Well this is my first post on the forum so Hello everybody!
Ok, So where do I start?
The Fiat 850 Sports coupe was bought by my father as his first car around 1969-1970.
He bought it in Victoria off a dealership somewhere and drove up to Queensland to show his mother his new car.
after driving a few thousand Kms he was in the last 15kms and a drunk drive side swiped the front of the car.... clipping just near the front left headlights.
As from there I'm not overly sure what else has happened as I hadn't even been thought of for another 25 odd years... However according to stories many the adventure was had in the little fiat. But details of various stories are mostly fuzzy to me as I was told when I was a young lad.
In its time the little white fiat was stripped back to bare metal, Patched and resprayed to a Ferrari Red aswell as having recaro bucket seats and a "custom" Short shifter installed.
As time passed on the little Red fiat was put into a garage and mostly forgotten about. During its life in a garage its received various nicks, scrapes and bumps which has resulted in some damage to the paints aswell as the original crash patching coming off.
Now my dad is nearly 65 and has mostly lost interest in the car often talking about taking it to the tip or calling a scrap metal person to take it because of its condition and it would be hard to juggle with his current projects.
It has been extremely neglected for over 25 years with it only been turned on 4-5 times that I know of in this time, last time it was out on the roads was a 15km-ish trip in around 2006
Both of these scenarios deeply sadden me, So I've been looking at restoring it or trying to get him interested in it again.
So first order of business is getting the thing running and the brakes unseized... then we can move to getting a respray.
However this is why I've come to the forums. To get advice.
I've been to one or two Respray places and I was quoted $10,000-$15,000 to get the cars paint restored and resprayed!
Firstly, I think I'm being played abit here because i've been quoted $1800 for my 2001 mk4 golf to get full sprayed and have been told just for the materials alone its around a third of that price...
As a young Collage student I don't have that kind of money just laying around. So what would be a realistic price for a respray of a 850? Just so I know if someone's trying to screw me or they're being truthful...
Secondly, I've would anyone happen to have any hints on un-seizing calliper pistons? I've got the callipers completely off however i can't for the life of me get the damn piston out no-matter how much i grease the bastard up or blast air pressure through.
After i can get it to atleast move then i'll look at the starter motor which i don't think is moving... Either that or the battery i had laying around is dead as a dodo...
In the mean time heres some photos of the cars current conditions...
I've got it on stands in the garage with the front callipers off to do work to it. I've also meaning to make a cover so it doesn't get dust and debris on it anymore
There is 7 very deep/big scratches around the car which i have started to bog up. I just haven't sanded them all back yet...
The front brake callipers didn't clean up too badly...
Ok, So where do I start?
The Fiat 850 Sports coupe was bought by my father as his first car around 1969-1970.
He bought it in Victoria off a dealership somewhere and drove up to Queensland to show his mother his new car.
after driving a few thousand Kms he was in the last 15kms and a drunk drive side swiped the front of the car.... clipping just near the front left headlights.
As from there I'm not overly sure what else has happened as I hadn't even been thought of for another 25 odd years... However according to stories many the adventure was had in the little fiat. But details of various stories are mostly fuzzy to me as I was told when I was a young lad.
In its time the little white fiat was stripped back to bare metal, Patched and resprayed to a Ferrari Red aswell as having recaro bucket seats and a "custom" Short shifter installed.
As time passed on the little Red fiat was put into a garage and mostly forgotten about. During its life in a garage its received various nicks, scrapes and bumps which has resulted in some damage to the paints aswell as the original crash patching coming off.
Now my dad is nearly 65 and has mostly lost interest in the car often talking about taking it to the tip or calling a scrap metal person to take it because of its condition and it would be hard to juggle with his current projects.
It has been extremely neglected for over 25 years with it only been turned on 4-5 times that I know of in this time, last time it was out on the roads was a 15km-ish trip in around 2006
Both of these scenarios deeply sadden me, So I've been looking at restoring it or trying to get him interested in it again.
So first order of business is getting the thing running and the brakes unseized... then we can move to getting a respray.
However this is why I've come to the forums. To get advice.
I've been to one or two Respray places and I was quoted $10,000-$15,000 to get the cars paint restored and resprayed!
Firstly, I think I'm being played abit here because i've been quoted $1800 for my 2001 mk4 golf to get full sprayed and have been told just for the materials alone its around a third of that price...
As a young Collage student I don't have that kind of money just laying around. So what would be a realistic price for a respray of a 850? Just so I know if someone's trying to screw me or they're being truthful...
Secondly, I've would anyone happen to have any hints on un-seizing calliper pistons? I've got the callipers completely off however i can't for the life of me get the damn piston out no-matter how much i grease the bastard up or blast air pressure through.
After i can get it to atleast move then i'll look at the starter motor which i don't think is moving... Either that or the battery i had laying around is dead as a dodo...
In the mean time heres some photos of the cars current conditions...
I've got it on stands in the garage with the front callipers off to do work to it. I've also meaning to make a cover so it doesn't get dust and debris on it anymore
There is 7 very deep/big scratches around the car which i have started to bog up. I just haven't sanded them all back yet...
The front brake callipers didn't clean up too badly...
