Hi All , my first post on the Fiat forum firstly i introduce myself Maurice from OZ Australia about 8 mths found a 500f in a panel shop i ask if it was for sale they took my number and within two weeks the car was in my garage, now the long restoration begins, the worst is sills, bottom front guards, some patches in the floor, and also around the front and rear windows, got to replace the front apron panel which is full of bog or plastic nickie.
i.e may ask about mechanical questions thru the build.

Cheers Maurice

Hi Maurice,

welcome to the forum, if you have read any of the posts you will quickly work out we are a friendly bunch and there is a lot of know how here.

Can you let us know where you are in Oz?

It is a rule that you post photo's as soon as you can.
(That is in fact a lie, but we do love a photo here and we don't care what the car looks like, some of us are a bit tragic and most of us only see great potential.....)

Regards

Joe R
Brissie

As Joe says, welcome to the Forum. We are here to help you, not take the mickey. Among the Forum members there is a great depth of knowledge, whether it be regarding body work or engine tuning. It would help if we knew where you are in OZ; there might be a Forum member close(ish) to you that can "hold your hand". When you have all the body work sorted, are you going to leave it standard or "enhance" the wee beast?

x series said:

Hi All , my first post on the Fiat forum firstly i introduce myself Maurice from OZ Australia about 8 mths found a 500f in a panel shop i ask if it was for sale they took my number and within two weeks the car was in my garage, now the long restoration begins, the worst is sills, bottom front guards, some patches in the floor, and also around the front and rear windows, got to replace the front apron panel which is full of bog or plastic nickie.
i.e may ask about mechanical questions thru the build.

Cheers Maurice

Click to expand...

so it moved from the shop to your garage... did you steal it or were they glad to get rid of it...
Welcome to the wonderful mad world of Fiat 500s!!

Cardboard glue and a bit of underseal can be a very good replacement for metal....

hi all, joe r my location is Sydney I'm ex panel beater may help any questions on repairs. looking at the car one area i will delete is the drain hole in the bottom of front screen to me this area just causes rust and then the drainage tube run down the back of front guards on both sides with more rust.
The panel shop i got the car from is top end shop repairing Porsche's, Ferrari's,Maserati,I did ask why they won't take 500F on for restoration was not interested in do it more money elsewhere so right place right time it one those things i told my price and walk away.

cheers Maurice.

Some of the best things in life are due to 'being in the right place at the right time'! I obtained a set of Cromadora-Fergat MAG alloy wheels for my Fiat by a similar stroke of luck. What was even better my mate asked if he could buy my old wheels (also alloy, but not very pretty), at not a lot less than I had paid for the Cromodoras---result!

Made progress in starting the motor with the help of the forum as to timing which makes another tick off the list, happy how it runs just one small leak in between timing pulley and the casing which is a oil seal hope it a easy replacement, just the horn and wipers are not work which maybe a earth not connected somewhere, what i did notice that the starter lever can still activate the starter motor with the ignition off but only start in the on position is that right or is it wrong ?

cheers Maurice.

Hi Maurice. The oil seal is relatively easy to replace with the engine still in the car; the crankshaft pulley and the chain cover are removed and the new seal is easily pressed in from behind.

What you've found with the starter lever is normal and it's a facility which can sometimes be useful.

Hello Maurice,
And welcome to the forum.

I am currently in tha starting stages of restoring/rebuidling my 500F -65. We might come across some of the same issues You can find what I´ve dom som far on the link below.

https://www.fiatforum.com/500-classic/480090-raukstern-s-500f-65-rebuild.html

/Seb

Wow Seb thats a big build thats a good project for winter I will keep on eye as things progress my rust is 1/3 of that, i can't believe how fast as to the parts i bought from England to Australia with in 7 days now i have trust in buying Oversea, USA prices are too expensive than England and what i also like is UK has retained a lot more old trades you can still buy a complete Mini shell brand new and other hand made products.