Oh and next little thing Air Bag light won't go off! Just been informed that an Air Bag impact has been detected which cannot be reset on the ECU so advised to find another!
Is this possible?

I think that's correct, errors can be cleared but after an impact that activated the airbags the ECU has to be replaced.

The airbag ECU is the yellow (or silver?, but either way it has yellow cables going to it) box behind centre console under the carpet flap, there are a few different ones so remove it and confirm exact number then post in "Parts wanted" on here.

Thanks Graham.
Bit weird though. No sign whatsover of any damage to the car except it has an aftermarket front on it and bonnet is respayed. So guess a little frontal in the past!

The third party braided hoses never fit properly

They typically rub on the shock and over time burst or they leak. In my opinion they add very little value over the OE ones

Those were the Goodridge ones ISTR? I think I had a set but didn't have a problem. I just replaced the front hoses with HEL ones since the old Goodridge ones had cracked on the outside after many years and the deterioration was picked up as an MoT advisory. I was pleased that the HEL ones came with a rubber fitting to go in the bracket on the strut to allow the hose to slide in/out (had to improvise before), with extra protection also on the first part of the hose after the connection with the main brake pipes, but you still need to add some protection to stop rubbing on the inner wheel arch liner or gearbox end.

I got stung on a Fiat Coupe 20v turbo a few years back that I no longer own it's since been broken and parted out. At the time it was a choice between a Fiat or an FTO Version R, wish I'd bought the FTO but the coupes are so unique.

At first it looked great in the pictures and had been owned by others on these forums. Reg was R949 BYA.

However the guy I bought from in London clearly hadn't spent any money on it and it became apparent as time went on. He had hidden this well on the listing and when he sold it to me a really good polish and clean of the engine bay hid faults.

His comments matched up with what others on the forums had said before buying. It was about a month after getting it back to Bristol from London I realised I'd been had. Boost pipes kept blowing off and the radio kept cutting out.

I took the car to FC Performance and the London guy had replaced the intercooler with a cheap eBay job and awful piping, the brake lines were corroded. The manifold had been patched up but well hidden with expensive aftermarket heatwrap.

The turbo then developed the dreaded blue smoke on start up.

I had Leighton at FC Performance rebuild the turbo and get it back on the road but even he commented it was nothing like the car he'd worked on in the past. The car sat for a couple of months waiting for work to be done but rain got into the fuel tank. I had it repaired/injectors cleaned up but the car lacked power and the brakes finally gave up. Needing rust work done and a new manifold I decided rather than spend the £1000+ to get it working I'd cut my loses. In just under 3 years of ownership I got about 9 months driving out of the car but it was never 100%.

I tried for a month to sell the car as a complete car on eBay but the best offer I got was £700.

Anyway the rebuilt turbo went into a track car in Ireland and most of the good body parts went to a fellow owner in Bristol who was restoring cars. It had a very expensive unqiue bodykit from Poland. Most the interior bits went off to various eBay buyers. I think I made about £1750 parting out. I paid £2500 for the car.

I loved the car it was fast, unique and a head turner but boy it's put my off Italian cars for life I'm bag in the Jap cars. I literally MOT check via the DVLA site before I buy any car now and I inspect literally everything instead of diving into a purchase.