And here WE go...

As per my old thread - BIG decision made... I promised to myself that I`ll rebuild my Coupé from a "scratch"!

Over 2013 I was buying all the bits and pieces needed for the job. And tomorrow the Coop will be going to the doctor for a second chance!

My plan/idea is to do this in 3 stages in the next month or so:

Stage ONE (tomorrows job):

ENGINE...

*Newly re-built (~5k mls) engine. (Marco20Valve`s engine)
*Newly re-built (800 mls) standard turbo.
*Newish Oil cooler + pipes. (3 Years old)
*New JBT`s 13 piece red silicone hose kit.
*New VIBRA-TECHNICS Road engine mounts.
*New Standard Valeo Clutch KIT.
*New Slave cylinder

Stage TWO:

Suspension...

*Newish Bilstein B-4 shocks. (~3000 kms)
*New H&R 30mm Lowering springs.
*New Top Mounts + Bearing kits.
*Sparco strut brace
*New Wishbones
*New Drop links.
*New Front wheel bearings kits. (Rear are done)
*New Brake lines.
*New Handbrake cables.

Stage THREE:

Body...

*Full Re-spray. (same color) - Long live the INKY!
*New AutoDS LE/Plus Body KIT.
*New AutoDS Plus Honeycombe Grille.

Wheels...

*Refurbished 18" Azec C`s
*225/40R18 Kumho KU39 Ecsta Le Sport (very good reviews on these)

...And along the process there will be few more goodies going on the Coop as well...

I`m going to keep you posted on this and try to take as much photos as possible...

May the LORD be with me over the next month or so...

Over and out!

Ivan

Awesome I'll be watching this with interest. Loads of pics please as it's going together.

Good luck, should be lovely when done

Okay.. STAGE ONE is officially in progress...

Yesterday evening the engine and all the bits were picked up!



Along with:

*New Timing belt kit
*New Water pump



I had them changed last year... But I thought that if I`m changing all this stuff it would be good idea to do them as well(again)... Then at least I`ll know that everything is done!
I called down this morning and the Coop was on the lift and the stripping had begun!

Over and out!

Ivan

Good luck with it all Markiz

Will definitely need it! Thanks guys.

You may not wish to discuss publicly but could you keep a running budget as you go, a la Mike and Edd?
When i've got a minute I'll dig out my invoices so far so I can show you mine if you show me yours.....Ooeer, missus!

Little update from today folks!

Called up this morning to the garage to drop of this little but important thing:



And basically things were going well. The old engine was out:



And the new engine had the new clutch and the re-built turbo on.



I also collected the coolant/expansion tank as it needed cleaning badly....



Obviously the previous owner had a leaky radiator or leaky something and decided to pour in some "quick fix" sealants... And had the old radiator destroyed...


(These pictures are from last year when I was changing the radiator. There is a fairly new in it now.)

But however with a bit of effort, shaking, hot water and these two heroes:



This is what the result was:



Delighted!

In the evening when I called back up to the garage to return the coolant tank and the new cap for it, the new engine was in:



So by tomorrow evening hopefully everything should be ready and we`ll bring Frankenstein to LIFE! And hopefully with no complications...

P.S. I have a spare Rocker Cover that I`ll paint red and put on to the new engine. This will be kinda "The cherry on top..."

Over and out!

Ivan

That coolant tank has come up very nice!
Did you do anything special to it as mine isn't anywhere near that clean?

Nope, not really. The only special thing I did was a lot and I mean a lot of shaking with the corn in it (with less water - around 200mls) . For about an hour (maybe more). And I shooke it in every possible direction and angle so it would get all the gunk - bottom, top, side, front, back....

Pitty there was not enough time to treat it with a bit of bleach as well... But we`ll leave this for some other time.

I've done mine with the dishwasher tabs in and boiling water overnight.
Then added rice and shook for about 15 mins. Flushed it all out and left it in a 50/50 bucket of bleach for a week!
Its nice and clean inside but is still yellow.

that's one of my rocker covers I did for someone on the forum , good luck with the build Ivan

I want my engine back lol

Good luck mate!!

Brand new fiat crank, head work, new head bolts, new gaskets, recon oil pump, CP rings, lighten and balanced pistons, rods and crank..

That engine was perfectly balanced and ran SO fu**ing GOOD...

I miss it.

Infact, I think I want it back...

I miss my coupe seeing that engine again...

