Patch's 'The red devil' Plus Project - Discussion

Discussion thread

its looking nice phil shame you couldnt find a set of azev c

A's or C's, it matters not, probably bought a set of B's as I haven't yet seen these in the 'flesh' so to speak either In fact, I have a room full of parts 'my wife tells me' and I've seen none of these!

Put it this way, this xmas will be utterly fantastic for me

Can I have first dibs when you come to sell it in about, oooh, April next year?

It'll be another cracking example then after you sink some serious time and money into it. I think your ex-cars should have "Patched" on the spec list!

Very true that Dan - still, you never know, this might be the one to keep............but I doubt it Hahahaha

Hmmm, that's having all the work done that mine needs. I wonder if Joe will notice if I substitute one red Plus for another of a slightly different shade...

Will be a top Coupe when it's done Phil!

Thanks James, yours is one of the best colours I have ever seen on a coop actually (IMO you understand ), very unusual. We MUST mop that car one day, it would look magnificent!

Are you planning to keep this one?

See a few posts up. I am planning to make it a very solid example and enjoy her for a while, what the future holds, I don't know.

It's one of my favourite colours too Phil. Unfortunately the weather and environment has not been kind to mine and I think it requires more than just mopping now As Joe pointed out to me a couple of weeks ago it's now in need of a bit of restoration to treat the dreaded 'Plus Rust', which may include re-spraying... I would be delighted to have it mopped after that though

Where is the plus rust?

Rear wheel well was shot with a huge gaping hole, front wheel arches behind linings and no doubt all around the rear subframe, this has now been replaced. The car has also been completely under-sealed.

Don't know the exact details yet, will know more when I return to the UK

AFAIK, it's been noted by various people that the late model Coupes such as Pluses seem to have poorer rust protection than earlier cars. They seem more prone to rust just about everywhere. Mine is rusty around the front and has bubbling on the bonnet, Patch has some in the rear and I believe Proccy had a lot of rust repaired on his last year possibly? It seems more than I would expect of 10/11 year old cars.

I'd agree with this entirely, the earlier cars seem to have been made from either better metal or galvanised properly.

Phew, glad it's not just me My 2000-W Plus is going rusty, but my 97-R Cinquecento which has been sat for 18 months hasn't got a spot of rust on it. I wish the Coupes had been made in Poland...

Just a bit of work done then! And the rust

What benefit does the galvanising doing on the subframes? I know they generally don't rust, so I fail to see the point of it, apart from making it nice and silver

Generally, does that mean never then? and I fail the to see the point of cleaning something up to allow it to be worked on and refreshed (bushes et al) and not doing it or something like it

Alexis the rear subframes do rust, in fact most have corrosion on them especially the spring turret areas.

I fail to see the point in spending on new bushes when the rest of the frame is shite.

Fair enough

Lordy, what a load of rust and what a huge difference between the before's and after's.

Good stuff!

Lovely job, keep this one!

Joe and Dan have done a great job AP1 I've not even seen her yet

The pictures on the Red Devil look good; lots more to do though. Good luck Phil - could be some time before you get the mops out!

Flocking photo's please!

Love the contrast on gloss back and red mate.Very nice. Need to go for a spin in yours and see how it handles..

Joes worked hard on yours it looks..Cant believe how much rot there was.

Dash looks good.

Looking nice Phil, sorry to see all that rust though, bit of a shocker on another wise externally clean car

it looks nice now its be derusted and has a proper undersealing job so should be good for another 10 years we hope

Looking good Phil.

Rust is no longer a problem Sam, just the engine bay components to refresh and she'll be fighting on for many years to come. Actually, it helps me to know that it's all been treated and protected - one less thing to worry about. Bring on the puddles

Welcome back belatedly to playtime Patch

IMO the mirrors are a fundamental improvement in black to match the mounts, they're a bit fussy colour-coded to the rest of the car. She is looking like a million dollars and if you really have another 10 years out of her that'd be fantastic - know what I'm thinking/saying

Coming along nicely Phil!

Im on the fence with the mirrors, they do look good though no question.

PLEASE dont put black wheels on it though!!

Why on earth not?

