Despirito di Punto. Awakening from an 18 month slumber.

[r.welfare]

As I mentioned in the N24 thread last week, this morning I helped my uncle start up my aunt's old Punto 55.  The car's been sat since the MOT expired in July 2015 - probably before that actually, as my aunt bought a 500 that May.  The rear part of the exhaust needed replacing (from the cat back it appears to be one piece), and the replacement part my uncle bought didn't have a long enough prong to meet the rubber. 

 

So - as you do - he just left it up on ramps, until my aunt asked me if I wanted the car.  I need another car like a hole in the head, so we compromised and I said I'd try and sort it out.  Apologies for the lack of pics.

 

 

The sight that greeted me on arrival.  You can't really see the moss and gunk on every external surface here, but it's actually very tidy with very little in the way of dents and scratches.  The only real damage is a very shallow dent on the n/s rear door and a £2-sized bit of lacquer peel in front of the sunroof. 

 

My first job was to lift the boot carpet.  The first positive was the boot floor was still there.  I then grubbed around underneath and was pleased to find it didn't appear to be too bad.  Bit of surface rust but nothing I could put my hand through.  The exhaust rubber was a Ford one, oddly, and the prong from the centre pipe was indeed too short, so we found some metal pipe of a slightly larger diameter, cut a length of about 5cm and Araldited it in place.  We then Araldited a bolt in the end to stop the rubber from sliding off the end.  So far so good.

 

Next job was to try and start it.  Supposedly my uncle had been charging the battery for 4 days, but it wouldn't turn over, so we used his Fiesta to jump it.  It fired up first turn, settling down to a steady (if slightly lumpy) idle.  The fuel in it is old (there's about a quarter of a tank) - would that account for a residual level of very mild white smoke from the exhaust?  Certainly the coolant level is fine and there's no mayo anywhere.  The car has done 69,990 miles.

 

There is, however, very little oil in it, because most of it is down the front of the engine block, which provided a bit of smoke as it burnt off the manifold.  Is the FIRE engine known for lunching rocker cover gaskets in the same way (say) the GM Family Two is?

 

 

Not sure why I took this photo, other than to highlight the mental upholstery in true mid-90s supermini style.  Oh yes - there's trim missing round the door handle and armrest.  The car was dealer-fitted with central locking on purchase and of course this no longer works.  I haven't had a chance to check fuses.  The offside rear door wouldn't open to start with, but holding up the lock button and operating the handle got it open eventually.  The outer door handle is reticent to spring back to flush with the door when you open it.  I'm hoping some WD40 will cure it.  The door card seems to have warped a bit as I struggled to push it back into the rubber seal at the base of the window (although there's no evidence of water leaks), so I wonder if something's catching somewhere.

 

 

The final job was to inflate all the tyres (when did Goodyear stop making the GT70?  Plenty of tread and no sidewall cracking mind) then try and get it off the ramps.  As expected, the handbrake was reluctant to release after 18 months but eventually the nearside joined the offside after a few shuffles forward and backward on the drive.  Then it was a quick blezz up the road (not me driving obvs.) to see how it went - still felt like the brakes were dragging but got up to 30mph in 2nd no bother.

 

The battery's still pretty goosed as I stalled it getting back onto the drive (facing forwards this time) and it wouldn't restart, and it wouldn't roll down the slope with a push with the handbrake off so I suspect the rear drums are still locking on.

 

I've left it with my aunt to have a go with an MOT - she's got emotional attachment to a car she's owned 20 years - and if it doesn't need much work then I'll give it a service (oil & filter, air filter, spark plugs, coolant, rocker cover gasket) and we'll decide what to do next.  In the meantime, any tips to continue the rehabilitation?

[mrbenn]

What a great little car. Looks like a very early one too(?). I learnt to drive in one of these, a 55S, and my parents later had a 60S so I've got fond memories of them.

 

Re the rehab, obvious stuff I guess. I assume you've topped up the oil. Past that, take it round the block on the way to the MOT and make sure you, or whoever takes it, gives the brakes plenty of use. I've seen folk gently pull the handbrake on while driving to "clean up the drums" but don't know if that works. If they're that bad then a strip and clean up would be wise before the test. A few litres of fresh fuel on top of the old stuff wouldn't go amiss.

