Hakydans MK1 restoration

Looking good mate, very good power for such little boost

Did you get an afr chart with any of the runs?

Also what clutch are you running? as when more power comes i think this will be another concern, especially if its using a stock mk1 clutch still?

Its great seeing this car come together and should not be to long now until its out to play

gtirx2 wrote:Looking good mate, very good power for such little boost

Did you get an afr chart with any of the runs?

Also what clutch are you running? as when more power comes i think this will be another concern, especially if its using a stock mk1 clutch still?

Its great seeing this car come together and should not be to long now until its out to play

Thanks Rich, its certainly been a long time coming!

The charts you see is what I got, I didn't take the car there just for the run, they have been doing the finishing off like making the the turbo down pipe.

The clutch is Standard at the moment as I want to see if and at what stage it gives up. If the power can be managed to come in smoother the clutch should hold up. Its usually the sudden boost that kills clutches.

Hakydan wrote:

If the power can be managed to come in smoother the clutch should hold up. Its usually the sudden boost that kills clutches.

This is true mate,mine used to be at its worsed on the harch/fast gear changes,and also coming on boost in the higher gears.

My car only has 140-150 ftlbs though and that was enough for it to slip,it was also running an uprated black diamond/luk gold series cover.

same as my standard mk1 clutch it only had a few thousand miles on it but when i upped to boost the clutch started slipping, think the limit on them is 140lb ft ish

Its been a while since my last update so thought id get up to speed and get some pics up. I had a bit of a nightmare after getting the car back from Austec Racing, you certainly dont want to hear your turbine grinding to a stop when you shut your engine off:(

They hadn't checked to see if oil was getting to the turbo before running it and so a long story short...they blew the T25:(

So following a strip down, the turbo was sent off to Turbo rebuild for a complete er, rebuild. This was my oportunity to get on with a few other things as well as taking some pics:)

The strut brace that came with the car was OK but looked tired and needed a clean and a lick of paint. So I set about trying to create something a little unique. I strated by stripping all the old paint and getting it down to bare metal. The primer then went on and it was at this point I could see the amount of inperfections in the cast. so after hours of priming, rubbing down and the priming again, I finally got a smooth surface to work on.

Next came a few coats of white, this would be the final colour but as I was adding some red to it, I wanted to ensure the 'Fiat Swift Red' was as bright as possible. Once the white was dry and an hour later the red went on followed by more wet and dry and then more red and more wet and dry.


Once I had done this it was time for the decal to go on, now the decal wouldn't be staying on there, it would just be used to mask the red. So by now you may have an idea about what I was trying to achieve. Painting the strut white and sticking an Abarth sticker to it could be done by anyone so I wanted to stretch my painting ability and see what I could do. I wanted the finish to have the Abarth logo in it without it being a decal.



Once the decal had been placed, very carefully I might add and after hours of trying to make sure it was dead straight it was covered in more layers of White. It was at this point I forgot to take more pics but lets just say over the next two days and once I had taken the decal off with the wifes tweezers;) and rubbed it down to a fine flat finish, it was time for the clear to go on. I couldn't believe how many coats it took but I wanted a deep finish and Ive got to say....Im very, very happy with the result:)





Oh I also got a chance to take a pic of my new down pipe:)

sorry to hear about your turbo but that strut brace looks really good mate top work

robr33gts wrote:sorry to hear about your turbo but that strut brace looks really good mate top work

Thanks bud:) Thankfully Austec paid for the rebuild. But on a happier note, these arrived today and will be fitting tomorrow - and cant wait:)

very nice

xtremely frustrated and pissed off, im now on my third set of 'refurbished' rear calipers which im due to fit at the weekend. The problem has been the handbrake which, having spoken to a few people, seems to be a common fault. However, AMK Automotive have been great and have really valued the feedback so...

In the meantime, I had two other projects on the go, the first one being an oil catch can. Ive always had one focus with this build, I wanted it to look factory built, as if Fiat/Abarth had got hold of a UT and decided to build a 'one off' so any part I fitted to it had to look OE. Unfortunately, all the oil catch can I looked at just didnt look OE so I had to start thinking of an alternative.

