Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[colwyn500]

[colwyn500]

Today I got straight down to it and removed the car from its shed and pushed it the 20 metres or so across a temporary timber causeway and up the ramp to my garage.

There's a bit of surface rust where I did the welding and it is full of cobwebs and leaves but basically, no worse than it was.

I will probably get a chance to weld on the hinge for the front luggage cover before work commitments kick-in next Monday.

I will keep you posted.


_DEC6260 by peterthompson, on Flickr


_DEC6264 by peterthompson, on Flickr

[Greg]

Looking great, in those first pictures the car looks very good...but then a closer look...quite a bit of metal missing but looking a lot more solid in the later pictures.
Very interesting post,
All the best,
Greg

[colwyn500]

Thanks Greg. I hope that I can maintain the interest. One thing for sure; posts will be a less frequent from now on as I start to get to grips with the remainder of the work. But I intend to show every stage of what I do, so be warned!

[Richard H]

Excellent progress
_________________
Richard Hughes

[D4B]

[colwyn500]

Steve, thanks for the encouragement.

I had to provide the moral support for returning all of the non-fitting Christmas presents and then go for a walk in the hills today, so no work done on the car.

I have been searching for it but have mislaid the hinge for the front luggage compartment. It was very badly rusted in any case and I was expecting to have to re-make it. After a lot of trawling the internet I can get it from Holland for Euro 29.50:

http://www.fiat500vdlaan.nl/en/webshop.php?CategoryID=5

On another subject I saw a Royal Mail van that must have come a cropper before Christmas and is going to need quite a lot of bodywork repairs...


Photo0113 by peterthompson, on Flickr

If you like big bodywork projects, take a look at this...

http://www.classicfordmag.co.uk/cf-forum/showthread.php?t=365

[D4B]

Yes I have just been looking at that, his work (and yours) gives me
great inspiration ~ I must crack on with it !!

Cheers

[Polypedates]

Oh wow I love threads like this even though they make me feel totally inadequate - don't be shy, show us everything!

I love the 500 too although I've never owned one sadly.

Makes me think that I should set up a thread for my MR2 restoration as like you I have a back catalogue of pictures (about 700) to furnish it with but my 'skills' are pretty lame in comparison unfortunately

[colwyn500]

Thanks Polypedates; I also like bodywork restoration blogs and posts so I hope this continues to interest you.

I am still waiting for a pile of bodywork bits including a bonnet hinge; most of which are coming from the Netherlands.

Wanting to make progress of some sort I have started to sand off the horrible surface rust that had attacked my previously new panels and welds over the last three and a half years. I used a poly-abrasive disc as recommended on another site. They work well and don't eat into the thin steel.


_DEC6342 by peterthompson, on Flickr


_DEC6347 by peterthompson, on Flickr

I didn't go too mad at this because I will have to do a proper job before filling and painting and that will include treating with phosphoric acid. In the meantime, all this shininess is being given a thin coat of red-oxide.


_DEC6349 by peterthompson, on Flickr

[colwyn500]

Had a morning getting used to mig-welding again after a three year break.

I did a rusty patch over the windscreen and one under the rear screen.


_JAN6843 by peterthompson, on Flickr

I think a long way to go yet but my excuse is that you don't get much thinner steel than a Fiat 500 and you really have got to use very short bursts. After grinding it's very acceptable given that the screen rubber covers a bit of mis-alignment.


_JAN6845 by peterthompson, on Flickr

Next stage is a door bottom

[colwyn500]

I felt confident to start a big job today...a door bottom.

The door needed a part skin and new metal in the bottom of the frame. The pattern part had a poor geometry and no curvature. Quite a lot of fiddling was needed and even when finished I had to chop and re-weld in order to get a reasonable alignment.

I used the joggle (joddle?) and plug-weld method but found I had drilled too few holes. I turned up the welder and did every other hole straight through both sheets of steel. It worked a treat as the back of the panel shows.

These door skins don't fold right over the frame so it made my repairs easier to weld through the front of the skin at the bottom to secure it.


_JAN6849 by peterthompson, on Flickr

I used "weld-through" primer where the sheets overlapped; never again, it makes things quite splattery.

I am reasonably happy with the alignment, gaps and relative lack of distortion ripples.


_JAN6852 by peterthompson, on Flickr


_JAN6851 by peterthompson, on Flickr

Much grinding and filling to come, but on we go to the rear wing...

[Rick]

Always good to see these work-in-progress updates, inspires the rest of us (ok, just me maybe) to get on with things

RJ
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[D4B]

Hi Peter,

great looking job... this is one job that I have yet to brave, as the
only previous time I attempted a lower door skin repair
was 25 years ago on a 1970 VW camper sliding door, and not knowing any different I welded it straight along without stopping !!!

Needless to say, when the painter was prepping it for paint my name was
MUD

My question is, what comes next, do you grind back your plug welds and
then use filler on the outside (and perhaps seam sealer on the inside? )

Thanks Steve

[colwyn500]