It's been a while since the last update

The body workshop was fully occupied during the last weeks and finally, they started with my car yesterday.

The PIU bumper is fitted on the car to check how it fits and if some trimming is required, here it is:



LE side skirts to follow tomorrow and hopefully body preperation for paint will start next week.

I have a couple of questions:

1- my old oil cooler duct is broken and I don't feel I'm going to fit it again. Does it affect (raise) oil temperatures when not installed? Ok, did a little search and seems to be ok but Highwayman noticed increased oil temperature when he removed the duct. I might put it back then, will see

2- oil pressure gauge takes a while to rise when I start the car, here is a video to get an idea. I know the gauge shouldn't rise when the ignition on and engine is off but I'm talking about when I turn on the engine. Is that normal? (I forgot how it was acting in the past)

Can anyone confirm if above oil pressure gauge behaviour in the video is fine?

perfectly normal.

Cheers Dave

fine fine hani

Thanks Omran

LE side skirts were fitted for test only:



Front bumper and side skirts are removed again for spray, full spray of the car to follow.

Time for some update

Visited the workshop today and finally they started with my car again.

The front bumper got the mesh now and ready for paint



The car is going through body treatment process and expecting the spray soon, will be ready within a week or 10 days time, I guess



The fuel cap looks really bad. I'm thinking to spray it, same color as the wheels



As for the interior, the following are now fitted:

Sparco pedals



Sparco handbrake handle



Sparco gear knob, it looks odd but the gaiter needs some adjustment. About 2 inches were removed from the gear lever. My transmission now have short shifter and short lever

I removed the duct for the IC for a while this summer and the cooling got a lot worse, with higher fuel consumption.

Thanks for the feedback Per

hey hani u ve got a nice ride over there i am from oman i ve got an 20v tubro LE from oman same colour and i would like us to get to be in touch so we can know how to manage tuning the cars and make a group

Thanks mate

I have relatives in Oman so might be able meet you when I'm over there.

As for the tuning, we have Barbz (the Coupé tuning expert) here in the region in UAE and he can assist a lot.

Regards

Lovely project indeed.

Thanks pjd30

Not much of update. Body work is almost over and the primer coat is almost complete. Spray shall take place this week if their air compressor works, it's out of service now . Quality of work done till now is excellent.

Here is the Coupé as of yesterday:







Rear bumper is still untouched though

I hope to get car on streets by November

very good i love your project....very nice any news today??

Thanks leugim_21

No new news yet. I go to Fiat workshop every Saturday & Tuesday so might have an update by tomorrow.

hum ok..your car inside need a good clean

Don't worry leugim_21, it'll get a good clean from inside

Finally, the car is sprayed, here are some pictures as of yesterday:



Spray quality seems excellent. Work is still in progress as you can see. I'm going again tomorrow and hope to see the car uncovered and with the bonnet fixed

nice project

please change racing grids behind the piu front in some in plastic black..like http://cgi.ebay.de/KUNSTSTOFF-WABENGITTE...=item4ceac81a5c

but thats my taste

Thanks mate.

I'm sure I'll need to replace the mesh in the PIU bumper in future as it'll be deteriorated, I might consider the mesh type you posted in future, it looks nice

coooool,,,, about to be real
keep up hani,,

Thanks Omran, yea it's coming real

Here is the Coupé as of today:



The LE side skirts are ready and will be fitted tomorrow. The fuel cap is sparayed with the same colour of the wheels and I think it looks nice.

The car wouldn't start on today I think the fuel pump (new Walbro 255) has gone!!! the car had very low fuel level for the last 4 months (while being in the workshop) and has been started few times. Once it was filled with fuel yeaterday, it wouldn't start They will check it after finishing the body polish.

Lovely and i can't wait for the car to be ready it's already HOT soo far

Maybe there is just some air in the lines.

Regarding front bumper, I would definitely add some black mesh to the it. It will look great. You can call it "the black stallion"

Possible Freddan. I also think the new fuel got mixed up with the old fuel in the car and maybe blocked something or seized the pump. I don't recall that I heared the pump priming / whining thought. They will check today and I hope it's a minor issue. I wish I had the time to stay in the workshop everyday to stay on the top of them!!!

The good thing is that Omran has a spare pump so I'll not have to wait to order a new one in case it turns up to be a pump problem

As for the bumper, it has a black mesh but seems to be a light mesh type. I shall consider other mesh options.

And yeah, once the Coupé is finished, I'll be having two black stallions

It could also be a clogged fuel filter.

cool hani,,, i dont know, but i dont feel like the pump has any problem,,, it could be the clogged fuel filter as freddan said..check the voltage in and out hani..

anyhow, the pump is sitting next to me waiting for you

Hani,
it looks brilliant!!

good work!

It turned to be a problem with old fuel in the car so fuel filter was replaced, the injectors and the spark plugs were cleaned.

So the car is started again with better idle than before. It was tested inside the workshop yard and acheived runing oil & water temperature with solid 2.6 bar oil pressure.

@ Omran, keep the fuel pump, you know I'll need it one day

@ Freddan & Marco, thanks for the heads up

On the progress side, the LE side skirts & lights are fitted. I received the clear side lights by the time I was going to the workshop, still not fitted though



I've fitted the front and rear Fiat badges, the front one is new original badge but sprayed in black and the rear is a commercial one (from ebay) coming in black



More updates next week.

hum very nice...:) amazing project keep the good work and a good clean

finally :)))))

"Marbrouk"