[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

FOR THE FIRST TIME ON TBHP KarthikK's AND MY ABARTHS WILL MEET EACH OTHER

Here are a couple of photos.





More photos can be seen in the "Quick meets at Bangalore" thread in the below link
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/team-b...ml#post3251707

[hemanth.anand]

A small mod...I made the armrest AC vent functional.

More details on it is here:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modifi...ml#post3255216

[hemanth.anand]

While I was out on a long vacation, my friend took out my car for a couple of quick drives. During one of those trips my car reached its 46th thousand.



Its time for a wheel alignment and I'm planning to get it done in the coming weekend. Will update this thread as soon as its done.

[hemanth.anand]

This was not a good evening for my car because of two instances...

First instance:
My car ran over a stray puppy today which came running across the street. The first time I've had such an experience. The mother dog came chasing my car and fearing that it will bite me, I didnt get down and moved ahead. Even now the cries of the puppy are ringing in my ears and I'm feeling really sad. I don't know what I did was wrong or right.

Second instance:
In the past few months after service there were a few instances when car was not starting. The battery was slowly loosing its power.

Today evening I had parked it in a market and when I came back after shopping, it refused to start.
The car needed a jump start.

After many failed attempts, I called the road side assistance. After taking the details, he arranged a call from a mechanic. The mechanic called me and told he'll take half an hour. But luckily for me there was a car garage just a few steps further. I didn't feel it was worth waiting 30 mins for a jump start. I called the local garage guy and he charged me 100 rupees.

I have to drive around a bit during the weekend. So I'm planning to get a new battery before that.
I would like to request some suggestions.

But after this jump start, the car is sounding really silent. The idle rpm has also come down to around 700rpm which earlier used to be around 900rpm. Based on a bhpian friend's hints I checked all the belts and AC... everything is fine. Should I be worried?

[DRIV3R]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

First instance:
My car ran over a stray puppy today which came running across the street. The first time I've had such an experience. The mother dog came chasing my car and fearing that it will bite me, I didnt get down and moved ahead. Even now the cries of the puppy are ringing in my ears and I'm feeling really sad. I don't know what I did was wrong or right.

So Sad.

So I'm planning to get a new battery before that.
I would like to request some suggestions.

I would suggest Amaron, you can check batterybhai, they offer competitive prices and do the install + do buyback the old battery.

But after this jump start, the car is sounding really silent. The idle rpm has also come down to around 700rpm which earlier used to be around 900rpm. Based on a bhpian friend's hints I checked all the belts and AC... everything is fine. Should I be worried?

Me thinks the ECU was reset due to the lack of power supply. Nothing to worry.

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by DRIV3R

I would suggest Amaron, you can check batterybhai, they offer competitive prices and do the install + do buyback the old battery.

Thank you very much DRIV3R

My car now has a new power source. 46700kms/3yrs2months from the Stock Exide battery is a decent life if not fantastic.

I checked www.batterybhai.com and also enquired some other dealers. Batterybhai was found to be reasonable and their promise of delivering within 4 hours was wonderful. So I wanted to try them out and hence ordered the Amaron FLO DIN 45 battery at 11:30 yesterday.
It was 5550/- without the old battery and 4750/- after buy back of the old battery.

They were supposed to come and install it by 15:30. I didn't receive any call till 16:00. I called them and he told he'll get back. After an hour I called again but got the same response. again at 18:00 I called them and he promised a call back in 30 mins and I got a call from the local guy at 18:15. He told he'll come and install it today(next day) in the morning at 09:30. I told him that I would need it the same day since I had to take out the car early the next morning.

My house is a little away from the city centre and I had some shopping to do in the city centre. So I told him that I'll bring the vehicle to where I had to shop and he could fix it there. He agreed and told me that he'll come there at 19:45.

With that I hoped that my vehicle would start and went to the parking lot. Luckily for me it started. I completed my shopping and he came there in time. With the right tools, he installed the battery, took the old battery back, gave the warranty card with his seal and also the bill.


Exit Exide...


Lasts long... really long

Although they didn't keep their 4 hour promise, Overall I was satisfied with the service and would rate them 4/5.

[DRIV3R]

That is great to hear, Hemanth! Thanks for sharing your experience.

[hemanth.anand]

Last weekend, on Saturday the 16th, this set of tyres suffered its first Puncture. The culprit, was a nail. See the pictures below





Luckily for me it happened just some 200metres from my regular tyre shop, the Iyengar's on the ORR near DG petrol bunk.
I drove with the punctured tyre for 200 mtrs. The puncture was repaired within 5 minutes.