[r.welfare]

Thanks. I remember at the time it seemed light years ahead of my mum's Metro, although the engine wasn't as good as the K series. Now it just feels like a very noisy, tinny small car with heavy (unpowered) steering, although not without charm! Will pass on the tip of a little bit of handbrake - oddly this car has no handbrake-on warning light, which my aunt swears is how it has always been.

[Cavcraft]

Oh, I love that what an ace looking car. Almost certain these shit rocker cover gaskets as fast as an 8V Vauxhall, so I doubt it's any real worry.

[Matt]

The outer door handle is reticent to spring back to flush with the door when you open it.

 

The Grande Punto had the same problem, I think it's something to do with a shoddy quality plastic part. Might be worth asking your local dealer if revised parts are/were available.

[Wilko220]

I remember when they launched the Punto and they made such a massive thing about the rear lights going up the pillars and this making it so much safer than other cars. Seemed quite a revolutionary idea at the time.

[Dirk Diggler]

For something that really were so common here (scrap page schemes through the 90s made these and Cinqs common) they've disappeared fast

 

Reckon a Cinq Sporting would make a great little runner; they've nearly disappeared

 

Always found the non PAS Puntos ponderous to drive; it's amazing how much difference it makes on a small car, drove an early non assisted Ford KA a while back, nearly 4 turns lock to lock, a very different steer to what you'd expect from a KA

[They_all_do_that_sir]

Is this a PAS one? I fancied one of these as a first car when I was 17 and had a couple of quid burning a hole in my pocket. That would have been 2001 and they were around the £7-800 already.

 

I remember the yellow punto sports, and there was a turbo as well IIRC?

 

Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk

[r.welfare]

Non-PAS. 55S most basic spec. Sunroof (proper tilt/slide) was factory option. No temp gauge! Does have a trip meter though, which a '95 model year version on eBay last week didn't.

[Asimo]

Mild white smoke from exhaust - probably just condensation cooking off. Take it for a good thrash, the long way to the way to the MOT with much use of the brakes. Do make sure oil level is correct, shame to sieze it now......

[Split_Pin]

That's fantastic, I love early Puntos and the more basic the better. My Uncle Robert had one identical to yours many years ago.

 

I'd recommend changing the rear shoes, once they get to the stage yours are at it's likely that after a few days inactivity they will just seize on again.

 

An oil and coolant change, rocker gasket and you'll be grand. White smoke will be condensation, unless it's thick enough so you can't see through it I would suggest no concern.

[For Fiats Sake]

FIRE engines have a good rep in pandas, terrible in cinqs/sei, but not sure about punto's!  I think the upgrade from 999cc to 1108cc ruined them in the cinq/sei and are well known for overheating and warping. Once they got to the 1242cc in later cars seem to be much better though.  

 

These  early cars are sought after for panda/sei/cinq engine conversions as very easy to do.  Rust on the subframes seems to kill them off though.

 

The mk1's are imo the best looking of all of them, especially the 3 door!  

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Can't remember when I last saw a Mk1 Punto. Splendid!

[Kiltox]

If it's a 1.1 MPI I have a lot of bits that might be of use to it.

[RickRirai]

Top cars, this one has been my daily driver for the last 4 years

 

It's great to drive and being a Sporting aint no slouch neither (well for a 1.2 anyway). I have replaced the clutch once and apart from eating coils (3x Replaced, 15 euro a pop) no major problems.

[r.welfare]

Like a louse I completely forgot to update this, but here's what happened - Punto was put in for an MOT in February at the garage my aunt and uncle have used for years.  My uncle's a lovely bloke but a world-class ditherer and I suspect he forgot my advice to use the brakes a lot to clean them off and get it nice and hot for the emissions test.  So it naturally failed, and the quote to fix it all was fairly high. 

 

Enter some 'friend of a friend former Army mechanic' or somesuch who offered to do the work required (new rear shock absorber and rear wheel cylinder) and get it MOT'd for £200 cash - here's the result:

 

 

Suspicious lack of advisories there.  Anyway it's not long until this year's test so we will see.  It's now been serviced and is being used (including my uncle diagnosing and replacing the clutch slave cylinder, impressive).  Next job is the rocker cover gasket to cure the oil leak and I also scored a cheap cambelt kit on eBay which will be fitted if it passes again.  My uncle is making noises about wanting to replace it but as he can't make his mind up about anything I suspect it will be around for a while yet, provided it stays rust-free and keeps passing tests.

[Cavcraft]

That's was result that, especially for an old Italian car. Fingers crossed this years isn't too bad.