Fiat Spider 2000, 1980

[basso]

Good news my cable rollers are in good shape.
But:
Is anyone able to give me an hint about the rear brakes....my harddiskdrive crashed and i have lost all the diassemble photos of the brakes. In wich direction are the shims for the handbrake mounted???

Basso

[basso]

Rear Brake.
i finally got the infos about the shims and was able to assemble the hand brake mechanism.

Another part of my spider is ready...

[basso]

Center console:
while disassembling my spider i noticed that the heater vent was leaking for a long time.
The upper (radio) Console was covered in rust and the foam was wet.

I decided to clean up erverything down to the bare metal,
it is a bit tricky to pull the foam of, but with an exacto knife and a lot of patience it works well.

This was my starting point:


the upper console was blasted and brushed:


the foam was glued to place...


and covered with vinyl..

[basso]

my rear lights where blind and i dont like to buy new ones, they are a bit expensive...
This was my starting point:


I tried to separate the "clear parts" from the reflectorplate, but the are melted to one piece.

My next try was to cut the reflector out..




it is a timeconsuming job but when it is done You can send the reflectors to be renewed ( what i did)
I ever thought that the refletors are chrome plated, but it is alloy steamed under vaccum on the plastic.
I had to wait a week and was amazed when they arrived.



What a difference! I used a soldering iron (200°C ) an melted the reflektors back in the rear light housing.
the reflectorplate is made out of ABS and if You melt ABS with 200°C i become like wax and both parts can be "mixed". It is much stronger than glueing ( and i dont think that the alloy likes the glues solvent )

And this is the final result:

TOP: before, Bottom after.

I am happy

p.s. i had to pay 40 Euro for the steamed alloy...and my rear lights are now originals in best condition

[basso]

i finally finished the overhaul of my transmission, ok it was an complete restauration...

my transmission was in bad shape, the preowner of my spider started his driving career with it
Every theet of the gear was flatted and so i had to buy ervery single piece ( ok, to buy a transmission in good shape would have been cheaper).

Here is my photostory...


the case was blasted and coated with an baking paint ( 200°C in the oven wich is not harmful).


my transmission was leaking and i coat the insight with an varnish made to coat motors and transmissions (expensive but very useful) just to be sure there are no hair cracks in the case...



If You ever overhaul an Fiat transmission it is an good idea to look at the small gap shown in the photo - mine was closed because the two casting molds meet in there ( i used a dremel and cut it out)


this is what all theeth look like

some of them had cracks - i bought new one.

[basso]

i reasembled all parts after i burnished them ( the old gear wheels where over and over with rust )


They fit well and where easily reasembled

p.s. the brown colour is the oil

And finally my shiny "new" transmission - so sad it wont be seen anymore when the spider is done ;(





Basso

[joelittel]

Nice work basso, you've done a lot to your car.

[joelittel]

Your taillights look amazing. I'm going to look into doing mine.

[Ptoneill]

Looks beautiful!! Keep up the great work!

[RRoller123]

Wow, nice work!

[basso]

Tanks a lot
Actually i am about to finish the bodywork.
Most of the american spiders are in a good shape, but here in hamburg/germany the weather is not so kind to fine italian metal – a lot of things had to be done and need to be done. i started with cutting rusted areas out and replaced them with new metal - the usual way.

a litte photostory


the driversides foot area was completly wrecked.

i searched the internet but a formed replacement sheet was not available, it costs me a whole day to hammer the metal to an nearly correct shape ( and a few beers too)...






it fits well and could be welded in.

[basso]

there is on thing i missed to mention when overhauling the transmission:
if your gearshift lever vibrates sometimes a tiny spring inside the gear tower is broken.
Mine broke in three pieces and one of them blocked when changing to third gear.

in germany the spring was not sold and the shipping cost from the US to germany where a bit too expensive. I bought 10mm spring steel and formed the spring out of it. it works well !!!

[narfire]

Wow, very, very impressive skill set....and patience and thirst....
Your work looks absolutely stunning.
Chris

[basso]

Hi
i am glad to write about finishing my rebuild fuel tank.
When i started it was just an old rusty piece – like everything on my spider ...

Here are some photos before my work began




I started with sandblasting the outer metal – i use copper slag, it is cheap and
works well if you like erase the rust and old colour.




the photos above are taken a few minutes before i started to spray it with brantho korrux 3in 1.
It is a fine lacquer but needs to cure two weeks...

[basso]

Time to take care about the inside...

I bought the POR15 fuel repair kit and started by using the "Cleaner Degreaser" to remove every dirt inside
after that the Metal Prep got its chance to remove the rust...




... i don feel that this is a good surface to apply the Fuel Tank Sealer on it...
I ve done a lot of research in forums what to do, an the answer is really simple:
Cirtic acid and hot water is the best rust and dirt remover you can buy. The instrucitons are easy: fill the fuel tank with boiling water and mix a few packs citric acid in it and let it stay for 24 hours. I needed to do this three times, and got an complete rust and dirt free fuel tank!

Actually it cant find the photos but on the next photo You can see the blank metal when the sealer was applied.



The bottom of the tank was painted two times with an fuelsafe paint and the top with standard automotive laquer out of the can
(black and clear). The stickers and of course the fuel tanks article number ( 082 2A ) was applied with an scrached stamp and the bottom sealed with rockfall protection.