And finally, it's another hello from me

Some of you avid forum readers may recall i've had a few issues with my beloved coupé over the 2 years of my ownership, culminating in the latest episode of the belt killing my engine at donington recently (4th time).

Well after a long and painful call with JBT today it is evident my beautiful car will never see the road again under my ownership due to wide-ranging rust and other issues. Whilst he advises me the car can be made roadworthy again I unfortunately don't have the funds, heart or desire now to follow this through. This car has finally broken my spirit enough for me to wish her arrivederci.

This means i will not be making the trip to Spa (one of my highlights of the year) as to go there without a coupé seems pretty pointless somehow and, despite making quite a few friends on this forum, i couldn't just be a passenger or spectator during the weekend. It would be too painful.

Now it may seem that some of my comments are bordering on girly type emotional outbreaks, and to an extent i admit that - but to all who i've met through this forum and particularly those i consider to be my friends i thank you and wish you better luck with your cars. Yes it's only a car but i've invested so much time, money and love into it it's more like saying goodbye to someone much loved.

My financial position isn't so bad i need people to send me food parcels, but it's severe enough for me to withdraw as gracefully as i can from this moneypit.

Good luck and goodnight

Oh dear mate.

Sorry to hear that!!!

Is the car going to be broken then? Could you not keep it and repair at a later point?

Ross

I'm so emotional right now, my face is turning purple.

NO WAY...

Proccy, keep the car, i will get my mates to weld if FOC.

locate an engine, i will get it fitted at my new work.

cant not have the purple monster out of the coupe fold.

last push.

im willing to get it done FOC mate regardless of what you say, it will take a while, but it will be done for spa.

What a shame Proccy, it's not like you gave up on the first hurdle though. If anyone on here has the right to show a bit of emotion it's you, chin up and good luck with the next car

oh forgot to add, if you do break it and move on... it will be a DAM shame.

you will be missed at spa...

Steve, so sorry to hear this Will another man hug help you think about it?

Gutted for you If it really is the end, I hope you'll stick about like many of us non-coop people

Noooooo You can't Steve

Sod what Jbt says, you never listen to him normally

You can't not come to Spa either It's not pointless without a Coupe at all and very enjoyable as a passenger and spectator.

It's not all about taking the Coupe there, it's about being with your mates too!

Arrggh, I wish I'd made you take me as a passenger again this year, so you'd have had to keep the Coupe to save letting me down!

I can't believe I'm reading this

Jeesh Steve, you have gone through loads of crap with that car mate, so I don't blame you nor am I surprised that it has come to this. All I will do is wish you the best, there are plenty of other great cars out there, and most are probably a safer bet for future motoring fun and frolics.

You have a good heart and I always agree or laugh with you on the threads you post in. I hope you stay around.

All the best dude!

Sorry to hear this proccy - especially after 3 resuscitations

Just to elaborate on this post.

I totally understand what your going through.

I bought my first coupe in 2005 and had it till 2008. In that time I lost a wheel while driving *shocked*, replaced the engine twice and then it let go a 3rd time. Financially and emotionally drained I broke mine and left. It wasn't easy and tbh I found it difficult to stay/come on here, as it was just too difficult, especially when I felt like my time with the coupe wasn't done yet.

You may get rid of this one and yet come back to play at a future point mate. Chin up and I'm sure you've looked at all options and done the best by you and yours.

Ross

Awww that's sad news Steve but that car has given you a hard time Maybe take a little break from coop ownership and see what happens. You could always go to Spa as a passenger and restore the coop love by having some of the enjoyment without the worry Good luck anyways

proccy,

I am seriously gutted for you, your one of the "good guys" who has taken every misfortune that has been thrown at you on the chin.

While I can understand that you don't have the cash to repair your coupe, I do hope that you will still hang around on fccuk.

Now can someone please explain to me what this obsession with the colour purple is?

Drive safe proccy!

No way!!!

Your one member I didn't expect to bow out, sounds like you've had a belly full though mate, what a great shame.

Maybe the coop love will return in time!

I only met you once and you were a cracking chap, good luck

Im gutted dont really know what to say to be honest

Sorry Steve,
this is the worst part of my job.

Steve. This is very bad news for those of us that know you mate. Stay here and dont leave. Get rid of the coupe.Take a break from them.
My advice to you is to have some time to reflect with one eye on the coupe market.
A little gem will come along and you will once again enjoy being a coupist.
You know i share your love of the Coupe,club and all the laughs it brings mate.
So dont go far Steve.

Steve whatever you do please dont leave the forum permenantly. This place really wouldnt be the same without you hope we can all still meet up for beers sometime?

One of the forum members I've wanted to meet but never had the chance.

Despite not knowing you personally it'd be sad to see you go. Stick around

Terrible news steve

It is a huge shame to hear you want rid of the Coupe Steve, but I can't say I blame you with the luck you had with it.

Surely you still have to go to Spa though... I haven't bought you that drink yet.

James

Sorry to hear that Steve

I've seen on here the work, time and money that has gone into your car so can appreciate how hard of a decision that's got to be.

What you going to replace the coupe with....?

I read this earlier as it was posted. I have just been taking some time to reflect on it.

Lost for words really.


Steve, if you do leave you will be truly missed. However I can empathise with your situation 100% due to my own circumstances.

You had a lucky escape...

He already has a Bmw E46 323i as a run around, for when the Coupe is being fixed, so am assuming he'll stick with that for now, as long as no more old blokes hit it




Well, it all started when we went to Spa last year. I was proccys passenger and agreed to drive to his house, leave my Coupe there and then jump in his Coupe for the journey.
I had with me, a rucksack for general stuff and a small case (and I mean small), for my clothes, for day time and night time, etc.

Proccy took the p!ss out of me for the small case and asked me how long we were going for
All he had with him, basically, were the clothes he was wearing and a jumper, just in case
We were in Spa for three days and it was cold, wet and we had hailstones too.
Needless to say, proccy had to wear his one and only jumper for three days and nights solid and it happened to be a purple jumper

Anyway, me and MCMike started taking the p!ss for his purple jumper and a few others picked up on it too.

It was mentioned a few times on here when we came back too and then I changed his name from black to purple and it's just carried on from there, for nearly a year now

Proccy loves it and so do we and that's why you can't leave us proccy!!

A little reminder of the jumper

Really sorry to hear this Steve. I am going through the ring getting mine back on the road so I understand the heartache.

Take up Marcos offer and soldier on!

Despite what everyone else has said Procc, I have often thought you mad (in a nice way I hasten to add) but still mad at the sheer amount of money you have spent. It really is time to cut your losses and dump the car.

Take it from me there are plenty of other cars that give you the grins for none of the worries.

Good luck with it all, but I will be a lone voice and say you are doing the right thing, some cars are just built on a Friday afternoon and can be fixed

This is sad and I'm sorry to hear that the Coupe has gone past the point of no return for you, reading your story however I can see and understand why you've made the choice you've made.

Good luck!

It was good to meet you and the Leccy Plus at Cosford

Your one of the good guys mate and to see this happen to you yet again is testament to the fact nothing is fair in this life. Im pretty sure you had to dig deep last time it went pop so to be confronted with the same situation yet again I can only respect and commend your decision to draw a line under the hole sorry affair.

