Well the engine dropped a rod tonight on the way home and I am in 3 minds of what to do with it either

1. Sell it as is.
2. Rebuild the engine
2. Break for parts.

1999 T reg black le No 1188.
C and B cams, skimmed and slightly ported head. All the exhaust valves were replaced about 2 years ago when the head was sorted at a machine shop. Gt28rsr turbo, greddy profec b boost controller, sip+ filter, helix organic clutch, blue flame exhaust, accralite pistons however I expect 1 maybe mullered, great condition le interior, 18" Team dynamics pro race 1.2's with 2 new tyres on and 2 with loads of tread left (new tyres fitted at mot in december) alloys need a refurb really, bilstein dampers, eibach springs, eibach front and rear anti rollbars. Bodywork in good condition, the bonnet has small bubbling on the seam on one side I have a GRP bonnet from auto ds which is being delivered to a bodyshop tomorrow to sort that for good and loose a few kilos.

What do you guys think LE 1188

Sorry to hear this Stevo

Personally I'd rebuild as it would be a real shame to see another LE broken for it's parts.

Definitely rebuild it, you'd always regret it if you broke it or you sold it for next to nothing.

so sorry to hear that mate..a real shame.. i have pm'd you with a suggestion but whatever you decide i wish you all the best with it

Oh no mate don't get rid of her. I wish i had the money to buy her from you rather than break her. It's only mechanical and she can be rebuilt no problem mate, well worth the effort i'd say.

rebuild all the way mate its to nice to break

another vote to re-build it!!

what ever the damage, its too nice to strip for parts!

Sorry to here. Yup definitely rebuild. I stripped my last car which had lots of extras and regret it still.

plus if you strip it will cost me a small fortune as i want lots of them bits Wheels look so good

Dont say that!

You never make back as much as you expect to when breaking.

More than selling it!

That would be the worst option.

I had my scooby up for sale with a broken gearbox for 5k, decided to strip it, only major bits and sell the rolling shell. made 8.2k doing it that way.

If you have performance parts on a car then the only way to make money is to strip

But dont want to see a LE stripped

I`m breaking a coupe at the moment and its a LOT more work than i had forseen! with all the nice bits you have on it and it being a black LE you should definatley go for a rebuild,you WILL regret stripping it imho.

Dave

It's the little unexpected things that cause the hassle, like on mine an allen bolt holding one of the rear discs on was completely rounded out and I spent about 2 hours trying to remove it, then gave up. Also, I had the car on axle stands with the passenger side near the wall, and all the wheels removed, then I decided to remove the door cards but I couldnt access the bottom screws because the door wouldnt open far enough!

anyone thats broken one will tell you theres a lot more work than you expect and as matt says the little things like not being able to undo bolts,rounding things off, not having ramps and trying to remove things underneath with inches of room as your only on axle stands and wanting to sell your suspension but having to find old ones to fit when you remove it ..same with wheels etc all in all it's a major operation .
then when stripped you have all the parcelling and trying to find the right details/labels and posting issues,waiting in for couriers, etc
then theres the selling ...or not!.. people backing out,paying deposit then not sending rest for ages,paypal issues,, wanting things for a lot less or deals on buying a few things so you never get what you hope unless you have the time to keep bumping and trying for months! ..
and thats just some of it
it's a real pain!
trust me !
oh and then you get the whingers driving you mad when your trying and stressing over it all anyway!

DON'T DO IT

Sorry to here that stevo... . But I'll have to say that I'm with the majority on this one.

I have an S reg 20vt and I've gotta spend around the £700 mark to get the clutch and bits done. It was either that, break it or sell it on eBay for £300-£400 if I was lucky. As you all know.....our cars are worth a lot more to us than a measly £300

Terry

Stevo, sorry to hear this

Rescue her if you can mate.

If you really cant afford to rebuild it you could sell all the tuning goodies and use the funds from that to repair it and return to standard, then sell it and buy a different modified one!

Anyone who spends a load of money on upgrading their car and then sells it for the same price as a standard one is throwing some money away (been there done that ) - it might as well be those who have had the bad luck that can benefit from it.

Corrected it for you

Gutted for you Stevo. It's too nice to break mate.

Once you've started you can never go back. You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.

i'm another in the "save the LE" camp. talking of camp, where's marco?

me too, theres not many in that condition around anymore, maybe just sit on her a while until funds or parts are available, good luck with which ever way you go mate

Last time i saw this car it was very tidy looking.

I do now get an exceptionally good discount with one of my suppliers for pistons and rods should you go down that route.

Has to be worth saving a 'top of the range' Coupe

This is the Coupé 20v Turbo Fiat could have made, but it would have been so far ahead of the competition that the market would have advanced 15 years in the blink of an eye.

Thanks Flea..kind words.

Well. I have finally made up my mind and I have gone with my heart.... I am going to keep it. It is a family member to me and I love it. Even after owning the car for 6 years I still look back and gaze at it every time I park it up, sad I know.

Now if anyone can help me with bits I would be very grateful. I need a new block for sure. Forged Rods and either a single accralite piston or a complete set.

Here are some pics from today after I washed and dusted it.
Black Le needing Tlc
Rear
Inside

Dash

absolutely gorgeous car stevo

i think yours and circolo's are my fave LE's, together with lashes' vinci