Rocker panel rehab. This is where I started
















Semi final coat of primer

Final dent leveling and semi primer on trunk and rear panels














This area is where a lot of water leaks into the inner wheel well and rots it from the inside, the seam on the top of the fender only had 1 spot weld holding it together it does not get welded to the rest of the body until it gets to the area by the rear seat, it flexes a lot and the sealer that was put in eventually cracks and breaks down letting water in. KEEP IT SEALED. i welded it all along the seam to stop it from flexing too much.

WOW you are really going all out here. Great work.
There have been some posts where people have a hard time accessing the fuel filler hose upper clamp after the left side rear lower fender is permanently installed.

Hi Spider 2081

If I remember correctly, I took the two tubes off in one piece. It was easier. If I didn't remember correctly i will find out
Thanks for that piece of advice

Body work is going slowly so I will post some of the other rehabs i have done.
here is the axle rehab.
Started with this mess, nice electrical tape wrap for the rear brake!







Vinegar Bath



to get to this stage took two weeks


Two weeks to this stage





All new Gaskets and seals. Will post Brake calipers next, wait till you see what they looked like!

Great job!

Was it soaking in vinegar for two weeks?

On the shock mount on the driver side of the rear end, it looked like there was a perforation....if it was how did you fix it? Weld it up?

What did you paint the rear end with?

Looks great!

The shock seats look worse than what they were, there were small perforations that i fill welded. they are quite thick, just tricky to clean up the underside. Of course the spring seat is actually a ring bowl where water just collects when wet so I drilled two drain holes.
Five days for the vinegar bath (just the brake discs, backing plates and all the bolts) the rest was scraping the rust out of all the crevices on the axle and diff. I was determined to get it as new as possible and keep it that way.
Base paint POR-15 with black lacquer top coat. for the diff cover POR-15 and chrome paint

Front quarter window rehab

One broken pivot bolt


one broken quarter frame ( how does this happen?)

Repair of broken pivot bolt




Bolt made from an exhaust hanger




Putting on more thread

Rivet components


Finished bolt




Repair of Frame



Some welding

Some grinding and polishing





Finished product

Finally got to do some body work paint this weekend. First all body 2k primer complete. Next up sanding it all !!

Hi DRUMMOND.
I was just enjoying your thread with my morning coffee.
Amazing work...you must be proud of what you have accomplished.

I went to your 1st thread, and if I may quote you...
"This one only needs new floor pans, repairing the rusted seats??, new top, New windscreen gasket, new console, new dash? So Far! First time I have come across a Fiat that is rusting from the inside out?"
Project creep?

Tx for posting.

Hi DRUMMOND.
I was just enjoying your thread with my morning coffee.
Amazing work...you must be proud of what you have accomplished.

I went to your 1st thread, and if I may quote you...
"This one only needs new floor pans, repairing the rusted seats??, new top, New windscreen gasket, new console, new dash? So Far! First time I have come across a Fiat that is rusting from the inside out?"
Project creep?

Tx for posting.

Hi Spiderdan Thanks for reminding me of being VERY optimistic I had forgotten how rust loves Italian cars. Especially Fiats !!

I used to own four 131's and 1 124 coupe! how could I forget? One day I came out to see that one of the 131's had collapsed at the left front suspension??? rusted through
What got me worried though with this spider, was the electrical tape on the front and back brake hoses? The groaning of the steering, the drivers door would not close unless you lifted it up first, It felt like a jellyfish on the road, i had to wear wellingtons to get into the car, plus I would like to see if I can actually rust proof a Fiat!
OK, so I decided to go the whole new car feel and have some fun.

Project Creep indeed!!

Did some Bodywork this weekend. applied a light red primer coat and then proceeded to sand and level base primer. Red coat I used to expose dents and flaws in the base primer/body. Luckily for me my patience in leveling body filler paid off, did not have many flaws. Although I did get some surprises from the new wheel fenders?

First sanding looking nice and level

This one shows some highs

Light sanding show some lows


Side of fender done, showing the unexpected dent in the new fender arch

spraying flaw

Putty applied


Left fender had a few more flaws and dents than the other side? but not too bad for a 36 year old

The back of the car is the easy part. Front I have a feeling is going to be a pain. lots of dents and such on both fender sides rebuilt front

DRUMMOND,
As always, great work. Questions - When you are cutting out rusted sheet metal, what do you use to make all the cuts so clean and straight? Followed by - What gauge steel are you using to fab all the patches? I assume bare steel? Some looks galvanized in the pictures.
Thanks,
Kirk

klweimer wrote:DRUMMOND,
As always, great work. Questions - When you are cutting out rusted sheet metal, what do you use to make all the cuts so clean and straight? Followed by - What gauge steel are you using to fab all the patches? I assume bare steel? Some looks galvanized in the pictures.
Thanks,
Kirk

yeah, it does look galvanized ... I thought welding galvanized was a no-no?

Just read up on it ... seems it's not pleasant (the fumes), but actually not dangerous long term.

I use a metal cutting wheel on a sacrificial wooden base table with clamps, steel rule and marker to get straight cuts in the metal. I find the wheel is the best way with no distortion.

I use a variety of gauge thickness from 18 thru to 24 depending on the area and how hard it is to weld in place.
I also use non-coated steel and electroplated zinc steel (not the hot dipped galvanized which most have lead added) depending on whether I have access to protect the metal on both sides, or where extra protection in my mind is required.
The zinc electroplating is thin but gives 100% or so more corrosion protection than none, it also semi protects non-plated metal in the vicinity as an added bonus
Plenty of ventilation is required for all welding. I queried this topic to a professional welder who just looked at me funny, if you cant paint it why would you not use it? just take the zinc off the side you can paint (paint does not stick very well to zinc) and make sure you have plenty of ventilation.