Thanks for the ideas, so everyone understands, the car is a shell right now.

Just the dash cluster, center console, steering column and motor are still in the car.. but all exterior and interior trim is gone. No bumpers, no rear taillights, no door panels, no seats, no carpet, no rear seat or side panels, no top.

So that said, doubtful its the door handle itself but does make taking the inspection cover off and looking for those plastic clips easier Hope its an easy fix..

Appreciate all the tips.. will be taking out the master, booster, calipers, etc.. tonight and that way I am ready to re-install all the new brake components when they arrive.

I hope by the end of the week I have the cooling system and timing belt replaced, install the wiper assembly and brakes installed.

Right now, the body is done as well as I could do and its ready for paint. But have to get the car driveable to get it my friends house with the equipment. So once the motor and brakes are done, we can go for paint this weekend.

When it gets back we will be rebuilding the front suspension, and start on fixing the wiring that is bad. I should probably say fixing the wiring that doesn't work right now.. if I were to fix all the wiring that is "Bad" I would be rewiring the whole car.

The door lock problem was none of the above..

To open the door, the door latch is actuated by what looks like two back to back Ls. One L is pushed by the back of another L from the door handle.

Apparently the L shaped piece at the end of the rod from the door latch was bent.
So the L shaped piece from the door handle slipped by it and jammed.
Had to remove the door handle mechanism and with a big screwdriver pop it back off the latch part.
Then bent back the two pieces so they were in correct alignment.

Couldnt get a good picture, but if your door handle locks in place and wont open from inside like mine did, look in the hole where the exterior door handle goes and look to about 7 o'clock

You should see two pieces of metal about 1/4" wide shaped like an L, they should touch each other back to back. The back of the one from the interior pushes against the back of the one from the latch. Imagine to chairs placed back to back..

Ill try to draft up something or get a better picture if I can.

As mentioned Pretty much finished

Here is what the hood looked like :







Now :



Also repaired broken hinge..

Where it is now.. after about 2 weekends of body work.




Repaired rust in nose and radiator opening




Cowl was painted to test color..




Trunk (Not perfect, but MUCH better








Repaired the Bondo/Fiberglass/Rusted areas near covertible top well.

Wow, you do fast work! Looking pretty good too.

What's with the the holes in the front valence where the bumper shocks passed through? I've never seen them look like that before

Got me.. I thought they were supposed to be that oval shape. They are a little rough, but fortunately they will be behind the bumpers. I do have big bumper shocks.. if that matters.

Over the last two days, I replaced:

Wiper assembly (Motor and linkage) fortunately only wiring problem was the fuse.

Clutch Cable

Booster
Master Cylinder
Brake Booster lines and vacuum check valve (Used ATE one off a Opel, same size and function, so should work)
Brake reservoir lines
Calipers
Flex Lines

Water Pump
Radiator hoses
Heater hoses
Fuel lines

Carb base gaskets
Carb hold down nuts (Used nylock nuts)

Timing Belt
Timing Belt Tensioner Pulley

Motor is back to running, now without water and vacuum leaks, or belt / bearing squeals

Seems like it runs strong, will find out on the 1/2 mi trip to my friends house to get it painted.

When it gets back from paint, we will:

We will rebuild front suspension (New upper control arms, lower ball joint and bushings, tie rods and center link)

Install carpet and dynomat

Undercoat

Install interior and seats

Clean up bumpers and install

Then check wiring for lighting issues.

Hope to be done by end of the month..

Wow,
You've done a lot of work. It looks good from where I'm sitting.
You should paint her bright yellow. The yellow ones really stand out and look great.

Thanks, due to budget, and such.. Its getting painted by a friend that works out of his garage.

I went over there and went through all the left over paints he had and came up with a nice Ferrari Red.. mainly because there was a lot of reds left around in partial cans and when mixed together we had enough "free" paint to paint the car.. (See photo of Red Cowl ) and that was what the final color was

BTW the color in the photo is off.. its a darker red, less "tomatoe colored" that the photo.

