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-   -   The Red Rocket - Fiat Grande Punto Sport. *UPDATE* Interiors now in Karlsson Leather (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/129039-red-rocket-fiat-grande-punto-sport-update-interiors-now-karlsson-leather-23.html)

Thanks F150 :). The double muffler tip is on the cards like I mentioned in the later part of my post. I'm hunting for a decent looking one and will do a swap job very soon. Blackened headlamps might do the trick like you said. Hemanth.anand, the team-bhp Abarth guru has just updated his headlamp blackening job on his thread, and I am considering trying that out since the results on his car are very impressive.

On the other hand, I just don't want to mess around with OEM parts so I am still holding back fearing issues due to the black paint absorbing heat, improperly sealed lamps getting fogged up in rain, etc. What I might do is wait, save up and buy something like this from Dayline, a reputed aftermarket parts dealer for European cars -


These have integrated DRLs, LED indicators and come with projector H1 lamps for low and high beam, which should even provide stunning night-time visibility (going this route satisfies my wishlist of projector headlamps too). Let me see if and when I can afford one of these. They cost 500$ a set, which is quite a lot of moolah, not immediately possible.

Thanks a lot vb-san :thumbs up. Debadging of Fiat, 'Sport' and '90HP' will be done next week when I receive the Abarth badges. I'm just keeping them on for another week until I get those logos in my hands, reason being I want to do everything in 1 shot (de-badging + re-badging). I'll need the help of the service centre for accessing the badge screws, which need the bumper and bootlid panels to be dismantled and put back properly.

Now the front profile looks wonderful. Frankly speaking the earlier 'magician hat' or 'grin' like you called it was not looking very good.
The rear is perfect, bumper spoiler is very neatly done
And also good to see that the blind lizard got back its eyes :)
Looking forward to the de-&re-badging plus the twin silencer tubes.
Get the headlamps smoked & that will complete the look I guess(that's of course if you dont stumble upon anything else :) )

Wish you many more wonderful times with your rocket
if there is a miss india contest for hatchbacks, yours would have been the winner for sure :)

Very nice KarthikK, the car is looking very, very good now, and is bound to get better with the Abarth badges and such!
Look forward to all the mods you have mentioned in your post!

Your car is the only car i drool over!!! It requires a lot of thought process to get such things look good without going over-the-top. And you sure do excel in it. Your car looks just perrrrfect
Even i feel that you should debadge the rear and even remove the SPORTS sticker asap and then put the scorpion badges as soon as they arrive. it will keep all the fans of your car happy please:
OT - believe me or not, i was extremely eager to join team-bhp mainly to comment on your thread stupid:

Hey Karthik,
These pics may interest you.

Thanks for the kind words of appreciation. I'm really glad to know my car has generated so much interest, hehe :thumbs up. You're going to have to wait for another week though, since I am running a bit busy this week. I'll debadge and rebadge the car next Saturday probably. The update should be out here as soon as I do it.

Nice work, thanks for the reference. I'll definitely keep these designs in mind when I go for the headlamp blackening job, if ever. :thumbs up

Karthik,

The visual modifications you have done have come out very clean and really suit the colour of the car.
A small suggestion - the multijet badge on the front grill looks lost in the black grill, you can get a radium red sticker sheet carved on the letters. That would really match with the car colour also in the night it will glow and gives a good signature to the grill. I got this done to my black grill and loved the outcome.
Also, with so much gone into your 90, it should get fatter set of tyres say atleast 205s to give it a Abarth breed look.

Loved the last set of pictures and you are now tempting me to get a few of these kind of jobs in my car. BTW just crossed 53K yesterday.

Take care.

Thanks for the lovely suggestion scofield bhai :D. I like the idea; I'm adding it to my list of To-Dos right away. Will PM you for details

Definitely on the cards. My current Apollos have run around 9k kms now. I'll soon be running them out and changing early at 20k or 25k kms to Pirelli P7 205/55R15 :thumbs up

Glad you liked them scofield. Many more plans on the anvil, will be rolled out one by one in the near future.

