500 (Classic) Dexter the 1962 Fiat 500D

[lazylobster]

Looking great work. Although I think you will need bigger wheels
R

 

[Franko500]

2 more areas all finished.
These joints took quite a bit of work to get right.


Also preparation for fitting the full sun roof I have made 2 new sliding captive nuts that will be welded into the rear inner roof section.

 

[Vitesse]

2 more areas all finished.
These joints took quite a bit of work to get right.


Also preparation for fitting the full sun roof I have made 2 new sliding captive nuts that will be welded into the rear inner roof section.

Very tidy work as always

 

[Franko500]

Dexter is off his frame and on his side.
A few welds needed finishing off on the underside, including a small patch by the right rear suspension buffer that was showing signs of corrosion.
Also the 2 nuts that the gearbox support is bolted to were missing.
So I welded some nuts to some large thick washers and then cleaned up the area and ground the washers to fit in the hole then welded them in. This now provides two nice new captive nuts and a little more surface area for the support to mate to.
Finally a good clean up, coat of etch primer and then seal all the joints.
I left it to dry overnight and then uses 3 cans of spray on underbody coating.
Unfortunately they ran out of white so I had to get one in grey (I already had the white ones)
Next step back on the frame and then finish the coating on the inner arches for the places I couldn't reach.

 

[Bigvtwin996]

Dexter is off his frame and on his side.
............

As usual.. not much that can be said really.....
(I could say "Bulkhead")

Book Book Book!!!!...

 

[fiat500]

Dexter is off his frame and on his side.

Bloody hell...that's good. (not just being off his trolley....I mean the workmanship )

I would say that anyone who might be nit-picking on historically accurate details really ought to do one....

 

[Spike64]

Bloody hell...that's good. (not just being off his trolley....I mean the workmanship )

I would say that anyone who might be nit-picking on historically accurate details really ought to do one....

I’ll second that what a fantastic job your doing Sean.:worship:

 

[pete vdp]

Thanks for posting those detailed pics. They give a first time restorer like me an idea what can be achieved . I am now off out to the garage to cut out those crap patches i have sort of welded in and start over !

 

[Bigvtwin996]

.......... I am now off out to the garage to cut out those crap patches........ !

That's what Sean did.... then he ended up with less than 1/2 a car

 

[Franko500]

I have been on holiday for a couple of weeks so only just got back in the garage at the weekend.
Engine lid has been prepped. Had a few small dents to repair and also tidied up the grilles. Not much to see so no photo added.
Front panel & repaired areas of the bonnet have been prepped.
Inner front compartment has had a few filler repairs carried out and prepped.
Looks a whole lot better than when I got the car.
The list is getting smaller

 

[fiat500]

Even on an unfinished car I would get cross about a bike being leaned on it! You are obviously very tolerant Sean.

 

[Franko500]

Even on an unfinished car I would get cross about a bike being leaned on it! You are obviously very tolerant Sean.

I know, I will have to have a word with the owner!
oh that's my bike

 

[fiat500]

I know, I will have to have a word with the owner!
oh that's my bike

..in that case I know it will have been placed with micrometer precision.

 

[Franko500]

Finally finished the left rear 1/4 panel.
I spent all day applying filler, rubbing down filler and finished with a coat of etch primer.
Part of me thinks it would have been quicker to fit the new one I have hanging on the wall.
I just hope this doesn't come back to haunt me later.
I know there is no rust there but I like to avoid filler where possible.
It looks like its a lot of filler but most of it is probably less than 1mm thick.

 

[fiat500]

I just hope this doesn't come back to haunt me later.

It won't; most of my car was done by letting sections in. It keeps the contours of the body in better shape rather than wholesale new panels....it can be subtle but if you know the cars well I think it's visible.

After five years, because of my recklessness, I've had to do a fair bit of paintwork repair and only one small area of deterioration was due to problems from the welded joint...I think I may have trapped a few drops of water before painting. The real problems were at the factory joints or where I had remade the flange to flange joints such as at the front wings.

Your work is obviously better than mine (mine would be better if I did it now ). But I caulked PU sealant when I could get behind the weld-lines and my first layer of filler was always the metal-based stuff. I really can't see where my joins were even though it's had five years to settle or bubble through; ( I am good with filler though )

 

[Vitesse]

I’m surprised you have time for this now you are a YouTube star! Does that make you an influencer now?

 

[Franko500]

The left hand door is now finally ready for painting.
It's taken a lot of work to get it this far.


The door skin was removed, all the rust cut out and sandblasted.
Lower door frame and outer skin section welded in.
The rear door frame had to be made from scratch.
I was really pleased with the filler. I applied one reasonable coat to the welded areas and then knocked it back with 40 grit to get it to the right shape and then one more final coat.
This was then sanded back with 80 grit and then finished with 120 grit.


Still got the other one to do but that wasn't quite so bad and I didn't remove the skin so a little less work to do.

 

[Franko500]

Also I finally finished the repairs to the right rear 1/4 panel.
After extensive surgery due to previous accident damage the inner 1/4 panel had to be removed to be straightened.
This had been welded back in and then the outer 1/4 panel was then fitted.
So all that was required was a final clean up with the welds and a thin skim of filler to hide the joints.

 

[Franko500]

The right door I believe was from a N model. There are a couple of differences to the later D models.

1. The bottom edge didn't have a channel for the door trim to sit in.
2. The widow mechanism is slightly longer.
3. The N had two captive nuts for the grab handle to be screwed to. The D had a metal pressed grab handle welded. Lucky enough someone who changed the door before kept the original grab handle and screwed it on (Badly)

So today I removed the original top channel that the door trim fits in and then welded the grab handle in the correct place and welded up the captive nuts.
Also I removed the channel off my old L doors and cut it up to the correct lengths and welded them in place.
Now for the filler work.

 

[Bigvtwin996]

The right door I believe was from a N model. There are a couple of differences to the later D models............

The main difference is the 1/4 window catch..
there should be an indent where the hinge bracket is welded to the door.

It could be an early Prototypi D door (probably took them a while to get teh D right)...
The first few D's were based on the N shell..
Remember there were several iterations of the D (excluding the US versions)

(D) the series October 1960 November 1961
D II series November 1961 July 1962
D III series July 1962 February 1963
D IV series February 1963 January 1964
D V series January 1964 September 1964
D I series September 1964 March 1965