Car looks spot on Phil! I like the sound of Shiny black Plus alloys on her, to show she's a Plus with a dark side!

Nice effort there that will be a lovely car when you finished your plans.

The red looks fresh you dont actually see that many genuine speed red pluses very nice.

I like the subframe treatment how much did that set you back if you dont mind me asking ?

It's good to get rid of that nasty corrosion I'm also looking forward to a nice summer of expensive treatment lol I also am blessed with a late one I think my sills may need investigating great fun !!

Great work though I'll keep my eye on your thread.

Bradders

The subframe was a very reasonable cost Brad, you can have just the rear completely refreshed including the brake compensator for the price of some decent alloys. I had both front and rear done though, so a little bit more. If you pm Joe at FCSS he'll let you know as it depends what depths you go to playing around under the car - I had the full monty done.

I have got to say though, whilst you can't physically see whats been done, I am over the moon with how the car drives. So worthwhile in my book.

Nice one well thats it if you plan on keeping one for a while its kind of an investment and piece of mind.

Thanks

hey Phil she is looking good mate , I saw it at joe's when dropping of some bits for mine and he showed me all the welding he had done , but looked sorted afterwards. hope you enjoy it.

George

It's been a while! But this coupe is still going strong! Credit to everyone that's looked after her in the past as I've been a proud owner for 2 years now. The only things she's needed is brake discs and pad, oil (obviously). I'm about to go for rear bearing change ( as them hum somewhat) calipers. But, no know what this car is fantastic! Best coupe ever! Everything that's been done on this is spot on. She'll be on the road for years to come and I'll make sure of that!

Great to know she's still alive and very much kicking

I was only wondering the other day where this Plus was so thanks for the update

Hello All,

Thought it would be a good idea to update this thread as I’ve been the owner of this car for a few months now.

Purchased this car after my wanted advert earlier this year. Many thanks to all who helped and with my search.

Reetlad thanks for contacting me about her even though I wanted an electric blue colour. I love the colour and should have put it down on my buy list.

The 200 mile drive back home from the North to South West after buying from Reetlad was great as the car did not miss a beat. Since then she has continued to run faultlessly.

The work completed by Patch as detailed on this thread and Mr Tickle previously was one of the reasons that I brought this car as wanted to avoid a lemon.

I budgeted for some work straightway as wanted to be proactive and ensure the car was in A1 condition. So what’s happened with her recently.

For my peace of mind I had the following work completed by Joe at FCSS immediately after I brought her. I’m no mechanic so thought it best left to the expert who is luckily not far from me. Great service by Joe and good to get some coupe wisdom.

• FCSS health check
• Full service (oil (Selina fully synthetic), filter, fuel filter, plugs) and MOT
• Radiator replaced and coolant replaced with fresh fluid
• Rust repair to the floor pan -due to MOT fail
• Rear caliper service
• New OS and NS handbrake cables
• Gear box linkage refurbished
• New plus grill
• Viscodrive rebuilt – new half shaft and drive seal
• New gearbox oil
• New dipstick tube seal
• Bonnet lift action adjusted
• Wheel bolts changed

New Toyo Proxes T1-R tyres were then fitted all round (225/45/16) to help with road manners. Interestingly these have a new rating label of Fuel F, Wet C and Noise 70DB so the compound seems to have been changed recently.

Then to help with my coupe confidence the Cam belt, aux belts, tensioners and water pump were changed by Duncan at AlfaNet in Bristol. Again a brilliant mechanic who absolutely knows his stuff about coupes and has all the specialist tools. He is not that well known here and I can highly recommend him.

All the belts were in good order but the last time they were changed was around 5 years ago and 30K. I’ve read about a few belt failures so this work is certainly worth it.

Next step is to deal with the MOT advisories as best be proactive with these sort of things before they become a problem.

She still drives fantastically for a car built in 1999 and still lovely in ‘speed red’. Much of that can be put down to the previous owners and Joe.

I’ll try and add some pictures but she looks much like she did in the thread. Only change is that she is back on the Plus wheels.

Cheers

Collection pic from Joe's a few weeks ago.

Looks like she's in good hands again. Good luck with her Bear, keep the thread alive mate!