I think a break away does us all good, there are still plenty of good ones about and plenty will remain about if you ever choose to come back.

I'm not sure what else to say other than don't be a stranger. Its always good to see you at the meets regardless of bringing a coupe.

All the best mate,
Sam

Bad news dude. I know exactly how it feels and for what it's worth, i think you've made the right choice.

Good luck

proccO I don't know what to say, I really don't.

Here's hoping a big financial windfall befalls you and your back to your old cheeky Coupe loving self.

Like the others say, mates is mates and there's always a beer on the table for you.

Sorry to hear about this proccy.

Good luck.

Nice jumper! Surely you shall be coming back to Coop ownership in a Porto?

Gutted for you Steve, I know it will have been a decision you've arrived at through no lack of consideration. FWIW I also think you've made the right call in ditching that coop. Looked but the damn thing was cursed.

Hope you still around on here, as many ex-coopsters do, and show your face on some socials and DEFINITELY come to Spa. You'd be welcome to come out as a passenger and travel down with me?

Let me know mate.

Really sorry to hear about this, Proccy

I can fully understand why you have made your decision though.

Make sure you stay around ... there are plenty of us 'alumni' around here

It'd be great to see you in the passenger seat of my Westie at a track day soon

Sorry to hear this hope you stay in the forum Proccy.

Good luck.

Proccy, I really feel for you...but I think you've made the right decision.

I went through the same with my last Alfa.....no matter how much I spent and how good it looked...the Bitch always bit back.......

Good luck, take a break and then come back and enjoy another one when you're ready.

Steve, I'm so sorry that It's come to this but it seems you have accepted that your coupe has too many bodywork issues to make engine repairs viable.
It's something that increasing numbers of owners will face over the next few years.
I love my coupe to bits and yet I know I'm enjoying (relatively) cheap proformance car motoring, while it lasts.
In truth I (and many others)am a cam belt away from the the same pridicament.
I know that most of what I spend on the car can be stripped back off to recoup a proportion of the outlay, and that gives me some comfort.
So take that step back and see how you feel.
You know there'll still be a good choose of decent coupes out there for the finding if you wish to own one again. Its's just a matter of snapping up a little gem should the time be right.
So I wont be supprised if you turn up with a very standard prestine coupe in the next few years.

I've enjoyed meeting you at the two meets I've attended and you will be missed on the forum.

I hope you still get over to Curbourgh to say Hi.
Good luck.
Tim

Ditto

Steve, sad news for all the teasers

It's an understandable point your at Steve.
No doubt a sorted example will bring you back.
Rust will get them all eventually and will test us all.
Stick around though.

Sad times.. but totally understand your position, good luck.

gutted for you Steve! Can't believe that this hasn't been brought up before considering all the work you've had done lately?

Stay around mate it won't be the same without you.

Thats a real shame Steve, to be fair though, that car just doesnt quit does it?

Definetly a friday afternoon model i reckon.

Chin up, go buy yourself an N/A, and relax.

It must be bad if this isn't enough:





Seriously though dude this is really bad news, but I can understand perfectly why you'd lose heart. Such a stunning looking Coupé too, what a terrible shame

Sorry to hear this!
Btw. Are you breaking the jumper?

ive got first dibbs on the jumper!!

the jumper needs to be framed and kept in Mario's office

Hard cash talks.
50p delivered.

Steve - only just got on the forum, can't believe this day has come

I really hope when you have reflected that a) you will stick around on the forum and b) come to Spa purely for the beers, jumpers, etc.

Very surprised your car has rust issues, she looked so good with that respray

Its odd that the rust has never been noticed before especially in the body shop before the respray? Any ideas where it is? To think a car like yours has suffered from rust makes me very worried.

Dont worry proccy will be cornered, gagged and tied up
Then the next day we will convince him to come to spa

have it!

i get proccy for 49p for the weekend!

Sorry to read this Steve - only met you the once at Bassets Pole on the way to the Star City some years ago and there was no sign then it would end like this.

You've had some lousy luck and a lot of us will say "there but for the grace of God" I guess.

I had nothing but fun from my two Coupes but we all know there's a horror story or two from owners who ain't been so lucky. I've been where you are with an Integrale 8v which almost bled me dry and made me want to post something like your original on this thread (there weren't forums in those days though).

Anyway, good luck whatever road you go down - but carry on sniffing around on here. This thread proves there are a lot of good people worth staying in touch with.

Oh no Proccy - who will my kids beat up when I finally manage to arrange to go to another meet?

Sad day fella, sweet looking car, sweet sounding car sound guy.

Buy a 16v and run that - then you can still do all the things you ever wanted but much more reliably!!

Steve,
'tis a sad day. The metal moth strikes again .

You have made the right decision with this beastie, but like The Terminator, YOU'LL BE BACK !

Good luck mate,

Tim

I havent met you, but your posts have always been warm and good, and judging by the other posts above youre a good bloke.
Pity we havent caught up before and had a chinwag over some beers.
Hope things turn out alright and I hope you stick around to offer some future pearls of wisdom....
Rudi

quick question if i may?

i haven't seen the rust yet but from what JBT describes it's pretty horrendous and extensive - my question is, should it have been spotted at MOT time (17th Feb this year!!) and an advisory (at least) issued with the MOT?

I suppose if its bad enough to now make the car pretty much unrepairable (from a cost point of view) then I can only imagine that they should have picked up at least an advisory.

Ross

Steve, to the best of my current knowledge: if the rust is likely to be a safety issue within 3 months or less then it should fail the MOT. It is likely to become to an issue in 6 months or more then it is an advisory.

I will stress that I learned that from VOSA about two years ago but I doubt it has changed much, if at all, since then.

I suspect VOSA may be your next point of contact.....

Steve - I sympathise, but I'm pretty confident you're making the right decision. You would be fighting a losing battle keeping the rust at bay, unless you spent a small fortune having it stripped and rebuilt properly

I think you should break the car - you'll get a good few quid for all the Plus bits

Alternatively, buy a straight, low mileage 20VT and transfer as much of the Plus as you can - that way, you'll be back on the road in a (reliable) Coupe pretty soon

I was desperate to keep my Sprinty, but the rust was taking hold and I couldn't see the sense in spending double the car's value just to keep it out of the scrappy - so it had to go.

Good luck in whatever direction you choose, but I have a feeling that a lightly-modded Coupe will be in your hands before very long

I had fairly well hidden rust which would not have been found without removing the inertia and external trim and the under seal.

I would be interested to see some pics of the rust, so I can have a good look at mine.

It hasn't changed as far as I know and still stands.

i'm off to JBT's monday to take a load of pics, i'll post up and see what you experts think. i have no desire to apportion any blame anywhere, just interested in how such "extensive" deterioration could have been missed just a few weeks ago

I'm in the same boat Steve

Check out my thread - I've added pics of my offside sill - this was a resounding immediate fail! lol

Gutted to read this thread and see you leaving the fold

Typical that this would happen just as I find the reason for you wearing purple at Coupé events you closet Duran Duran fan you! When Simon LeBon met the rest of the band and there is a referance made to the Purple Clothing he wore

I hope you find better luck with your new steed of choice, the Fiat adventure has not been good to you

Ah bad times Steve

The car looked lovely at Spa last year (even if it wasn't running right) so it seems such a waste of a beautiful motor when the tin worm strikes.

