2001 Fiat Multipla 1.9 JTD ELX

[EmDee]

HAI THERE GUISE!

Not much to report on the modifying front recently, but some mobile telephone images have occurred. Ordered some new bits which aren't here yet though, so all is not lost, there's more tomfoolery on the way.

Oh, and the tinted side repeaters (that fit) actually showed up.



Stoked with those. I've not yet sorted out the rear lights even though the bits I needed to do it are here, I've changed my mind about how I'll do them. If anyone wants some dark red flyeyes stuff let me know.

Also got this Speedhunters Takata tow strap off ebay for a fiver:





The attachmenty bit is the wrong size to fit my front towing eye so some modification is required.

Anyway, we all like pics, even if they are from a shopping trip and taken with a calculator. So more pics:







MOT is up this month, so I've ordered a new windscreen to be fitted tomorrow. The current one is shot (has been since I bought it) and I've managed to get a brand new one for £120 including fitting. Gotta love trade rates, I thought it'd be 200 to be honest so I'm okay with that. He's given me a £20 voucher too so a good result really, it's such a huge screen I was a bit worried I'd need lubing up for the bill.

MOT will probably involve some minor welding by the nearside front jacking point and she needs a bloody good service, so the moths in my wallet will get some fresh air this month

Pics to come of new splitter, rear lights, new screen etc.

[luckygti]

Very smart mate.

[adam73bgt]

This thing is the automotive definition of a guilty pleasure.. Its great!

[dikkehemaworst]

I keep thinking this really needs a shiny bright red leather interior..

[lukeevangelou]

Nov 4, 2015 22:40:40 GMT dikkehemaworst said:

I keep thinking this really needs a shiny bright red leather interior..

YEEEEEERRR!

[EmDee]

Hmm no shiny red leather for me thanks, I still love the dark red cloth it already has. Always wanted a brown leather interior in my old multipla though, maybe if I hit the lottery. And come to think of it I don't play so it's unlikely.

Anyway. On with the botched attempts at improving this woofer.

Did a photo of numbers.



Been piling the miles on considering it's just the Missus' daily, but it's still not too high considering what I paid and what they're capable of.

Also did an MOT. Massively helped out by the new windscreen, which is frankly tricky to photograph. Sadly, they also found a hole. One which secretly I knew about but forgot to tell them. Busted.

Paid them to plug said hole with metal.



Didn't get a before pic, but he did a decent enough job (I saw it before the paint) although my expectations were frankly non-existent.

This arrived.



Can you tell what it is yet?








Fitted it today along with some snow tyres.



Every time I look at it I'm annoyed at the unevenly spaced rivets. I.. I just don't know what I was doing. Sorry. It was entirely raining.

To further compound the badness the Zenders aren't nearly as cool as the Azevs cause they're only 15s, and far too small. It drives really nicely on these though. Err relatively.

Some pics.





And after running over some speedbumps and kerbs it's still on there!



LOOK AT ALL THE UGLIES.



You're welcome

[Deleted]

Many lols at the Monty Python reference!

Great car this, always pleased to see an update.

[duncanmartin]

Dec 2, 2015 18:02:14 GMT EmDee said:

Been piling the miles on considering it's just the Missus' daily, but it's still not too high considering what I paid and what they're capable of.

I think the front skirt is awesome and I really like the 15" wheels on it now. As for "what they are capable of" - mine passed it's MOT last week, and also passed 251,000 miles!!! It was leaking from the radiator, but it seems to have stopped for the moment. It's going back to the garage next week to have a replacement radiator fitted (and the tracking done and the air-con sorted and the HID kit re-fitted (MOT man made them remove it last week, but the standard lights are terrible!)). Mine is just a mess compared to yours though - every panel has a dent, there's more chips than paint on the bonnet and the interior is really worn. Keeps on going though.
Keep making yours an inspiration for how cool they can be - maybe one day I'll get around to making mine a bit cooler!
Cheers
Duncan

[EmDee]

Well the last update saw the Zenders go on with some snow tyres. This was great - until I went to the RR SE meet near Arundel and found that they're... well they're not round. Fine for Missus EmDee tooling round town, but shocking for anyone who drives over about 40 and doesn't want to feel like they have parkinsons.

Decided to whip out the other 15s I've got set aside for the Alfa. They're overdue a refurb but frankly I couldn't be ársed. Took them down to my local tyre monkeys to swap the snows onto them. FORTY f***ing quid later and as I went to pull away the poxy thing wouldn't even move! Turns out they didn't fit over the calipers. Not sure how the hell they didn't notice, but anyway I got them to chuck the 20mm spacers I had on the back on to the front and off we went.

The offset on these things is so tragic that even the rears were catching on the inside of the wheel wells on the way back, so I had to spend the next two hours pìssìng around in the rain moving the front spacers to the rear and the spacers off the Alfa on to the fronts. Sounds easy but took forever cause the allen head bolt holding the spacers on the 155 had to be drilled out (in the cold dark rain on the pavement). It's not moved for months and is currently looking rather sorry for itself.



Must give her some love. What a waste of tax.

Anyway, the new hoops look like this now that they're on.



Sporting the blue OMP spacers that were on the Alfa it looks a lot better now with fewer offsets.

So today I dug the Polo out the garage and parked it on the road. Cue cheeky fleet pic:



This allowed me to use the space it was occupying to Multiplay™.

Was only going to wash the rear lights, but got carried away and ended up doing the whole thing. And since I've always said that everything looks 3-5 times more attractive when it's in front of you, wet and ready to hop in, I took another pic or two.





