Well, it’s been a good ride. I’ve enjoyed owning my Coupé for a couple of years, but the tin worm has put an end to my Fiat adventure.

I’ll be putting up a proper For Sale thread as soon as I get decent photos, but for now here’s the state of play … the car is absolutely fixable, but not by me. Equally, it could be broken and sold for parts – but again not by me.

It would be brilliant to sell the car on as-is to another forum member, whether as a project for restoration or as a spares donor. It’s been a cracking car and has some really nice parts on it.

Because it’s an MOT fail, the car would need to be picked up from Glasgow by trailer.

The MOT fail is mostly due to rust. Passenger side inner sill is rotten through all the way from back to front, right up to the front seam. Same on the driver’s side but mainly at the rear – and beyond the rear seam. Rust has holed right through to the cabin in some places, so it will be a full interior removal job before starting to weld. Best guess from a local garage is approx. £900 to repair.

There’s also bodywork issues. Only cosmetic, but someone scraped along the left-hand side of the car while it was parked in the street and I hadn’t got around to fixing it yet. Dents and scrapes to almost every body panel on the passenger side. I’d had it estimated at £700 to £900 for repair and paint.

And there’s more …

• All four brakes need new discs and pads. So does the handbrake.
• The brake balance valve needs replacing.
• Ball joints on the front suspension could do with refreshing.
• There is a small oil leak. Given the other issues, I haven’t investigated it.

It’s a Porto Blue 1998 20vT. I bought it from Nigel at Motormech in Feb 2015, who had given it an engine swap and a full service with belts etc. The car and engine are both only on around 75k miles.

• I fitted a full leather interior.
• GrahamL fitted it with a Gtech 1 chip.
• It’s had a new turbo fitted within the last year, standard housing with a hybrid cartridge.
• Sparco strut brace from the LE.
• It has a set of official Fiat 20v Coupé floor mats! One year old.
• I have a BRAND NEW spare steering column/stalks unit ready to fit with actual working self-cancelling indicator stalks. Amazing.
• I even have the official Fiat spare bulbs emergency kit in its little plastic carry case. Again, brand new and unused.

So … yeah. I’m sad to let it go, but financially I can’t justify the work it needs. If anyone wants it as a project though, saving most of those costs would make it totally viable. The interior is really, really, lovely. The engine was damn-near perfect until the recently-developed oil leak.

I’ve got an MR2 Roadster, inherited from my dear departed Stepdad, so I’m going to move on to that for a while instead of picking up another Coupé straight away.

Here’s the damage.

This is what happens when you keep your Coupé outdoors in the street for two years in the Scottish weather without Waxoyling the underside thoroughly first.






And the full MOT horror, for reference:

Sorry to hear this.

Would you consider selling the indicator set separately?

I’m not planning to sell anything separately yet, but consider your name down for the indicator set if it comes to that!

First port of call is to see whether anyone wants to take the car on as-is. That’d be ideal (and I won’t ask for much money, I realise trailering it away won’t be cheap). I have roughly a one-week window to see whether anyone’s interested.

If there are no takers, I’ll pull off the best bits (leather seats, strut brace, floor mats, etc) and sell those separately before scrapping it.

I don’t have the facilities (or time) to properly break the car though, so anything more detailed is beyond me. The car is currently sitting at the MOT tester’s lockup and I can’t get access to do any proper stripping.

Hope that makes sense!

That looks pretty bad. Surprised none of it has even been mentioned on previous MOT's for last few years.

The front suspension mounting point failure wasn't even the bit I expected at the inner wing/subframe mount where so many coupes rot. That just looks like the floor, so I wonder what the rest is like at the inner wing.

That’s a concern – once you start cutting away rot, how much more might you uncover?

It’s certainly fixable, but combined with the bodywork issues it’s just too much money to spend on having it done professionally. Ends up being more than the car’s worth to me.

It’s a viable project for anyone who welds and/or paints themselves though, hence the offer to sell it on as-is.