I guess there is a point you have to accept the losses and walk away

just a short post to say i've been to JBT's today to see the utter chaos that the underside of my car is! i was going to take pics but i was too shocked at the devastation this car has endured in it's 11 years.

there are some great people on this forum and in this community, and again some of the offers of help (almost all free of charge) has been touching. and because of this it's too tough to just walk away. having had a chat to JBT's welder who was there and assessing with JBT what the costs or repair might be compared to starting again, i've decided to give this car one very very last chance. i realise there will be people on here who will question my sanity in arriving at this decision and especially if they'd seen the state of it underneath. i agree, i DO think i'm nuts and will probably live to regret this decision as much as my bank manager will.

so, in a few weeks i'll be handing over a large wad of cash in return for a car that's been nothing but the deepest money pit i've ever known. over £20k spent up to now not including the purchase price......

finally (not so short a post after all, sorry) a massive thanks to JBT and his unswerving honesty, enthusiasm and help not to mention vast amounts of skill.

so i'm back......let the games re-commence!!

oh, and my excellent purple jumper WILL be seen at Spa

That's amazing news!

I would dearly like to see some pictures if possible at any point, I have always looked at yours with envious eyes as its such a bloody clean example from the outside, I think it could/has serve to save a lot of coupes, a wake up call that rust is becoming a real big problem.

Which ever which way, Good luck with the repair work and I hope it all works out

You're clinically insane.

Despite the massive amount of money that you've ploughed into this car, your commitment is to be admired. Well done. (I think )

Good news then Steve. Didn't see this thread, been caught up with other things. Hope things go well for you.

Fantastic Steve, and a great up to the community and all those genuine folk that have offered to help.

See you at Spa

Steve - your commitment is legendary Personally, I think you're barmy - you HAVE to walk away at some time, but somehow, I can appreciate why you're still throwing money at a car that's worth a quarter of what you've spent on it.

I was interested to see the piccies, but for now, can you describe what the corrosion issues are?

Good decision! Surprise, but a good decision nevertheless, you know what has been done to the car and can take steps to prevent further deterioration so you will have a long term coupé, just like mine

Nice one!

Just picking on this comment:




This is *one* of the reasons we no longer allow comments in Coupés For Sale adverts: we were getting loads of comments along the lines of "Great looking car" or "I've seen this car in the metal and it looks great" but no-one can really tell how badly the car has been affected by corrosion or repaired following corrosion or a collision, and it has happened that people have ended up buying on the glowing comments.......!

At least we don't have to put away the "Big Purple Joke Book"

I agree with what your saying Stan, Any car is pretty much a unknown enterty until probed with a screw driver and a set of ramps, and judging by his MOT pass even then its not a 100% sure bet

I think the extent of the damage has took every one off guard, unfortunately serves as a reminder shiny on the outside doesn't always mean shiny on the underside

Yes, and remember that an MOT tester is *not* allowed to dismantle any part of a vehicle to inspect it. Now think of the number of people on here who have posted horror pictures of what they've found when they've removed the rear quarter panel behind the Pininfarina badges.....

Now imagine some of the hiding places the coupé has, by design, for example, the wheel arches front and rear are hidden by plastic liners.

However, I stand by what I said before: if this was likely to be spotted by a tester and was going to be a safety issue within three months it should have been a fail, and an advisory if it would rear its head within six months. VOSA would be interested if this was structural corrosion and not detected when it should have been. Well worth the cost of a phone call.....

Still, glad that Steve has decided to give a coupé one more chance to breathe again. Hopefully the issue with throwing the belts has been sorted finally too?

The weather you have in the UK is not good for the Coupé.
I have a 14 years Coupé and no problem with rust

thanks for your support Nigel, much appreciated as always. in retrospect i wish i'd taken pics because, as they say, it paints a thousand words.

corrosion issues were on the floor beneath the rear seat area where there looks as though there should be draining plugs? they've all corroded off and replaced with something like 10 - 12 x 2cm holes of pure rust, some of these within a couple of cm of what i am told are guaranteed MOT failure sites. the compensator spring was rusted through and ganging down compltely immersed in rust. JBT (having been an MOT inspector in his past) was astounded it passed the MOT on 17th Feb this year. plenty of rust around the subframe and rear suspension and according to JBT's welder somewhere in the region of 48 hours welding.

other issues discovered were cracked alternator, unsecured brake pipes, some clips left undone/missing.....

i realise my "affection" for this car is probably on a par with a crack-cocaine addicts love for a high, but i don't seem able to leave it alone. i wish i understood why this is, as if ever a car was crying out for scrapping this is it!

@ stan - someone has suggested the cracked alternator could have contributed to the belts throwing themselves over the metaphorical cliff, another suggestion was a cracked engine mount....both suggestions from respected and knowledgeable people off here. to try and eradicate that i've asked JBT to fit his modified pulley which deflects a broken belt away from the cam-belt area (touching a rainforests's worth of wood here)!!!

so, the bank manager and me drew a big breath and said lets do it......he's as mad as me lol - but neither of us is as mad as zimpara

lucky boy! it is lovely over there but surely near the coast you must have rust issues? i'm flying into faro in september if you fancy giving me a lift to punta umbria?

Its crying not to be scrapped!!



That will be the cause of your belt issues then!

SPA wouldnt have been the same without you there mate!

i'll be there mate, senny dave threatened me if i didn't go

Good to hear you are sticking with it mate.

Especially since you are still going to make spa, which looks like its a cracking event.

Are you prepared to indicate (even roughly) what the cost of repair is? I feel it may be beneficial for people to know exactly the cost, when it goes un-noticed.

Ross

You cant ask that

Rumor has it that Proccy is pimping out Marco to help fund the bill. Put it this way... he wont be walking right for months

Steve - not wishing to scare you too much, but I strongly recommend you check the area where the boot floor meets the inner wheelarch - if you have ANY signs of rust inside the boot, you will probably require remedial work there too.

The trouble is that this section is where three panels join, and its an absolute nightmare to repair it properly. When I knew that my Sprinty had some rust bubbles in the boot, I spoke with CarlT about it. Out of all the Coupe specialists, I would regard him as the most knowledgeable when it comes to knowing about Coupe rust issues - he's pretty much seen everything that its possible to see on a rusty Coupe.

When my Coupe was stripped, we also found the front wheelarches had holes behind the plastic liners - not pretty

However, the bit that really killed it for me was the the base of the B pillar was bubbling (inside the door reveal) - once it was stripped, I hit it with a small hammer and it went straight through

I hope it can be saved, but I would honestly suggest you consider doing what I did - take all your good bits off the 'leccy blue and transfer them to a bodily-sound shell (possibly with a blow engine?...)

cheers again Nigel, i think i'm pretty much sure that'll be my next step - just need to find a good clean example.

i was going to do that this time, there's a S reg inky for sale i was considering prior to agreeing to save mine...

