After buying the coop as a poor student about a year ago (doesn’t it feel good to know your taxes are going on coops, not just beer? ) I’m now getting to a financial position that enables me to start spending some money on the coop, beyond just repairing it.

So, I’m looking for some advice on what to spend my hard earned pound notes on… At the moment its only modification is black multi-spoke alloys , which I like, so they’re going to stay.

My thoughts are;

Full re-spray
LE Skirts and Lips
Lowering
Angel lights/HID’s
Chipping but not sure whether I’ll need to replace the clutch first????

My budget is about £1000-1500 excluding the re-spray, so what else...

Ah, Pro Race 1's or Pro Race 1.2's?

Standard clutch will take a Gtec1/Novitech easy. You should get a Prv with that and a DV wouldn't be a bad idea. - That's about £200 of your budget for around an extra 40Bhp.

Depends if you want handling improvements, speed improvements or style improvements.

You can get your sills colour coded for £250. You would be amazed how much better it looks.

Dont engine mod - it will cost a fortune in the long run and all end in tears/wasted money.

Sell & buy a 20vt - no point wasting £1500 on a 16vt thats probably barely worth that now.

Or save your money, go on nice holidays, buy other nice stuff, its an old csar and just not worth wasting money on IMO.

Or save the money for the next car - so when your bored of the coupe you've got some cash for something else and won't have to get finance.

Sorry to be glum.

I doubt I'll go any further with power than chipping as the insurance will be too expensive. Forgot to mention that I've got a dump valve and I'm going to look for a PRV to go with the boost guage.

I'd like to do something with style hence the re-spray, lips etc

I wouldn't mind doing something with the handling, especially if increasing the power but to be honest, apart from a strut brace I've no idea what to do.

DOnt bother chipping, will probably end in a new clutch or engine. IMO just not worth it for the very small actual on the road performance difference.

As for handling... steps

1) better springs
2) better springs & dampers/shocks
3) other stuff like better top mounts etc I guess

If the clutch is a genuine one and not old and already worn it will easily be able to handle the extra boost from a chip. The engine is more complicated, but follow all the advice on here and you'll be fine. People who dont follow the advice destroy their engines

If you get LE side skirts fitted they will cover the black parts of the sills. All you need to do then is paint the black bits on the bumpers, and get the lips painted and fitted as well.

lower it , le sideskirts and front lips and the rest of the skirting sprayed the same colour ( blu electric ) and it will look pukka chip it , air filter and cat back pipe and your be very happy with it ( just my thorts ) ..... good luck with it m8

Don't listen to these 20vt fools!

Get an evochip/dinks chip, get a decent panel filter, a nice exhaust system and just see how much more greater a 16vt can be.

I had mine running the evochip for 5 months and I didn't drive it like a granny and it was GREAT!

Do it, you won't regret it, but make sure you upgrade the brakes go with it!

+1

Upgrade the brakes. You'll want them at least as good as the 20vt brakes

My 16VT had been breathed on as well, and was a lot faster than my current 20VT is.

It was still going strong on 107k miles, despite being tuned to about 280bhp.

Exactly, they can be made to be very very quick underestimated cars and I prefer the way they pull over the 20vt when they've been chipped. They are just brutal! I love it!

Sell it and buy as late a 20VT as you can afford and leave it alone.

Not sure how you'll fit a full respray in for the money. I've had mine around a few body shops and had an independent automotive assessor look at my car that requires full respray to put right a bodged spray job and you are looking between £2500 and £3000. Apparently the new paints required due to EU laws means the price is quite a bit higher than what used to be the case.

he said it was excluding the paint job.. Personally i reckon you should have it sprayed (leaving the plaster on the bumper )and pop on the le lips and skirts

so he did, i really should read things more closely

Well if I was going to fork out for a full respray I'd first make sure the car itself was mechanically and structurely worth it. If there was any cash left over, only then would I start thinking about extras

1. Side Skirts & Lips from Mariusz
2. Clear side repeaters from here.
3. HID's
4. White LED sidelights to match HID's (Halfords 4led are okay)

That should use up about £350.

