General MOT Failure

[Dave-M]

Seen these on ebay,
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/331582141619?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
Would be sad for you to sell your car, don't think you would get very much for your B without an MOT, would be better to fix and then sell.

 

[blackydog]

Have had the car inspected by a trusted & specialised person in the trade. Sadly unless I can source replacement inner arches for both sides, I am going to have to abandon the project. The car is too good to break I think, & is worthy of someone taking it on. I've done some research but replacement arches seem not to be be available now. I'll, be advertising it for sale in the hope someone out there wants one, as I did. The car is always liked by those who see it - it's a great shame they have this flaw - but hey its a 17 year old Fiat !

Is it that bad that you can't find good metal to weld to? I would be looking for a second opinion for the reason that you are not trying to make it "as new" but to be solid and mot-able. I made a solid job of mine and i am far from expert.

 

[pooch]

thanks for your response Blackdog - at the end of the day it comes down to how big the seemly bottomless pit money wise it will be. Unfortunately I don't have the skills to tackle myself - my head says move it on but my heart says get it sorted & keep - a typical conundrum as usual in the car world

 

[Dave-M]

Pooch, the dilemma you face is one we all have to tackle. My car was not in the best of condition when I bought it, the money I paid reflected this, but I have now spent well over its true value. Some of the work was needed, just to keep the car on the road, other items are just because I can.
I tend to budget each year with a plan of repairs/ upgrades, I enjoy driving my B and have the knowledge that they are getting quite rare on our British roads, I think if I didn't have my Barchetta, I would be spending money on another car and doing exactly the same, cars unfortunately are a money pit.
The repairs you need to do are not insurmountable, it is depressing to discover the amount of decay, especially when you start poking around. My rear arches were also rusted, I am lucky I suppose as I know a good body repair shop that have the skill and interest in tackling such a job,
They charged me about £125 for each side, I did remove all of the interior so that they could concentrate on the repair. If your car is in good condition otherwise, I would repair, but I do understand how you feel.

 

[gar074]

£250 or so doesn't sound like a great deal to fork out in order to keep another B on the road. You could easily pay out more than that on a simple mechanical/electrical fault.

Given that the demon rot appears to start from the inside, how easy is it to tell how far the rot's got from external inspection? (assuming that you haven't already got fistfuls of crumbling metal, like pooch has...)

I ask because mine looks fine from a visual examination in & around the wheel arches, apart from what looks like a bit of stone-chip-induced surface-rust on the outer lip of the wheel arch, but I'm conscious that it may be crumbling away internally. And what can be done to prevent this happening? Someone mentioned (in another thread?) that the inner rear arches weren't wax-treated at the factory, so is it simply a question of injecting some rust protection in there?

Part of me wants to close my eyes to it, on the basis that what you can't see, you can just ignore - but the sensible part of me wants to find out how far the rust has got, and to try and stop it getting any worse.

 

[Dave-M]

On my car the rot was easy to see once you removed the plastic parts on the inside of the wheel arch. The body construction around the rear quarter of the Barchetta is quite complex, looking inside the boot you would find no rust around the rear section, but if you remove the steal panel that is behind the seats you would see the extent of the rust, most of the rust on my car was around the large rectangular rubber bung, also below near to the rear of the sill, I think the problem is caused by the lack of rust protection in this area but also the drain tube for the rear hood area exits in this area. All this has now been welded and loads of waxoil applied, in fact I re inject waxoil every Autumn just to make sure the dreaded rust stays away.

 

[pooch]

interesting feedback Dave-M - still debating what to do with my B - you mention "removing the steel panel behind the seats" on yours. Is that a difficult task i.e. cutting it out?

 

[halfrowk]

The panel behind the seats is bolted in and allows access to fuel tank etc