"Back to '96" Area 52 Punto: Zero to Hero for £100

[Mystery Machine]

I'll start at the beginning.

Back in September I get a call from Gareth (CelicaV8) to say that he is moving house soon and has some stuff that he can't take with him due to lack of space. Would I be interested in any of it for Area 52?

Of course! So I head over to Cardiff with my trailer and load up with some really cool stuff. Bits I can use around the unit, some cats I can weigh in and some parts I can sell on to raise cash towards the unit. What an awesome gesture!

While I am there, he asks if I'd be interested in a car. For FREE!! He's had this Punto for a good few years and has been using it as a daily hack. Where he is going he doesn't have the space for it and with the move getting closer, he just doesn't have the time to sell it himself. It's mine if I want it! "Drive it straight to a weigh bridge if you like, as long as it can make you a few ££ I'm happy to donate it"

The car is looking a bit sorry for itself having been parked under some trees for a few months, it's got some battle scars etc...but it's a free car! I accept his very kind offer, thank him and head back to Area 52.

WOW!!

A few weeks later, on one of the play weekends I send Robin and John over to Cardiff to collect the Punto. It's still taxed and MOT'd and is still insured, so it can be driven back to the unit where we can assess what to do with it. Upon their return, John declares that it's actually a pretty good drive. I take it for a spin....it pulls surprisingly well, no knocks, no rattles, it feels very taught and it's 72,000 miles have obviously been done under good ownership.



I decide it's far too good to weigh in, break or do anything but keep on the road. Let's sell it on.

The next morning a handful of us get cracking on removing all the tree sap, dirt & grime etc... A trip to the local 'hand car wash' (to remove the worst of the sap) and £10 later, we get started on operation clean-up:



The seats are removed, cleaned & refitted, the interior given a thorough clean, the exterior t-cut, waxed, polished, glass cleaned etc.... for about four hours, six of us transformed this nice running but cosmetically neglected car into something a bit more aesthetic (for a stock Punto)

Here are the shots of how the interior looked after some Area 52 loving:













The exterior came up pretty good too. The Area 52 boys done good Most panels have random dents and scratches, but the mini-overhaul gave it a much better appearance. The car looked, felt and smelt ready to sell ;D














Before the weekend was even over there was interest in buying the car. About three people on Retro Rides were eager to buy it at the price we'd decided on of £450. It looked like this donation from Gareth was really going to be a good one in raising some much needed funds! Thanks Dude.

Pt2 to come.....a new owner and a new lease of life!

[Mystery Machine]

BTW....I'm not putting this in Readers Rides because it's not a proper build thread, just a short story on what has become a cool little car for very little money ;D

[Mystery Machine]

After the weekend I took the car back home with me because I was going to be heading to London a few days later to collect a load of stuff from Seth in London. I figured it would be a LOT cheaper doing the run in the little Punto than in my Delica. It also meant I could give a proper and honest verdict to any potential buyers on how it runs.

Down in the depths of the 'Dungeon' I loaded the Punto up with all the parts I had removed from Seth's Herald donor MX5 including ratchet strapping the bonnet onto the Punto's roof!


After saying goodbye to Seth, sharing a take-away with Dan (who had helped clean the Punto up) I headed back to Bristol with one overriding thought in my mind, "This is actually a cracking little car that would be perfect as a cheap parts chaser for Area 52...I might buy it myself"

I get home late-ish and my GF asks me how the day was, how the car was etc....and then tells me she wants to buy it herself! She's been thinking of selling her little Smart Car because she's wanting a bit more space these days and she's quite taken by the Punto.

She agrees to buy it for £450 (which goes towards Area 52) and as a peace of mind gesture for her, I get it MOT'd by BratMan even though it's still got three months until it's due. Tim does the MOT and there isn't a single advisory! It's a really solid and well kept car. AWESOME! (Thanks Tim )



So here is where the whole "Back to '96" thing starts....

Amanda takes the car out for her first proper drive, down to her Sisters in Wells. The next day she gets home and declares that she wants some alloys, "I can't drive a car with hubcaps....it's just wrong!"

I put up a request on here for some 4x98 alloys. I get some offers of wellers (cool, but not right for this car) and some ordinary Punto alloys which aren't that nice.

HonkKongPhooey then offers me some alloys which, in his own words, "you probably won't like but I'll offer them anyway"

They are some TSW three spoke alloys from his Lancia Beta that he's restoring. Proper mid-90's soft spoke wheels in 15" with tyres. I have to say, I was very unsure, but there was just something that kept me coming back to look at these universally hated wheels. I decided to go for it and bought them for £80. Project "Back to '96" had started.

