Rebuilding Sofia - 1971 Spider in Oz

[perthling]

Fuel tank now cleaned up. It looks pretty good - some slight pitting on the front but I can't see any pinholes. I'm going to POR15 the outside and use the fuel tank reconditioning kit on the inside.

I used POR on the inside of mine and it worked okay. One recommendation (whether you use POR on outside or inside) is to soundly tape up the threads for the fuel sender BEFORE you do anything. Once you get POR on the threads you won't be able to re-fit the sender. With mine I ended up having to drill and tap new holes to take replacement bolts installed from the inside.

[V12StealthHunter]

This might be a stupid question but why use stone guard instead of POR15 for the wheel arches and undercarriage?

I did the undercarriage of an old Jag once with POR15 and it still looked amazing some 6 years later when I sold the car. Nothing short of an angle grinder would get that stuff off.

[Sambo42]

Fuel tank now cleaned up. It looks pretty good - some slight pitting on the front but I can't see any pinholes. I'm going to POR15 the outside and use the fuel tank reconditioning kit on the inside.

I used POR on the inside of mine and it worked okay. One recommendation (whether you use POR on outside or inside) is to soundly tape up the threads for the fuel sender BEFORE you do anything. Once you get POR on the threads you won't be able to re-fit the sender. With mine I ended up having to drill and tap new holes to take replacement bolts installed from the inside.

Thanks for the advice - I had definitely planned on that....!

[Sambo42]

This might be a stupid question but why use stone guard instead of POR15 for the wheel arches and undercarriage?

I did the undercarriage of an old Jag once with POR15 and it still looked amazing some 6 years later when I sold the car. Nothing short of an angle grinder would get that stuff off.

Good question - and the answer is mostly because that's what the paintshop uses....I considered doing the POR15 thing but ran out of time to do it myself...

[Sambo42]

Quick update gents. Sofia is now back on her wheels and ready to have the paint done (small amounts of filler plus top coat). The front suspension went back in although not perfectly - a new left side bottom wishbone on order from Csaba, still need to sort the bushing spacing for the uppers (both sides - when pressed in all the way they fouled the strut towers so have pressed them back out a touch with the trusty car jack for now) and the springs aren't in so she's riding real low at the front. But anything to get the paint on her. Any votes for which colour red I should paint her? I was thinking of keeping with one of the original fiat reds but which one?

[djape1977]

rosso chiaro 152

[perthling]

Good choice of colour (but I'm biased!).

[Sambo42]

rosso chiaro 152

And you think that rather than Monza Red (113) or Racing red (120 - I think a bit orange for my tastes)?

[perthling]

IIRC 152 was a factory colour in '71. It certainly was in '74.

http://gallery.italiancarclub.com/1944-2/Gilespider.jpg

[djape1977]

photos don't always show the true colour. depends on the angle, light, flash... closest to what it looks like in real life is the photo of the boot hinges.
this colour was chosen because it was the colour that this particular 1971 spider left the factory with.
BEWARE - i first went to MAXMEYER and got the paint according to code but it was nothing like this one. it was darker and it had a pinkish reflection in the sun. next i went to RM and got this colour from the same code. fortunately i had couple more 1970's fiats at hand to compare and find closest match to original shade of red. all in all, whatever code you choose, first get the sample and paint some piece of sheet metal and take it outside to see what it actually looks like in the sun. diferent companies (dealers, manufacturers) have diferent shades under same code.

[djape1977]

also, don't think i'm recomending that you use this colour. i have just shown you what it looks like. if it was my car, i'd use this one

[Sambo42]

Thanks guys - I'll take your advice since I would like to stick with a fairly original colour if possible. I'll get a sample or 2 to check - I didn't want a red colour with too much orange but that last pic of the lada makes it look really nice.

[djape1977]

the last pic isn't rosso chiaro 152, and it ain't lada.
i've just shown you a pic of a zastava 101(fiat 128 relative) that i've repainted last fall in order to show that completely diferent red that's probably got nothing to do with fiat at all. the code is "zastava trkacko crvena 113f" - racing red 113f translated into english.

[Sambo42]

Oops - my bad.

I've only just realised that the cutouts for the original front turn indicators have been welded over by the PO. Does anyone have a set of front indicators they would be willing to sell me?

[divace73]

Oops - my bad.

I've only just realised that the cutouts for the original front turn indicators have been welded over by the PO. Does anyone have a set of front indicators they would be willing to sell me?

I noticed this and thought to myself 'why would anyone cover up the original indicator holes??' I am eventually going to install them on my later spider where I have to make some serious modifications to get them in....