Ok, so it turns out i was too late to get the spare Punto! The salvage yard took it before it could get to it, but that does mean its in the breakers yard! I should be able to go an get the bits i need nice and cheap. A job for saturday i think!

ive ordered some new parts today and ive booked the head into Southern Rebore Services on Monday 12th PM. They will check it over and test it. Hopefully i wont need anything other than a resurface.

Parts so far:
Haynes Manual: £8.04
Head Gasket set, inc bolts: £23.50
Cam belt + tensionser: £25.45
Thermostat + housing: £11.95
4 NGK Spark Plugs: £12.00

These parts are the minimum i think will get the engine running again. You can add to that any cost of machining to the head.

If there is enough left in the budget after its ship shape i hope to chuck on a K&N 57i induction kit. This will increase the driveability of the car, especially as its a relatively small engine; it should be very perky with a 3 to 5 bhp increase!

The cost of a cylinder head resurface should be around £40-50 presuming that there is not further damage to the head such as cracks which would need welding so increasing the price.

I took a good look over the car, in the failing autumn light, yesterday and everything seems to work well, even the wipers which are a common problem area. The body work is great except for the passenger front door. There's no major scratches or dents which will help resale value.


I have acquired another Punto, again with head gasket issues, but it has some parts which i can use on this one. Front fog lens and a exhaust will be transplanted onto the black one. It has a new radiator and clutch slave so these may be used as well.

Banger 1: 1998 Fiat Punto Hatchback 60 SX 5dr

Just becuase its only 12 years old doesnt mean this Punto isnt a banger, nor does it mean it is! I see it as in limbo; its on the edge of being a banger just waiting for a little push, or, i hope, a little pull in the right direction.

I aquired it at zero cost, it was a trade for an item which i got for free! This is a great starting point and means costs will be kept low and potential profit that much higher.

The PO (previous owner) wanted to off load it after a head gasket failure (HGF) made it a non runner. Its got a full MOT and a months tax, so other than a few bits and peices its a solid car.

The list of work needed looks like this:
Head Gasket
Head resurface
Exhaust (cat)
Cam belt
Spark Plugs
HT leads
Thermostat
Replacement front passenger door.

Once all the work is done im hoping to sell for a slightly optimistic £795, with the cost of parts and work taking the profit down to around £450. I think its a reasonable price for a 80,000 mile car with new head gasket, belts, exhasut and a really good overhaul!

A big unkown in the budget at the moment is the cost of the cylinder head resurface. It really needs to be done after HGF as its hard to tell if the head has distorted. Better safe than sorry, and as i want all my fixes to be of a high quality, i cant cut corners!

Bangernomics, but not as you know it!

So, bangernomics, for those of you who don't know, is almost an art! Its about buying a old car cheap and running it to the ground. The theory is along the lines that its cheaper to buy a £200 car once a year than to buy a £3000 car every 5 years. The maths adds up, but the practicalities don't. Its a lot of hassle and you often spend a lot just keeping a banger running. So I've come up with a very unoriginal twist which people have been doing for years, but that I'm going to call my own; My bangernomics is to buy/beg/swap a banger, fix it up and sell it on for a profit. There not much that cant be fixed with time and money, and a little skill, but the balance between the cost of a quality fix and making a profit is fine, and easy to get wrong.

My aim is to make a poor car good, generating a quick, honest and reliable profit.