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500 (Classic) Raukstern's 500F -65 rebuild

Introduction

Hi guys,
My first post except for introducing myself in the newbe thread :)

My 500F (my first 500) is in need ofa major restoration/rebuild. I´ve started small, removing doors and interior and cut out the right hand side floor board so far. The rust is far gone :( Some holes, but what is worse is that all the all surrounding sheet metal has serious surface corrosion. So mutch that I fear it´s to thin to be weldable. (Is that a word?) :rolleyes:


I have borrowed a jigg/cradle (or what it might be called in english) to suspend the car in, so that I can rotate it and don´t have to cut and weld om my back.

Now to my first question:
Where do I attatch the mountings in the front?
In the back I´ve seen pic´s online how to mount it. Has anyone here done this and have some pointers?

A few pics to lively up the post. (y) (for some reason some pics gets turned, cant figure out why)
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After meeting with the blaster last night we decided thar the front had to go :) Mostly to be able to get to the crannys inside of the wheel wells.

Preparing to cut the front off, I noticed it had been replaced once allready and done badly. The front had been welded to the fenders from the outside and covered up with filler.
The flanges on the fenders were probably in bad shape allready then, but now they are all ALL rust. So I´ll probably have to replace both fenders too, to do this properly :yuck:

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Now it allso obvious the car has been hit in the front. At least lightly. The creases on the trunk dish is evidence of that. I´ve allready decided on repalcing it, so makes no big difference.

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That front “crumple zone” seems to be a common thing. My current 500 has damage in that area and many years ago driving my original 500 I rounded a bend very slowly on a single track country lane to see in the distance a big Citroen estate hurtling towards me. I stopped an the oncoming car skidded and hit me full frontal. I went back a little later with a tape measure. The Citroen , driven by a young 17 year old , skidded 65 feet on a dry road, Hit me and pushed my car back 10feet. I believe that the front end along with the spare wheel helped protect me.
 
Last... last stint :) before the blasters. Removing all undercoating (whats left of it) Not much remaining i good condition, except for in the enginge bay. Still have to do the wheel houses, but it´s a smaller job.


/Seb
 

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More removal of undercoating...

Using a chisel to scrape it of seens to be the easiest way. Its old and hard, so it comes off easy enough. But hard, tedious work in awkward positions. :yuck:
When it´s really hard, putting a hammer to the chisel helps.

The blasters say the undercoating is hopeless when blasting and make it build up heat. Takes time like crazy to blast of.

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If you can lay your hands on a Mk2 (652cc) 126 you will have all the suspension +brakes+ engone + gearbox + steering rack parts that you will require to upgrade the car. If you do go this way, when you pull the steering out of the car, don't forget to cut out the steering-column mounting plate on the underside of the dash--you might need it. Also, although fitting the gearbox is no problem, the 126 drive-shafts are too long and you will have to fit 500 shafts to the box, and go for the highest quality shafts and couplings that you can---so yes, go for it!
 
To get the most out of the blasting, I continue to removepanels that I know I have to replace anyway. This way the can get to the rusty surfaces behind the outer rust :D

And there is no shortage of it at any level... :bang:

So far I´ve only removed the outer panels on one side. We´re talking about the possibility to tip the body up on one side during blasting, onto tires, to get to the under side.
But I think I can remove it this way on both side without jeopardizing the structural integrity too much...

Started some bacing aswell, so it wouln´t crumble on me. :eek:

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I might get ahold of a 126 scrapper car. What do you guys think about converting to 126 engine, gearbox and hubs?
Brakes?

Just discovered a box of treasures that included this article which talks about a whole lot more than just the engine & gearbox swop.
 

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Very interesting, but there are some parts which are are not required when swapping engines, so do not blindly follow it, For example--you can retain the 500s rear cross-member by fitting 500 rear-mount studs to the back of the engine. Although the drive-shafts need changing to 500 shafts If you decide to fit the 126 gearbox or you can just change the bell-housing from the 126 box onto the 500 box. You do not need to change over the rear suspension arms. However, generally speaking, an article with a lot of sound advice.
 
Some more deconstruction done.
On the right front I´ve removed the rest the inner wheel arch due to its bad condition. I simply need a new one anyway.

On the left side I removed the fender, but will try to keep the inner arch, I think it´s good enough to repair.

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The chances of you finding a 500 inner wing are remote (but well done if you can!) If you have to fit a 126 inner wing on one side you really need to do it on both sides as the top wishbone and the cross-bar it attaches to are different 500 vis-a-vie 126. The shape of the inner wing is such that it is not really possible to fit the 'wrong' cross-bar to the 'wrong' inner wing. I think that I have a spare (2nd hand) set of 126 top wishbones and cross-bar if you need them---I will look in my 'parts dept' today and let you know.
 
The chances of you finding a 500 inner wing are remote (but well done if you can!) If you have to fit a 126 inner wing on one side you really need to do it on both sides as the top wishbone and the cross-bar it attaches to are different 500 vis-a-vie 126. The shape of the inner wing is such that it is not really possible to fit the 'wrong' cross-bar to the 'wrong' inner wing. I think that I have a spare (2nd hand) set of 126 top wishbones and cross-bar if you need them---I will look in my 'parts dept' today and let you know.

Hi Tom,
I meant the outer inner arch. :) You´re talking about the Wheel housing right? It seems right as you say, they are available for 126, but sold for 500´s aswell.

https://webshop.fiat500126.com/en/b...ousing-internal-front-left-with-support-plate

/Seb
 
I have looked into my 'parts department' Seb,and found that do I have a spare pair of 126 upper-wishbones and the cross-bars that they pivot on---they are yours if you want/find that you need them.
 
Does anyone know if the piece encircled in the picture is available as replacement metal? I can´t find it anywhere.

I know the internal A-pillar is om the market (se pic), but its the piece on top of it I need. As you see, its rotted good.

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