Sorry if this is in the wrong place, I wasn't sure which subforum to put it in as I don't know yet whether it's worth my while getting the work done or try selling it for spares/repairs.

My coop is a portofino blue 20VT that still has less than 100k miles on the clock (it has only been really used as a runabout in the past year or so). It's generally very solid and always reliable but has today failed its MOT.

The most serious items are the exhaust (which was always going to fail as the back box has dropped off!), the usual rear brake issues and one of the front wheel arches needs welding.

The quote I was given from Turin Motors put it into "throwing good money after bad" territory for me personally (I'm just about to start a new job in a couple of days after a period on the dole, so I'm skint and need wheels at a time of year when everything is shutting down).

Now I remember that there used to be a forum member who specialised in salvaging/breaking coops (Countrycruiser, I think?) but as far as I can remember, he pulled out of the coop market a long time ago. Are there any other forum members who would be interested in taking this coop on for spares/repair?

Another option may be to keep it until I can afford to get it done, as it's taxed until the end of March. I could even SORN it after that, although my problem there is that although I have a drive, it's very steep and I can't get the coop up there without it 'catching' - I think I'll need to use scaffolding boards or something like that as ramps to get it up there.

How much you looking for?

You're thinking of CountryCruising who at last count was very much alive even after/during a move of premises.

You'll find the FCSS contact no. under his forum name in User List.

Good luck with the outcome

How much are you offering?

I did try selling it last year, and at the time was not prepared to let it go below £1,000. But obviously with it being an MOT failure, that is all out of the window. I'm going to ring around a few breakers tomorrow but I'd hate to go down that route as this is generally still a damn fine coop, much better than a lot I've seen on the roads lately.

I will give you more than a breakers yard will, any pics?

Check out my old selling thread: http://www.fiatcoupeclub.org/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1412384

Car still looks exactly the same as that inside and out. No new dings, scratches etc that I've noticed.

Mutt, Please do not turn this thread into a for sale ad or it will be removed by the mods.

OK, what do you suggest to keep it within the rules? I was genuinely seeking advice on my options. If I do decide to go for selling for spares and repairs, do I put an ad in the Coupes for Sale section or in the Coupe Parts for Sale section or somewhere else? Thanks>

Get a cheap back box off here (PM CC, Nigel or JBT).
Handbrake should be a £20 labour charge.
Welding - £50

Personally for circa. £100 it's hardly good money after bad!

If I can get it done for that sort of money, then of course I'm keeping it! Turin Motors were saying £650 PLUS welding (they outsource that to someone else but reckoned it could be hundreds) plus VAT - and all that together was making it silly money for me.

The handbrake cables do seem to be stretched and will need replacing, so it's not just the labour charge we're talking about. Turin also said new discs and pads were needed on the rear but the fail sheet says nothing about that, simply that their efficiency is "below requirements".

If anyone does know of a garage in the Leeds area that will do these repairs for the kind of prices you're saying, then I'm all ears. I did know a coop enthusiast who looked after this car for me before I moved to Leeds but I haven't been able to get hold of him lately.

Haven't checked prides on rear disks and pads, but not expensive, though I had a pair of handbrake cables off of Automotive Autos for less than £20.

Discs and pads for the back are cheap; the problem is most likely that they've glazed because the sliders have seized. They'll *probably* free off and can be lubricated, if not, I can't see a second hand rear caliper costing the earth.

What needed welding?

It seems that coupe prices are rock bottom at the minute, I've just bought one for £400 that's a 1 owner 75k mile 20vt that needs cam belt and paint, I think in the next couple of years they will start to go up as the scrapers get broken for parts and numbers decline, your options really are sell it for a few hundred or get it fixed up and mot'ed but then you will have to keep it as it still won't fetch big money

Yep, I know the rear discs and pads from Alt Autos are dirt cheap, I've replaced them a few times to get it through the MOT. One of the rear calipers was changed last December too. It hasn't helped that I did manage to drive it with the handbrake on a few weeks ago.

Last time I took it to a non-specialist garage, though, they weren't too happy about me bringing my own parts. My big problem now is that I don't expect to find anywhere that will do it this side of New Year and yet I do need a car for this job and it does mean some working between Xmas and New Year too. :-/

There's a visible rusty patch inside the driver's side front wheel arch.

Pagid cables, discs and pads from Eurocar parts £80.18 if you use chill30 as promo code as I've just done it! The parts have 50% off and chill 30 is 30% more off. I use Euro in Leeds all the time!!

You can swap the lot on your drive in around 2 hours. Back box is simple and you'll be under there to do h/brake cables anyway! I'd suggest slackening off the handbrake, cleaning rear callipers greasing up then get lots of weight in the back / boot and do some big stops.

Ask a friendly kwik fit style place to swap 'zaust - I did it once and got charged £10!