This is what i would do as well,then you might have quite a few excess parts to sell to at least help fund the swap around!

Well done Steve. Nigels advice is good though steve.
As you know i am stripping out a 104,000 mile coupe to be made ready for track work. The coupe has been in the UK and Ireland for all its life.
The front end is done now. It was rusty sure,but not as bad as i thought it would be.
I now have the wheel arch liners off and what i am finding is small patches of rust under the rubberised underseal.
I am having to cut the sealant and mastic like stuff away to get at good metal.
When it rained a few weeks ago i was inside the stripped out coupe and the rain was running in through those side badges,and they are fixed on correctly.
Alexis says that i will find the real rust when i get the rear subframe off,and i believe him. To be honest i cant believe how resonable mine is for the rust worm.
If you have any second thoughts now you are home and after reading all our comments. Get yourself back down to JBT and take a second peek mate.

Surely you are not keeping this car? I felt so bad for you when I read this thread a few days ago, but you looked like you were going to make the right choice and there was not much I could say about it.

IMHO, this is madness.

Please, consider doing what Nigel says or just giving up. It's your money, but this car has had way too much of it already and you are now pouring away good money after bad. If you do this you WILL be back in here witin a year looking down the barrel of another massive bill.

Sorry to be harsh Steve, but I feel I have to say it.

I actually agree with this.

If I'd been unlucky enough to go through what you have with the car and then taken the gamble to give it another go, I'd be looking to fully restore a shell and then transplant everthing that's good from your Plus into it. Replace anything that might be suspect mechanically and hopefully sit back and relax. It's the only way to get the car you really want.

If you've spent 20k on a Fiat Coupe with more to come, it really needs to be a keeper for life. THE best around.

Even found a couple of pics when I did the rear subframe 6 years ago


I did pull at the underseal on that one, glad I did, ground a lot of it back and went over it with hammerite.

Steve, great news No more man hugs from me now

Are my comments so massively off the mark the rest of the time?

Hi Steve,just read this post1 Really gutted for you! Only met you the once at MITCAR last year,your a thouroughly decent chap in my humble opinion!!! Your coop looked and sounded superb.You must take up the offers from real freinds and get the coop back on the road. Maybe stay standard for a while then dip your toes gently?
Good luck in whatever you decide mate!

I think it's an incredibly difficult decision.

it's easy for anyone to say, scrap the car, don't throw anymore money at it but Steve has put 20k into it over time. If he scraps it now, he'll get some money for parts but no car at the end of it.

It does sound like the Rust issue can be fixed though.

Its Heart over Head...
If my car was like that and I had spent so much on it I would want to try and save it.

Its a though one... im sure that if JBT and his welder are doing the work the subframes will all be removed along with arch liners etc etc if they havent already been!

cheers Duncan - yeah that's about how it is, but had the rust been allowed to take further hold it would have been a write off. i sincerely hope i have no need to write anymore of these "drama queen" threads

you big purple

Steve - seriously, you need to consider this idea - let's take this car as an example

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2679179.htm

One of the best colours (IMHO) and quite local

So - how much are you about to spend on saving the leccy-blue? (engine AND corrosion) £2k? £3k?

Buy the Moonie at just under £4k, then start selling the bits off your blue Plus - I reckon you would EASILY make £2k, probably a lot more - for example:-

Interior - £750
Gearbox - £400
Brembos - £200
Aircon - £100
180mph clocks - £100
Wheels - £400
Body panels -(bonnet, doors etc) - £250?
Rocker cover - £75
lockset & ECU - £250
centre console carpet sections £1,000,000

I make that about £2,500 already.

then you've got all the other bits, such as:-

oil cooler
power steering
steering rack
oil pump
alternator
battery
suspension
hubs (assuming your bearings are OK)
driveshafts
carpets
various engine bay components - tanks, covers, radiators, hoses etc

THEN you'd have all of the excess bits that you would remove from the Moonie when you fit your good bits from the old car -

Stainless exhaust - £150
Brake discs - £40

I reckon you could end up with a perfect car at a NET cost of WAY under a grand

Put it this way, my own Moonie cost me a LOT less than £500 after I'd sold all the bits from the Sprinty and the surplus bits off the Moonie

Sorry, but I reckon you're mad to try to save the blue Plus, especially when you can make so much money from selling it

I'm happy to share my experience of selling the bits and how much I got for them - maybe it will make you change your mind

you love it

Steve,

you can buy my moonie for 5k ... engine on 45k

cheers, so generous - but my bank manager just passed out

I'll wait til the end of the year Duncan, then you'll be giving me money AND your car

be careful what you wish for

No.

I said "I actually agree with this" because I've already commented congratulating Proccy for his commitment.

Proccy,
absolute bug*er of a decision; I would probably take the scrap and build a new one option, but I've only spent £5K on mine (in a year ).

Plenty of lost sleep I'm sure, but good luck in whatever course of action you take. You'll get a lot of help from here whatever,

Tim

Isn't it amazing how a car can go from this to a rustbucket in such a short time

Scary and enough to make you think about having the underside checked properly

I'm going with all the others who have advised getting a donor car to transfer all the bits over mate. It is the best solution me thinks and perhaps the financially less crippling one.
All the best though.

Nigels idea is by far the best financially but I can see why you would want to keep that perticular car going, after all the blood sweat and tears that you've been through together! Its like saying goodbye to an old friend!

Excellent news Steve

Fantastic news Steve.

Steve - if it's any consolation, mine's just failed on rust in much the same places as you describe - though possibly not so bad as yours.

And of course, I have the one car that loses its whole point if the bits are swapped to another shell - so it's getting fixed, like it or not.

btw - has no-one pointed out yet the colour of metal covered with phosphor-based rust protector? It's purple...

Steve, welcome along, why don't you consider spending £15.00 and joining the club?

lol he is a club member

True, and I've raided a few of those type of clubs

There is rust all around the undercarriage,typically the later coupes rust worse than the early ones.

9 out of 10 cars i see now i am advising at least surface rust and they all go in the same places.

Without literally removing the sub-frames and the panels were not going to get to all the rust that lies beneath,but we will certainly remove any in sight,and hopefully prolong the life of the car for some time.

As for the belts jumping,the ps pump,idler and tensioner had a 2,mm run out over 20 inches of measurement.
As previously thought,the dowels were both missing from the big alloy cast mounting.
With the bolts loose you can move the casting side to side nearly 4 mm from top to bottom.

So 2 dowells ordered and hopefully this will see the end to this issue.

[/quote]
plenty of rust around the subframe and rear suspension and according to JBT's welder somewhere in the region of 48 hours welding

[/quote]

48hrs WTF

Whew! For a while I thought we'd lost you there!

48hrs WTF [/quote]

4-8 hours

Damn I was just about to copy and paste one of his salesman posts from an older post

you pair of p-taking bar stewards.....

Glad your sticking with it Steve,you have my respect for that and I'm sure you have been overwhelmed with the help that's been offered both to me and you to help get the car sorted.

Hope that this time it behaves itself.I will have a word with it before you have it back and explain that's its on a final warning.

cheers johnny

i did consider a fawlty towers moment of beating it with a twig, everything else had been tried

Well its not giving up without a fight,it sliced my hand and it threw a spanner in my face.
Its got a temper on it thats for sure.