ABARTH - welcome to a world of empowerment! The Red Rocket has been debadged from Fiat and rebadged to Abarth!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siSrodkQzOQ


The debadging and rebadging has been completed. I couldn't do a photoshoot today evening since it started raining heavily. Comprehensive pictures should be up tomorrow. For teasers, here is what the entire (Abarth OEM) badge kit contained as imported from the UK :



- Front grill badge
- Rear bootlid badge
- 4 alloy wheel centre caps
- EsseEsse emblem ordered extra
- Steering wheel scorpion logo
- 2 scorpion badges with Italian flag lightning emblem for the sides

A detailed report will be up tomorrow. Meanwhile, every one of you who criticized the heavily decal'ed and overloaded rear profile should have a reason to smile when you see this picture :D This is how it is right now :



Many thanks for all your feedback. Watch this space for more. The fun has only just begun. Next target - full leather black and red racing seats. :thumbs up If I couldn't afford an Abarth Evo, why fret? I will create my own!

Looking very nice there KarthikK! The rear now looks much cleaner.
Looking forward to more pics of your beauty.

BTW, any plans for a tuning box? The Pinto now needs the power to justify the badges on it :p

I had taken the car out for some errands today morning, and boy was this fake Abarth getting a lot of stares or what! I didn't expect that much attention honestly. The red color and 3M's detailing quality also added to the effect.

At most traffic signals, people were looking at the car. Most bikers and cabbies were keeping a safe distance away instead of their usual 'squeeze between the gaps' routines. I had at least 2 bikers ask me what this car was and how it resembled a Punto. One guy asked me what is the meaning of EsseEsse, and the other one asked me if this was some 'racing car'. Little did they realize that it was humble MultiJet diesel in valiant disguise. I left them choking in black smoke when the lights went green .

All traces of Fiat are removed from the exteriors. I didn't know debadging and CF vinyl detailing can have such surprising effects. If it means scratchless days ahead in traffic, thank you very much!

Thanks a lot nipcarlover. No tuning box on the anvil, I will be going for a full fledged 115HP remap with Tune-O-Tronics after completing 15k kms. That should probably happen after my second service, maybe sometime around the end of this year. I have some other interesting add-ons and modifications, both interior and exterior to keep me busy till then. :) This thread will not run dry ever, that I promise.

Well someone seems to be enjoying lot of attention :) i saw an Abarth first time in amsterdam and it was lip smacking ... I have seen few more abarth puntos but nowhere near to as detailed as urs. Keep up the spirit.

-shiv

Nice makeover. Didnt quite get a chance to go through all the pages. BTW nice solid mudflaps. My original mud flaps are a total spoiler !!

Got the details at the 13th page !! Planning to change my flaps too !!

You have to get used to people peeping at you.
Bikers especially can be seen in your rvm looking closely at the rear and then riding past you turning their head at the same time.

Pillion riders can be heard saying "dude which is this car?", "dekh ba ye masth gaadi ku...imported lagta" or "yawdo idu sakkattagide"
If you are taking your girlfriend along side don't mistake their words ;)

My relatives and friends were initially wondering why people were looking at my car but nowadays we have come to terms with this
Its a wonderful feeling for me atleast

Absolutely true. I saw this happen over the past few days of using the car in traffic. Most people keep staring. :D

One indicab driver (without occupants) was stuck in the silk board signal yesterday next to me. He asked me first which car this was, and how fast it can go, whether it scrapes the underside on speedbreakers and potholes. Then the usual question came "how much mileage does it give?" I said 15-16 in city and 23-24 kmpl on the highway, and he was startled to hear that for a "foreign gaadi"!

The worst comment ever, actually came from a biker some months back. He pointed to the side stripe and told me "Sir, I think your sticker pasting shop has made a spelling mistake for the name Bharath". I was shocked for a minute, then realized what he meant, thanked him for it and told him I will get it corrected ASAP. *ROFL*. Bharath Punto anyone?