As I was free, I also got the Wheel alignment and balancing done. it was due as these tyres had by then run 6500kms.

In the evening, I had to drive a lot around the city and at the end of the day, my car reached yet another landmark. IT had crossed 47000kms.


47K

I missed clicking my usual photos of 46999 and 47000.

The car is running without any problems whatsoever. With no modifications in this year, I'm looking forward to the 2014 Q1 where some mods are planned

[rshanker]

Hemanth, great set of mods you've got there! I've spotted your car a couple of times but since it was a while back didn't pay close attention to the tail lamps. I've been on the prowl for the EVO tail lamps & there are quite a few on eBay, I quite wasn't sure of which retailer to buy from. If you share your details here (or through DM) that'd be great!

The only other detailed instruction I came across for the installation is the one below
http://www.fiatforum.com/grande-punt...vo-lights.html

Did you use these to set it up on yours?

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by rshanker

Hemanth, great set of mods you've got there! I've spotted your car a couple of times but since it was a while back didn't pay close attention to the tail lamps. I've been on the prowl for the EVO tail lamps & there are quite a few on eBay, I quite wasn't sure of which retailer to buy from. If you share your details here (or through DM) that'd be great!

The only other detailed instruction I came across for the installation is the one below
http://www.fiatforum.com/grande-punt...vo-lights.html

Did you use these to set it up on yours?

Thanks rshanker. Sorry for the delayed response.

I'll surely send you the ebay seller details over PM but only that can only happen after you get a BHPian status.

As far as the resistor us concerned I did try this out but didn't go up that high in terms of resistance values...will do it some other day in leisure. Thanks for the link...I now got an idea as to what resistance values I've to attempt

[rshanker]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

Thanks rshanker. Sorry for the delayed response.

I'll surely send you the ebay seller details over PM but only that can only happen after you get a BHPian status.

That's gonna take a while :(

I've been scouting this on eBay UK (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fiat-Punto...item20d969abc0)
I remember you mentioning that the UK parts should be direct plug & play without any mods. Also, this one says Evo 2010, mine is a 2009 Punto ~not sure if there'd be any mismatch.

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by rshanker

That's gonna take a while :(

I've been scouting this on eBay UK (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fiat-Punto...item20d969abc0)
I remember you mentioning that the UK parts should be direct plug & play without any mods. Also, this one says Evo 2010, mine is a 2009 Punto ~not sure if there'd be any mismatch.

I had seen many tail light installation videos from the UK. The shape of the connector was exactly same as in my car.
From the link that you have given in the above post, the lamps seem much expensive that what I paid (part of the reason being the rupee going down big time)
More importantly, in the link that you have pasted, I see that there are 5 pins on the back of the tail lamp unit. Indian cars have only 4 (my car had only 4). You might want to check that.

[hemanth.anand]

My first update to the thread after it is now moved to the long term ownership thread.

Like a good work horse my car has been doing the duty without any fuss whatsoever. In the last couple of months, I've not taken the vehicle on the highway and with just city driving, slowly, it has crossed its next landmark-the 48th thousand (41 days).


48,000 Kms in 39 months

The year is coming to an end and everybody have started their plans and resolutions.
Here are my plans as far as my car is concerned

Project 2014
1. Seat covers to be changed...Research underway
2. I'm not a music buff, yet I feel the need for good quality sound...speakers at least will undergo change
3. And two more "Abarth"ification mods

Looking forward eagerly to the new year.
Happy new year in advance people!

[hemanth.anand]

Finally here it is...The much awaited, the most expensive, the most beautiful cosmetic modification till date for my car!


Howzzzaat

The alloys were always on my mind, but at the same time I didn't want to settle for anything less.
When everything was original, Why not the alloys? So the search for the Abarth alloys started in May 2013.

As usual ebay.uk was where I got what I was looking for.
For 500GBP at 88INR/GBP for 4 Wheels, the price was reasonable I thought. But, the biggest Question was shipping.
The seller was ready to ship to India but the shipping would be 2000GBP more. Customs would be over and above that.

This was turning out to be a costly affair. But my friend and BHPian umb_007 came to my rescue. He was on an onsite delegation for 1 year and he was scheduled to come back in January 2014. He had an eligibility of one cargo container for relocation. He agreed to get these for me.
The customs if any that would be levied in India was a risk that I decided to take. This was the best option for me.

With shipping problem settled, I probed the seller for the different dimensions of the wheel.
The width of the wheel, the hub diameter, the offset and the bolt PCD were the most important.
The width was 7J, the hub dia was 58, the offset was ET35 but the PCD was 100mm.
While the first three dimensions were perfect, the PCD was different from the infamous 98mm of FIAT.
TBHPians to the rescue again...Vigneshram's Punto thread and brar.arsh's Linea thread helped a lot here. Going from their posts, I was confident of a 100PCD alloy. I finally took the Plunge.

