b3nson
Part of things
Posts: 886 
Club RR Member Number: 22
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May 15, 2021 11:08:19 GMT
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Big day today - the Coupe has been dropped off at the specialist for the rest of the list of jobs to be completed and then an MoT. It’s Coupe heaven there! Hopefully there’s no surprises but I’m expecting at least something extra to need doing. Current work list is: New alternator, belts and tensiones New exhaust New ally radiator, thermostat and CHOD New fuel tank straps Remove snapped wheel bolt Drove it 25 miles over there in the rain without a working alternator, that was nerve racking experience. Luckily I had some RainX! I’ve also recently been for a drive across the border into Wales and took some more photos of the Panda, so i’ll spice up this post with them as well!     |
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'99 Fiat Coupe 20V Turbo
'08 Panda 100HP
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tom13
Part of things
Posts: 571
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May 15, 2021 18:37:17 GMT
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The coupe is nice but I am in love with that panda.
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b3nson
Part of things
Posts: 886
Club RR Member Number: 22
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May 15, 2021 21:16:02 GMT
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The coupe is nice but I am in love with that panda. Thanks, it's so much better than it has any right to be! I have plans for it once the Coupe is up to a reasonable standard. It'll be getting some quality aftermarket shocks and springs first, then I'd love to get an LSD for it and send the ECU away to Italy for a remap. It could be a proper little B-road weapon with another £1500 spent on it... |
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'99 Fiat Coupe 20V Turbo
'08 Panda 100HP
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Great colour for the Coupe, looks pretty tidy too! Will you keep that colour when you paint it?
Love the panda too, maybe one day. Stella look great on it.
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b3nson
Part of things
Posts: 886
Club RR Member Number: 22
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Great colour for the Coupe, looks pretty tidy too! Will you keep that colour when you paint it? Love the panda too, maybe one day. Stella look great on it. It’s definitely best viewed from further away, and the dampness hides alot of laquer peel! Yeah i’ll keep the same colour as I really like it, it looks great in the sun. My ideal colour would have been the Sprint blue but i was too impatient to wait… |
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'99 Fiat Coupe 20V Turbo
'08 Panda 100HP
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Low mile, unmodified examples are increasingly hard to find nowadays and increasingly sought after (albeit by only a few !)
My own is on around 80k but Covid lay up hasnt been good for it. I too have the door mirror adjustment multi-function feature - mine switches on the heated rear screen.
Never really a fan of the metallic reds but really growing on me recently. I went boring/obvious with "Speed" on the current one (although i did have a N/A in "winner" some years ago)
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May 16, 2021 14:47:03 GMT
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No real progress on the Coupe for a while now. I have carried out a rear wiper ‘delete’ so it now looks alot cleaner from the rear. I’ve also found an OE front strutbrace from the latest limited edition models, so this will be fitted in due course. Obviously it makes sense to buy non-essential parts for a car that isn’t driveable yet! I have had some time to play with my daily and autotest car, my Panda 100HP. I saw another thread about one on RR but as it’s quite modern I thought I’d tack it onto this one and can add more info if people are interested. Yesterday was fitting on some 15inch steelies with slightly taller 50 profile tyres, I personally love the look of painted steelies and they’ll be staying on all year round!   Might have been my thread forum.retro-rides.org/thread/217474/2007-fiat-panda-100hpI love your coupe .... it’s on my list of cars to get , and yours looks great in that colour. I like the steels on panda ( I run steels on mine in winter) |
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b3nson
Part of things
Posts: 886
Club RR Member Number: 22
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May 16, 2021 17:41:11 GMT
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Yes it was! Where did you buy your shocks from? The screenshot you posted is super cheap! |
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'99 Fiat Coupe 20V Turbo
'08 Panda 100HP
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b3nson
Part of things
Posts: 886
Club RR Member Number: 22
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May 16, 2021 17:42:44 GMT
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Low mile, unmodified examples are increasingly hard to find nowadays and increasingly sought after (albeit by only a few !) My own is on around 80k but Covid lay up hasnt been good for it. I too have the door mirror adjustment multi-function feature - mine switches on the heated rear screen. Never really a fan of the metallic reds but really growing on me recently. I went boring/obvious with "Speed" on the current one (although i did have a N/A in "winner" some years ago) Yeah at first I was thinking of modifying it somewhat however now I think it’ll just get some modernisation and a few tweaks here and there as it’s nice to have found something so original. |
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'99 Fiat Coupe 20V Turbo
'08 Panda 100HP
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May 16, 2021 18:23:35 GMT
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Yes it was! Where did you buy your shocks from? The screenshot you posted is super cheap! Autodoc ..... kept checking daily as they always have % sales off |
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May 16, 2021 19:49:03 GMT
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There was a coupe on traffic cops last Monday. The lad spun it and just missed a copper.
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b3nson
Part of things
Posts: 886
Club RR Member Number: 22
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I have a roadworthy Fiat Coupe!
Yesterday my Coupe passed it’s first MOT since 2010, and with no advisories! I’m super happy as now it’s a rolling restoration rather than just a driveway ornament…
It did require a little more work than expected as alongside the issues I knew about the front suspension was in quite a bad way.
It’s had new front wishbones, drop links and track rod ends. It also required a couple more brake pipes from the ABS unit, and a rear compensator valve.
I asked the specialist just to get it all done so the bill did grow somewhat but I can be happy it’s now properly sorted.
The only outstanding question mark is what boost it’s running, as he suspected it might be overboosting due to a faulty wastegate actuator, or it could be chipped.
I’m going to try to investigate this myself to save more labour costs so have just bought a boost gauge.
Next step is to get that plumbed in and see what’s going on, as I don’t want to destroy anything if there’s no boost control happening.
