For the last 3 years ive been running my bravo HLX (on and off) as a second car for show purposes. i bought the car 5 years ago and put a lot of effect into cosmeticaly modifying the car. I was lucky enough to be in a position to be able to afford a 20vt coupe without selling my pride and joy but i always wanted to do a 20vt conversion and ive always wanted a track orientated car. So thanks to this forum and a few of its members (your assistance and advise will continue to be required troughout the duration ) ive combined the 2 elemements and started my project.

The Base:

Fiat Bravo HLX 1.8 1996 ink black



Mods:

abarth front bumper/ Laguna splitter
abarth skirts
custom p&a rear bumper
custom cat-back powerflow exhaust twin 5" tips
Fiat coupe 20vt alloys
-35mm pi springs
etech alloy spoiler
smoked side repeaters
colour coded delocked merea handles
merea poly headlights
prof tinted windows
tinted tail lights
custom rear brake light (glows 'abarth')
philips vision plus bulbs
lightbrows
full varad undercar neons
k&n 57i induction kit
chrome bonnet lifters
corbeau carrera bucket seats
corbeau sub frames
footwell neons
custom switches in centre column for all neons
abarth car mats


I aquired a 20vt as a donor vehicle earlier this year, the previous owner had already started breaking, but most the neccessary parts were still attached



The Plan:

20vt conversion including:
rear subframe including rear disc conversion
front subframe, wishbones, hubs
suspension,
running gear (drive shafts etc),
front brakes,
steering rack,
engine,
ecu,
fuel pump,

As mention the car will be track orientated, so i'm looking for a good balance of handling, braking, and power.

modified parts collected so far

(i'll update this bit as and when)

Power:
ported inlet manifold
3.8 bar FPR
port matched exhuast manifold
GT2560 turbo
FMIC
Greddy EBC
3in downpipe with 5 stud v-band
2.5in decat
custom midpipe
NGK 7 plugs
SIP
Apexi filter

Handling:
solid rear bushes
Polybushed wishbones
seam welded subframe
FK coilovers (20vt) with camber adj mod
HEL braided brake lines
Whiteline 24mm ARB
Front strut brace
Nigels lower brace
20vt brembos

Other:
VDO oil temp
VDO oil pressure
VDO volt meter
AFR
intake temp sensor

still to source:

DBA/3G disc
EBC yellow pads
adjustable fan controller

Possibly a roll cage!!

The project will be an ongoing one, with the suspension and brakes components first, then the engine will be re-built to spec at some point early next year before fitment. Wish me luck

Ninja

i actually started the project a few weeks ago, progress so far:

the coupe has been stripped, and the shell has been scrapped.

bravo front subframe, wishbones, struts, hubs and calipers were removed.

with the access under the car the coupe track rods have been swapped onto bravo steering rack, (cores are the same bar a gear linkage mounting so i cant swap rack just yet but the rack core and transmition tunnel will be swap with engine)



coupe subframe was stripped, welded, then fitted with polybush wishbones, then the assembly was fitted,



coupe hubs and standard struts fitted for now,( top mounts fitted directly and suprisingly the 1.8 drive shafts still fit despite the coupe wishbones being marginally wider )



brembos painted and fitted, abs sensors plug straight in, and bravo flexipipes fit straight on (for now).



coupe 20vt wheels are required for brembo clearance, and the wider track is just about ok with the hlx wings, but i think i will fit wider arches at a later date.



unfortunately i snapped one of the manifold studs removing the downpipe, but it went back together with just 2 (sounds a bit rough tho ). other than that and having the clean the a few threads with a tap everything went pretty smoothly, most parts were a straight swap.

the car is still actualy mobile under its own power which is good, but is declared as sorn so i wont actually be driving it.

few pics added, and the garage is a mess i know


Ninja

Update....

Few hours to spare yesterday so i decided to swap the fuel pump reservior. I was imformed the coupe pump would not fit the bravo reservior, but the whole assembly would be a straight swap, so...



on comparison, they look indentical, all fittings are the same, plugs are the same, although the wiring in the bravo reservior (brown one) look alot more robust than the coupe wire



short time later later, fitted,



turn the key and.... the pump didnt prime

i tried unpluging the fitted pump, and plug the old pump back in and it primed fine so i know its not a wiring issue. unfortunately i ran out of time so will look at it again this weekend.


