"Back to '96" Area 52 Punto: Zero to Hero for £100

After the weekend I took the car back home with me because I was going to be heading to London a few days later to collect a load of stuff from Seth in London. I figured it would be a LOT cheaper doing the run in the little Punto than in my Delica. It also meant I could give a proper and honest verdict to any potential buyers on how it runs.

Down in the depths of the 'Dungeon' I loaded the Punto up with all the parts I had removed from Seth's Herald donor MX5 including ratchet strapping the bonnet onto the Punto's roof!


After saying goodbye to Seth, sharing a take-away with Dan (who had helped clean the Punto up) I headed back to Bristol with one overriding thought in my mind, "This is actually a cracking little car that would be perfect as a cheap parts chaser for Area 52...I might buy it myself"

I get home late-ish and my GF asks me how the day was, how the car was etc....and then tells me she wants to buy it herself! She's been thinking of selling her little Smart Car because she's wanting a bit more space these days and she's quite taken by the Punto.

She agrees to buy it for £450 (which goes towards Area 52) and as a peace of mind gesture for her, I get it MOT'd by BratMan even though it's still got three months until it's due. Tim does the MOT and there isn't a single advisory! It's a really solid and well kept car. AWESOME! (Thanks Tim )



So here is where the whole "Back to '96" thing starts....

Amanda takes the car out for her first proper drive, down to her Sisters in Wells. The next day she gets home and declares that she wants some alloys, "I can't drive a car with hubcaps....it's just wrong!"

I put up a request on here for some 4x98 alloys. I get some offers of wellers (cool, but not right for this car) and some ordinary Punto alloys which aren't that nice.

HonkKongPhooey then offers me some alloys which, in his own words, "you probably won't like but I'll offer them anyway"

They are some TSW three spoke alloys from his Lancia Beta that he's restoring. Proper mid-90's soft spoke wheels in 15" with tyres. I have to say, I was very unsure, but there was just something that kept me coming back to look at these universally hated wheels. I decided to go for it and bought them for £80. Project "Back to '96" had started.

Amanda had no idea!

To come.....from 'Zero to Hero' How a plain Jane 'not really retro' blandmobile is hit with some genuine marmite wheels!

Lolwut? This looks like a really good readers rides/build thread to me. So don't be suprised if it gets moved.

This is awesome to the max.

1996 was a great year for music - make sure your cassette player is pumping out Ash's 1977, The Bluetones' Expecting to Fly, Oasis' What's The Story, Kula Shaker's K, Alanis Morrissette's Jagged Little Pill and Suede's Coming Up.

And get a Motorola StarTAC for the glovebox!

After cutting the front springs we found that the springs wouldn't seat on the lower spring cup at all. Pulling them onto the cup was a struggle only for them to pop straight off again. This was without any weight on them, so not exactly great for dropping the weight of the car onto them.

The idea of chopping 'in situ' normally works fine and saves a LOT of time, but on this type of spring & spring cup it would seem not to be the case. Time to take the struts out...

Once out, Ian (BiAS) devises a cunning plan to fabricate and weld on some retaining hoops for the ends of the spring to locate and be held top & bottom. Before you could blink, he was on the case with MiniDan and Andy supervising.


As well as the retaining hoops, a plate was also welded around 30% of the lower spring cup to give even more support to the spring. Luckily I found some nice 2mm plate that was already curved so fitting it would be easier....it was actually the base of an old CD rack! Cut to size and handed over to Ian he got cracking. Belt & braces you could say




The original plan was start to finish in an hour....this would have easily been achieved had it not been for the front spring problem. The car was currently looking a bit more sorry for itself but was now sporting brand new clear indicators and side repeater which I had picked up off eBay for £20 (bringing the total budget to £100). Chris & I fitted them in literally a couple of minutes...he was amazed how easy & quick it was to change things like this on a more modern car.


Rich was busy attacking metal on his 300C.....it was looking less rusty and more solid already


We take a break to enjoy some biscuits that Chris had made. They looked great and it was almost a shame to eat them, but they tasted AMAZING! Seriously, the best biscuits I've ever had. Pistachio and Cranberry was what I ate, the chilli in there was divine and the aftertaste stayed for a long while after. WANT MORE!! (So did everyone else!!)


While Ian was still adding bracing to the front struts, Rich gave me a hand to fit the all essential 'back to 1996' sticker which I had made on Boxing Day. Little touches like this will enhance the overall look of a car straight out of the 90's. Having my own vinyl cutter means this didn't add anything to the budget....so still £100.


Struts finished and ready to be refitted. Thanks Ian, lovely work there..


Last piece of work needed before fitting the wheels, arch clearance. The lip on the arch was resting on the tyre and, despite being a Fiat, wouldn't roll at all!! Lots of heat and persuasion with a lump hammer resulted in very little movement. Ian & I both concluded that some grinding would be the best answer. Ian removed a 10mm strip the entire length of the arch and cleaned it up with a flap wheel while I followed behind with a good dose of exterior sealant (luckily in black!) to protect the freshly cut edges and prevent any water/dirt getting in between the skins. The bumper mount also had to be moved back and the remaining material cut away


All jobs done, next step was to fit the new wheels and see what ride height we had achieved (the fronts had already been cut again because they weren't as low as the rear springs)

love the oakley sticker had one simular on my talbot horizon in 96 bit bigger less cool and with the words themonuclear protection under the logo

Just to recap...a bland and very 'invisible' modernish 'more door' hatchback has gone from this:



to this:



and from this:



to this:



for £100 and an afternoon/evening's work.

Thanks Guys, it just goes to show that you don't need a big wallet or massive amount of time to transform a car.

I'll get some pics very soon of how it currently sits now that the springs have had time to settle. It looks even cooler!!

A nice transition, quite tasteful for 1996!

Actually makes me tempted to go back and buy the mille miglia 3 spokes I saw at u pull it. I don't really like puntos but that's class.

I think the Punto is one of the few cars that suit 3 spokes. Job well done!

Big props to CelicaV8 too!