Yes lots of effort in a short period of time. Looks great.
After painting, try and keep a pint for any future touch-ups that invariably come up.
Looking forward to the "after" pics
Chris

OH most definitely IF there is any paint left..

At minimum I like to get one of the dupilcolor touch-ups from the store in a color that is close. Dump the old paint out and wash with Lacquer Thinner.. then put fill that up with the color we are painting. Makes for a guaranteed touch up brush, especially since this is a "custom" paint..

Hopefully we don't run out of paint as we won't have a way to get an exact match since we won't have the formula.

Is there a parts store nearby that sells auto paint. There are a couple here that have a spectrometer? anyway a paint colour thingy that will get a match real close. Perhaps take your paint in and have it checked and a pint made up for just in case.
When my car was painted,I supplied 2 liters or a bit more than 2 quarts and there was perhaps a pint left. I'd guess after thining and hardener added it made a little bit more. The last thing I am is a car painter,but reading the posts here,I'd be willing to give it a go sometime when I develop a bit more patience.
Chris

We are close, we have about 2/3 gal of the paint when mixed. The Spectrometers are good, but since we mixed metallic and non-metallic, etc.. I just hope I don't run out

The Metallic gold flake in the paint (2 of the 5 paints we mixed together had it) is so little that to the naked eye its virtually impossible to notice.. but it does make the color "glow" which would probably be hard for the spectrometer to match 100%.

Worse case, is we get the top surfaces painted, and the sides use the "matched" color. Because difference will really only be noticed when your blending the colors right next to each other.. Been there done that. That or paint the first coat or two in the "Old paint" and the final third coat in the "matched". That way we get the most out of the "Free" paint. Depends greatly on when we start running short of paint..

I probably garage restore (OR better term is revive.. restore is expecting too much) a car every year or so. Depends on if I find something cheap to work on, or in this case a friend has something he needs done and I am up to it ( and occasionally when I am not as well ) So garage paint jobs and bodywork I am accustomed too.

I think material on this one will be about (going off memory) :

25pc box of 60 grit for DA Sander - $13
25pc box of 220 grit for DA Sander - $13
Roll of flat sander paper - FREE Leftover in garage
14 cans of Rustolem Automotive Primer from Home Depot (@$4) - $56
1 QT of USC All-Metal filler - $35
1 GAL of Bondo - $23 (Only used 1/3 of it)
3 cans of duplicolor truck bed liner spray can - (@ $8) - $24
Quart of Thinner - $12
Quart of Acetone - $12
Roll of automtive masking tape - $12
Paint - FREE (Budget $15)
Floor pans - FREE (Nice having a friend that runs a HVAC Sheet Metal fab shop)
Roll of wire for MIG - FREE (Already in MIG and didnt run out)
Clearcoat - $? (Think about $50)

So given stuff I forgot and other Misc - Call it $300-$400 for the bodywork and paint and three weekends.

BTW another "Economical" solution for "Chrome items"

The sidemarker lenses were sanded and primed and will be painted to match the body.

Sanded the hooks and chrome tip on gas cap and also primed to paint body color

Rims and bumpers will be sanded, primed with etching primer (The green stuff), and hand painted with Duplicolor Silver Rim paint. Total cost about $100.

Will it be perfect.. No.. will it be better than what it is and look good to the casual observer ? Definately.

Considering what it looked like when we got it, it will look like it belongs on Barrett-Jackson.

COMPARATIVELY that is.. it will be far from a show car..

Well its back from paint (pics soon)..

One quick question.. Valve tap.. Normal or a concern. Motor runs strong and sounds good. But has a distinct valve tap from passenger side cam..

Its not overly loud or harmful sounding. But definitely distinctive.

Used to it in my Opels with solid lifters.. So I assume this normal for a Fiat..?

doesnt take much to get some "tappet" noise. if the clearance is on the loose side you will get it. might not hurt to stick a feeler gage in there to see where you're at.

will do.. So its a solid lifer motor then.. I thought by this time everything had hydraulic lifters. Good to know its just typical sewing machine noise of a solid lifter motor.. Kind of what i figured.