Also, 24mm rear ARB has been ordered, so rear subframe will get its overhaul just after christmas

Ninja

well i think i know why the pump didnt prime



must have been sat for sometime without anything in the tank . .

luckily i kept my original pump when i had my walbro fitted, so the reservior is now re-assembled with a working pump and ready to be fitted expect its too cold atm lol



Ninja

new assembly was tested and fitted this afternoon, fired up first turn off the key

all i'm waiting for now is confirmation of rear solid subframe bushes and i can start rebuilding the subframe

Ninja

just a quick update,

progress, has been a bit slow over the christmas period, a few little cosmetic enchancements have been fitted,

including
triple A pillar pods
20vt wheels are being prepped for a respray in black
also test fitted the strut brace with the coupe struts, with succeess

still waiting for the bushes to build the subframe.

on a slightly different note, my 16vt has had a centre console refurb, a coolant flush, and its first actual run since october last year brakes were a little rough and it needed a jump start, but other than that it was a smooth ride. i almost forgot how comfy the standard seat actually are, there like armchairs lol

Ninja

ok time for an update, and a to take a bit of a break . . .


well i finally got everything i need for the rear subframe rebiuld, this includes

ARB
Solid bushes
FK coilovers
Braided lines
Rear disc conversion from a HGT
Radial repair kit

and........ i leave the country for 3 months lol, i'm due to return in august, and will be looking forward to gettin stuck in

until then..........

Nijna

well i'm back, not had chance to get into the garage yet so ive been doing a bit of prep/spray work

ive taken the apart the intake assembly,




degreased and cleaned



Paitned



and re-assembled



intake manifold is ported, 3.8 bar fpr. and red injectors.

cam cover has been sprayed blue, exhaust manifold is black and so is the heat shield.

hopefully i'll be in the garage by the end of the week.

Ninja

right, finally got some progress

got in the garage (a nice new one too ) and managed to remove the rear subframe.

firstly took down the fuel tank and exhaust from cat back. split the brake hoses and heat sheilds/covers, this let us remove the subframe as a whole assembly



first job for monday is too strip the frame, then swap the bushes, fit the ARB, fit the disc conversion, swap the struts, and the springs. some new brake pipes and the whole thing should go back up it one peice too

made a start on the engine build, block has been cleaned (came up very well ) but goona give it lick of paint anyway )



Ninja

well frame was stripped, cleaned (including some surface corrosion, which is weight saving at its strictest )

solid bushes fitted

24mm ARB fitted (with original brackets and a spacer for now)

caliper brackets/dust sheilds cleaned, sprayed and fitted

FK rear shocks, springs and height adjusters fitted

subframe re-fitted

bravo hubs and ABS sensors fitted

Coupe calipers

disc and pads (ive used old discs and pads cause the car will still be stood around until the engine is bilt and fitted, and i dont want the new stuff to start rusting!)

Hel brakelines

new brake lines from compensator

new handbrake cable



Ninja

nearly there suspension and brake wise

Standard front struts removed.



FK top bearing were cleaned and regreased, top mounts had a coat of colour



Then fitted, together with HEL braided lines and a new brembo spring kit



only thing is the coupe braided lines look a little too long for the bravo, the connection bracket must ne in a different place!?

next is a new set of rear brake lines for the compensator, then its on with the engine

Ninja

the car is back on the ground and rolling again under its own power again

the blocks had its first coat of paint, and ive picked my new hybrid GT28r up too

pics to follow....

Ninja

and here she is



Specs
GT28r w/hybird compressor wheel (8/8 blades too )
(comp)ind 48.3 exd 69.6 trim 48 A/R.60 / (turbine) whl dia 53.0 trim 62 A/R.64

i wish i had taken some before pictures, because the guy did a fantasic job, complete strip and rebuild.

cant wait to test her

Ninja

time for an update, and quite a big one too

managed to strip down the donor engine, wiring loom off, cylinder head came off, gearbox off, clutch + flywheel out, sump off



everything has had a good clean too

Cylinder head has been stripped down ready to be sent off for acid dip, polishing, and skimming.



short shift fitted

new block has been sprayed, along with a few other things

top engine mouunt, oil breather tank, thermostat, ancilery bracket, and a few brackets/hose ends

and a small amount of test assembly has been done, cant goo too far though until the pistons are fitted, which arrived today



Can you see a colour theme here?

hopefully my new pistons will be fitted in the block very soon, and then as haynes always says 'refit is reversal of removal'

...and these little beuties arrived too



It all feels like its coming together

Ninja

having some time off work ive been busy on the project

Head has come back with reground valve seats + new stem seals fitted



head gasket + seal set, and head bolts came with it

Head has been sprayed black



lifters has been sqeezed, cleaned and refitted



cams have been cleaned up, ready for refit

sump has been cleaned and sprayed, also black



cleaned up a few other little bits and peices, brackets

tried the gauges in situ



now all i'm waiting for is a nice christmas present off JBT, in the way of a freshly rebuilt and balanced bottom end, lightened flywheel and new clutch

The cars been looking a little bit sorry for itself in the cold weather, but will soon have a new lease of life, or should i say 'heart'



Ninja

Christmas present from Jbtclause would imply its free.


