Hi to all on the Barchetta forum. I'm new here, joined today and only had a Barchetta for 6 months. (Had a 124cc for 36 years, though). Can't seem to remove the fuel tank panel/cover/ bulkhead. Have removed the 14 hex head screws and the centre console - it's loose but the sides of the panel won't clear the main hood brackets, i.e. around where the gas struts are attached to a welded boss. Please tell me I don't have to remove the entire hood/roof...... Hope to get some guidance - thanks in advance.

Hi, last year I removed the rear plate for access to the petrol tank and to look for rust. I didn't have to remove the hood or the centre console. I did remove the plastic covers by the side plllars and footwell plates as I was looking for rust. I remember having to jiggle, wobble the plate to ease it out. Can't be any more helpful as I don't recall it being a problem to remove.
Hope someone else can add.
SteveD

So, in the words of the late, great Ronnie Barker, you have to jer jer jiggle it a bit!

The rear bulk head is a bit of a pain to remove first time, as mentioned remove the plastic parts that cover the side pillers, for me I removed the lower seat belt location bolts, and move the seatbelts away from the area.
The idea is that the panel is first eased up then lower down, pulling the bottom of the panel forward, this then allowed the panel to clear the hood frame.
This is a tight fit and will require the technical task of jiggling and eventually the panel can be extracted via the drivers door side.
As a note I have trimmed the panel to ease any future need to remove, this was only a few millimetres from around the edges where the panel fouled.

Re: Defeated by Bulkhead and Steering Wheel

Thanks very much to Dave-M, StevePD and gar07. With your encouragement and advice I've managed to extract the Bulkhead.
Would appreciate similar help, please, to remove the steering wheel - airbag and 24mm nut are already out of the way, but how do I get it off the spline?

Hi I think you are there regarding removing the steering wheel, just need a bit of a tug to extract from the splines
Check this link regarding removal
https://www.fiatforum.com/barchetta/131993-steering-wheel.html
(Extract of a post on above link) A few important points when removing, also disconnect the battery.
"When pulling off the steering when be careful, make sure you have fed the wiring for the horn and airbag through the wheel as when you pull it off can pull/pop open the Spider/Spule (as shown in Robots pic). this has a very long length of wire wound up in it and it can shoot out easily, it is very hard to put back together...... a replacement can cost you £60 on ebay and around £200 from Fiat UK"

Regards Dave M

I was just about to post a new thread on this topic, having spent a frustrating morning trying to get at my fuel pump, when up popped this one - and I was surprised to see that I'd actually posted on it, back in November! Clean forgot about that. Senility strikes again

This is a b*gger of a job because there's hardly any clearance, and some of the wretched screws are a total pain to get at.

But I did have one unexpected result. Tucked away at the bottom of the plastic surround for the hood mechanism, I found the spring-loaded plastic cap that's been missing since I bought the car! They are difficult to find second-hand (I've tried) so I'm chuffed to find the little blighter.

Now, before I return to the jer jer jiggling, where are those plasters...

Here's a tip regarding removing a steering wheel. I haven't removed a Barchetta wheel but have removed others in the past. When you have undone the large centre nut its wise to leave it loose on the threads. This is to prevent the wheel from hitting you in the face when you are thumping it from behind and it suddenly shoots off the splines!! If its really tight you're gonna need something like a 3 leg puller.

I removed the bulkhead last fall to get at my fuel pump. I remember it wasn't that difficult, a little tight but I removed all plastic pieces that were near it plus the passenger seat and removed it from that side. Trouble is I forgot to disconnect the battery. DON'T DO THAT!

Luckily I've read enough posts on here about airbag warning lights to know not to do that! In the end I managed to remove it with the seats in place. It certainly brings home to you just how much of the B was built by hand rather than by robots. And I was chuffed to find that there's no trace of rust in the rear inner wheel arches.

gar074 said:

And I was chuffed to find that there's no trace of rust in the rear inner wheel arches.

Click to expand...

That's good news, did you have a foam piece wrapped around your filler pipe, It kind of just sits on your inner arch, caused my inner arch to rust. I have now repaired and removed the foam.

My wife and I,are heading out on a little road trip with friends(they own a BMW z4) tomorrow to eastern Pennsylvania.When I return I will definitely remove the bulkhead again and spend some driving time with it removed and check for leaks.Gotta be something obvious.May even upgrade the fuel vapor separator with something from north america.They have been around for years but are usually under the hood.