Anyways,be nice to see it at Spa again.Hopefully mine wont let go a week before it this time.
Barbz is currently fool proofing it for me

Might need a passenger ride again if it does.

yeah you deserve some luck other than bad too lol!!

You've earned it

Glad to hear you're sticking with your Coop proccy.

This is a tough one - repair a rusty one - or re-shell.

I suspect in years to come, when Coupés become rare, the latter option will dissapear so folks will have to get the welding goggles on.

Currently Coupés are at their lowest ever value so I would think finding a solid coupé and swapping bits over would be the best option.

I know it's hard with Italian cars but I think you should make your decisions with the head and not the heart

This is fair enough for many cars, but there are one or two - like mine - which have a touch more historical significance. I really have no choice but to repair, or get out completely.

For me this opens a whole new can of worms...the how to section really needs a revamp to accommodate the change required to owning and keeping the beast on the road. Apart from my squealing manifold I intend to start treating the underside! It sounds so easy...
Takes me back to the first thread I ever read, one of Stans I think where he had stripped his car back to it's bones for the same reasons.

Well me ruining and stick a stick up proccy's bum.

I go away for 2 days and look what happens!!!

Proccy, speechless mate... Your a good man and I hope the best!

Can't wait to see you at spa!

you raging nonce, i'll see you at curborough if you turn up

Knowing Marco, something will happen at the last minute and won't be able to make it

just had a phone call from JBT - i've been a bit nervous because the engine i'd sourced was obviously a slightly unknown quantity and the last thing i needed was for John to establish it's not good

well, he turned the car over and i heard her roar into life again

comps from 145 - 150 across them all, hot oil at 2 bar

i love this car and especially this community

Great news Steve

Steve, great news!!

I normally get calls from JBT........... .

Will she be at Brooklands?

Tim

Excellent news Steve

cheers Adam - how's things with yours now?

brill news Steve well done.

Off to Flea on Saturday, nearly done now

... by the way Steve, you might think about changing your signature....

once the rust is banished Tim, then i might

Good News

Other than those 7 phone calls mate,its not been too bad.
But you do own 2 coupes so you have twice the hassle.
See you friday Tim anyways for the dreaded manifold.


Proccy,finally good news,32 hours of labour and i have been extra thorough triple checking everything as i have taken on the curse of Proccy.
Took it for a run and it drives well.Just the welding and a few other things to sort then the test of Flea.
So fingers crossed for that one.

great news steve!!!

Good to read you're still a Coupe owner Steve

Was that cast mount changed for a replacement?

No the mount itself is fine,the dowels were missing which was causing the position of all the pulleys to be out.
I checked in rotation with a dti gauge and theres no more than 0.05 run out which is great given the age of the car.

That said im still fitting a uprated pulley just in case.
New crank pulley,tensioner,idler,alternator,swapped the ac pump and ac tensioner so the only thing that was ran on the old engine is the Ps pump.

Great stuff JBT. I bet Your well chuffed Steve.

more chuffed than my bank manager that's for sure

Now only semi- ed...

Good luck,

Tim

[/quote]

Other than those 7 phone calls mate,its not been too bad.
But you do own 2 coupes so you have twice the hassle.
See you friday Tim anyways for the dreaded manifold [/quote]

I've got a £5 Morrisons voucher

Good to here there is a reason for the belt letting go and you can correct it.
Respect for putting her right too.
I am not so sure that the cars that make suitable donors are in very good condition. Sure I bet there are minters about but why do a chop job with another wise immaculate car>? I mean why put other parts in a car that you buy because its immaculate. it should speak for its self as immaculate.

What was the reason for the belt letting go four times then?

Well chuffed Steve, I was worried for a moment that there would be no-one to relentlessly take the micky out of at Spa

Steve,
saw the old girl today at JBTs - LOOKED in good shape, just hope it works out OK.

Tim

cheers Tim - was there any work going on or is she an ornament?

I've always felt there's been an issue with that cast mount as there's been four failures in 2 years, if that mount was reused on every engine it might of explained reasons.

At the end of the day it's being rebuilt so fair play to you and Steve for sticking with it.

A very attractive ornament yesterday - John was up to his neck with my exhaust manifold until about 4 o'clock. He did get a beer and a (small) Easter Egg for his troubles!

Thanks for the beer Tim,much appreciated.Was like a bloody greenhouse in the workshop yesterday.

Any news?

about what?

your jumper of course

i might present it to you in Spa Mike, its suits your car better than mine

he he I will look forward to that !!

now about your Plus ... how is the old girl coming along ?

well i heard from JBT yesterday that it's possible i could get her back this week.....i have a mapping session on 14th so i hope so

great stuff !

Excellent news

Ditto

Just hope that Flea doesn't break it again

Only joking; good news Steve, and good luck

I saw your car at JBT's today Steve, he said it was running now and was working away on the brake pipes - probably to make sure it stops as well as it goes! - by 'stop' I don't mean that in bad way!

Hope all is well when you get her back mate, didn't look too far off being finished!

JBT - Thanks for your time today, since I was passing I figured it would have been rude not to have said hello and find out where the water leak originates from.

So any chance of you turning up at Curbourgh Steve ?

cheers Tom, JBT rang me tonight and he's about ready. we've agreed he'll run it over the weekend and see if there's any leaks/issues and then i should be picking it up Monday if i can get there!!

@ sandy - i expect to be there late afternoon straight from work, be nice to see you again

Congrats Proccy!

Also well done to JBT for fixing it!

shame i cant come to Curbourgh to see the purple in the flesh... but there will be spa

NOW proccy, Enjoy that flipping car...
you slag....

Great! Hoping for the best!

don't be making Marco jealous now Steve

too late Mike.... my feelings have been hurt.

im cutting the purple man off.

time for a brief update for the meagre amount of people with a glimmer of interest in this car and it's saga;

got the car back off JBT 8 days ago, turbo now smoking pretty well........oh the joys!!! and Spa just round the corner too. i've NEVER been this broke, or this p1ssed off with a car

somehow that smilie doesn't do my anger justice

Oh dear did you go for mapping at the weekend ? and what are you doing about the smoking ?

Sorry to hear this Proccy!

It sounds like you're in the same boat as me now! My car is sat at JBT's with a smoking turbo and needs mapping before Spa! It's all getting a bit tight for my liking!!

Hope you manage to get it all sorted in time!

well the AA just came and said it's not the turbo, the pipe is clear of oil. so i don't know wtf's going on now - this cars days, and my days as a coop owner, are drawing to a rapid close i think - i can't take much more of this

Could it be the plenum none return valve Steve?

