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General my £200 '95 Mk1 75sx 'Paddy Punto'

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General my £200 '95 Mk1 75sx 'Paddy Punto'

1 Year off the road, but on the mend...

Happy Christmas everyone, hope you all had a good one!

Did a bit of tinkering on the day after boxing day (once the hangover had worn off) to sort out this intermittent problem with the rear nearside brakelight.
the bulb is fine, but either the wiring or the cluster has been causing the light not to work, until you unbolt the cluster then it works fine!

Anyway gave all the contacts a going over with some light sandpaper, reinstalled and it seems to have done the trick.
IMG_20151227_124055.jpg
(I've always found the individual wires a bugger to remove from the plastic clip haha)
also see handy brakelight testing solution when no family members can be bothered to help:
IMG_20151227_125614.jpg
(please ignore sister's horrible Micra in the background :p )

Also changed the rear licence plate bulbs out for new LED's, the old LED's were cheap and no longer working, no photos though.

While I was working on all this, I had the Punto's engine running to get nicely up to temperature and simulate a long(ish) drive. This was mainly because I had started it that morning to charge the battery, and noticed brown water sputtering lightly out of the exhaust, and a fair bit of white steam when revved. I checked the oil filler cap I found the dreaded Mayonnaise after cleaning it only the other day after having the engine running for about 10 mins. This got me worried that there was coolant leaking through the head gasket even though I had just changed it!

A quick bit of Googling in panic put my mind at ease a bit; the car hadn't been fully up to temperature since the gasket was changed, and the oil hasn't been changed since either, so these symptoms might be expected. The amount of condensation/residue in the exhaust system was probably substantial, so I'm hoping if I start the Punto up again at the weekend it won't be so bad now it's had a good(ish) run.

That's it for now anyway, any suggestions/advice on the matter would be appreciated
 
been very busy with work and other life stuff at weekends over the last few months, so haven't got round to getting the Punto MOT'd. Most times I've been home to London though I've started the car and let it run for a while to get up to temp (sometimes having to charge the battery overnight beforehand :) )

Good news is our mechanic friend who we originally got the car from many years ago, and who does all our MOT's, is back to work after an illness so should have it booked in over the next few weeks (if I get my arse in gear!)
 
so the Punto has been penciled in with our mechanic friend for a pre-MOT look over/assessment on Wednesday.

I spent most of Sunday (hungover) tidying the car and also pulled up the carpet in the drivers foot well to have a look at potential welding required that was advisory on last MOT. Forgot to take photos but there's evidence of some welding done before and another hole about 2 inches diameter going right through, near the front side of the seat. Doesn't look like it would take much to weld in a new plate, but there could be a lot more corrosion I can't see without the car on a lift. Majority of the floor looked OK.

Slow puncture on one of the rear tires meant I swapped the rear alloys out for the old steelies that came on the car (pressure washed and given a quick spritz with black spray paint to seal any rust), still hold air after being left under a tree at the bottom of the garden for 2 years!

Handbrake might also need adjusting as it takes about 6 clicks to stop the car rolling, and I was able to roll the car when cracking the rear wheel bolts!

I won't be around when the car gets picked up Wednesday, but will update on news when I hear any, like an expectant father waiting for the birth of their child :p

might have the Punto ready for this Forza Live event yet....
 
mechanic friend is overloaded with 'proper' customers til next week so the MOT will have to wait til then!
(we pay him standard rate for his time obviously, but the Punto isn't a big priority for anyone haha)

also ordered a new drivers side sun visor, old one is flopping down and useless, so will replace if needed for the MOT
 
the plan is to sell the Fiesta on and try to get my money back on it, or potentially even make a profit, since it's probably in better shape now than when I bought it: more miles on it (+10k), but new rear brake lines, wheels balances & aligned, new front tyres, new front brake pads and about to replace the disks on it this weekend (brakes still squealing bad)

if not then maybe flog it to a friend or send it over to Ireland as a summer runabout over at my mum's homeplace (county Leitrim if anyone interested)

another thing in the mix recently is me looking at buying an early 90's VW Corrado, off eBay/gumtree/classifieds since I want/need something with a bit more respectability (and oomph!), but would be silly having 3 cars lying around so something's gotta give!
 
i know! it's been bouncing back and forth in my mind, but I think once I get the Punto back on the road (if) and start driving it again, I'll lose the urge to be looking at getting a new/exciting car. I also can't justify doing all this work and then not driving it for a while!
(also, was listening to some music in the car while pulling up the carpet, god i miss the sound of the subwoofer in the back of the punto haha)

I will be moving on from Paddy Punto at some point in the future though, there's only so long you can last driving nothing bigger than a 1.2L :devil:

anyways, only time will tell!
 
no developments I'm afraid, might need to give our friend a little nudge to slot the Punto in. Home during the week so will find out more hopefully
 
Fingers crossed! :)

Btw, I've been thinking: you can't get rid of Paddy for at least 15 years yet. He's already a rare classic, and give it another 15 years, the few surviving mk1 Puntos will be highly sought after, and Paddy will be worth a few quid, lol! ;)
 
puntofan01 said:
Fingers crossed! :)

Btw, I've been thinking: you can't get rid of Paddy for at least 15 years yet. He's already a rare classic, and give it another 15 years, the few surviving mk1 Puntos will be highly sought after, and Paddy will be worth a few quid, lol! ;)
Click to expand...


Just read this thread start to finish.

Sincerely hope you get Paddy working. You've come this far!!!

If you must sell him, please try and find him a home with another Punto fan / someone willing to continue your good work? Surely better to see someone else finish him to perfection than someone else to scrap him.

Do keep up updated, great photos and updates so far.

Yes, we're here listening!

Fiat Forum probably has more passionate and obsessed Fiat fans than the company itself ;-)
 
SB1500 said:
Just read this thread start to finish.

Sincerely hope you get Paddy working. You've come this far!!!

If you must sell him, please try and find him a home with another Punto fan / someone willing to continue your good work? Surely better to see someone else finish him to perfection than someone else to scrap him.

Do keep up updated, great photos and updates so far.

Yes, we're here listening!

Fiat Forum probably has more passionate and obsessed Fiat fans than the company itself ;-)
Click to expand...

I think you meant to send that to kazer92 lol!
 
great support thanks guys! a lot going on in life at the mo, just been on a lads holiday in Copenhagen for the weekend and spent over 500 quid, which doesn't help the car guy habits!

will update when there's any news, glad to know someone's out there listening haha
 
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