Update

Engine fully stripped.,

the following shall be done by 2nd week in Feb
6 paddle clutch
Hone bores
Skim block(slightly oxidised over 4 and 5 piston)
Skim,lighten and balance flywheel
Replace big ends
Fit the best of the 100 pistons i have been given
Supply and fit new rings
Check oil pump
Replace crank seal
Replace rear main seal
Replace under piston jets
Balance crank pistons and rods
Match big end caps to rods

A few days away from measuring the wear on the crank,bores and mains.But fingers crossed.

Looking forward to seeing this on the various track events towards the summer Rich.

Also in that head set Rich its difficult to tell from the pictures but ENSURE that its the metal 3 piece gasket and not the fibrous type that a lot of kits nowadays are supplied with.
The fibre type don't last 10 minutes whereas the stock metal one is a very substantial gasket and its near impossible to blow it.The engine will melt first.

I will double check but i'm 99% sure it is (at least its what i asked for following our conversation at donny)

Ninja

time a looooooooong overdue update on this, and well the reason it hasnt been updated is that nothing has productively happened

Just before i sent the bottom end to be rebuilt, it was identified that one of the pistons was actually cracked, no wonder the engine was smoking, not a good start!

... then after recieving a replacement set i find out that they new pistons are out of tolerance with the old bores (too small), so not getting any better.

In the mean time i aquired another bottom end with pistons fitted, only too find out that it too had a cracked piston in it

so unltimatey ive got 2 engine blocks, 2 cranks, 2 sets of rods and no pistons and i'm back where i was 5 months ago.

I dont really want to go mix and matching the remaining pistons, too much hassle. There is nothing wrong with the blocks, or the cranks, so I could buy larger forged items and get the bolck bored to suit. If i had the despoable cash, but i dont.

In order to move forward i bit the bullet and bought a running engine, with good compression and no smoke

Ive ordered i virgin ECU from our friend leighton, so i dont have to mess around with immob and keys, and barrels.

So hopefully with that in light it wont be long until i have a car i can actually drive and have some fun in

The car has also had some cosmetic enhancements while all this engine malarky was going on too. (pics too follow )

Ninja

quick update




new engine is out the the car ready to be stripped down, a bit of a clean, and then fitted with the uprated part

and here is how the new arches look




Ninja

the ball is well and truely rolling again

engine was stripped down to just the block and head this morning (no need to seperate these)

it will get a bit of a scrub over the next week, and hopefully re-assembly with the uprated parts next weekend

Ninja

Ok, time for a very big update





With the engine stripped i gave the block a lick of paint and cleaned up the head.



The upper mount was changed



the water pump was changed



new cambelt kit was fitted including pulley and adjuster



new thermostat was fitted (although i believe its one from
a stilo, cause its got an extra output!? still fits though )



New oil filter fitted



started fitting the components and sensors on the engine



Fitted a JBT modified lower pulley (with a bit of help from JBT, thank)



Started fitting oil breather, breather hoses and new silicon water hoses



auxillary bracket fitted.



Water rail went on



Swapped the cam cover, and fitted new gasket.



Intake assembly fitted (please see earlier post for parts list)



More fitted around the back



Ported manifold went on (early manifold so i modified it to seperate the 5th brach)




Started collecting spiders already



Nice assortment of new hose clips



wiring loom was laid out, cleaned, checked, and re-wrapped



Oil cooler pipes and PS pipes were cleaned up and coated in protective paint



Spark plugs were changed (for NGK 7's)



Intake pipe and DV fitted



Alternator and PS pump in, new auxilery belt and pulley and oil cooler bracket on.



Cambelt cover was modified for the larger pulley and fitted.



Mated up a test version of a 5-stud to 3in adaptor developed with MIJ



Had to take the turbo apart because the actuator bracket was not in the right place!?



turbo fitted onto manifold (with gaskets)



flywheel on



6 Paddle clutch on



realised i forgot to put the backing plate on at this point so had to take them off again lol

re-fitted, then the gearbox went on. At this point we made a short shift too, although i think i went a little too far lol (its short!!)



wiring loom went on, or as much of it as i could at this point



the engine was ready to go in now

time to bring the car in, she had not been started for a while, so the jump start was a painful...



