Team-BHP - Contessa Classic

Few days back there was an article in the "Ahmedabad Mirror" about Scrap old car, buy new and with the article a picture was attached where I saw many govt. contessas in an open space! I looked closely and saw they were all Karnataka registration. People interested in buying Contis should find the place in the picture and see if they are willing to sell! Article link and picture below:

Source: Ahmedabad Mirror

Miyer you listening!!?

Thanks guys. and ?ushk@r, no the front end doesnt hit speed breakers. it really isnt that low up front. But the belly end up scraping a lot of speed breakers, especially when theres more than 3 people inside. I was thinking maybe id get the car raised somehow. any suggestions with that?

Quote:

Originally Posted by zazer (Post 1449552)

OMG how can they just throw away the cars. I really want to go pick up one of these. Guys i have no idea how to trace the location. Pushkar can u help me by specifying the exact date and in what context the picture was posted ?

Zazer, this was in the papers on 12th of this month! You better find out this place before they scrap them!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by leadf00t (Post 1449580)

Wow so many contis. I believe if this is govt scrap/sale. they might come really cheap.

Pushkar can you please find if the cars are avabile for sale and what prrices. we might get a steal here.

Leadf00t, man I have no idea about the prices etc. Bangalore people should hunt that place down asap, otherwise the options I see will just vanish! Which is very sad :mad:

Quote:

Originally Posted by '88tessa (Post 1449613)

It’s quite achievable. Remove your front and rear suspension and check for the rubber pads (A Rubber Ring with a grove to seat the helix of the spring- only top.Bottom is a flush rubber ring) on top and bottom of the coil spring. If they have reduced to less than 15 mm on top 6 mm in the bottom and you also can find it a bit stressed out, then its time to change them.

The original conti. pads are close to 25 mm on top & about 10 mm in the bottom when new and will give you the height required. If you need additional height you can use the Fiat 118NE rubber pads & they come with a steel shim on top and the rubber is moulded inside the steel ring. The height is over 35 mm and is a safe height without compromising the dynamics and handling.

In case you want off-road type of under chassis clearance then there are a different set of mods. you can do and will discuss them in person.

Hi guys,
i have some doubts regarding my conti 1.8GL,

1) Steering:- Mine is without power steering.it feels heavy and very difficult to turn/park at slow speeds, but at higher speeds its fine and runs smoothly without any wobbling as such. Can anything be done to make the steering lighter at slow speeds only without disturbing while driving at higher speeds. The tyres & rims are standard.

2) LPG kit:- I want to use the car preferably for long drives along with my family members, one of my friend who is a dealer of lovoto gas kit has offered one to me at a good price. I have doubts on the performance of the car if i get it fitted. Please throw me some light.

3) What to you guys feel about Amway car wash products?..

Nice Pictures. I really like the one in blue. Beautiful. Please tell me what you think of mine. My brother an I chose this as our first car project. I really love the shape of the "conti" so we did not fiddle with the exteriors except the grill. We've received mixed responses with the grill :)
We've been doing jeeps for the past ten years, this project took us a total of 6 months, 3 of which were spent searching for a Contessa in a good condition. We got a 2001 Model.
Body was in excellent shape. Here are some of the changes we made.

1) Engine : Replaced the MPFI Petrol unit with a 2200CC Isuzu Turbo unit (Diesel).
2) Paint job: Changed the paint to Pearl White 2K paint.
3) Wheels and Tires: 18" BMW Type rims with 235/40/R18 Tyres.
4) Interiors: Completely Black, keeping with Black-White theme , Seats made Bucket-type.
6) Mechanicals: All the parts used are original and new. Was a real pain to look for them, in the end it was all worthwhile. Every small detail was given attention.

Would appreciate your advice and comments so please be frank. Any information and queries are more than welcome. I'm still new to Team-BHP so i look forward to your support.
Thanks
Desified
(Chandigarh)

+91 9876113584

I am genuinely interested in those orphaned ex-govt. cars.
Would pick up 2 of them for sure if being sold cheap (one for the restoration and the other as a donor).
Pushkar or anyone else who has any leads as to where these've been stacked up, please reply to this post or just PM me.
Thanks.

Desified the front bumper needs to be alligned. Since you have a rickshaw theme :) on the mirrors why not put the other ones that were available sime tima ago they are replicas of the racing cone shaped mirrors that were available for ricks? they look more accurate period classic job but cant say much for their effectiveness as the seemed small. Either way change the mirrors dud

@desified

your car is in excellent condiditon.

just a few suggestions.
1) loose the mirrors use something more classy. the round mirrors don't go with the overall look of the car and appear flimsy
2) I personally dont like the chrome alloys. MOre like Gangsta look. however looks are subjective. something in the regular matt silver or black with this size would look great
3) the grill doesn't gel with the car. If you see the 4th pic everything behind shows and a different color/ pattern grill might make loads of difference to the car.

Oh and btw your tyres look fab.

Quote:

Originally Posted by '88tessa (Post 1447953)

Finished work on her a few months ago, shes a 1988, 1.8 litre with an exhaust made from scratch. Lots of stripes but i couldnt resist, not much body work except the a little extension off the front end, mirrors i got off a friends enfield. I dont have a good enough picture of the interior but its a two tone white and brown, with the seats exactly the same way they were, without the head rests and no curves on it whatsoever and thats as comfy as it gets i tell you.

Brilliant work ! We had a long list of contessa's in our family right from the day it started till 2005 when we sold of our last contessa. At one point we had nearly three in the family. This made me very attached to this car . Anyway I really wish that someday I get hold of a good contessa and do something in line of what you have done but without the stripes and may be in White or Carbon grey.

Ps : Good idea of mixing the old Contessa's grille and the latest gen lights. Its really going well .

Last week, i had issues due to a tapping sound coming from the engine block and i had to face a nightmare when the local mechanic nearby said to replace the whole engine as the connecting rod has failed. This guy even didnt had the courtesy to check it thoroughly, instead just lend his ears to speak something nonsense. His version is "we dont do contessa":eek:. Have you guys come across such attitudes from anyone towards such a great car? . The local mechs near my house show a sad face whenever i take my car to them.
Thanks to my fellow bhpians here, i decided to meet Miyer who helped in diagonising the problem.. there was a broken rocker arm and it was replaced. He made the issue look very simple. Now, i have nothing to fear about maintaining this car with teambhp and its members around.
Thanks TeamBHP and especially Miyer who answered and solved my problems without a second thought..

Thats right. It sure is great that Miyer was around to help the both of us. He was helping me tune the carburetor on my conti for a little more mileage and man did it work. I drove down to Coimbatore from bangalore and the fuel gauge still hasn't dropped back down to where it was before i filled up so i haven't even been able to calculate the mileage yet. But thats a good thing obviously. Shes so quiet now in fact that when Miyer handed over the car to me after he drove it for a bit, i didn't even know the engine was running so i actually tried to start it again. Anyway, im sure the mileage has gone up from around just 8 to at least 12 now, maybe more. And thats pretty good for a 21 year old engine I think. Anyway, thanks again Miyer.