Proccy, i have a brand new NRV that you can have!!

i will bring it with me Tomorrow!!

its free to you sexy!!
x

Sorry to hear this proccy and hope it turns out to be a quick, easy fix

@ Joe - no idea mate

@ T - and how likely is that? i'd say slightly above zero

dont ignore me you

sorry mate, didn't mean to

i'll see you tomorow mate, as for the fault with it i have no clue whatsoever - hopefully JBT will have as he put it all together. i was rather hoping it was the turbo as my AA repair policy would probably have covered it - other than that i have no way of paying for anything else

well, if its not the turbo, it will be some thing minor that JBT can easily sort!!!

the NRV is free to you mate, just need to know before 6am tomorrow morning so i can bring it with me!!!

bring it anyway you cabbage, if it's not needed you can take it back

hahaha
ok you i will pick it up and bring it with me!

i would not worry mate, its going to be some thing simple!

main thing is it works and your back up and purple!

i'll be there tomorrow late on in my crappy bmw, but at least it works!! i have zero confidence in the coop now, it's going to have to go

Could it be a slight overfill of oil?Mine puffed a right cloud when i overfilled...after some mileage it then stopped.

doubt it Ruby, JBT originally filled it and i've been watching it like a hawk since.....

I presume its actually coming out of the exhaust?? Or just from the front?

Ross

right, back at JBT's tomorrow for the latest episode

Good luck mate, hope its nothing serious....

Whats the news steve?making it to spa i hope.!

i expect to be there Reub, JBT is picking my car up tonight and if it's what he suspects it is i should be there in mine - if not i will try to cadge a lift somehow

Never mind somehow

You know you can come along with me, even if it does mean putting up with a girl driving

Don't be silly, T - you know girls can't drive the coupe.

There's no choke button to pull out and hang your handbag on!

well we had a nice leisurely drive yesterday, bit of shopping, smelling the flowers - as we went round the curborough track

Yes 2 girls in a Sprint Blue Coupe

but no sign of a tarts' boudoir

any updates..look forward to the tunnel runs down south

still hopeful of making Spa in it. be great to have those convoys again Reubs. currently the turbo is off and (hopefully) being refurbed and the car may be available to me towards the end of this coming week. if needed, that gives me a week to get the fuelling checked/mapped at Flea's place but timing could be an issue

shame T's recording thingy was so crap last year, the sound of my exhaust through the dartford tunnel was epic!!

So was it the turbo that's buggered then??

looks that way mate yeah

Shame you didn't suggest recording sooner, giving me hardly any time to download and install an app to try and record the sound

No thanks either for taking the risk of dropping my phone out of the window

Your car did sound good though

I think a flamer kit should be fitted to your car too, would be great through the tunnel

the closest this car is coming to a flamer kit is 5 litres of shells best, and a box of matches

to be honest, the best thing for an i-phone is to drop it out the window

Lol

I was relying on you to give me a lift mate as my cars not done yet

Sorry i havent replied to this for ages but been so busy at the moment.
I thoroughly test everything on the breather system,followed by disconnecting it out of the loop completely and driving it for a weekend.
Strangely enough the smoke occurs on this car when lifting of the throttle.

This turbo has had an engine fail,another throw a big end on low oil pressure and finally a failure at Donny.So its done well.
Usually after filling the oil with filings the first thing to go is the turbo.
I got the turbo off on Thursday and sent it off on Friday.
I will get the report on Monday,but visually there was oil in the waste-gate side,followed by a series of cracking around the casing and excessive play in the shaft resulting in the blades impacting with the casing.
I put my gauge into the block and the oil pressure is fine,so its just one of those things.
I also comp tested the engine from hot as well as cold and it was 150+over all cylinders.
I also used a bore scope to check for any cracking on the pistons but all looked good.In fact you can see the original honing marks on the bores of this engine.

So to put this in perspective,
Fleas mapping my currently nowhere near finished car on Friday followed by Proccys on Saturday.
And somewhere in there i hope we can squeeze your car in Nick....

I am getting concerned at the lack of time before Spa,and i currently have 17 coupes on site down from 22 last week.
7 of which are currently dead and going to Spa.

Anyway in case i don't get time to re-post on here i hope this has a positive outcome.

Christ I thought I had too much on my hands at times

What your forgetting is JBT is a car whore and loves it!!

He is just like a woman... Loves to man but really... Loves every minute of it!!

In your dreams.Your wont get the J-Bird to go to the darkside.

LOL great one, you love having them cars there, you love being that busy...

INFACT...

i would say you love it more than Proccy loves his purple jumper!!!

Had the report back,
the impellor has been worn,the bearing is shot and theres heavy signs of oil contamination which as thought would be caused from an engine failure.
Turbos on its way back to me and this should be up and running tomorrow night.
So mine and proccys car will be set for a thorough testing at the hands of Flea this weekend.
Yikes!!!!!!!!

i'm searching for a big piece of wood to hug - damn, i need some good luck

Fingers crossed for both of you two!!!

If you cant find a tree !! Hug each other. Good luck chap's.

cheers mate - mine just needs the fuelling checking really, i won't be risking any rolling road.....i'm 90% convinced that it'll be back at jbt's next week, although i have to stress i have 100% confidence in his work, it's just this car

I wouldnt either...something about loading seems to cause belt jumping i think.Heard of lots of belts jumping on rolling roads.

I have some experience in this area

Really? Posts here have indicated that the belt lets go due to the savage acceleration on a heavily modified car, how is the loading going to effect that?!

A guess really in fairness,but alot have gone on rolling roads..

I'm sure Marco will give you some of his wood

you're not talking about his head are you?

he tried to give me wood at the agm, but i wouldn't open the hotel room door

I'll bet he did !!! - good luck with your car this weekend

It's practically a new car now, nothing left to go wrong.

all will be good

A rolling road actually generates less load than the car will when on the road itself.

Steve fingers crossed this is the last thing for you and you have a perfect reliable coupe for many years to come

I wish you the very best luck possible. After all you been through it's impossible to have any more bad luck surely. So all the best.

Hope it all goes well for both your cars, proccy and Jbt

There just as likely to come off on the road,.
Typically the low spooling turbos suffer more with this than the big stuff.

You also dont drive your car to the extent that the mapper does and for as long as he does.
SO if there going to fail then they will fail on that day being put under alot more stress.


Lets not also forget that the cost of replacing the aux belts and the minimal access causes alot of folk to put this job off.
Despite the issues and widely known problem i see cars weekly with deteriorated belts and also belts that have been on for 2years plus.
They never fail on new belts,so for the sake of £100 before the rollers i would personally not risk it and get them done.

All good for Proccy today, fantastic car and well worth saving The future's brighter, the future's purple!

Great news

Just got the text from Flea,.
Was running rich as thought by exhaust note on over run,.
All has gone well as above,.

Well done Steve and Flea,well worth it and he seemed impressed with the car,.

Fantastic stuff. At last some good news.

Woohoow!

well after all the good news it was inevitable - my bad luck has returned
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i've lost the tool to undo my valve caps!!! i'm scrapping it!!

this bloody purple thing is now 1yr old folks, i mean - come on give it a 'kin rest!!!

on a more serious note, the car is saved for now thanks largely to two people who have gone well beyond the call of duty and gone into my book as complete coop heroes....they know what they've done for me and i won't forget it, i hope there's a time i can adequately repay the tremendous dedication, generosity and friendship displayed in my many hours of need recently.

great drive home today on the lower boost setting, and i can say i'm ecstatic at how it's performing. there was a massive merc amg thing that got fed up of trying to shake me off and eventually after about 80 miles, he let me past at strensham no staying power!!!

bring on Spa, shame Leighton won't be there to be honest - you will be missed fella <<< for flea and JBT

After your initial post on here mate,im glad the love is back.
Enjoy it.

