500 (Classic) Giovanni - 1972 500R

[fiat500]

Despite the "squeeze", that car still looks so tiny inside your van.
It's scary level of dismantlement, but you seem to have the shell well-braced. Does it still have a bit of floppiness?
It's getting the suspension mounting-points in the right place that would worry me with stripping back so far. I have a very rusty spare shell in storage that was flopping about even before anything was removed from it. I think I'll need to make a jig based on my good car before I would be confident to get all the alignments right. Did you make anything like that?
Thanks for cheering me up as I weld one little corner of my car and consider it to be a challenge.

 

[Fatcatvera]

Despite the "squeeze", that car still looks so tiny inside your van.
It's scary level of dismantlement, but you seem to have the shell well-braced. Does it still have a bit of floppiness?
It's getting the suspension mounting-points in the right place that would worry me with stripping back so far. I have a very rusty spare shell in storage that was flopping about even before anything was removed from it. I think I'll need to make a jig based on my good car before I would be confident to get all the alignments right. Did you make anything like that?
Thanks for cheering me up as I weld one little corner of my car and consider it to be a challenge.

The frame i've welded inside the shell to keep everything in place definitely does not allow anything to move - it was welded in place before anything was cut away. I added some extra bracing in a couple of places whilst it was being blasted to reduce the risk of any potential distortion caused by the blasting moving any important datum points (I was mostly concerned about the positioning of the A-post structural panel that the door hinges attach to, as the door fit is crucial to getting the floor and cills back in the correct position). These additional parts have now been removed as they interfere with cill/floor/A&B post installation.
Regarding the suspension mounting points - the front leaf spring mount is unaffected by what I've done and the front upper wishbone mounting points are also still attached to the front crossmember to define their Z position (i.e. up/down) and X position (i.e. front/rear); and their Y position is defined by the end of the front crossmember once the front inner clamshells are reinstalled, so there's very little risk of developing any errors in these mounting points. The rear suspension mounting points are not at all affected by what I've removed.

 

[fiat500]

The frame i've welded inside the shell to keep everything in place definitely does not allow anything to move - it was welded in place before anything was cut away. I added some extra bracing in a couple of places whilst it was being blasted to reduce the risk of any potential distortion caused by the blasting moving any important datum points (I was mostly concerned about the positioning of the A-post structural panel that the door hinges attach to, as the door fit is crucial to getting the floor and cills back in the correct position). These additional parts have now been removed as they interfere with cill/floor/A&B post installation.
Regarding the suspension mounting points - the front leaf spring mount is unaffected by what I've done and the front upper wishbone mounting points are also still attached to the front crossmember to define their Z position (i.e. up/down) and X position (i.e. front/rear); and their Y position is defined by the end of the front crossmember once the front inner clamshells are reinstalled, so there's very little risk of developing any errors in these mounting points. The rear suspension mounting points are not at all affected by what I've removed.

That sounds really thorough (as it looks). The issue that worries me if I ever get round to my second car is that enough critical parts have lost their rigidity to the point where I worry that there has been rotation of the body around its cental axis in both planes; the car wasn't even rigid to start with!
This gives a idea of its level of integrity:

Although I did put a floor in before having to pause the project through over-committing on other things; you can see my sophisticated bracing method in the footwell.

 

[the hobbler]

That sounds really thorough (as it looks). The issue that worries me if I ever get round to my second car is that enough critical parts have lost their rigidity to the point where I worry that there has been rotation of the body around its cental axis in both planes; the car wasn't even rigid to start with!
This gives a idea of its level of integrity:

View attachment 433073

View attachment 433072

Although I did put a floor in before having to pause the project through over-committing on other things; you can see my sophisticated bracing method in the footwell.

View attachment 433074

"Fatcat"---I have a 'Factory' workshop manual which does have quite a number of pictures, with measurements, for the suspension, and to a lesser degree, the chassis. Would it help you to have copies of these pages? If it would, drop me an e-mail with your address ( [email protected] ) and I will put them into the post for you.

 

[grubscrew]

A mighty fine job you are doing.
I’m currently doing a resto on a car that’s been so badly welded ( by previous owner) that having to redo the appalling “workmanship “ is a challenge!

 

[grubscrew]

Good idea with the riv nuts. I believe you can get stainless ones, which would be worth getting

 

[Goldnrust]

Well done! It's such a milestone to have completed the welding stage of the project. Looks like you've done a great job and it will be a nice straight car when it's finished

Starting on the paint prep / filler is a nice refreshing change... for the first days at least! haha.

 

[the hobbler]

Well done! It's such a milestone to have completed the welding stage of the project. Looks like you've done a great job and it will be a nice straight car when it's finished

Starting on the paint prep / filler is a nice refreshing change... for the first days at least! haha.

When you get round to fitting the outer ends of the roof's rear cross-bar, you can, again, use riv-nuts instead of the self-tappers that the factory normally fitted---and yes to a previous query (by Peter if I remember correctly), you can get stainless riv-nuts. A little trick which I used---the front corners of the roof have a tendency to, over time, remove the paint from the roof. I fitted a small double-layer patch on the area of roof that the front corners sit on of the clear stck-on plastic sheeting that is used by cars with very wide rear wheel arches (some Porsche for example) to protect the front surface of the rear wing from stone damage. Because it is clear it is pretty well unnoticeable, but it does protect the paint.

 

[Fatcatvera]

When you get round to fitting the outer ends of the roof's rear cross-bar, you can, again, use riv-nuts instead of the self-tappers that the factory normally fitted---and yes to a previous query (by Peter if I remember correctly), you can get stainless riv-nuts. A little trick which I used---the front corners of the roof have a tendency to, over time, remove the paint from the roof. I fitted a small double-layer patch on the area of roof that the front corners sit on of the clear stck-on plastic sheeting that is used by cars with very wide rear wheel arches (some Porsche for example) to protect the front surface of the rear wing from stone damage. Because it is clear it is pretty well unnoticeable, but it does protect the paint.

Yep, I've already put rivnuts in those places where there would have originally been self tappers....

Also a good tip regarding wear to the roof. What you're referring to is known as Helitape, of which I do have some, so will put it in those locations - thanks.