Thought I'd post this up as an example for anyone looking at a £2-3K well sorted coupe and thinking it's overpriced.

This is a list of what I've done to my cheap (£700) coupe since I got it:

- New Cam cover gasket fitted
- New Lambda sensor fitted
- New bonnet gas strut fitted
- Forge alloy dump valve fitted
- Tracker system causing major battery drain removed
- Major short in wiring @ driver's footwell fixed
- Split or missing engine bay electrical connecter boots repaired/replaced
- Various missing engine bay bolts/brackets fitted
- Nearside mirror (damaged) replaced
- Boot lid (dented) replaced
- Both front wings (dented) replaced
- New Handbrake cables fitted
- Steering rack gaitor (split) replaced
- Track rod end nut replaced
- Both door check straps (broken) replaced
- Rear wing internal Pininfarina badge mounts cleaned and sealed
- Nearside headlight pod (damaged) replaced + both headlights refurb'd
- New high intensity headlight bulbs fitted
- Both front foglights (badly chipped) replaced
- Induction kit replaced with new standard airbox + filter
- Idle control valve cleaned + gasket replaced
- Service including spark plugs, oil + filter, air filter, brake/clutch fluid, coolant
- Complete respray
- New number plates fitted
- Full wheel refurb + respray in black
- 2 new front tyres fitted
- New "fiat" wheel centre caps fitted
- New set 16 x wheel bolts fitted
- Fuel cap replaced + refurb'd
- Windscreen washer bottle (leaking) replaced
- Plastic cover at ECU diagnostic connector (broken) replaced
- Front grille (damaged) replaced with honeycomb "plus" grille
- Turbo oil return pipe replaced + leak on pipe fixed with threadlock
- Full silicon coolant hose set fitted + conversion to late style bleed pipe
- New Thermostat fitted
- All locks + engine/immobiliser ECU's replaced to give full key set
- Remote locking system fitted
- Driver's door card (damaged) replaced
- Loose rear view mirror fixed
- Illegal window tint removed from front windows
- Aircon condenser + drier replaced
- Aircon Re-gas
- Sparco strut brace fitted
- New engine undertray fitted
- Pace side mount intercooler fitted
- Intercooler duct (damaged) replaced
- New Bosch battery fitted
- Seats refurb'd with liquid leather kit
- Dash clock replaced with voltmeter
- New Blaupunkt headunit + Infiniti speakers fitted
- LE side skirts fitted
- New "coupe" mats fitted
- New gear knob fitted
- New Bosch front wipers fitted
- Rear wiper + motor removed
- New front + rear brake discs and pads fitted

It's taken 8 months to bring it upto a good standard, total cost is now over £3K and as you can see there was nothing even major mechanically wrong with it (and no advisories on last MOT). Even without the respray the total is up over £2K now.

Oh and thanks to Nigel, JBT and Paul for parts, advice and encouragement.

Sheesh...worth it as a keeper though

Yeah, but try and buy a coupé that has *just* had all that for 2-3K. And you have the car to your taste. I'm adamant that the way you've done it is *the* best way to own a nice coupe.

^ what szkom said, looking at the list of jobs some of these include tailoring to your spec - meaning it is now bespoke to your taste. imagine buying a blank(ish) canvas...
I've done the same - including the JBT / Nigel bit - and am working on something that will end up at a £3k spend, but to exactly what I envisage now.

be good to see some pictures of yours.

Yeah, I guess you guys are right.

But I still look at it, knowing it has virtually no service history and needs belts done soon (last done 2008) and think it's worth about 10 quid despite all the recent expense, haha.

I don't see the main item that will increase it's value on the list.....

A Gtec chip, fitted by the man himself

I have done the same, when i was first looking for a coop i thought i would buy a cheap one just to see what it was like get a feel for it and if it was a scrapper then i have not lost much
Car cost me £500 with an Mot and has actually turned out to be quite a good example apart from some lacquer peel that started about 2 weeks after i brought it lol
All work done on it so far has been wear and tear service items oh apart from a bigger turbo (just for fun)yeah i know its started!!
If i stopped with just the service stuff it would be a very cheap way to start off, and suits me fine because there would of been no way i would of got away with buying a £3k car.
But with the £500 car i can just do a bit at a time as and when i can afford it!
And who is to say that if you brought a £3k car that it doesnt need stuff doing and could still end up costing a lot more, at least i know what has been done!
Its the only way i can afford to do it
ok ill stop rambling now

Rich

Mine was only cheap and has two stamps in the book! But... I think shes a keeper. Rust free (ish, all the important bits anyway) and solid mechanically

Bought my 20VT in summer for £500. Had oil and belts changed for £300, M.O.T. cost £220 a couple of weeks ago.

