Hi All,

Longtime Fiat (and Alfa) owner for many years. Mostly do all my work myself, so not afraid of working on a car.

I have to decide on buying a Barchetta, or not. It is described as a "project car". It used to be garaged until recently
Can I ask for your opinion as to whether this is a basket case.
Underneath, rust holes in both sides flat part of inner sills. Outside painted sill looks fine. Don't know about under the carpet. The floor itself looks fine from underneath but that could be deceiving.
What are the chances of significant rust elsewhere in the floor?
Are the floors always gone when the sill is or sometimes or unlikely?
Didn't know about the rear arches so didn't check.
Drivers seat is pushed fully back and was stuck, could not get it to move forward. Similar with the back of the seat, the knob twisted but it would not budge. Does this indicate water back there and huge potential issues.
Water lodged under the soft top where folded.
Are repair section panels available?
Took the hard top off to check the soft top and it would not go past a certain position. It folds back into the compartment but not fully up as if there was comething caught in the mechanism, but I couldn't find anything.
Are all headlights LHD?
How available are they?

Sorry about all the questions, I won't mind buying a project but a complete basketcase I can do without.

Thanks all.

Dave

Having started to dismantle my car after MOT failure last year I have some experience of a basket case .

My car has holes in the floor , various places ,some been plated 3 years ago , welding plates onto plates not an option .

You definiteley need to look inside the rear arches . The vertical area in front of the wheel and moving around to beside the wheel can get very rusty , just give it a bit of finger pressure , any give and it's a basket case as there is many curves and bits and bobs behind this bit that will need bracing .

Also petrol tank is behind there and will need to be stripped out for safe repairs .

TLDR summary , this car sounds like a lot of work and would advise to avoid unless extremely cheap ....

Below is a pic of drivers side rear inner arch ,you can put whole hand through as a fist .

Thanks so much for your reply.
I don't actually need another project and have an Alfa Spider for the Summer.
Just thought it could be an opportunity to get a B as I drove one when they came out first.
They seem to be as rust prone as the X1/9. Had a couple of those over the years as well.

From your description, it sounds like it could be a world of pain. Rust in the rear arches is a B killer, unfortunately.

It only takes a minute or two to remove 4 screws and take a look under the floor mat. Or you can just open the VIN number hatch and peep inside. If VIN is gone, not a good sign.

Mine was rotten quite bad underneath the sills on drivers side, and in right rear arch. But the beams were ok and it was possible to weld the holes shut. Also saw plenty of ugly surface rust on the passenger side floor under the mat, but no holes underneath. Treated the rust and keep her in dry garage ever since.

Headlights being LHD/RHD depend on the original market. They can be converted https://www.fiatforum.com/barchetta/133775-european-headlamp-conversion.html

Stuck seats - inspect runners for rust or foreign items, lubricate. Try to push the seats even more backwards with lever raised, rock back and forth.

Water in the softtop comparment is normal : ) if left unattended, it will make its way under the floor mat and will then be removed by careful owner.

Thank you all for your very helpful posts on my query. If I get a chance to have another look I will know where best to investigate.

Quick update. In the end I bought this B for parts money (a tad over £500) It is rough and needs a respray. Starts and moves. Needs the front putting back on but the bits are there that I can see. All this is just standard hobby stuff.
Had a good look at the floor and it is quite rusted but the main sill looks solid even if it has surface rust - see images. I had known there was rust here.

The rear wheel arches look clean and rust free - see images. Which is why I did buy it in the end. I got the drivers seat to move to mop up the water on the floor. Now I think just let it dry out and tear into it over the winter.

I will be posting what I assume will be some silly questions about the roof and other things soon.