£650 - they are ripping the piss, you could get all Fiat parts and Fiat fit for less that that!

Have a conversation with JBT - he's about an hour from you down the M1 he has always seen me and my brother right and at a very very good price.

Don't give up on your car mate - parts / work aren't as expensive as some robbing sods make out!

JBT = JohnnyBravoTurbo, I presume? I've checked out his website and yes, his prices do seem very reasonable. Think I'll be in touch...

A quick tip on euro car parts. Check out their stuff on ebay. Sometimes the prices posted by them and their sister company carparts4less, is cheaper than you can get via their websites using discount codes.

For example I've just rebuilt the rear brake set up on my car. Including rear wheel bearings. I'll be at ~£100 once it's all added up.

Eicher brake disc £7 ×2
Pagid pads £22
Rear wheel bearing (via GSF car parts on ebay) £25

I've yet to buy the cables, but again reasonable ones are around £20 a pair.

Also worth mentioning that pads can be had for ten quid if you do some research.

I reckon 50 quid in bits and some elbow grease to sort those rear brakes.

Yes JBT is JonnyBravoTurbo.

Szkom - brave man with £25 wheel bearings! I went through 3 cheap ones in 12 months before I went to AA and paid for a proper one, it's done 3 years!

my £80 included Pagid discs and cables. My discs are 9 months old and yet to show any sign of rust and the cables are OE spec, again I've been through many cheap ones but the Pagid ones look, feel and work better.

You may be right BM. But they're easy enough to change at 20 minutes a side. So far so good though.

Agreed. The only tricky bit is if the sliders are rusted solid, which is really a replacement (s/h) job.

True barnacle but that's what our friendly traders are for

szkom - you might have found some good ones, mine really were shite and on reflection didn't sit right against / on the hub. The rear flange was too long.

I checked everything and these sit nicely.

Barnacle, one thing I've found to help free off sliders is a good adjustable spanner, the type with a thumb wheel. You soak the pin and the carrier with wd40 or your preferred. Use a spanner on the end of the slider initially to try and turn it. If you use a hammer on the end of the spanner to shock it round. Put the adjustable behind the lip at the nut and fasten the spanner snugly. Hit the spanner with the hammer and the slider should come out.

Never had one fail.

I'd rather pay someone to change the discs and pads and cables. As I've mentioned before, I can't actually get the car onto my drive because it is a very steep gradient and it 'catches' if I try, even if I try reversing it up. So it would mean doing it in the road, which I don't fancy doing, plus some scrote has swiped my trolley jack. So although I do need to learn to fix the Coupe brakes myself at some point, I don't fancy starting the lessons just now.

Big_Muzzie, you seem to be very keen on the Pagid brake parts, so I'll give those a whirl. Rusty rear discs, due to very weak brake effort, has often been a problem on this coop. There never seems to be much 'bite' on the rears; I've had new callipers, new pipes, compensator stripped down and rebuilt etc. I know the rear brakes are a joke on the Coupe even at the best of times though. So it'll be good if the Pagid kit makes a difference.

How on earth did you get cables, discs and pads for £80.18 even with the promo code? The discs and pads are cheap but cables are £29.40 for the left and £25.80 for the right. :-/ I can get cheaper cables from Alt Autos but their aftermarket ones tend to be very poor.

I've had (and seen) a couple snap right off, (there's even a picture in the book!). It's usually the turning that snaps them, if they're going to. But I suppose it makes a difference how long they've been stuck and how thick the rust is.

A similar design is used on many disc rear brake calipers; my 2008 Bravo has the same issue.

I've said it before and no doubt I'll say it again: rear handbrakes should be *used* and they should be checked every service - at least once every year. If you do that, they *will* actually hold the car on a hill and will meet the MOT requirements.

I guess it's look of the draw. But if you can snap them with a spanner then they wouldn't have survived on the car. Rover front calipers suffer a similar affliction. I lost count of the number of times I had to remove and clean the sliders on the few I had.

Mutt, as I said above try ebay as euro car parts sell via there and that may be their best price. I also mentioned the wheel bearings as they caused mine to under perform. No noticeable noise while driving. But you could hear the bearing skate when you turned them by hand.

Mutt where have you been mate, I've not gone anywhere

I see there's a pm from yourself waiting to be read so I'll catch up with you later.

The cables are 25 quid a side but currently are discounted. I rave about Pagid because they are good quality and cheap when discounted (like they are at current prices). I've used all pagid on my rear and got a massive efficiency reading compared to the year before.

Good luck!

Oops, sorry CC, maybe I mixed you up with someone else.

OK, my biggest hassle right now seems to be tthe exhaust. Alt Autos don't have one and none of the fast fit places have one. I still have the box that dropped off, dunno if I could get it welded back on?