1989 Fiat Uno 45 ( finally some progress )

So not much progress, more an action report on the Uno

A friend and former customer of my old work place Mark, has been putting idea's in my head about doing some motor sport in the Uno.

By sending various pictures of rally Uno's to my facebook!! so as he was organizing an all forward Auto test taster day on Easter sunday at the Curborough sprint course near Lichfield I decided to give it a go in the Uno.

The only thing I needed was a passenger.. so my brother would do!!

There were plenty of 205's, mini's, a Seat Arosa, a 106, and a Nova, A 500 Abarth, 2x Civic's and so on...

Anyway here's some action shots of the old girl in action...





Love this pic.. check out that lean!!









Big thanks to Luke for taking the pics..

So after a day of going round in circles, I have to say I was hooked!!! My Uno did great, everyone said how good my car looked going around the tracks.

The Uno was particularly good on the tight and twisty track, just the carb was letting me down at the end as until then my times were consistantly coming down.

There 3 tracks, 2 laps, and 4 runs of each!!

But out of 21 cars on the day I came 9th overall on my first attempt

And the top 13 cars were all in the 1400 and under class!!

It cost £25 to enter, and was £15 to join the club and get my licence. So I can do more Autotest's, and start competing!!

There's loads of clubs all over, and you don't have to have anything expensive or fast to do it in ;D

Here's a link if you want more of an idea of what it's all about... www.cdcc.org.uk/6501.html

As for me, I need to get the carb done and will probably be bagging a set of cheap alloys and tyres for competition.. I blame Mark...

Thanks ;D it's a great little car and comments like yours make it all worth it!!

It's pretty rare to see an Uno of any sort on the roads these days, love the attention it gets when I'm out and about as it really stands out.

Sometimes I feel like I haven't made enough progress and think maybe I should move it on, but when I look back from how it was to where I'm at now it's a different car.

Hopefully ill get onto sorting the carb and getting the bodywork all tidy this year, as much as my piggy bank will allow anyway!!!

As you say like a lot of cars hit with the lowering stick on RR, it's hard not too I'm amazed at what can be done with the most random of cars Keeps me inspired!!

But I like the subtle mods it suits the Uno really well, and for me I can't do lowered it's just not practical where I am with the roads as they are at the minute.

So come what may I'm going to continue my Journey with the Uno, and enjoy it for many years to come I hope

And obviously keep you all up to date with my progress!! wish me luck...

Yes it would be that Mr Barnes!!

No it's not sadly, just where the event was held but it'd be nice if it was his ;D Yeah he's on my bookface as well lol I've seen that yellow Cinq rally car it is epic!!

When I worked at a Fiat dealer years ago, I used to get him parts for it That's how I know him, plus his mum lives a stones throw from my mum!!

wow....an Uno in good condition....that 1 is awesome.....needs some droppage though....but good find

loving the standard stance..but there are just some cars that look better with a lowering kit fitted

Love Unos, am contemplating a mk1 turbo if a good one comes up...

You still looking for a spare set of alloys?

I have a set of 5 mk1 turbo alloys with tyres stored up in my garage, I'm sure I could sell them

Ah yeah that could be really handy for when I do more Autotest's!! if you can pm me how much you were thinking and I'll have to see how things are looking come payday.

Good mk1 Uno Turbo's seem to fetch decent money these days, always wanted one myself so if you find a decent one it's well worth getting

Had a few Uno's in my family over the years, so it's nice to have one of my own again at last!!

So as I've not posted for a little while I decided I best get everyone up to date with the progress on the Uno!! and show you a bit of what I've been up to

First off there was another Auto test not far from me this time on grass, just a bit of fun not a serious event so a chance to see what me and the car could do!!






As it happens not too badly in fact, I came 3rd overall which is pretty good considering I'm still a novice

Anyway less than a week after this the Uno wasn't well, it wouldn't run at all without full choke. Obviously the carb had finally had enough, so I bought a carb kit from a Fiat dealer for a massive £12.35!!

Then I sent it off to a local carb specialist, as I was being lazy plus I didn't fancy being without the car for too long... So a week later I got my carb, rebuilt and ready to go once more.



















As you can see it looks pretty good, refitting was easy as it's a Fiat Uno after all!!


Then a few days later the choke cable snapped, just as I was about to head for work! Still got to laugh, another phone call to a Fiat dealer in Wales who had one in stock and my wallet was relieved of a heady £10.86.

Took a note of everyone's suggestions about the ride height, and a look at my bank balance said that yes... some droppage could be afforded for not a lot!!



So I bought a set of new Monroe shocks, as the passenger front shock absorber was leaking quite badly. Plus I imagine lowered springs on original knackered Fiat shocks would not be a good idea, I went for just some 40 mm springs as I've never lowered a car in my life!!!

And as I use it a lot I need it to be practical for everyday, as I seem to go where there are lots of speed bump's and pothole's to contend with

Anyway apologise for the not so great pic, wherever I went this weekend the sun seemed to shining directly on the car so they didn't come out the best!! Still I can't complain, it's nice to get some sun and enjoy driving the car with the windows down and my sunroof up



Also you can see I removed the un original blue pin stripe, the car looks so much better without it now wish I'd done it sooner. Spent 3 and half hours washing & polishing the car one sunny night after work, my brother helped out by T-cutting the glue off from the stripes. And touching up the paintwork, don't get me wrong the car isn't A1 but it's looking pretty good these days!!

Will get some better pics on soon, probably some moody night shots in a underground car park this time I think!!!



I also bought these off eBay a while ago, since I've gone to the trouble of changing the original rear lenses and front indicators to clear. It seemed only right to want to do the same with the side repeaters, not sure if there a bit to bling bling to be honest but I'll give them ago.