The past few weeks have been spent working on the car with nismo and no1topshotta on the forum.

New Turbo, FMIC, Brakes, Discs etc etc

It was all ready to go to fleas. I had some issues starting the car after forgetting to plug in the maf. The engine flooded and i couldnt get it started again. The AA managed to start the engine but diagnosed it with a colapsed turbo.... hmmm

The car was recovered to johnny who was going to finish up some bits anyway before the remap. Car got there, started on the button, no problems, the turbo was chekced and there was no issues there either.

He did mention that it was missing a beat on start, i asked for a compression test to be on the safe side.

Cylinder 1
90/110/125/140/150

The results say it all. We think the issue could be long standing due to the car being run for over two years with the belts being 2 teeth out!!! The belts were not done by anyone on this forum and were done by the previous owner of the car at a local garage.

So as it stands another italian needs a new engine
To be honest i just cant warrent the money at the moment. I have too many other things i want to do. So the car will be driven back and will be stored for the next 6 months or so while i sort myself out.

I will still be coming to SPA as a passenger. Just means more drink and sleep

I feel pretty gutted after the amount of work thats gone into the car since owning it, not to mention the money spent.

Some photos from the good times



Now i appriciate there will be offers to keep the car on the road and help to fix it and im greatful for them. however i need to do the sensible thing. Im going to stick to my guns and store the car until the time is right.

Gutted for you Mario, I am at the crossroads of scrap vs store and scrap looks like it will win. Clutch slave went yesterday

Clutch slave wont cost you much Bockers

Sorry to hear about yours Mario. Have the belts been out for years and it's sort of gone unoticed? looks a lovely car so worth a new engine

I still love the car, i cant bring myself to scrap it. However if i take the hit financially now i will resent the car and that will eventually result in it being neglected and scrapped. So i think for now it needs to be locked away and forgotten about for the next 6 months.

yeah but in 6 months you might not remember where you put it

The belts were out for over two years, the only time we noticed something odd was when it was going into limp mode on hot days.

The car had the belts done about a month ago as it was due... it was at that point they were noted as being out.
One of those things.... the belts had been timed using the old white tipex dot method this is why is soooo important these cars are taken to people who know what they are doing with them.

I only wish i knew about the belts when i brought it - one of those things i guess.

She will be back though, bigger and better than ever

haha i have a nice garage waiting for them. It may not be 6 months it may be less. I just have some things in my life that need attending first so the car is meerly going into hibernation for a while The stilo will be treated to a nice service

ive written 3 different things and deleted them.

all i can say is im gutted for you.

p.s EVERY ONE, i have been giving Mario LIVING hell on pm to fix the car, roughly about 30 messages all with mixed abuse.
He is a stubbarn as a donkey.

Awww.... Mario. She was looking lovely the other day when you popped over

She will again...

I will see you on thursday with nismo

The thing is, the more love, time and money you spend on a Coupe, the more heart-breaking it is when it goes wrong 'again'. I did grow to resent mine eventually, which was a shame.

I'm not going to put as much effort into a car in future as I did the Coupe(s), that way when something goes wrong I won't care anywhere near as much!

Dam shame Mario, I know how much work you have put into this middle-of-the-range car - I look forward to the day she is bigger and badder in the not too distant future.

I'm glad you will still be at Spa to abuse gingerprocster though

gutted for you mate , but she will be back stronger and faster ready for you to enjoy her again , chin up mate

can a mod put a vote on here please?

simple Yes or No pol.

Should he fix it and drive to spa or store it and come as a passenger

What Mario is doing makes perfect sense under the circumstances.

I didn't know Iain was bringing along 'the heavies'

Rancid!

Im surprised that you did not get the part and have your dad do it when you bought the car though. Hindsight eh - always makes decisions look easy.

Sorry about your car Mario. You are doing the right thing mate. Get that garage door open now and again to give it some ventilation, and check your insurance just incase there is some stupid clause about rented storage bla bla.

See you at Spa pal.

If you've PM'd Mario 30 times and he's still saying the cars going into hibernation, then there's more to the situation than justv replacing the engine.

Mario's car has probably got to be one of the top 10 in the country for condition (even though I prefer Plus to LE) so is obviously worth a new engine and I'm sure he will get it sorted when his circumstances allow.

p.s. I'm gutted for you to.

Best regards
Pigman

The belts had been done just before I brought the car so it would never have occured to me to have them checked

Thanks for the comments guys. If it wasnt for this place and the people on here I really wouldnt be half as attached to this car as i am now

She'll be back

i keep telling him he needs to go on a diet

saved money = Regaine for men........... i know your plan

Gutted for you mate, and the offer i made stands

Sorry to see this , look forward to seeing one of the nicest Coops around back on the road in around 6 months. I think you're making the right decision leaving it in storage for a while.

Mario glad to see you havent lost all faith.Still have a good time at spa and maybe give the mighty stilo a run there?

hahahaha i did think about taking the Stilo, but i think i will just come as a passenger. means i can drown my sorrows in beer and not worry about driving the next day

I presume ginger GWAR edited my post, as you all know the LE is and always will be the top-of-the range AFAIAGINGER

Terrible news Mario... and none of it through your own doing!

I don't quite understand how the timing being out has caused the compression to be reduced and this probably isn't the time or the place to ask. Obviously the fuel either wouldn't have been fully compressed at ignition point or it was late igniting depending on which way the timing was out. And I take it the pistons haven't hit the valves!

I'm suprised the car ran with the timing being out. Anyway I hope you get it sorted sooner rather than later. And once again really sorry to hear this news.

As said, gutted about the car Mario, but am glad you're not getting rid of it