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

[Raukstern]

First piece in place last night, finally on my way for real

I havn´t restored a car, doing body work, for about 15 years know, so be kind on the quality of the welds. It will get better in time as I get the settings on the MIG tuned... I hope

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[Raukstern]

And I have a question, as usual.

Is there anywhere to get ahold of the lower, inner part of the B pillar? One of mine is badly corroded and the other has been hit.

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[fiat500]

And I have a question, as usual.

Is there anywhere to get ahold of the lower, inner part of the B pillar? One of mine is badly corroded and the other has been hit.

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I think I've seen them in the past as NOS items from:https://ilsorpassoricambi.com/

But he's very expensive for anything and most of what he has is very rare. You can get the same part for the front pillars and maybe the one from the opposite side would have shapes that could be made to fit.

Judged by the metalwork you've already done I think you could shape some metal to fit.

 

[Raukstern]

I think I've seen them in the past as NOS items from:https://ilsorpassoricambi.com/

But he's very expensive for anything and most of what he has is very rare. You can get the same part for the front pillars and maybe the one from the opposite side would have shapes that could be made to fit.

Judged by the metalwork you've already done I think you could shape some metal to fit.

Thanks for the kind words, this part was very staight, angular and simple. Curved surfaces are another can of worms.

I´ll check out Il Sorpasso, worth a shot, thanks!

 

[Raukstern]

So, the first floor pan in place. Had to get it into place before I get going with the sills. I think the sills they are next, but there is so much to to, I´m not sure on the next step

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[Raukstern]

Moving forward in my swiss cheese car... There ia A LOT of fabrications I have ahead of me. I´m thinking I want to do it all ritght and pretty but I realize I might not have the right skill set for that. Better to just do it and get it done? It vill never be original again anyway...

Yesterday I removed the old trunk dish to prepare for the replacement I have bought. For everry panel I remove I find 3 more things that need fixing :bang:

Looks lite it has been lightly hit in the front some time ago, since many panels are dented. Some of it I´ll try to massage out with the hammer, as the inner wheel well as shown below...

Well well, we´ll see how far I´ll get

 

[the hobbler]

You are doing a first-class job Sebastion---just keep plodding along--it will all come out well in the end.

 

[Raukstern]

Thanks Tom!

I´m looking through your front end rebuild once a week to get ideas and inspiration.

 

[Goldnrust]

I've just read through from the start, you're doing a great job resurrecting this one! It's showing me a lot of the jobs I have ahead of me with mine, haha.

The fabrication you're doing looks perfectly good to me, don't knock yourself down. There's much more to be appreciated in something you've done yourself, even if it's not as perfect as someone who's a 30 year professional might do. It's also fair to say that a lot of the shiny professional metal work you see on the Internet doesn't look quite so special in real life, the camera is very good at lying!

 

[Raukstern]

Continuing with the front end. Ordered more metal today... again

Last night it was time to tip the car over on the other side and get crackin´with the front left wheel house. The outer part I´ve allready got a new one at home, so its time for the old one to go.

Removing it was quite undramatic. And now I have to reveal that two of my favourit tools for metal work, is hammer and chisel

After removal, some cleaning of the earlier hidden surfaces and off to bed.

To be continued...

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[Goldnrust]

It's time consuming when you've got to careful peel back the original construction isn't it, it always feels a bit demoralising to me, especially when sometimes it feels like you could have hacked it out with a grinder in 5 minutes.

Worth it though when you drop the new panel in and it looks factory correct.

 

[Raukstern]

Plodding along... as The Hobbler recommended

In stead of buying new inner front wheel housings, I decided to repair the ones I have.
It takes a bit of amateur fabrications of sheet metal. But it will do for me

Allmost got both sides done, just some finishing touches left om the right side.

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[fiat500]

Plodding along... as The Hobbler recommended

In stead of buying new inner front wheel housings, I decided to repair the ones I have.
It takes a bit of amateur fabrications of sheet metal. But it will do for me

Allmost got both sides done, just some finishing touches left om the right side.

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That's great work and (I think) the right way to do it; especially when dealing with the underside and parts which could have implications for the alignment of outer panels and of steering and suspension parts.

 

[Raukstern]

I need help from you lovely people that have i 500 close by. I need messurements, so I can correcly position the new boot floor. The car has been hit lightly in the front in an earlier life, so I dont really trust the wheelhousings.
Also replacement part are often not reeally accurate, since the machines that makes them are from the 50-60´s. (so it says when I order them)

The messurements I need are the ones shown in the pictures below:

1. From the bracket holding the tank to the edge of the floor above the battery.
2. Between the indentations on the "floor"
3. Between the outer side of the inner wheelhousings and between the whwwlhousing along the "floor" och the trunk/boot.

If I could get it in millimeters it would be lovely. Otherwise I´ll find some way to translate it.

This is all ti help me get the boot floor positioned right.

Thanks /Seb

 

[Raukstern]

So...
With a little help from my friends (you lot) I could get on with the front end rebuild during the week end.
Thanks to The Hobbler and Bounding Bambino for the help!

With some measurments to go on, I could with some kind of restored confidence start rebuilding, instead of removing
As I mentioned earlier, the reproduction panels can be a bit off, and my front end is not to rely on, formwise. As seen in the first pics, the fit is not spot on. Some 10mm gap when the panel was in the correct place.

But with some modification, based on the measurements I received, I could start getting the trunk panel mounted. Doing all the welding I can from the back side, so that the surfaces you see will be kept clean.

25% done yesterday, will continue tonight.

 

[Raukstern]

Just a few more pictures to show you the result after welding it in place.

 

[Raukstern]

Trunk dish done!
Now I have the difficult stuff left

 

[Raukstern]

Started rebuilding the left side A-pillar, wich was totally rusted away... togeather with the sill ...and the floor pan.

Skratched my head for a good while, before I finally realized that I will not fugure out how to best do this... and just got stuck in!

The outside is done (wich will be hidden behind the fender, thank god) The inside is left to be done. The replacement part I bought for this has really bad fit, but I´ll be able to make something out of it anyway.. I hope.

 

[Raukstern]

Some day off over the hollidays resulted i far less work that I had calculated with. Got the mancold from hell (not Covid, but its mean cousin) that kept me in bed (on the couch) most of the hollidays.

Bot I got the left side inner wheel arch in place and got started on the right side A-pillar repairs at least

 

[Bounding Bambino]

The front end work is what im tackling next. And personally im excited, but also loathing it. Its -24c this morning, and my little pepperoni is tucked away, i definitely ant working in that weather.

Great too see all your detailed photos and what to expect once the outer skins are removed.
Those deep reach vise-grip clamps are a godsend eh? It was a bit of an investment myself getting a few and building up a collection, but they definitely make life easier when trying to pinch hard to reach panels together.

One thing i am contemplating of doing, again bouncing ideals here, is removing the inner fender seam that faces downwards towards the tire. I realize this seam is not an issue for stock ride height cars, but im tempted to weld the fender in like normal. Get everything fitted (outer body panels, etc), then weld the top half of the seam inside the trunk space. And then remove the seam in the wheel well to provide extra bump clearance for lowered cars.