Amanda had no idea!

To come.....from 'Zero to Hero' How a plain Jane 'not really retro' blandmobile is hit with some genuine marmite wheels!

[Garry]

Really looking forwards to this, as my bro's R-Reg Punto is crying out for some ideas. And its a More-Doors edition too.

[HoTWire]

Jan 12, 2011 16:12:33 GMT Mystery Machine said:

BTW....I'm not putting this in Readers Rides because it's not a proper build thread, just a short story on what has become a cool little car for very little money ;D

Lolwut? This looks like a really good readers rides/build thread to me. So don't be suprised if it gets moved.

[Mystery Machine]

Three days before Christmas, Chris (Diabolu) arrives at Area 52 to collect an engine he's bought from Ross (Ruishy1). En-route he has kindly collected a lathe that we had bought and also....THE WHEELS!!

His first comment "Who the hell is stupid enough to buy these things?"

I don't think he'll be the last to make that comment!

Skip forward to Boxing Day and I am back at the unit after dropping off my Delica to its new owner. There is a 'post-Christmas' get together at Area 52 on the following day so I decide to stay over at the unit despite it being -5!!

The Punto is filthy from where Amanada has been running over to Wells and back in the lead up to Christmas. I bring it inside to get started on cleaning it despite the temperature and the fact it's 2am!!

Before:






One problem, with sub-zero temps for well over two weeks, all the pipework had frozen solid. Even the cistern was a solid block of ice, as well as the pan, Jed's water bowl and even the kettle. SOLID!

I managed to defrost this bottle of water by putting it next to the wood burner for a while. THis was going to be my means of washing all the mud off the car. No buckets, no sponges, no hosepipes.....just 500ml of water and some paper towels! It's 2.30am so I'd better get started....




Finished by 3.30am! Just time to quickly admire my ghetto car washing skills then head to bed.

[dbizzle]

Jan 12, 2011 16:40:14 GMT Mystery Machine said:

Project "Back to '96" had started.

This is awesome to the max.

1996 was a great year for music - make sure your cassette player is pumping out Ash's 1977, The Bluetones' Expecting to Fly, Oasis' What's The Story, Kula Shaker's K, Alanis Morrissette's Jagged Little Pill and Suede's Coming Up.

And get a Motorola StarTAC for the glovebox!

[Mystery Machine]

Monday 27th December, I get up around 9am just as the first people start to arrive.

One of the main tasks of the day - to lower the Punto and fit the wheels along with a couple of other little touches.

After shunting a few cars around, the Punto is on the ramp ready for some treatment


Chris takes up my offer to chop the front springs with the plasma cutter. No hesitation, he accepts. I give him the 'leftover' springs I removed from the rear to practice on




Practice over he's straight onto the main springs. No spring compressors needed, just a steady hand and strong nerves for when the spring seperates. BANG!




Nice one Chris, glad you enjoyed playing with one of A52's favourite toys

[Mystery Machine]

After cutting the front springs we found that the springs wouldn't seat on the lower spring cup at all. Pulling them onto the cup was a struggle only for them to pop straight off again. This was without any weight on them, so not exactly great for dropping the weight of the car onto them.

The idea of chopping 'in situ' normally works fine and saves a LOT of time, but on this type of spring & spring cup it would seem not to be the case. Time to take the struts out...

Once out, Ian (BiAS) devises a cunning plan to fabricate and weld on some retaining hoops for the ends of the spring to locate and be held top & bottom. Before you could blink, he was on the case with MiniDan and Andy supervising.


As well as the retaining hoops, a plate was also welded around 30% of the lower spring cup to give even more support to the spring. Luckily I found some nice 2mm plate that was already curved so fitting it would be easier....it was actually the base of an old CD rack! Cut to size and handed over to Ian he got cracking. Belt & braces you could say




The original plan was start to finish in an hour....this would have easily been achieved had it not been for the front spring problem. The car was currently looking a bit more sorry for itself but was now sporting brand new clear indicators and side repeater which I had picked up off eBay for £20 (bringing the total budget to £100). Chris & I fitted them in literally a couple of minutes...he was amazed how easy & quick it was to change things like this on a more modern car.


Rich was busy attacking metal on his 300C.....it was looking less rusty and more solid already


We take a break to enjoy some biscuits that Chris had made. They looked great and it was almost a shame to eat them, but they tasted AMAZING! Seriously, the best biscuits I've ever had. Pistachio and Cranberry was what I ate, the chilli in there was divine and the aftertaste stayed for a long while after. WANT MORE!! (So did everyone else!!)