With a massive breakers a few miles down the road from me, I had the wife fill my 1908's Superman school lunch box a decided to make a day of it. The breakers is one of those places that I can just spend all day walking around but I was on a mission, find something that I could use as an oil catch can. I narrowed my options down to an expansion tank as it would have a big enough entry port, a breather port and a way of draining it. Well lets just say that the lunch box was opened and contents devoured, I was there a long time and about to admit defeat. 

And then, in the eleventh hour I see it, I really wanted a black one as anything opaque in a breaker would look tired and would eventually stain and the one I had found was black, it would be perfect so off it came and swiftly purchased.

I drove home as quickly as possible, grunting at the wife and kids on the way through the house to the garage and locked myself in.

2 days later

Having purchased a new filler cap via ebay and worked out what pipes and fixings I would need to make it work, I jumped back in the car and made my way back to the breakers, you just cant buy shaped coolant hose from a spares shop so walking around the breakers gives you the perfect way of finding that perfect part. A pipe off a MK1 Focus, a bracket off a MK3 Astra, hand over 'One' of the queens finest pound coins and back to the garage.

Later that night

It needed an extra breather because the two it had wre just not big enough so a quick search through my UT spares and the original crankcase breather pipe joiner was cut down, a hole made in the top of the catch tank and a little plastic welding later, it was finished. I just need to go back to the breakers and find myself another hose for the new breather but other than that, im very happy and think it looks, well, factory.

With the injector fan cleaned, refurbed and fitted the catch tank filled the space perfectly.

how much did you pay for the coilovers?

st1allstar wrote:how much did you pay for the coilovers?

£625 including delivery through DC Performance and delivered four days after ordering:)

Following another visit to the breakers, I managed to find the hose I needed to finish the catch tank which finishes it off just great and also fitted the newly refurbed strut brace so onto the next two jobs, the interior and the brakes.

I wanted to add a little touch of class to the 1980s Italian plastic interior and as per usual, spent plenty of time sat in the garage drinking coffee and thinking of what I could do. Two areas lent themselves perfectly and with the new MOMO Corse steering wheel and seats being trimmed in red I thought it would be good to extend the theme.

Ferrari's Lamborghini's etc have the dash/clock binnacle covered in leather so I thought id do the same thing. I then thought that the standard gear lever gator needed to be done as well so thought, what the hell. Both covered in Charcoal Nappa leather with red stitch.











The brakes, hmmm, what fun ive had with them! After fitting the third pair of rebuilt rear calipers I finally had a handbrake that works, however after mcuh bleeding (of the brakes) the pedal still felt weak so a new master cylinder was purchased. Knowing that rebuilt master cylinders often fail or dont work at all I decided to go on the search of a new OE item which luckily I found, albeit in a box that looked like it had sat around for a while.

So the strip down commenced, brake fluid! I hate it!! lol. I wanted to ensure that the job only needed to be done the once so a thorough clean was required. The fluid reservoir had 23 years of gunge sat in the bottom of it so that had to come out. After i had separated it from the MC, a small amount of degreasant was put in and and it was then given a good shake to remove as much as I could. Alot of it came out but not all so an intense clean was required. The dish washer at 65 degrees. It came out mint, so very happy.









Then came the fun job of bleeding the master cylinder. Although I will be bleeding all four corners after the MC is fitted, bench bleeding is a must to ensure the job is done correctly. So I made up a couple of pipes and got on with it.

Following a very late night going over the UT with a fine tooth comb, I woke up fresh and ready, its MOT day! Took the kids to school and nursery and got back home as quick as I could. Kettle boiled, white coffee with one, go and start the UT and lt her warm up before the very short 1.2 mile drive to the test station. 

And then.....the UT cut out:x  I tried starting it again but nothing and it was now 08:40. The MOT was booked for 09:00 so panic set in, what the...???

having fitted the new master cylinder at the weekend and lots of 5.1 running over the gearbox, I had sprayed a lot of engine degreaser so checked all electrical connections just incase. Well, lets just say next time ill go a little easier with the degreaser,  

She fired into life once again and with minutes to spare got in and made hay.

