Team-BHP - My 10-year old Fiat Linea | Preventive overhaul and Audio upgrade

- - My 10-year old Fiat Linea | Preventive overhaul and Audio upgrade (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/technical-stuff/259847-my-10-year-old-fiat-linea-preventive-overhaul-audio-upgrade-2.html)

Phenomenal work Krishna. Got reminded of the work you had done on my Linea in 2020. On pretty similar lines, but this job was a lot more through. Wish we had penned down that work too.

When i saw pictures of your Linea on Instagram and mentioning 2012 model, for a second i thought it was my Linea.

Your Linea looks stunning. Looking forward to going out on a spin with you during my next visit to Banglore. Your love for the Linea shows KP.

My Linea is also from the same batch as yours. Makes me want to plan another make over with you KP.

Wishing you many more happy miles.

Too Good and worthy preventive maintenance.
Its worth getting the Fiat painted and refreshed and get going with same car, specially when you take car of your car and engine well.
They were a gem of an engine to drive and for control.

Would appreciate if you could share costs for people considering/planning similar update/refinishing.

Looks to be a very well planned and executed overhaul. I am a big fan of keeping the cars for long. We did this for our 13 year old i10 which is now closing in on 15 years. Keeping cars in top shape with timely maintenance can easily make it usable for at least 2 decades and doing this for a rare Fiat will only increase its value. Wish the government brings in norms to retain older cars for as long as owners want if it passes the fitness check and PUC. A good way to put some checks in place to curb pollution is to allow only a certain mileage per year for vehicles older than 20 years (say 5k per year).

Hi,

First of all, must appreciate the dedication you have shown to your car and the effort put in is huge!

I am believer of Factory fit is factory fit and not dampen your mood here but was there really a need to go all the way to bare metal?, considering it is a well kept 10yr old car.

I myself own 2015 Punto Evo Diesel, with just 40k kms to show for in the past 8yrs. The car has been great and reliable over these past years. Now with a need for an automatic, an urge to change and gradual downgrade in the service and spares availability from FCA, I am in a quandary. Everytime I drive I know I will really miss it if I let go now, I really hope I can keep it for longer.

Thanks for sharing and now I know who to consult for Fiats.:)

Absolutely beautiful work @nkrishnap the car has been surely given a new spruce of life after the restoration, please let us know where you got the work done in Bangalore as I'd love to do the same with my Lancer once I save enough funds hehe

Great dedication and commitment to your vehicle.

Reminded me of my school days. Through my early teens, I used to be at our "hereditary" workshop for hours on holidays, watching over my father's sundry automotive idiosyncrasies being worked on. That's why my deep interest in cars became tempered with practicality where I look at vehicles as tools and when I have taken the best I can achieve from one, I move on.

When posts like these and reminders of past loves intrude into my peaceful life, I recall those hot, slow days when my mechanic would try his best to do other cars while keeping up appearances of working on ours. He was a friend of my father's and his son is my present FNG - brilliant fabricators and skilful mechanics, but disingenuous mostly to get quick work that paid quicker.

Not to gainsay the love we all have of automobiles, but I will wait till I am a billionaire before I restart my love affair with the car, especially the ICE ones.

Wow. Thats some work done. I appreciate it when car owners treat their ride so well. With Fiat's official support going away day by day, you are inspiring confidence in other owners.

Also, I do have one query, please share the approx costs involved as well, as it will give a perspective idea on retaining a car vs upgrading.

Thanks,

This is not well done, this is above and beyond. I love reading such threads where people go out of their way to keep their car pristine. Wish you another decade with fuss free miles brother. Great thread for a really special car. The audio upgrade is super tasteful and looks great, am glad you are keeping up with times and making the car OEM+.

Very methodical and thorough work, as is evident from the pictures. I love the fact that you've taken the time and money to spend on getting the Linea ship shape for many more years to come, rather than junking her and going for a new vehicle. However I'm wondering if there was a reason to go to bare metal, was there some accident or bad corrosion troubling the car? From the pictures, it appears as if that wasn't required.

Anyways, wish you all the very best with your ride. So happy to see her all restored and gleaming in her original colours.

Amazing work @nkrishnap. I too have Linea T Jet with about 1.25L Km done, and am in a dilemma on the continued usage of the car, with the availability of spare parts starting to become an issue. Each time the vehicle goes to the garage it takes about 7 - 10 days and being a single car household, it does become a challenge.
The issue is like what many other members have stated, earlier, I am unable to see a good replacement for the Linea T-Jet with the same driving dynamics and build quality unless I am willing to spend north of 20-25 Lakhs even in the Bangalore used car market.
I would love to retain the car and seeing your buildout, becoming even more convinced on the value of that approach.
Would really appreciate it, if you could share the garage details and approximate cost that will help me take an informed decision.

I liked the idea about how you took this opportunity to damp the firewall and underbody thoroughly as part of overhaul / rebuild. Great job. A perfect combination of a worthy car + competent mech. + enormous amount of patience!

So, you finally found time to post this one out. clap:

Having experienced the audio quality first hand when I had gone there a couple of weeks back, it is truly amazing how crisp music can sound. The other notable factor is how heavy the doors now feel with the damping and yet the finesse isn't lost out. The car truly masks the amount of work that has gone into making it amazing.