On 28th May 2013, I ordered the Alloys. In 3 days, it was delivered from London to umb_007's house in Germany. He sent me the photos of the wheels in his basement and that was it-the long wait had begun.

In the next few months, my wheels survived some dramatic situations

• First there was a flood warning in Germany in June. With my wheels in the basement, I was worried but luckily no mishaps happened.
• Then, umb_007's delegation term increased. He was supposed to return in June 2014 now. But with his good contacts, he got another person relocating from Germany in December 2013 (month earlier than initial plans) to get my wheels

In the mean time in November I read a lot about PCD correction Bolts or Wobble bolts over the internet. Though the stock bolts would not be an issue I ordered these correction bolts too for some peace of mind. It was also delivered to Germany.

Then on the cold snowy day of December 14th 2013, umb_007loaded his vehicle with the wheels and delivered it to the other colleague's house.
From there the logistics company relocating his house shifted everything to the container.


Its Snowing


From Germany with love

The cargo started its journey on December 16th 2013. The journey to India generally takes 6 weeks. I was informed that the cargo would reach Chennai Port on 27th January 2014. As perfect as it could get, it reached there on 27th.

The customs clearance was the last hurdle. On 4th February this year, I got the good news from my colleague that the customs was cleared and his cargo would arrive in a week's time.
However he didn't know if my wheels had attracted any duty. So it was a mixed feeling for me.
After another week (which looked like a month for me) I finally got the news that my wheels had not attracted any duty

I collected the wheels on 11th this month. I had not taken my car to office so I shifted it to another colleague's car who lives near my house.
I transferred it to my car the next day.


Transfer in Progress

I was more eager for this weekend. But I used this time to shortlist the best tyre possible.
I finished some chores early in the morning of 15th and by noon, I went to some trusted tyre shops.
My three tyre options were 205/45R17, 215/45R17 or 225/45R17. The most preferred on was 215/45R17-the one on the Real Abarth.
To my surprise, found nothing in 205/45 and 215/45 sizes apart from unheard tyre brands of Nanking and Nitto. In one shop however I was shown Falken and Dunlop Tyres (At least some brands that I had heard of)
Looking at the price differences, I thought about Nanking and Nitto for a while, but I didn't have the courage to buy them
225/45 had some good brands like Michelin and Pirelli but I was not sure if they touch the wheel well or not.
The lesson of the day for me-the prices of tyres shoot up exponentially with every inch increase in the diameter

I finally went to A1 car care near Lalbagh and he tried out some old Goodyear tyre of that size on some 17inch alloy.
The car was taken to the alignment bay and it was checked to my satisfaction levels that it doesn't touch the wheel well
The decision was made that It would be Pirelli P7 Cinturato...It was 7PM by then.


3513 manufactured Pirelli P7 Cinturato 225/45R17 91W


All four of them

3 guys started work and within 40 minutes all the alloys were shod with beautiful looking rubbers and all 4 were balanced. In the next 30 minutes, the brake calipers got a fresh coat of red paint and the wheels were fixed on to the car and Alignment was done


Old one gone, new one waiting


Witing for her new shoes

The boot was loaded with the earlier wheels and bills settled and a satisfied guy with his 32 teeth visible , drove out towards home.
I had given a belated Valentine day gift to my car!

As soon as I sat inside I could make out the GC increase (by 3.65mm) and the stiffer steering (quite obviously).
After having driven 10Kms, close to my home, my car also reached 49000Kms


A special 1000 this

The night ended with me trying hard to get sleep...I was still smiling.

Early in the morning today, I headed out onto the NICE road for a photo shoot. Let the pictures do the talking now


Good Morning


Look me in the eye and say that you don't like me!


Two to tango


NICE!

Let me quickly make a comparision of how my car looked like when I purchased it in October 2010


A look back


Proposal!


Close-up

Later in the Evening I made another photo shoot with my car's scaled models


1:43, 1:32, 1:24, 1:18 and 1:1!


My Prized Possessions


Aren't they Beautiful?

Its now time to change my TBHP Signature!

[MCR]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

Finally here it is...The much awaited, the most expensive, the most beautiful cosmetic modification till date for my car!
.................
Its now time to change my TBHP Signature!

Looks great!

I think now you should look at getting Italian Leather for your car seats, with red stitching to completely look Abarth, inside out!

So, when is the party?

Also, How are the tyres, are they too soft? What about tyre noise?