I have finally got round to the spare wheel and whilst it fits the well, it is bearing slightly on the nearside headlamp connector. I think it might be related to the little re-inforcing strut behind the bumper being twisted. Has anyone got a photo looking into the empty wheel well?

It's a standard wheel and a 125-12 Cinturato.

Fresh off the press. Any good???

Thanks Tony. Looks just like mine. I must have another look at it.

I spy with my little eye a FIAMM air compressor.
What series trumpets do you have tucked away there somewhere?
My compressor is in the same place as yours with series 2000 trumpets from a FIAT 124 CC coupe. Small car BIG voice. I love it.

Joe R

I am not sure what horns they are Joe but you can see where they live below. They are fiamm twin horns and they are very load, I think people are a bit shocked when they hear them.

I think I worked it out. My modern battery has lugs which stop it being placed all the way to the left. This needs cutting off and then I think the wheel will fit in properly.

Vitesse said:

Click to expand...

I noticed in this pic that the drain 'hole' is sealed up (on left of pic). Is this the case for most others? Mine is open, and whilst I see the need for a drain hole, I also wondered about leaving it open as it is now, and not replacing it with a hole and a removable plug.

What's everyone's point of view?

stevehg said:

I noticed in this pic that the drain 'hole' is sealed up (on left of pic). Is this the case for most others? Mine is open, and whilst I see the need for a drain hole, I also wondered about leaving it open as it is now, and not replacing it with a hole and a removable plug.

What's everyone's point of view?

Click to expand...

I think it has just closed up over the years Steve when the front panel was last replaced. The ones on either end are open but TBH I don't ever recall seeing any water down there but there again you can't see much with the spare in place.

The water ingress likely in the bonnet area if you have all the rubber seals in place is likely to be around the headlights chrome rings. You can buy a rubber seal to go around the headlight rings, which I did buy but it makes getting the headlights in a really tight squeeze also I came to the conclusion that they are more likely to trap water, so I took them off.

Also behind the battery aren't there holes to the outside world for ventilation of the battery? I seem to recall they are pretty big as well so I would imagine quite a lot of road spray ends up there, hence why so many are rotten down there. I would imagine with today's modern batteries there really isn't a need for them.

Tony

I think there should be three of those holes Steve. I would leave them clear. there isn't likely to be any water coming up them and whatever you do there will always be water needing to get out.

On every Fiat 500 I ever owned in the '80s, this area was always the rustiest. Having several places to exit means more chance of a puddle not building up.

TBH I didn't even know there was a third hole in the middle, I will have to investigate and see if I can open it up and slap some waxoyl around it. It probably make sense to squirt a bit around all of the well really, as you say Peter it is very prone to rust.

Thanks for the replies Tony and Peter. Here is what I have, two well defined drainage holes...
(Sorry about poor quality of pics, taken from ipad and light is not so great in the garage)







So from your replies, is the consensus that I should leave the two holes in place, or is the one on the right in the wrong place? Where is the third hole supposed to be?

cheers, Steve

I can't find it in my pics but if this link works you can see that there are three indents for the drsin holes. Scroll down the page.
http://webshop.fiat500126.com/filebase/images/Restaurationsberichte/2.Version_Kaserer.pdf

Thanks for that Peter, so it's looks like they are all in the correct place, just didn't notice the one under the battery tray as the front part had closed up. I'll tidy them up.

It's good to know that they are all in the right place.

Overall I'm happy with the bodywork and as far as I can tell it's all original.

Thanks again

Steve