5. Buy a nice shirt & some cologne (HORN 1ltr for £5 is good)
6. Blow remaining cash of 3 nights of drunken debauchery in Vegas.

Any rust in the arches or sills? Get that sorted.

You absolute git , the steps I’d take (and what I was planning on doing before I got a company car) are;

- A compression test & full engine/brake check up
- Drilled airbox and K&N filter
- Dink chip & colder plugs
- Fuel pump wiring mod
- Rolling Road to check fuelling

And that’s all I’d do for engine mods! That lot should cost you less that £300, plenty of money left for a new clutch! Then I’d do;

- Re-spray (Depending on cost) with LE kit
- Atmospheric dump-valve
- Strut-brace
- Lower suspension
- HIDs
- Head unit you can plug your ipod into

There you go, have fun!

I have a friend who owns a body shop. He's offered to do the work on the side for a VERY good price, and the work he carried out on my parents car was (Mottles, he's offered to spray around the plasters )

No Rust on the sills or arches Simon so nothing to worry about there and I took it into Paul at motormech last month for a full check over and service.

Giving me more ideas guys, I like those clear side repeaters and not really thought about K&N or drilling the air box, does that really make a difference in sound?

How much money will it cost to upgrade the brakes/what needs doing? Is it as simple as new discs, callipers and pads or will I need a whole new brake system? I fitted new front discs and pads all around when I bought it 12 months ago.

As for the exhaust, it had a new one a few months before I bought it. I'd like to make it a little louder but again, what sort of price am I looking at for a decent system.

Appreciating all the ideas

Sell it. If you're lucky, you'll get £1500. Then buy a tidy 20VT for £3k.

This is the only sensible option for upgrading a high miler 16VT IMHO.

No way, he knows he has a good coop at the moment, and exactly what essential stuff needs doing / has been done.

I wouldn't say it's a high miler either, especially considering the age of the car. Mine is on over 100k and the engine is still sweet as ever!

For £3k he would be buying a 20vt with a similar mileage, and all sorts of unknown issues!

Keep the 16vt, and treat it to a bit of a pampering!

Exactly, I'm not going to sell if for that sort of money. Especially as I've spent £600 on it in the last 2 months

Plus, as Nick says, I could end up with a problematic 20vt and the over-riding factor - I like my 16vt.

<cough> buy a widget </cough>

(nobody noticed that blatant product placement, did they?

Bilstein B6 Dampers £375
Eibach Springs £160
Strut Brace £113
Rear Anti-roll bar £118

Some sort of chip £not sure for 16vT??
Pressure release valve £24
Front mounted Intercooler £550

That lot comes to £1400 so having all of it will depend on just how great this price is . It would give you a bit more poke and a great handling set up. Next you can go for better brakes (discs and pads) and start saving for a decent stainless exhaust. With just over £2k spent, you'd have a blinding motor.

If you are likely to want BIG power one day, then I'd p/x for a 20vT.

Shabbe, we need to test this modded vs totally standard theory of yours I've blown a couple of near standard 20vT away now.

Well done for staying with the 16VT, as i have said before it's so much better that the 20VT and i have both.
Spend the money on making it healthy first then look at up grades,make sure you do the brakes and suspension first before adding more power.
Oh and in a few years time stick two fingers up at all the people who said get a 20VT as yours will be one of the rare sort after coups.

Wrong, the 16VT engine is more capable of big power than the 20VT engine, when will you 20VT owners learn

I love the 16VT engine but I hope that that you never need a crankshaft. They are virtually impossible to find arn't they?

I'm sorry, have i stumbled into the new fiat coupe 20vt forum only where is you don't have a 20vt you're classed as an inferior?

although off-topic, I got a s/h crank in good quality for 250euro. There is stock of s/h items in Italy apparently at decent prices.

V.