car dirty ? or just the bonnet ? LOL

 

[blu73]

I should imagine it was just the bonnet, he got a new bonnet t'other day

 

[Cento Painter]

I should imagine it was just the bonnet, he got a new bonnet t'other day

I know........... it came from me ! lol......... Andy fitted it at mine after the Stanford show.

hence my cheeky comment,

 

[blu73]

ah, i thought he went the wrong way to his place after stanford being that he went same way as me onto the motorway

 

[andys cinq]

Well in the last 2 weeks done a few more hundred miles and the only job that needs doing is alternator belt needs adjusting slightlyfinally got a job to do on it.
went on a road trip a week ago to collect a brand new in the box seicento abarth alloy so now i only need 3 more to have a full brand new set:yum::yum: and on the journey back with spookycinq in between leicester and kettering at dusk when your headlights make no bloody difference spotted some object in the road at the last second too late to avoid and then an almighty bang from underneath the car no warning lights appeared and slowed and turned round and went back and found it to be a ratchet strap from a lorry had fallen off and was just waiting to be hit
Upon inspection on the ramp at work i found that the lower strut brace had actually been the impact point and was bowed out of shape so now i have got it fairly straight again but now time to buy a new onebut if my cinq had been 20mm lower it would of impacted directly on the front of the sump and would of defo gone thru the alloy so to me this is a perfectly good reason NOT to go lower than 40mm
All my future project ideas have now been scrapped and not much else will be getting done to my abarth as my spine has given out yet again only 18 months after have spinal fusion done on c5-c6 and noew got to have another op to do the ones above and below and this is more than likely going to cause me movement problems afterwards as im going to have a block of 4 vertebrae fused into 1 so little movement in my neck but its either that or paralysis is a definate from neck down but i cant justify ploughing lots of money into something now that i may never be able to finish we will see what happens after the op in about 6-8 months time.....fingers crossed

 

[Honeymonster]

Crikey, sorry to hear about your back chap best of luck with the op, must be an absolute nightmare. Fingers double crossed and lots of wood objects touched for you.

so to me this is a perfectly good reason NOT to go lower than 40mm

Indeed I have no idea how people drive around in what can only be described as lawn mowers, without tearing huge chunks out of their cars on a daily basis.

 

[blu73]

you know i hit one of them the other day as well, but in my van. The noise was horrific but no damage, it completely destroyed the ratchet though lol.

when you say lower strut brace do you have an aftermarket lower strut or you mean oem anti roll bar?

 

[Cento Painter]

Andy, really sorry to hear about your back mate, i can only imagine the pain it must cause.

My thoughts are with you my Friend.

 

[andys cinq]

Today was a dead day at work so got the alternator belt adjusted and then chopped the excess plastic off the inlet manifold so its looking a bit neater than what it did as per the before and after pics

 

[blu73]

you not use your heater??

and why is that bit of plastic even there in the first place or does the engine cover screw to it or something??