If you don't catch the rot early then its £000's to put right. That looks like a good few years worth of rot not just the last 2 years as has been said what else is lurking in sills and boot floor area. Until recently a cam belt and clutch cost more than most cars 'worth' but classic car ownership and upkeep goes far beyond market value especially for the Coupe, this car looks like it will need a fair few quid spent to reverse it's decline. I too can't believe previous MoTs didn't spot its rust issues. Good luck with the sale.

Thing is, the car’s been kept outdoors in the street, under trees, through two Glasgow winters. It’s had the unfortunate opportunity to get very, very damp. I know Nigel wouldn’t have sold me it with known issues, so this really has developed over two and a bit years. The last MOT was done by a bunch of cowboys, so no real surprise they didn’t mention anything.

It’s perfect weather to photograph the car today, so of course I can’t get access to the lockup it’s stored in. Frustrating!

How would people feel about me using older photos in the For Sale ad? So long as I’m honest about it and update as soon as I can?

Hell's teeth - that's some rot. Does it rain acid in Glasgow?!

Wouldn’t surprise me!

How do you think Irn Bru is made?

I'm afraid the salt on our roads due to the frost/icey extended winters up here have this sort of effect. My Coop was just caught in time according to Joe...

I've been there and feel your pain. I live 1 mile from the sea and the salty air cut a large number of holes in my Coupe over the years and had a similar MOT refusal in 2016.

I hope someone picks up the Coupe from you and puts her back on the road, there are only 700 20VTs left driving, down from 800 at the end of December 2016.

Thanks for the sympathy chaps.

I have up-to-date photos from over the weekend. Waiting for my For Sale thread to be approved, then I can add them all to it.

Actual mileage 73.5k (now that I’ve checked!)

Here’s a selection for now.

First dibs on these please! Should you decide to sell anything seperately of course!

Consider your name down for them, if it comes to splitting the car up! I should know either way within the week.

Funny how much more money I could get from the car that way, but I’d really rather somebody picked it up and worked on getting it roadworthy …

Gutted for you Poprock and not able to get it fixed up. I have to admit the corrosion is serious growth in 2 years, even in Glasgow. Same period as me with my red one maybe without the caustic / acid rain on Cumbrae.
So its still in the MOT garage in Linwood..? Could I have a closer look?

It’s in a friend’s lockup in Linwood, not the testing garage. He’s out of the country until Wednesday, but we could arrange a look over it after he’s back.

I don’t want to mess my friend about at all, so I’m afraid it’s only for viewing if you’re seriously interested in buying – because it’s going to mean getting him out to the lockup as well as me and you. Hope that makes sense.

Feel free to PM if you want to discuss.

I’m hoping to have the car sold and away ASAP after Wednesday – even if that means giving it to a scrappy at the end of the week.

I do not look at cars if I am not serious, hence my query. I know what I will need to look at and will know quite quickly if your Coupe fits my criteria. Thursday early evening best for me. Let me know.

Grand, I’ll see if I can sort that out. Can’t promise a fast reply from my friend while he’s abroad unfortunately. I’ll PM you my phone number in the meantime.

Bumping this along with the For Sale thread …

Last chance on saving (or breaking) this Coupé.

Two potential buyers have dropped out, and I need it gone. Open to offers before I give in and scrap the car (which would be a shame!)

Please remember it needs collecting on a trailer from Glasgow/Paisley.

Sorry to hear that Tony

If it does get scrapped or someone local buys it for parts keep me posted on where it ends up. My attempt at brazing the aircon pipe ended in comedy with the pipe on fire in 2 bits on the floor, haha. A slight miscalculation of not reading the (surprisingly low) maximum temperature capability of the infra red thermometer I was using!

Oh no!

If it comes to that G, you’ll be able to take off what you need before the car goes to the scrappy.

Doesn’t look likely that it’ll go to scrap now though, so please don’t rely on it. I have a buyer lined up, but he’s on holiday for a couple of weeks. I’m never 100% confident a buyer will actually come through until the cash is in my hands!

I’m on an air-con mission now as well. Picked up my MR2 and the air-con is empty, so there must be a leak somewhere …

No probs, good to hear you got a buyer.

I still have all the kit from last time I was tracking down the coupe air-con leak, pressure meter, UV dye/glasses/torch + leak sniffer so just drop me a mail if you need a hand.

Sent you a PM re indicators....