Now, working in the motor trade I know a few people; my mates own a MOT/Service centre but the UT wouldn't be going there, no, I wanted someone independent to look at it, go hard on it and just simply pass or fail. having aligned the headlight against the garage wall late last night I kinda thought it was not going to go my way.

50 very nervous minutes later and...It passed!! Yippee!! The UT is now after two and a half years, road legal:D  Driving it for the first time was a great experience as I hadnt driven it since I bought it back in March 2011. The drive home all 1.2 miles of it had me beaming with no less that 6 people having a good old stare and 2 people asking, is that an Uno Turbo?

Today was a good day:D

This is great news Mark, nice one   i think i can speak for most of us on here and say that we have all been in anticipation to see this car completed and MOT'd.

Any chance of a pic as the car stands at the moment when you get time mate ??

 

this is brill news, Paul is right this is one of the ones that we have all been waiting for.
i bet the mot tester had to rub his eyes in disbelief thinking he was mot-ing a brand new car lol.
it's a credit to you making her look brand new again.

Unograle wrote:This is great news Mark, nice one   i think i can speak for most of us on here and say that we have all been in anticipation to see this car completed and MOT'd.

Any chance of a pic as the car stands at the moment when you get time mate ??

 

Thanks Paul, its been a long old road but having like minded people to share your experiences with (FUTOC) is great especially during the tough cold times. Its still not quite there yet as I still need to sort out the management side of things but as long as I dont drive it too hard is OK.

And yes, once ive given the UT a good clean the camera will be coming out, watch this space as they say,lol.

doody wrote:this is brill news, Paul is right this is one of the ones that we have all been waiting for.
i bet the mot tester had to rub his eyes in disbelief thinking he was mot-ing a brand new car lol.
it's a credit to you making her look brand new again.

Thanks Doody, yeah it was funny, when I booked it in yesterday and he asked what car it was, he almost laughed when I said a Fiat Uno.

Driving it into the centre though and having all the techs stop and walk over put a smile on my face:)

And talking of brand new, using the terminology 'She feels really tight' seems sooo wrong, but she is, so its OK:)

Congrats mark. Perhaps we will see the car at a show now? NEC in November?

Great news on the 1st attempt mot pass Still seems a loooong way off for me but I can't wait until the day of my Uno's mot, it'll be the first since 1997!

Hope to see your car in the flesh at some point

lewey wrote:Congrats mark.  Perhaps we will see the car at a show now?  NEC in November?

Thanks Lewey, It would be nice to get it into the NEC, didn't realise it was an open event though??

jas_racing wrote:Great news on the 1st attempt mot pass :)Still seems a loooong way off for me but I can't wait until the day of my Uno's mot, it'll be the first since 1997!

Hope to see your car in the flesh at some point

Thanks, it will defo be hitting the streets and events now but only providing its dry,lol. Theres no way after all the work ive put into it that im going to risk the underside getting all dirty. Does that make me sad or really sad? lol.

after all the work you have put in it wouldnt be good driving it when they are spraying the roads with salt,

glad your happy with it, whats the turbo lag like with that t25? whats your plans with the ecu?

st1allstar wrote:after all the work you have put in it wouldnt be good driving it when they are spraying the roads with salt,

glad your happy with it, whats the turbo lag like with that t25? whats your plans with the ecu?

Exactly Mark, 100% with you on that one.

TBH, Ive not opened it up at all because of the ECU AFR issue, Id hate to blow it at this stage so im not sure really. However, that said, with the 285 cam and other mods, its very drivable off boost so around town its very smooth with enough power, when I did open it up a little the turbo started spooling at roughly 2750 so its not too bad really. After reading what you told me on PM (and thanks for that buddy) and having had a quote for standalone ECU (£3500!! ) Im going to spend the winter months fitting an OMEX 600. The only work I cant do myself is the Mapping but it will be fun doing the rest.

well done mate thats great news its allways great when something passes first time cant wait till mine is ready for its mot and i can drive it for the first time

Great news mate

There nothing like the tension of driving it for the first drive after major rebuild and the wonder if it will live up to expectations.

I look forward to seeing this car at a show at some point to have a good nosey