And now for something completely different...

Post 503016 by ChrisV60R on 2012-05-25 10:29:05

Hello, just joined the forum and thought I'd share my track car project which I've been building (on and off) for 4-5 years now. For one reason or another I've not done much in that time but now I'm just about to get cracking. I've owned Punto's for about 10 years now and lots have changed over the years but about 5 years ago I decided to build one as a track car after catching the bug taking my car round Silverstone. The Punto I had at the time was a touch rotten underneath to say the least so I bought another sell and stripped my other shell completely. The new shell was purchased in April 2010 and this time I wanted to do everything right from the beginning. So this is what I started with: Then I began to pick up new parts for it New braided brake lines, rear hubs, bearings, discs, pads and a rear beam with brand new bushes pressed in I also weighed my smoothed tailgate which came out at a hefty 18.3kgs! That was with the wiper motor but that would add a kilo tops. But 6 months on and not much had changed. Just moved it to my new (now old garage - October 2010) and taken the windscreen out. Lots to do.

Post 503017 by ChrisV60R on 2012-05-25 10:29:54

I also came across a bargain steering wheel during my off season and snapped it right up. Over a year later and again I hadn't touched the shell I was renting a council garage with no power or lighting and it wasn't anywhere near my place so I let things slip again. I moved out of my old place in January 2012 and since then I've refitted the front and rear suspension ready to move it to my new house. My new house has a garage attached and therefore has power and lighting so I'm gearing up to get cracking again! Some new wheels I bought to enable me to move it more easily to the new house. Nothing special. Just some cheap wheels as my old wheels were stolen and I haven't decided on any replacements yet. I went to Rockingham a couple of weeks ago with a mate of mine who was taking his 306 GTi6 round the track and it gave me some motivation. And that afternoon I refitted the rear suspension.

Post 503018 by ChrisV60R on 2012-05-25 10:30:26

Then a couple of evening later I had the front suspension fitted too! It's now ready to move. I'm getting the shell moved to my new garage tonight and I can't wait. Been trying to find someone to move it for a week now itching to get cracking again. Over the last few days I've bought a few bits and bobs and I've been doing a lot of searching the net for a roll cage, new brakes suspension and other bits. The overall spec of the car will be something along these lines: 1372cc turbocharged 180bhp Fiat Punto GT engine Stripped interior Full roll cage with door bars and harness bars Full seam/stitch welded shell 16" alloy wheels (once I decide which ones to get) Polycarbonate windows Brembo front brakes (possibly changing these now to something a lot lighter) Eibach anti roll bar kit Spax RSX Coilovers 2.5" custom exhaust inc. downpipe and decat. Obviously there will be more to it, but these are the main things. The shell preparation will be my first port of call, that needs to be solid then I'll be getting a cage fitted but at the moment the quotes I've been getting are astronomical. Once the shell is prepared I'll be bolting my running gear back on and replacing lots of old parts with brand new ones. I'll also be getting many of the metal ancillary parts shot blasted and power coated. I promise not to leave it too long before updating this thread, or working on the car this time. :)

Post 503020 by ChrisV60R on 2012-05-25 10:30:59

A few pics of how my car looked before I found the rot and stripped it. Then before she moved...

Post 503021 by ChrisV60R on 2012-05-25 10:31:33

Well she is finally home. Just tucked her up in the new garage. If I wasn't going to Warwick tomorrow I would be out there working on here right now. Oh well, the weekend isn't far away :) Tonight's progress. I've emptied the car of all the crap and what was left of the interior and binned the dash. Just the heater box and sound deadening to go. Tonight's progress. Removed the heater box and associated wiring, the sound deadening behind the heater box, the sound proofing in the engine bay, the ABS wiring and brake lines. This is what was removed. A good few kgs.

Post 503022 by ChrisV60R on 2012-05-25 10:32:05

I spent a couple of hours out there again tonight. Had a bit of a tidy up first of all and then removed the wiring looms, drivers side door and rear windows. I also jacked it up and it's now sitting on 4 axle stands ready for me to remove the suspension again over the weekend so it can all be rebuilt with my new parts. More work done today. Removed the following: Interior wiring All glass Tailgate and passenger door Front subframe and suspension Gear linkage Hand brake mounting I started to disassemble the front subframe/suspension but the track rod ends aare completely sized which is odd as they were brand new shortly before I broke the last shell. So I'll finish that tomorrow. I want to get the front subframe sent to the power coaters ASAP so then I can start rebuilding it with new arms, Eibach ARB and hew hubs/carriers.

Post 503023 by ChrisV60R on 2012-05-25 10:32:37

So tomorrow I'll finish dismantling the front subframe and then remove the rear subframe. Once that's all off I'll start one the bitumen.

Post 503024 by ChrisV60R on 2012-05-25 10:33:08

Well today's update is a little disappointing. I stripped the bitumen from most of the interior which revealed a few issues. I already knew there was a hole in the drivers side sill but it's a lot bigger than I remember. It now goes from the front footwell to the rear (about 2 feet). The sill actually isn't too bad it's the floor pan. There are a couple of holes on the passenger side too but nothing major. I also removed the rear beam, fuel and brake lines so the car is now as stripped as I need it to be. Next jobs are to get the floor welded up and start stripping the seam sealant from the interior and engine bay so I can start welding up the chassis. I'm also going to start rebuilding the front and rear suspension. Got lots of new parts on order so it will be mostly brand new suspension going on. Sorry for the long confusing thread, easier to copy and paste than to retype all of that! I've got a guy coming round next Friday to weld up the floor and hopefully give me a quick beginners course in MIG welding so I can start using my MIG welder to do some of the work myself. Then I'll be arranging for the car to be sent off to the roll cage company for my full multipoint cage to be fitted.