Hey Proccy

nutters.com

You're welcome proccy and I'm sure Mike will be along to say thanks for the appreciation when he reads this too

I've tried to persuade him. Under the thumb too much that boy, think he's lost his masculine assertiveness when his hair was cut

Best off having a hair cut like me.
The Fleas certainly had a few problems with his current haircut thats for sure.

so - lots of smoke from my exhaust recently culminating in JBT taking it in to examine what it might be. any guesses folks? the winner gets to pay the bill!! can't say fairer than that..............

Well its smoking as you put you're foot down mate. So it could be any number of things.
Was the engine you had put in last a rebuild ? Or just a doner engine installed without being checked ?

donor engine Joe - bad luck eh?

Could be just that Steve.

well just a brief update if anyone cares about this car anymore, i'm not even sure i do

JBT has the technical details but basically the recent engine has some major issues on cylinder 3 rendering it pretty useless. Johnny's been running it for a few days and it's using enough oil to warrant it's own tanker following it around, so looks like either more major expense or run it until it dies.

this will be my last coupe much as i love the car, the forum and especially the people i've got to know.

JBT is coming back to me with a couple of options and prices, and i have to again acknowledge how brilliant he has been to me - however the curse of this car is so far defeating even the best mechanics around......

watch this space, if you're still awake.....

Terrible luck yet again Steve, chin up fella - think of the jupiler and taurettes in Belgium.

bad luck mate

unbelievable, really can't believe your luck Steve. Hope you manage to get something sorted, but i can imagine this must be pushing your sanity now!

FFS sorry to hear problems again proccy

Words can not descride how gutted I am for you.

corrected for you there Marco

Gutted for you Steve I was looking at your car yesterday thinking how nice it looks.

Jesus, that is some bad luck you're having.

Steve,

Wasn't that engine just an eBay punt? I've potentially a couple of lumps coming up for sale if you want to persevere?

Jesus you could do with a change of luck. Buy some Euromillions tickets this week pal.

no the engine was from off here but it's not the guy's fault who sold it me - no blame there. Thanks for the offer Dan, do you know if those engines are any good? JBT is also looking at options for me.

my luck is, if i bought the winning ticket i'd lose it somewhere

Sorry to hear bad news again Steve.

There is bad luck but I think what you're going through with this car is worse than that

oh man!

more like insert it some where..

Proccy, i keep reading this and i cant say how gutted this is to read..

my offer is always open for help mate...

for the money you have spent you should have a 600bhp coupe with a fresh re-spray and the best of every thing on it..



i will keep my eyes open for a good lump for you mate.

Flippin eck Proccy

Hey JBT don't go putting my engine in Proccys!

Steve - I reckon you now have a couple of options

1) Get a standard lump with known history and condition, back it all off to around 300bhp and enjoy the reliability

2) Get a lump with a known good bottom end and cylinder head, but dead pistons / bores. Get the block bored and add some forged pistons and then you'll be able to run bigger power with confidence

Personally, I'd go for option 1 - as I've often said, the difference between a 300bhp and 400bhp car on the road is minimal. In fact a well set up 300bhp Coupe will beat a bigger powered car in some conditions

besides, you'll always have the noisiest exhaust....

I'm a little tentative to offer you any lumps Steve, as even though I know one is good and the other potentially good, I know your luck/curse

One has 64k, was comp tested all between 152-159 and ran well and very strongly with no smoke before it came out. History of recent belt change in June 2010 and oil changes, but by no means complete history.

The other is on the LE, with 102k but a full forum owned service history. That one will be out and tested very soon.

PM me if JBT's hunt if fruitless?

Good luck with what ever you decide Steve.

Sad news Steve, although given the amount of smoke it was coughing out the back at Spa, I cant say im surprised - more surprised you made it home!

Think about future Coupe ownership/modding carefully, i seem to remember you once posting that you had spent £25k on this car, stop and think about that for a minute, for that money you could have this...

Mmmmmmmmm

Plenty of power, looks that make you bite the back of your hand etc etc.

Good luck anyway.

i know what you're saying shiny but i'd have had to shell out £25k in one go for that - and what if that engine failed?
the thing that money couldn't buy is the experiences and friends i've gained through this car and the forum. yeah it's a lot of money in a short space of time but everyone needs a hobby, right?

cheers Dan i'll bear it in mind

I think your hobbey is akin to being addicted to crack... but more damaging!

That said your right, money isnt everything and memory's last a life time unlike money. For what its worth mate I do hope things get better for you because this is a bloody joke. Ill stop wining about my gearbox now as compared to you its, well, nothing

You've come around to my way of thinking and hopefully means you'll still be keeping the car?

After spending 25K, there's no way you can get rid of it, ever!

i read through the whole 10 pages of threads, quite a few heartaches up and downs, admire your total dedication to the Coupe.

Better luck to you from this point of time!

the problem is the quote from JBT (who's been unbelievable by the way!) is somewhere between £1500 and £2500 of money I currently don't have. with a golf holiday the week after next, and a holiday with the kids at the end of july i have no prospect of getting any cash any time soon either.....we'll see, i really want this car, and i want it to work though

Steve,

Your persistence is incomparable

Your Coupe love is unbounded

Your luck has been

All the best mate in whatever you decide to do

Tim

proccy, can she not be tucked up to rest for a few months?

then when things are better in the purple home go back out to her and get her to work?

things can wait like this car, dont worry mate! you will get there in the end.

p.s Golfing holiday? so, thats an all MALE holiday, alone with other men, in a feild, playing with balls?

I NEW IT.
you

no you and mario are NOT invited

wee didnt want to be, god knows what would happen... you would be foaming at the mouth

Smoking from this one is certainly unique which has made me double check and triple check everything.
Comps are all fantastic and around 160 consistently per cylinder from hot and cold.
Leaking oil though can give false readings which was always the issue.
The plugs were all the same in colour other than cyl 3.

Disconnected all the breathers and monitored the displacement which wasnt excessive given it was using a litre of oil per 100 miles.

A test overnight,filling the bores with oil saw cyl no 3 lose the lot whilst the rest didnt lose a drop.
So theres an issue with the rings on pressurisation of the cylinders under positive pressure.

The oil consistency is also very dense in colour suggesting that the carbon and compression is being transfered to the oil in the crankcase under compression.
In short its not economically sound to throw money at an engine we know nothing about.

I agree with Nigels comment above.Start with a good engine that you know about as they will take the power in good form.

With the power your running the current engine has shown the weakest link on what is potentially a tired engine.

So its broken?

latest update on the saga involving this car is, i've now bought an engine from Hovedan which is originally from RichB's recently broken LE. Joe78 very kindly offered me a free engine from Zimpara's project car but, having seen some of his antics in his project thread and others, i decided against it unsuprisingly.

