Hi all, I'm new to this forum so a big hello from me and thanks for all the welcomes I'm sure I'll get in return.
My question is this: I'm currently retoring a 500 Gardiniere (spelling?) (its the estate/station wagon) I'm not sure of the exact year at the moment but I am wondering what finish was applied to the under side of the car at the factory? Where they just painted body colour or was a rubberised texture finish applied, if so was the texture finish sprayed body colour or was it left black.
Your help in this matter will be appreciated.
Finally would any of you chaps be interested in seeing the restoration and if so where would I post the pictures?

Thanks

gazzol

hi, i am sorry to say that i dont know what finish was on the bottom of your car, but i would be really happy to see some pictures of your restoration. i am about to start a full scale resto on my '59 600 here in the states!

When I restored a 1970 500L in the mid eighties it did indeed have a black rubberised compound on it, including under the longitudinal seat runners below the floor and under the wings. It took forever to scrape it all off too.

Whether the early cars had the same protection though,I'm afraid I don't know either.

Oh yes, please post pics afterwards.

A lot of Fiats in the UK had underseal applied as a dealerfit option, usually something like Zeibart or Dinitrol.

I see to recall that the underbody covering was originally body colour which often had a brown protective delivery wax applied. The wax was removed from the upper body surfaces prior to delivery, but not underneath.

I am however prepared to be proven wrong, it was a long time ago.

Cheers

PD

Thanks for your replies guys I will try and post some pictures as soon as I get time to upload them all to a hosting site.

when i restored my fiat 500L 1969, i recoated the bottom with rubberizer. they sell those cans for less that 10 bucks, and they ensure that the bottom of your fiat doesnt continue to rott from rust once i assume that you have removed all prior.

but yeah its added to basically every car to prevent rust.