Thank you Iain! Probably you did it for the only man that`s in to purple rocker covers, purple fuel rails and purple plenum chambers... The one and only mr. Marco20ValveT!

Engine build so brilliantly I just can`t part with! But if you miss it Marco you know what to do.. Sell the M3 and come back to the Coupé ownership!!! Come back to the BOOOOOST tshhhhhhhh tshhhhhhh...

Okay people little update:

STAGE ONE is COMPLETE!

Long story short - There was few complications with the engine not starting. It turned out that because it sat for over 8 months in my garage the valves had gone a bit sticky! And eventually when we got it started the next couple of days in the mornings/evenings on cold starts there was lots and lots of blue smoke and some nasty tapping from the engine. Turned out that it was some valve that was still sticking and after a nice and easy 80 mile trip all got sorted and it is running happy as a bunny now - no tapping at all and very little to non smoke!



And everything back together:



It runs so damn good and smooth...

*NEXT JOB before STAGE TWO is to put a nice red rocker cover in there to match the rest!

And the dodgy part of it is that I`ll attempt to do it myself (first time)!!!

Wish me luck!

Over and out!

Ivan

I would be interested to see what power that engine makes on a dyno now it's completly standard!!

What? You think it might finally beat my 16NA round Curborough, Marco?

LOL
Fair comment sir barnacle!
Maybe this year you will make it around spa with out spinning!!! Lol

Hope you & Mrs barnacle are well mate! Been a while!

Nah, not doing Spa this year; doing Lingotto instead!

Now where was I with this....

What?! It was a whole year since my last post??? Jesus... Time really flies hey...

And just when you thought that you got rid of me...

...ah yes the Rocker Cover Refurbishment attempt!



And here is what happened!


1. Sourced a very good condition used Rocker Cover! (No cracks!)



2. Bought everything needed for the operation!




3. Applied the NitrOmors All Purpose Paint & Varnish remover.



4. Gave it a real nice scrub with a wire brush.



4.1. Careful with that Nitromors stuff as it loves anytnihg rubbery for a snack!



5. Sandblasted the whole lot! As ME have no patience for sandpapering...



6. Went and got the roughest sandpaper I had in the garage and literally RAPED the "Fiat 20V TURBO" letters with it!



7. Got a bit finer sandpaper ( P80 ) and smoothed the letters a bit.



8. Got even finer sandpaper then ( 180 ) and finished it with metal polish.



9. While I was at it I turned the Rocker Cover around and cleaned it with the "Auto Glym Engine & Machine Cleaner"



10. I applied a very thin layer of Vaseline with couple of cotton buds on the letters and the face of the oil filler hole so when I sprayed the Rocker Cover I could just scrape the spray off. Worked perfectly!



11. Prepared the Rocker Cover for spraying by covering all the holes with some kitchen towels.



12. Primed the Rocker Cover with few light sprays and left for 10 min.



13. In total I did about 4/5 coats with 10/15 mins between them.



14. And at the end I carefully scraped the spray off the letters with an old credit card and TA-DAH!



Not a Rocker Cover Refurbishment Virgin anymore!
Now I have to do the Plug Cover and install them both on the engine.

Over and out!

Ivan

Nice one Ivan.

One question, though: does the VHT pain require baking to cure? The ones I found did, which is why I just used high temperature engine lacquer on mine.

You should have used wrinkle red, no curing required although it takes a million years to dry properly.

Good work Ivan!

nice job Ivan

Looks great Markiz. It'll be a cracker once it's finished.

If I could make one design suggestion for Stage 3, I would recommend including a Zender Rear bumper extension for the car. I've always found the the LE/PLus bodykit was left unfinished at the back, in that the existing lower bumper lip is a bit undersized when it is mated to the side skirts and front lip. It's as if the Fiat bodykit design department took an early Friday and forgot to finish off the project.

Here's some pics from my old Coupé with the Zender rear bumper extension (last pic also shows a Zender rear spoiler which I thankfully removed!). You can see that the bumper extension is in proportion to the rest of the bodykit, in my opinion!

Here's a Sprinty with Azev C's and a Zender rear bumper extension

totally agree with you daithi , le/plus kit does look better/finished off with the zender rear lip .

Nice rocker cover!

Maybe this thread should be in the project section.

it does look very nice indeed and give's me the idea to try it myself.
Aldo I have no idea how to remove the dam thing yet, can you just take that off the engine without any hassle?