While Ian was still adding bracing to the front struts, Rich gave me a hand to fit the all essential 'back to 1996' sticker which I had made on Boxing Day. Little touches like this will enhance the overall look of a car straight out of the 90's. Having my own vinyl cutter means this didn't add anything to the budget....so still £100.


Struts finished and ready to be refitted. Thanks Ian, lovely work there..


Last piece of work needed before fitting the wheels, arch clearance. The lip on the arch was resting on the tyre and, despite being a Fiat, wouldn't roll at all!! Lots of heat and persuasion with a lump hammer resulted in very little movement. Ian & I both concluded that some grinding would be the best answer. Ian removed a 10mm strip the entire length of the arch and cleaned it up with a flap wheel while I followed behind with a good dose of exterior sealant (luckily in black!) to protect the freshly cut edges and prevent any water/dirt getting in between the skins. The bumper mount also had to be moved back and the remaining material cut away


All jobs done, next step was to fit the new wheels and see what ride height we had achieved (the fronts had already been cut again because they weren't as low as the rear springs)

[Mystery Machine]

The original plan was for the car to be 'lowered, not slammed' but my estimate of 1.5 coils out of the rear meant it sat very low!!

I initially thought "Holy Sh*t, Amanda isn't going to like that" but when the majority suggested we use the 'spare' springs to get the height back up a bit my immediate answer was "I can't allow myself to raise a car at Area 52....it's a one way street and the only way is down"*

(*Delica's being the exception )

So with the front springs having had a second slice to remove some more height, we ended up with this......."WELCOME TO 1996"











The amount of people who first saw the wheels and went "WTF.....have you lost your marbles?" or "OMG, you paid for those?" or even simply "Yuk"

Apart from Alan, there was a complete U-turn of opinion once the wheels were on the car and it was sat on the deck. Brian kinda summed it up perfectly "They look far better than they have any right to, that looks spot on"

I was happy, there were a lot of smiles in the unit and we had gone from "0-1996 for £100" in an afternoon/evening. OK, so it wasn't the 1hr transformation I had planned, but when did working on cars always go to plan? The end results were better than I had imagined and this Punto had gone from zero to (tongue in cheek) hero for not a lot of money. Thanks for all the help guys...

Those that haven't seen the car yet, it looks a LOT better and works so much more in the flesh. The way the wheels fill the arches is spot on and it looks so much lower for real.

[alex77]

love the oakley sticker had one simular on my talbot horizon in 96 bit bigger less cool and with the words themonuclear protection under the logo

[Mystery Machine]

This was the photoshop I did a while back to see if the wheels I bought from HongKongPhooey would work - I was hoping to acheive this look in the 'finished' Punto


I think we succeeded ;D












....and to add a proper period touch to the interior, a NOS blast from the past


You just don't see them anymore these days...what a shame.



The ride has settled a bit more since these shots were taken and Amanda LOVES the way it looks - even the ride height. She took her Mum out in it the other day who 'noted' the stiffer suspension.....Her response "You're not supposed to like it Mum, if you did then I've failed". AWESOME!!!!!1!!!1!

[Mystery Machine]

Just to recap...a bland and very 'invisible' modernish 'more door' hatchback has gone from this:



to this:



and from this:



to this:



for £100 and an afternoon/evening's work.

Thanks Guys, it just goes to show that you don't need a big wallet or massive amount of time to transform a car.

I'll get some pics very soon of how it currently sits now that the springs have had time to settle. It looks even cooler!!

[hongkongphooey]

Awesome.....it looks mint

[rob0r]

A nice transition, quite tasteful for 1996!

[Deleted]

That's the first time I've ever seen those wheels work on a car, proof that it's sometimes just a case of finding the right part for the right car sometimes.

I remember using the old Feu Orange air... I hesitate to use the word fresheners... and trying to get my Dad to buy one but he never would. Probably just as well.

[SparksECM]

Actually makes me tempted to go back and buy the mille miglia 3 spokes I saw at u pull it. I don't really like puntos but that's class.

[BenzBoy]

Some great work there! I think the three-spokes are perfect for it. I used to hate 'em, but time goes on and hindsight is generally rose-tinted!

Just goes to show that with a bit of elbow grease and a small investment you can achieve great things!

[ToolsnTrack]

I think the Punto is one of the few cars that suit 3 spokes. Job well done!

Big props to CelicaV8 too!

[bstardchild]

Looks ace - didn't we have a thread a while back on "three spokes FTW"