500 (Classic) Dexter the 1962 Fiat 500D

Bigvtwin996 · Feb 24, 2019

Franko500 said:
.........No N's here...too much money, too much hype.
And apart from the chassis number the later ones are not really much different to the D. And the early N's have too many parts which are not available or are ridiculous prices.So happy to have the D. And as I said, no more after this one!

not that much difference between N & Ds the engine is the biggest, and the three bolt couplings and the very early seats the rest is mainly cosmetic....

And you know what Dickens wrote in Pickwick Papers..... "Never say Never"

Spike64 · Feb 24, 2019

And the wheels and the brake plates and drums and the rear arms and the wheel bearings and the interior mirror and and and just about everything really Peter as you told me from the start most parts are harder to find than parts for a 1959 mini . Did you sell your N’s

Franko500 · Feb 25, 2019

I think maybe that the N gang should start their own thread to establish what the differences are between a N and the other models. You can list all your inferior parts that have failed and why Fiat decided to upgrade them. You can also complete speed tests to see how slow they go with their under powered engines.
Actually you can talk about whatever you want.
Just don't do it on my thread please - this is for the D model

Spike64 · Feb 25, 2019

Franko500 said:
I think maybe that the N gang should start their own thread to establish what the differences are between a N and the other models. You can list all your inferior parts that have failed and why Fiat decided to upgrade them. You can also complete speed tests to see how slow they go with their under powered engines.
Actually you can talk about whatever you want.
Just don't do it on my thread please - this is for the D model

OMG someone’s tired

All joking apart your are spot on .everybody restoring an N should compare notes

Franko500 · Mar 1, 2019

I tried the old bonnet on to see if it was any better. No!
This appears to have been replaced at some time.
So the only answer was to cut the new bonnet with the grinder. I then cut the ends off my old blue bonnet which the contours fitted perfectly.
Welded these in place and now the gaps look really good.

Franko500 · Mar 2, 2019

Spike64 · Mar 2, 2019

Looking really good mate you should give up your day job

Franko500 · Jun 4, 2019

I have been rather busy with work and life in general so not a great deal of time on the D recently.
Franko went to his first car show of the year 2 weeks ago.

I have rebuilt the passenger door, photos to follow.
Floor finally complete including seat runners welded in place and the tunnel back in its position.
Also had to remove the roof gutter strip as it was heavily corroded.
Good job I removed it as there was corrosion on the roof edge. This has now been cut out and a new piece welded in.
The gutter was really tricky and I ended up replacing a section at a time. The main gutter edge was ok, it was mainly the return which is welded to the roof that is corroded.
Hopefully a few more photos to come this week.

fiat500 · Jun 5, 2019

Floors and guttering.....my favourite...:bang:

You say "not a great amount of time on the D", but what you've achieved there must have been quite time-consuming if my experience is anything to go by.

How tricky was it to fit the gigantic floor section? Did it need a lot of re-shaping to make it fit? I would be hoping that you could achieve and approximate fit and then trim it in situ.

Franko500 · Jun 5, 2019

The floor was quite straight forward really.
The only part I had to modify was the section that meets the inner front wheel arches. They must be different on the 126 model. But this was just a matter of dressing the edge back by about 5mm.
Apart from that it went in well.
Although there is a lot of fiddling about with the seat runners and supporting rails.
I even had to squash a mig welder nozzle so that I could mig weld the runners to the floor as the nozzle wouldn't fit inside the runners.
These runners were a lot better quality than the ones I fitted on the L though.

Franko500 · Jun 6, 2019

The D model had a foam base rear seat cushion.
Sadly my one was missing.
So I decided to fit a spring base out of a later model as they seem to fit ok.
The only difference is that there are 2 brackets missing that hold the base in place. So I made some new ones and removed the 4 little tangs that originally held the fabric to the floor.
I have the original arch covers and one of the side trims so put everything in place to check it all fits. There is a gap between the back rest and base - mainly because the additional piece of material is missing from my seat which goes down behind the base.
So that's all my seat fixings now sorted.

Franko500 · Jun 8, 2019

A day of filler, sanding, filler, sanding and at last some etch primer.
Overall I am really satisfied with the end result.
All the joints are invisible and the roof gutter rail came out pretty good.

fiat500 · Jun 10, 2019

You're a quick worker once up to speed. Must have been a few cans of etch used there!

Spike64 · Jun 12, 2019

Franko500 said:
A day of filler, sanding, filler, sanding and at last some etch primer.
Overall I am really satisfied with the end result.
All the joints are invisible and the roof gutter rail came out pretty good.

Looking really good mate :slayer:

Franko500 · Jul 7, 2019

Finally got him out of the garage

Franko500 · Jul 7, 2019

And a few more

Vitesse · Jul 7, 2019

Franko500 said:
Finally got him out of the garage

Decent weather you’ll be finished in a few weeks! That dark blue sunroof cover looks really smart on Franko! Glad you didn’t go chequered! Oh no that was someone else who is heavily into modding??????

Bigvtwin996 · Jul 7, 2019

Franko500 said:
And a few more

don't think words can describe the work you do...
As it will be the last... you should write a book...

fiat500 · Jul 7, 2019

Vitesse said:
That dark blue sunroof cover looks really smart on Franko! Glad you didn’t go chequered! Oh no that was someone else who is heavily into modding??????

DARK BLUE??? Good grief, that's a scandal! At least checkered would be 50% black.

fiat500 · Jul 7, 2019

Franko500 said:
Finally got him out of the garage

I always loved getting the bodywork out into the light.....great to see clearly what I had been doing inside the cavern and then to be able to properly see what I was doing if I could get a bit more welding done before attending to the needs of grandchildren.

Great to see your progress on this penultimate restoration.

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