As of next wednesday my new engine will be at Barbz, the acknowledged wizard of engine engineering for some amendments to it which will hopefully give me some trouble-free power for a while to come! i am very excited about this, and although i wish i had enough money to have it forged etc this appears to be my best route. i was lucky enough to blag a ride off JBT after Barbz sorted his engine and it was very impressive performance indeed. and the gearbox lasted the full 10 minutes i was in there with him

in all of this there are thanks to be handed out; Hovedan has been brilliant to deal with and again JBT has stood by me and the car through thin and thin, he's been brilliant for me and indeed negotiated the work Barbz will undertake.

so, saturday i'm off to turkey for 2 weeks in blistering heat lying by the pool/sea/bar having a good time i hope - and whilst i'll miss the forum it'll be a nice change nt have mario/theresa texting me asking what's going on if i don't post for a couple of hours

all in all i therefore expect to be at the AGM with my beloved Plus, safer and more reliable than ever before - if that indeed happens, all the people there will get a beer off me in celebration ( i said 1 beer, T )

As I know Barbz and his work is TOP NOTCH (not called the magician for nothing ) I may come to the AGM as I know you will be there to dish out the free drink!!!

Ross

I have been following this, the ups and downs, so good luck proccy

The very best of luck with it Steve. You deserve a bloody medal mate.

I read this a few days ago and have only just woken from my coma

Are you going be able make MITCAR then Steve?

^+1

Hope this lump serves you long, hard and well Steve

thanks for all the good wishes guys, this is a great example of why i persevere with this damned car

@ porkypaul - no mate there is zero chance it'll be fitted in the car by then, and i only get back from turkey the evening before

No worries fella. Have a good holiday mate and I'm sure the car will be great again when you get it back.

Flippin ek

Good news though glad your keeping the car and glad you've managed to get it sorted with another engine.
I too can vouch for HoveDan and JBT top guys

Good news Proccy. Now enjoy the holidays, knowing some good guys back home are taking care of things for you!

Lol



Ah, I'm glad you clarified that one, as when you said for me to get ready to drink at the AGM, I thought you might have had a couple of hundred quid spare from the rebuild

the latest instalment in this long running saga............

bought an engine at a favourable price off Dan (hovedan) who very kindly delivered it to Barbz for no extra charge!! thanks Dan, that's a beer from me at the AGM for you....

picked the engine up from Barbz today. he explained everything to me in words i should understand - unfortunately i understood very little, but one thing i realised was that this guy knows so very much about engines, and the coop engine in particular that i now understand why he's so highly regarded as an engineer. he is also one of the nicest, smiliest blokes you could wish to meet, and the fact he's gone well beyond the call of duty for a stranger is amazing. i can't thank him enough.

delivered the engine to JBT about 8pm or so this evening and he expects to hand over the car to me thursday or friday....another bloke who has gone beyond the bounds of mechanic/customer relationship to make this car live again....we're fortunate to have so many good people/specialists on this forum and long may it last - but i'm pretty sure that between Barbz and JBT no-one has had better care or consideration than me

so thank you to both of you - even if the car fails again i can never forget the great favours and the lengths you've been to in rescuing this apparently cursed coupé

to you both

Gay....

But barbs and JBT are really good people.

ahhh, so you're now out of the closet eh?

I hope this is definately and finally the last time you have trouble with this car proccy

I know you do too, but just saying, you know, as a long term supporter of you spending all your money on such a gorgeous car

When will she be ready to hit the road again?

For god sake, keep the boost down, the engine will live a lot longer!

i'm hoping to get her back thursday or friday then run her in for 500miles - drop the oil, run normally for 500 miles and drop the oil again - then we're ready to go

as for restricting boost, the head has been engineered to spool up quicker and boost earlier at less revs than before, so it sounds good to me.....i'll be winding boost up gradually but surely as the weeks go by

I'm sure you'll be happy with your engine dude!

Good luck.

Great stuff Steve.

Cracking stuff Steve, look forward to seeing it back on the road very soon

well, he's got it running anyway.....more news as it becomes available

fingers and toes crossed for you mate

Nice one Steve, look forward to hearing this new unit

and in typical fashion he didn't drive it 50 miles before it tried to kill him....a brake pipe (HEL group buy!!) let go and he had zero brakes. i believe he tried the handbrake, so that was a waste of a few seconds!! this car never gives up

OMFG.

this car wants to die i think.

shocking.

really is.

i take it the car left a brown mark on the floor when the pipe popped

fccuk me....
better keep checking those pipes or are you going back to standard?
I have been checking mine periodically...

Blummin' heck Steve, that's crazy! Glad no one was hurt!

Well I suppose the car is still in the best hands possible to have every last thing checked before you get the car back! Hope it all goes smoothly from here.............

yes on its maiden voyage i thought the brakes didnt feel good,but were coping fine,.
I went down a steep hill with a queue of traffic in front and the pedal went to the floor.I ripped the handbrake through the roof but in true coupe style it did sweet F.A

Had to swerve past a line of traffic on the wrong side of the road before going straight through some red lights and over a junction before coming to a stop.
luck was on my side that there was no traffic but im sure a few on lookers were wondering what i was doing.

Anyways,i have done around 70 miles in the car now,not used a drop of oil and its very lively low down and difficult to keep off boost during running in.
Very excited to see how this does once the engines properly run in.
One big fault that has developed is that stupid exhaust is giving me a headache and shaking my teeth.
Needs ripping off.

jealous

Bloody hell, Evil Knievel!!

Brown pants moment me thinks!!

Where did it fail exactly John.As you know a few of us have those hoses fitted.

be interested to know this as well, had been planning on a set of these but not so sure now

brings back memories of the Goodridge hoses

i'm not sure it's totally the quality of the hoses, it may be the way they were seated, or not....hopefully jbt will clarify soon

OMG! There must an Angel watching you, JBT!

Time to put some holly water in to the radiator!

well, finally got her back about 8.30 this morning and i have to say she looked shabby and dirty - i'd forgotten a couple of cosmetic things need sorting but jbt is on the case.

she drives very well although i can't take her above 3.5k revs during the running in 500 miles. sounds great, feels great, pulls very well from almost zero revs (barbz magic) and i'm looking forward to an extended driving spell with no issues!!!

i love this damn car

I had problems with my hel hoses...
I was at Joes and luckily he spotted one of my hoses was leaking!!! We took the hose off... inspected it and the problem was the thread at the top of the hose that clamps it onto the fiat hard brake pipe. The thread was very shallow and wasnt biting. Joe had another set of HELs and we checked and they wree ok so we fitted them. I sent mine back to hel...

Finally there, bet your loving it!

The pipe on this one has failed where it meets the bulkhead.When locking over the steering you can see that its pulling the joint abnormally.
I did report this to Steve that the pipe wasnt looking great ages ago,but we hadnt got around to replacing it.

These pipes imo arent the best,the rears in short are okay but the fronts are too long and either offer a risk or rubbing through on the wheel/ bulkhead or stressing the joint.
I have every mod and then some on my own coupe but will not fit these.
I have fitted some originals back to both sides of Steves car.

Glad your liking the car Steve.
Dont forget to keep your eyes out for those parts i mentioned.

Glad you've still got it Proccy. THat's some damn fine commitment you've got there!

Good stuff Procio!