This started off where most great idea's are born, in the pub!!
Id seen this car off the Fiat forum last November, and mentioned it to my brother who'd had a couple of mk1 Uno's in the past.
So after contacting the owner we decided to go for it, he said it wouldn't start sometimes but oh well!! If it didn't sell he'd weigh it in, so I thought we could least have alook.
Anyway a week later there we was, nearly 200 odd miles away looking at it.
Despite my doubts I convinced myself and the Uno was ours for £100, it was taxed and tested so my brother drove it 250 yards that is!!
And there the car cut out and refused to start, not a good start.
Still as I decided it was about time I learn't a bit about fixing cars, I was going to learn alot sooner than I thought!
The car came home courtesy of the RAC, and there it sat.
Anyhow a few months passed and then I remembered I needed to sort it out!!
So charged the battery, and great it started tho I realised the fan switch didn't work as the car was getting very hot!!
I also noticed the starter seemed not to turn, when starting the from hot.
So 1st job a new fan switch, not too bad considering ive never done it before!!
Then after some ringing round I got a new starter motor, £55 from a motor factors so not too bad!!
Anyway with the car running properly without over heating, oh and actually starting!!
The wheel rims were looking a bit grotty, so I rubbed them down and repainted those.
Then my brother got some mk2 Uno trims and I painted them to match, so much better for now at least.
I decided a bit of valet and tidy up was in order!! the owner said he'd used the car to fetch some builders materials. No kiddin, the interior was full of builders sand everywhere!!
The bumpers, door handles, grille, and tyre walls were more grey than the concrete on the roads, after some bumper gell they come up a treat!!
It was mot time, it failed but not as bad as we thought.
Anyway after a few minor repairs to the brakes by the garage, and two tyres as they had perished.
Oh and a new headlamp we found in my brothers garage.
As the drivers lense just fell off, of it's own free will!!
( see it's always worth hanging onto things!! )
The car was back on the road, so year on we have got some new numberplate's and a couple of stickers.
Oh yes nearly forgot the clutch cable snapped a couple of months back at my brothers in Walsall, my brother went to the local motor factors where he lives.
To his amazement there was one on in stock, ours for a bargain £5!!
Oh and the indicators stopped working before that, a fuse box from a scrap uno cured that!!
Me and my brother plan to get the bodywork sorted out as funds allow, as any rust has been touched in with black paint at some point!!
They'd even painted the chrome strips on the grill black? took me an my brother a week to get it off!!
Eventually we want to get the Lancia alloys (see below) repainted in gloss black with some red Abarth centre caps.
So they'll be going on hopefully in the not too distant future!!
Id seen this car off the Fiat forum last November, and mentioned it to my brother who'd had a couple of mk1 Uno's in the past.
So after contacting the owner we decided to go for it, he said it wouldn't start sometimes but oh well!! If it didn't sell he'd weigh it in, so I thought we could least have alook.
Anyway a week later there we was, nearly 200 odd miles away looking at it.
Despite my doubts I convinced myself and the Uno was ours for £100, it was taxed and tested so my brother drove it 250 yards that is!!
And there the car cut out and refused to start, not a good start.
Still as I decided it was about time I learn't a bit about fixing cars, I was going to learn alot sooner than I thought!
The car came home courtesy of the RAC, and there it sat.
Anyhow a few months passed and then I remembered I needed to sort it out!!
So charged the battery, and great it started tho I realised the fan switch didn't work as the car was getting very hot!!
I also noticed the starter seemed not to turn, when starting the from hot.
So 1st job a new fan switch, not too bad considering ive never done it before!!
Then after some ringing round I got a new starter motor, £55 from a motor factors so not too bad!!
Anyway with the car running properly without over heating, oh and actually starting!!
The wheel rims were looking a bit grotty, so I rubbed them down and repainted those.
Then my brother got some mk2 Uno trims and I painted them to match, so much better for now at least.
I decided a bit of valet and tidy up was in order!! the owner said he'd used the car to fetch some builders materials. No kiddin, the interior was full of builders sand everywhere!!
The bumpers, door handles, grille, and tyre walls were more grey than the concrete on the roads, after some bumper gell they come up a treat!!
It was mot time, it failed but not as bad as we thought.
Anyway after a few minor repairs to the brakes by the garage, and two tyres as they had perished.
Oh and a new headlamp we found in my brothers garage.
As the drivers lense just fell off, of it's own free will!!
( see it's always worth hanging onto things!! )
The car was back on the road, so year on we have got some new numberplate's and a couple of stickers.
Oh yes nearly forgot the clutch cable snapped a couple of months back at my brothers in Walsall, my brother went to the local motor factors where he lives.
To his amazement there was one on in stock, ours for a bargain £5!!
Oh and the indicators stopped working before that, a fuse box from a scrap uno cured that!!
Me and my brother plan to get the bodywork sorted out as funds allow, as any rust has been touched in with black paint at some point!!
They'd even painted the chrome strips on the grill black? took me an my brother a week to get it off!!
Eventually we want to get the Lancia alloys (see below) repainted in gloss black with some red Abarth centre caps.
So they'll be going on hopefully in the not too distant future!!