Post 503028 by M-R-P on 2012-05-25 10:48:29

Hell of a thread there mate. Looks like quite a project. Don't worry about the rust, makes it lighter ;)

Post 503031 by T5RPete on 2012-05-25 11:05:50

Long time since i've seen this car! I remember it from the days of Street-Legal! Good effort on keeping it going this long! I'm sure many others would have got bored and scrapped it by now!

Post 503032 by t5_monkey on 2012-05-25 11:10:00

that's a cool project :) Would love to have a garage and do something like that myself!

Post 503037 by ChrisV60R on 2012-05-25 11:19:42

Cheers guys. Punto's are my first love, I'll have one forever! :) Still lots of work to do here. Welding and full cage are the priority, I have most of the other stuff waiting to be bolted back on.

Post 503058 by y2blade on 2012-05-25 12:11:22

That is BLOODY superb :cool:

Post 503060 by ChrisV60R on 2012-05-25 12:12:45

Thanks. Hopefully it will be more awesome when finished.

Post 503073 by claymore on 2012-05-25 12:29:16

Keep the updates coming :)

Post 503076 by ChrisV60R on 2012-05-25 12:34:48

Well, a small update, loads of new parts just arrived :) Front Hub Flange x 2 Front Suspension Arm - LH x 1 Front Suspension Arm - RH x 1 Handbrake Cable - RH & LH x 2 Track Rod End x 2

Post 503150 by V70 Graham on 2012-05-25 16:37:14

Nice project, looking forward to the updates :)

Post 503156 by ChrisV60R on 2012-05-25 16:43:27

Thanks :)

Post 503165 by Kingsford G on 2012-05-25 16:54:47

No offence but u should modify a propper car (volvo) not that death trap.

Post 503169 by ChrisV60R on 2012-05-25 16:58:10

[quote=Kingsford G;503165]No offence but u should modify a propper car (volvo) not that death trap.[/quote] None taken :) It will be safer once the cage is in.

Post 503248 by d2k on 2012-05-25 19:49:18

[quote=Kingsford G;503165]No offence but u should modify a propper car (volvo) not that death trap.[/quote] lol....... great project, no chance you'll have 'idle hands'...... is there no way you can retro fit this to the yellow pup..??

Post 503352 by Kingsford G on 2012-05-25 22:22:41

I`ve to admit the look before was a good credit to u mate but I`m pass that silly age now (had 4 mk2 golf gti`s) so power without safety not my cup of tea.

Post 503371 by ChrisV60R on 2012-05-25 23:33:19

[quote=Kingsford G;503352]I`ve to admit the look before was a good credit to u mate but I`m pass that silly age now (had 4 mk2 golf gti`s) so power without safety not my cup of tea.[/quote] What's not safe about a full weld in roll cage? :)

Post 503372 by ChrisV60R on 2012-05-25 23:33:56

[quote=d2k;503248]lol....... great project, no chance you'll have 'idle hands'...... is there no way you can retro fit this to the yellow pup..??[/quote] I'm sure I can make room. People have fitted 20VT Fiat Coupe engine's in Punto's before and they are 5 pot.

Post 503537 by danny-R on 2012-05-26 17:43:31

Cool project but looks like you have your work cut out, used to see a load of these about but I suppose most have rotted away and can't be many left surely. Oh and I love the white speedlines had them on a swift gti years ago, were they stolen? About £800 new, not that I payed that lol.

Post 504153 by ChrisV60R on 2012-05-28 11:42:48

Yeah most have rotted or been crashed by boy racers, which is a shame. I loved the Speedline's too, yes they were stolen back in 2009 from outside my parents house. Gutted but not much I can do about it.

Post 507587 by ChrisV60R on 2012-06-04 21:27:11

Some purchases from my trip to Braintree last night in the Ovlov. I compared them to my old Brembo's. As you can see, just over 1.6kgs saved in just the calipers alone. Discs are also smaller so should be lighter too. Been looking for parts today and found my old wheel that was broken. Gave it a weigh whilst I was there. A tiny piece was missing but that would only be a few grams so 8.7kgs per wheel isn't too bad. I also started to gather all my parts I need to take to the powder coaters. Just got back from dropping off a load of parts at the shot blasters. [LIST] [*]Front subframe [*]Rear beam [*]Front suspension arms [*]Rear trailing arms [*]Front ARB inner bush brackets [*]Front and rear hubs [*]Radiator support bar [*]Front upper bumper mounting bar [*]Gear linkage [*]Handbrake mounting platform (the bit under the car that the handbrake bolts onto) [*]Front strut brace [/LIST] I've still got more stuff to take over to him, but I want to get the front and rear suspension rebuilt whilst I'm waiting for the chassis work. Once it's all shot blasted it's off to the powder coaters. Welder man has been and he say yes!

Post 507588 by ChrisV60R on 2012-06-04 21:27:43

Should do the job, not the prettiest at the moment but I've still got to clean it all up and paint/underseal it so you won't notice it so much. Spent a couple of hours on the old girl tonight stripping the seam sealant from the interior. What a pain in the §§§§. Taken ages to do this small section. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I still need to get the angle grinder out and clean up the seams so I can weld them. I also found some more rust that I thought was just surface rust to begin with but it's not, another small patch but that's ok. And my final update for this thread takes us to today. I finished cleaning the seam sealant from the driver’s side, cleaned and stitch welded it up. Not a fantastically neat job, this was my first time welding on a car, but it’s good enough, once cleaned and painted you won’t see them that much anyway  Just need to primer it tomorrow to stop them going rusty.