1.8 engine out (not many photos of this but you dont need to see this bit anyway )



I failed at the ABS swap, unfortunately the plug on the bravo ancillary loom was completely different, and i can live without splicing the loom



With the engine out, this gave me chance to clean up the bay and make a few modifications that would be very difficult with the engine in place.

Bravo 1.8 brake master cyclinder and reservoir are a single unit, i was advised it would foul the coupe intake manifold so needed to be changed.

]

the coupe reservoir fit in the same place as it would on a HGT and luckily the mountings were already there on the HLX although the wiring had to be lengthened somewhat.

the cylinder however, fit, fitment wise, but the piston was much bigger than the 1.8 bravo unit, this meant the brakes would be permanently on. To get around this we had to modify (shorten) the push rod at the back of the peddle to allow the correct and full peedle movement.



The brake servo vacuum pipe was swapped for the coupe one



Breather thingy was fitted behind the PS reservoir



Bravo transmission tunnel had to come down due to the difference in gear selectors (bravo = rod/coupe = flexible) the tunnel fitment was the same, so i opted for the coupe tunnel, as the gearstick fitment differed, but i had to swap the handbrake for the bravo one as they sit in slighly different places in the centre console (handbrake bolt pattern was the same on both tunnels)

We had to removed a bracket on the steering rack (used for the selector rods so no longer need) this made the steering rack core exactly the same as the coupe one)

Throttle cable was removed

Heater matrix hoses were swapped

we also bled the brake fluid through the master cylinder before the engine went in.

The engine was then put in place!!!




Clearance between the turbo and the radiator support looked ample.



Oil cooler was positioned perfectly



Drive shafts were fitted (fitted perfectly as i already had coupe hubs, wishbones etc)

Wiring loom was fed through the bulkhead, and fitted in the footwell. (fitting was perfect, ecu sat in the same place, wiring was the same route, relays and fuses were the same fitment also. Only had to remove glove box for access to fit everything)



Scuttle panel went back on, and a few clips and cable supports in place, and header tank hoses connected.




Radiator support bar was removed and checked, (looked like it had seen better days but removal of the surface corrosion showed it was fine, so added some corrosion protective paint and refitted) i did have to modify this for extra clearance of the oil cooler pipes.




Gear selector cables were connected, and slave cycinder was connected and bled.



A couple loose plugs connected (engine to ancillary loom, earths fitted, battery connections swapped, lamba sensor and just made sure everything was in secure place)

Throttle cable fitted through bulkhead, and onto peddle (alot of adjustment required to raise peddle)

Battery tray fitted



fuse box fitted to the front of the battery tray (bravo item)

Coupe EBV fitted to the fuse tray



MAF to turbo intake hose fitted

had a bit of an issue with the water hose/DV hose/battery tray and DV blank rubbing, so a trim, a and a turn later and clearance is achieved



MAF fitted and (temporary) air filter. Although im comtemplating an SIP.



Left it there for today



Now i have a few outstanding issues.

1. the connector at the top of the left strut. The coupe plug is 3 pin male, and the bravo plug is 2 pin female!? I have know idea what this plug is at the point but i believe its the light etc on that side



2. The 3rd plug by the battery tray, the coupe plug is 4 pin female, and the bravo plug is 2 pin male!? again i have no idea what this plug is.




3. Radiator choice!? the coupe rad wont fit due to the top mounting being different, the bravo rad will fit obviously, but the hoses are different. Luckily i have managed to get hold of some HGT hoses that should match the bravo rad to the HGT/coupe water rail (although this makes my rather expensive silcon hoses redundant :grrr: )

I also have no idea whether the 1.8 radiator will hold up the cooling a 2.0 turbo engine

(cant find a good second hand HGT rad for love nor money either)

Lastly, the coupe power steering reseviour is down behind the headlight, whereas the bravo reseviour is on the bulkhead.

now, the coupe PS pipes run 2 pipes from pump at front of engine to rack at back of engine (1 feed to rack, 1 return),

the bravo had the PS pump on the back of the engine, so the return goes from the rack straight up to the reservoir, this means the coupes return feed is redundant, but the bravo feed is not long enough, so i am going to modify the coupes return to feed the pump at the front of the engine (make sense )

Still need to fit EBC, feed of for boost gauge, oil temp, oil pressure and fit downpipe/decat/exhaust, but the end is in sight

Regards
ninja

( ive not spelled checked any of this so no comments please :P)

today i have fitted the EBC soleniod



piped in the boost gauge/controller feed, and setup an access through the bulkhead for oil gauge feeds

radiator was put in place, and the hoses were offered up.



