1982 Fiat Spider 2000 restoration project

[SoFlaFiat]

I'm dying to know what color you picked!!
I'm sure it will be amazing!

[royn]

My plan for the interior is a complete leather upholstery, seats, door panels, dashboard, console and boot cover.

The color will be best described as " cognac ". The stitching will be more like tan. Its scary business to pick color from a small color chart. I have to see the final result before making up my mind regarding carpet color. I am going to put on a tan Haartz convertible top.

[wizard124]

Rambo thanks for your reply.

I think its worth the time and effort cleaning and adjusting the regulator. I need to take a closer look at the driver side door lock as well. I am afraid to brake the key do to the force I have to put on to lock the door.

I disagree! Window regulators are very troublesome. I loosened the bar at the inside bottom of the door so I could gain enough slack to replace the window channel felt; slide the window out of the channel. The slack in the cable caused it to jump the tracks on the regulator and come off the inside pulleys.

Leave well enough alone. Try to wipe down and clean in place then lube (spray lithium grease). Same with the door lock linkages.

BTW, I did all you are doing not too long ago. Big job but extremely satisfying.
Warren

[royn]

Hi Warren,
Thanks for your comment about the window regulator job. I was a little worried it might be some troublesome work. I will just clean and lube and hopefully it will be good. It looks like i better spend my time on other priorities at this point.

You have done a very nice job on your car ! I have been following your project among others with great interest ! I really appreciate the knowledge and tips i find in this forum. It make me feel a little brevier to enter untouched territory knowing the help is not far away

[wizard124]

Royn,
Thank you for the complement! I, too, found courage and support here.

Your pictures take me back....
Make sure your painter masks off the the wheel areas well. Mine did not. Nor was I specific. Result was over spray on my repainted A arms.

I posted many hints as I went along
Warren

[royn]

I have done some work on the floors. I removed the sound deadening in the front floors, just to be certain. The floors was rock solid so I left the rest of the sound deadening material and cleaned and painted the floors. The paint I used was Eastwood extreme chassis paint.

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I have had a closer look at right front fender and the damage. Upon closer look I see that the fender has been cut and welded. Its actually 2 layers from the wheel arc towards the door. I have been wondering about the fender sticking a bit out from the door gap.
I hope it will make the job straitening the inner fender easier with the fender removed.

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The front parts are also bad and I have order new panels.

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[RRoller123]

Nice! Making quick work of it!

[royn]

RRoller 123.

I don't know if its going to be a quick fix, but I hope I can speed up the work and have the car running before summer !!

[Frankd1]

Floor panels look great with the Chassis paint, sealed up good and tight now!

How far up the footwell did you paint? Did you go up the sides of the front kick panel area? In the rear seat area did you paint the side walls and rear wall as well?
I'm doing the same on my except I'm using a 2 step process (master series) and I figured I would paint as far up as I could get in the footwells, the front kick panel areas, the door sills up to the lip for the door seal - as you did, transmission tunnel, and as far as the rear seat area: the whole thing including the vertical faces.

How did you find the removal of the sound deadening tar?

[royn]

Frankd1

I painted as far up as I could both in the front foot wells and side panels area. Did the same in the rear too. I choose to use the chassis paint as there were solid floors with no signs of any rust. I would have used Por-15 or similar if I had bare metal or welded panels. I used a brush applying the paint and I am happy with the result.

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I tried difference tools trying to remove the sound deadening material, but ended up using a solid scraper and a hammer. I give it a solid hit and it came off quite easy. The hardest part was in the front tunnel area, limited space and I quess the heat had made it stick better than other areas. When finally finished you will feel very satisfied and its well worth the effort !!

[AriK]

You're right, it is quite satisfying. You can tell the areas that are not affected by rust under the sound deadening material, it doesn't chip away in big pieces. In my case, up the transmission hump and under the rear seat was a hopeless mission. I just degreased these areas and applied the product.

[Frankd1]

That looks great!

On my driver side front panel, I found the tar chipped away quite easily as it was brittle and cracked. As I got further back, it was well adhered so I used heat and a scrapper, this worked but it leaves residue that needs to be cleaned. On my passenger side the tar is well adhered, so dry ice to make it cold and brittle and it pops off with a scrapper and light hammer taps or an oscillating tool with a scrapper blade on it. Rear seat area, its all adhered like yours.

Nice work!

[royn]

Thanks for nice comments on my job painting the floors !

The right hand fender is properly the first ting I should have started with. I have been waiting for some assistance, but my friend the metal worker is hard to get hold of.
I feel I couldn't wait any longer and I have decided to give it a try myself. I have been dismantling the fender and this it how it looks so far.

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The beam is not to bad from this angle, but its been hit.

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My plan is to remove the beam and straighten it, by doing this I will also be able to straighten the inner fender towards the engine bay.
Is this a good idea ?

I have been taken some measurements and I will remove the welding on the right side on the cross member radiator support as well, its not fitted correctly. The previous repair is not done very well. The bottom beam seems to be straight and my measurements are fine here.

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I will replace parts with new fender and some other panels in the front.

[royn]

New body parts has arrived. I got the fender parts from Germany. I have been able to straighten the inner fender and with some days off work I hope to start welding things back together.

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[SoFlaFiat]

Great job!! Love to see such attention to making it right!
I have been down the same road, beating things back into shape after a poor fix! Well done!!