Let the games begin.




Used my proper man's heatgun to warm everything up. Not sure how the Missus' hairdryer got into that pic.





First side went pretty well, if a little brighter a shade of red than I was after.



After masking up the other side, I started spraying and got a reaction on the first coat.



Didn't think of it at the time but I'd used a key to push the tape down around the edges and this time it happened to be for the work padlock - ie. probably covered in WD40. Didn't think about it till afterwards. So yeah, don't do that. 

Took it all off and started again, only to get some nasty runs from the first coat. So had to start again again again, but eventually got there. Once it was dark. And raining.

Here is one side being modelled by Mini EmDee, just before the swearing.



AWWW

And here's how the other side looked once it was done.



Yeah I know what you're wondering, I chucked a little flower sicker in the middle of the reverse light so that it casts a bit more light in the dark. And cause da bitches loves it.

Here's the before:


Once I was done I fitted the LED indicator bulbs you may have spotted above. Reason I needed them was to make the indicators shine amber and not red. They're green LEDs so when you combine them with the red they work a treat.

Obviously because they were so much bigger than the standard bulbs this involved me lying in the boot in the dark with a dremel trying to increase the aperture enough to slip them in. Fnar.



Success! 


This update has been brought to you by my new improved camera phone. In conjunction with Vaseline™. And by the number 4.

[Mavista]

Nice going on the lights. Especially the green bulb trick. Have to write that one down.
I still prefer the Zenders wheels though. The gold works a treat on the black. Almost lotus-esk. They will return once this so-called winter gets lost?

Thoroughly enjoying this one. Your writing is pretty entertaining too if you don't mind me saying

[luckygti]

GIVE THE ALFA SOME LOVE!


IMMEDIATELY!



Other than that, well done on trying to make the Multpla mildly attractive (in a ten pint Friday night way) it's working, and how big is mini Mee now? Blimey!

[stonio]

Haha this is brilliant, l do love dare to be different motors.
Plus who said all Multipla's are fugly.?



Keep up the good work pal l look forward to more updates and bonkersness

[adam73bgt]

Jan 14, 2016 12:48:01 GMT luckygti said:

GIVE THE ALFA SOME LOVE!


IMMEDIATELY!

I second this motion!

Multipla is still looking cool though, the name of those splits you've got on it escapes me at the moment but I saw an Alfa 164 for sale with a set on a little while ago and they looked awesome

[Mavista]

Speedlines are they not?

[EmDee]

Thanks y'all.

Alfa is next on the list. Likely going up for sale once sorted.

They are indeed Speedlines from a 155 Q4.

And yes, the Azevs will return in the summer. Zenders will need fixorating before I put them on anything and cash is tight at the moment. If I were to actually pay to refurb any wheels I'd get the Lotus Speedlines on the Polo done first. The Alfa Speedlines are in line for a splattering of gold with a silver lip - a'la back yard ghetto aerosol. You can never have too many gold wheels innit.

[EmDee]

Lady EmDee has just sent me this pic.



This makes me a very happy man, although I'm not convinced she's overly impressed!

[EmDee]

The UNSPEAKABLE EPICS contained within the blue pallet wrap will have to wait for my next post (partly because I've still not even unwrapped them yet).

This post is to inform yous that the car has been recovered to a garage near my work following a little mishap. Sadly Mrs Dee and Mini Dee experienced some speedbump/sump interface, creating a large hole (awarding Mini Dee her first scene points). The entire sump plug and about 2 inches all around it are completely MIA. It's okay though because she only drove it for another 10 minutes after that... Upon arriving at their destination she switched it off and then started it up again to see if the oil warning light would go off! Apparently it sounded fine, so it might be okay - and a few people have said the it could well be 100% unharmed. I've not heard it and don't really want to start it until it has a sump and some oil (probably needed an oil change anyway). This could well be the kick up the R's this project needs and who knows, may ultimately result in some 2.4 jtd 5 pot tomfoolery - or even better a 20v turbo 5 pot with petrols (think that's a bit unlikely given the fuel cost but it's a cheap and viable engine replacement which would likely come with 4 pot brembos and some other nice bits including a 6 speed 'box). Pie in the sky at the moment, but I'm not too hopeful for the prospects of the 1.9 if I'm completely honest. Unless you're reading this because it's the future and you want to buy the car which still has a 1.9 in it - in which case ignore everything I've said, she stopped and switched it off right away.

Will keep this updated with progress. Anyone have a 1.9 jtd sump lying around?

[stealthstylz]

I've got 2 complete engines for sale if you need one dude. Infact 2 complete cars but one in front end smashed and the other has a floor made of old t shirts and paper mache. Gonna be scrapping em in next couple of weeks can rag the motor out of one if needed.

[mikehamid]

This is the first time I've actually liked the look of a Multipla! Bloody good effort, although a shame to hear about the sump. Have you had an problems with police with the import plate? I want to put a set on my Corolla but don't want to get fines and such.

[duncanmartin]

That's a shame about the engine, though it might be OK, these lumps seem pretty tough. The sensible option for a bit more poke is probably the 16v diesel as found in lots of similar age Alfas.
I'd love to see a 2.4 JTD install as I think it would be ideal for these cars. You'd probably need to change the gearbox as well though - I don't think the standard box/clutch would handle the torque from the 2.4. I assume you've seen the 20VT conversion that those Polish guys did? IIRC they managed to wreck their sump on something too! Did the old toad ever get the 20VT swap installed under it's new ownership? And are 20VT coupes with decent engines that cheap now?
Cheers
Duncan