Intercooler fitment and pipework, PS fluid feed and exhaust still left to do.

Ninja

Well after an interesting weekend.....

I have decided to go with the SIP, not just for the fact that it positions the air filter in a better place, but it also gives me more room to route the intercooler pipework etc.



Unfortunately, i have ran into clearance issues with the radiator fan hitting the turbo hopefully nothing a dremel wont solve.

Also, the bravo rad does not have a feed for the turbo, so this will need to be created.

I believe i have finally got my head around the plug situation now i just need to do something about it before i forget... and as a bonus, 2 of the empty pins are for the oil pressure/temp which means i have easy feeds for the gauges

@AP1 - i have not, there was not problem with it when i removed the engine, so did not feel the need. I had a good mouch around while the cam cover was off, and everything looked fine up top.

Ninja

right, gave up on the bravo rad and fan, so went with the coupe rad and fan, this is tight!



newly developed, MIJ 5-stud to 3in adaptor, and full 3in downpipe, down to std cat/de-cat (oil pipes do need to be pryed forward a bit, and i need to get under the car to fit properly)



intercooler fitted, and pipework routed



had to double up on the silcone to fit the turbo properly

variator relay have has to be extracted from the coupe loom (cause the 1.8 bravo hasnt got one), and i found a spare relay clip down by the battery, so that sorts that plug.

The code wires match the coupe plug (albeit a 2 pin male plug into a 4 pin female plug, but hey)

getting close now

Ninja

AT LAST, ITS ALIVE!!

After finishing off the last remainig bits;
swapping the coupe charcoal canister
fitting the variator relay
connected up the DP, decat and rear section
putting some oil and water in

it was time to connect the battery and turn it over for the first time since the rebuild

put the key in, we have ignition, turn the key and........... nothing

fuel pump wasnt priming!!??

after a call to leighton, turns out the ECU had no chip in the ECU he sent me lol

chip installed try again, fuel pump priming and try again.....nothing!??

link it up to ECU scan which has the feature to test a few realys (handy feature in this case) they had power, but still nothing!?

bridged the starter (there must be an electrical issue somewhere) and it turned over and fired up

First Start

sounded a bit rough (but thats to be expeted at this stage)

found a slight oil leak, and registered a fault with injector 3

fixed the oil leak and dis/re-connected the injector (which seemed to work?), second time lucky!?,

Second Start


sounds better but upon increasing the revs we had a single loud bang each time!!??

turned out the power steering pump was not seated correctly and was jumping in the housing

that sorted, third times a charm!?...

Third Start


this time sounds much better now the lifters have some oil, very impressed with the sound of the engine, turbo, exhaust

Exhaust


also seems very level smooth on a std chip considering the changes ive made (injectors, FPR, turbo, DP etc)

few last thing to sort in the way of EBC, gauges etc and get her down to leighton for a map

Public thank you to leighton and JBT for answering my ramdom calls and all the help from various people on this forum.

Massive thanks to NB Autos (my father and brother) for the help, work, garage space and for putting up with during this somewhat drawn out project

Not too much progress over the christmas period, but a few niggly bit sorted

VDO gauges installed
EBC/charge temp/AFR installed
Strut brace installed
Power steering plumbed in

and a few presents

new helmet
jerry cans

but most importantly, i collected a trailor and ordered a tow bar this means i can get it to fleas for mapping

i think im going to have to make up a new radiator support bar to move the rad forward slightly, only about 20cm or so but it all helps

Ninja

Well i modified the rad support, and added extra intercooler support brackets while i was at it.

also modified some of the intercooler pipework to get the bumper back on without trimming.

I actually had the car booked in for mapping today, but the car has developed a perculiar fault (as per my technical issues thread). After spending all day last sat checking everything i could think of, and even a visit from JBT (in what is now an awesome coupe) on a cold saturday night (now thats what i call service ) unfortunately we did not come to a conclusion, so it has had to be postponed

Further investigation is required, and hopefully it will be something simple and she will be booked back in soon...

Ninja

great stuff.Well done Rich.

cheers john, and thanks again

problem solved - bad earth

so back on track (or i will be soon )

ninja