I can confirm from the drive home it absolutely bloody flies, so lets hope it’s all in good health and I can really start to drive it properly.
No photos, because the weather is awful.
Oh and because I haven’t spent enough money already this month,I’ve ordered a set of Bilstein dampers and Eibach springs for the Panda…
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Last Edit: May 21, 2021 12:07:26 GMT by b3nson
'99 Fiat Coupe 20V Turbo
'08 Panda 100HP
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May 21, 2021 20:46:46 GMT
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WELL DONE
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b3nson
Part of things
Posts: 886
Club RR Member Number: 22
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May 23, 2021 13:58:50 GMT
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A couple of small Sunday updates - First was to check to see if the wastegate actuator was working as the diaphragms can split and therefore there would be far too much boost. I was very happy to find it was in good working order and that gave me a bit more confidence to go out for an enthusiastic drive. I haven’t seen past 5000rpm yet and won’t until the boost gauge is working, but it’s looking very promising in terms of reliable performance. Second boring but ultimately satisfying job was to clean up the centre console as the finish goes very sticky on these. An hour or so of rubbing with nail polish remover and a quick spray with some trim cleaner, and I’m very pleased with the results Before:  After:  |
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'99 Fiat Coupe 20V Turbo
'08 Panda 100HP
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b3nson
Part of things
Posts: 886
Club RR Member Number: 22
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May 30, 2021 13:23:03 GMT
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So i’m discovering that project car progress is often followed shortly by project car setbacks. Took the Coupe on a 80 mile round trip to Bristol and back this week and thought I’d give it a bit of full throttle in 5th on the way home. The revs shot up and the car didn’t go any faster. curse word. I got round to fitting my boost gauge and it’s running 1.2 bar which is .2 more than standard. For some reason the clutch that has previously been fitted can’t handle the extra torque in the mid range and starts slipping when it hits full boost. Looks like a new clutch is on the cards before the Gathering (as I intend to take it up the hill) and i’ll limit the boost in the meantime. Managed to get over to Shelsley Walsh for their very busy breakfast club and that gave me an opportunity to finally get some decent(ish) photos.    |
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Last Edit: May 30, 2021 13:26:26 GMT by b3nson
'99 Fiat Coupe 20V Turbo
'08 Panda 100HP
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b3nson
Part of things
Posts: 886
Club RR Member Number: 22
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I found some H&R lowering springs on Autodoc for a very good price so ordered them last month and finally got round to fitting them last week. Apart from one knackered bolt (£20 for a new one from Fiat!!), it all went ok considering it was my first attempt ever at replacing springs on a driveway. I then took it down to the New Forest to see some mates and so added another few hundred miles to it. I’m going to need to up my mileage on the insurance at this rate! It still rides nicely despite being on standard dampers and definitely looks better so money well spent. Clutch is booked in for end of July and i’m really looking forward to finally driving it on full boost!   |
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Last Edit: Jun 30, 2021 7:37:11 GMT by b3nson
'99 Fiat Coupe 20V Turbo
'08 Panda 100HP
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b3nson
Part of things
Posts: 886
Club RR Member Number: 22
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Jul 29, 2021 19:01:42 GMT
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Been a busy (by my standards) couple of weeks for both cars. First of all had my first Autosolo of the year in the Panda, ended up winning my class which was great. The courses were pretty quick in places which definitely showed up some pretty awful body roll. The week after I fitted some Bilstein shocks and Eibach springs and it definitely feels firmer now, but also less crashy. Unfortunately the flexi on the exhaust has started blowing so now that needs doing!  And this week the Coupe had it’s new clutch, turns out the flywheel was knackered as well as it had some big high spots and cracking so a refaced flywheel was also fitted.  Now back up to 1.2bar of boost from .6, and it feels immense. Boost comes on so strong, 3rd gear is alot of fun! I’ve put in an entry to go up the hill at the Gathering so now i’m hoping I get an entry… |
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'99 Fiat Coupe 20V Turbo
'08 Panda 100HP
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b3nson
Part of things
Posts: 886
Club RR Member Number: 22
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Aug 25, 2021 15:47:21 GMT
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It survived 3 runs up the hill, and actually felt all the better for it! As always, RRG was excellent and made even better this year by being able to be part of the hill runs in the afternoon. I was quite worried as it was the first time I had launched the car with any kind of enthusiasm, or even had it up to the rev limiter. What better place to do that than in front of hundreds of people? After a very poor attempt at a burnout on my first run, I found some balls and discovered 4000rpm to be the optimal launch for a nice amount of wheelspin. It was great to really stretch 2nd gear up the hill and the final straight allowed a decent time of full throttle in 3rd as well and it handled far better than expected on it's budget tyres. Best news, nothing broke or overheated. The only thing that let it down was it's appearance, so much so that I didn't even bother moving it into the display field. However, it's now earnt itself the full respray and new wheels I had in mind for winter so next year hopefully I can enjoy looking at it as much as I enjoyed driving it this weekend,    |
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'99 Fiat Coupe 20V Turbo
'08 Panda 100HP
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b3nson
Part of things
Posts: 886
Club RR Member Number: 22
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Unfortunately due increasing lack of time both for autosolos and tinkering/maintaining the Coupe, I’m likely going to sell both cars to fund something new and warrantied (hopefully still fun though, looking at the new Hyundai I20N!)
For sale thread for the Coupe is up in the for sale section if anyone is interested. If I don’t get it sold before Christmas then i’ll get the respray done in Jan/Feb and reevaluate from there…
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Last Edit: Oct 27, 2021 8:26:28 GMT by b3nson
'99 Fiat Coupe 20V Turbo
'08 Panda 100HP
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