In my opinion thats cheap motoring!

Have purchased a shed load of fiberglass to make some wings and if that turns out ill make a bonnet skin and pin it down.. works out cheaper than buying a second hand set and still having little dents.

I've done it this way too. Bought a yellow one in Jan for 600 quid. Took it straight to JBT for assessment. He said it was a goer so we did the belts and the clutch. Since then, I've done very little except source replacement parts. Biggest nightmare so far are all 4 bumper mounts are pretty rotten. Is this the end of the world? Can they be refurbed?

Yes they can be refurbed but you need to take them off to make the job easier then weld back in after you have stripped cleaned and sealed them or find a good pair and weld them on instead

Good thorough stuff and nice to see it being done!

You can't afford to think about the cost of these things!

Sometimes with Coupe ownership it's more fun improving an unloved coupe and giving it the love it deserves. Wish I never sold my worn out Porto, I loved that car!

Good job I've got another unloved one to try to improve and make beautiful again! Lol

I agree once I have a car that's sorted I get a little bored... And now you know all those items have been done, and you now will have a nice tidy coupe

I bought a two owner car with 86k and no service history for £730 to see if I could get wanting one out of my system! Belt service and front lower wishbones for £500 and was loving it until the clutch started slipping.

Didn't get it "out of my system" so now bought a 9 owner car with FSH that has just had the clutch done for £870. Only problem is the first one is significantly faster!!

Agree with this. The idea of buying cheap (but reasonably well informed), and making it yours seems the way to go.

I picked this up from eBay 2 weeks ago for 499.



The car came with 12 months MOT and 2 months tax. It had the cracked manifold ticking noise which turned out to be a loose manifold with no cracks. Tightened everything up, fixed the lower turbo coolant hose, and only money spent so far is 8 litres of coolant. Timing, balance, and aux belts were all done 10k miles ago, and the car came with a fairly complete history, and a spare (but unknown condition) turbo.

I added the wheels which I had on another car. It had the standard fitment when I bought it. Quite like the black wheels on the green car.

So money will need spending, and a fluids service will be done soon, but so far very pleased with it as a buy, jump in and drive Coupe.

Yes, this is how I started with the coupe obsession. Bought cheap with a few issues. I documented things here > First of my project threads

Saying that, buying cheap or expensive, they all end up needed work!

I honestly take my hat off to anyone that goes down this route, more so when not a time served mechanic, also I don't need to mention the quirks the Coop throws up & is not the easiest of cars to work on even if you are handy with the spanners.

Obviously the forum is a huge help with information, tips on getting the Coop sorted. Good work.

Bumpers mounts is absolutely nothing.
i can only presume rear. In which case only a 5/10 job if theyre completely trashed. Find someone breaking one and cut them off, weld them onto yours after cleaning up the area ready for surgery. Or if you or anyone you now is good at FAB, get him to fab some 'spires'. Jobs a goodun. But sounds like you could do with some undersealing as much as possible.

Thanks Bluey. Yes, you are correct. I neeed to get it up on the ramp, get down to Wilkos and purchase all the wire wheels and brushes I can get for a tenner (quite a few at Wilkos!). Then get cracking with the u/seal! I have a spare car, so I'll see what they're like before I take off the old ones.

Finally sorted out a few pics.

First 3 pics, as I got it, front bumper and rear wing damage:







Yes, someone really did respray it without removing the rear Fiat badge!

And now, after a proper respray:

Love that shine

What wheels? Are they 1.2's?

It's some Alessio wheel, 4x100 with wobble bolts, no longer made as they went out of business a few years back apparently. It does fit without spacers though.

Lovely job!

Does this mean maybe more development of the gtec range?

Nice! Love a shiny steely Coupe

Those pics of your coop after the respray are really making me want to get my LE resprayed.

Wow that's cheap.

Fantastic job well done

Excellent work Graham!!!