New Member with lots of questions

[HuntingtonSpider]

Hi, long time lurker on the site, but finally (hopefully) I'll be buying my first spider in a few weeks. I have my eye on a 78 with pretty strait body and newish paint, a seemingly decent, running engine, and completely ripped out interior. This will be my first restoration/project car, and I'm definitely looking for any and all advice. I plan on doing most of the work myself and learning as I go. I plan on starting with the interior which brings me to my first set of questions:

any advice on best prices for interior sets( carpet, door panels, Dash caps or replacement dash,vinyl top, possibly seats)? Ive checked out a few places online like vicks and auto ricambi and prices seem comparable, although ebay has a few good deals. anyone found any other good places ?

Also whats everyone's opinions on dash caps, I'd obviously like to go new, but it seems out of my budget. Do the caps go on easily, and more importantly, do they look decent? Any pictures of anyone with them would be appreciated. I plan on sanding on filling any cracks in my dash before installing. Does that make much of a difference?

Any good Fiat mechanics in the Huntington Beach, Orange county area? Although I want to do most of the work myself, I definitely want to have it looked over by someone who knows what they're doing to give me an idea of where to start mechanically.

Thanks in advance for any advice, and looking forward to using this awesome site for helpful information during my rebuild

[jimincalif]

Welcome, I'm in Orange County too, Lake Forest. We need to build up our OC roster!

If you can make it up the 57 to Upland, Mark Allison's shop is there, probably the best place to start. We have another member here from Newport who doesn't post too often, I believe he has his work done at Reliable Motors on Placentia in Costa Mesa. I have not gone there myself so no personal experience good or bad.

PM me you email address and I will add you to the email roster for any local SoCal FLU events.

Jim

[jfrawley]

Welcome to the forum. Sounds like you're going to do a lot of the same things I had to do to my '82. I put a half cap on the dash and was pleased on how it turned out. Patience is the key. Fill the cracks, sand it down, and make sure you get enough silicone glue on to hold it down. Clamp it good and don't be tempted to remove the clamps until it's dried 24 hours. You'll have to use a dremel tool to trim some of the edges so the golve box will open etc. They come out the best if you remove the dash before installing. I didn't but it still came out OK.

Almost all of my other interior parts came from E-Bay. Console, carpet set, one seat bottom, shifter boot, chrome inserts in the arm rests, and heater control bezel. I just didn't have the budget to buy new, and as it was a rolling restoration, I was in no hurry to get the parts. I could wait until the right ones came along at a good price.

Good luck and let's see lots of before and after pictures.

[DUCeditor]

Regarding 'caps,' I've had them on my `77 (dash, lower and upper console) since my initial restoration in the late `80s and could not be more pleased. How do they look? Well enough for the car to over the years win about a half dozen awards including "Best of Marque" at the Larz Anderson Auto Museum Italian Car Day.

Installation was a breeze. Basically (if memory serves) you just squeeze on some lines of silicon glue and push the unit into place. (For the dash you must first remove the upper air vents, then reinstall them)

Assuming what is available today is the same as back then I say go for it without hesitation.

-don

[baltobernie]

No need to fill cracks unless they present a structural risk; some body filler and fiberglass screen if they're large enough to split the thing in half.

Clean the dash thoroughly with isopropol alcohol to eliminate any traces of silicone ("Armour All"). Use the same stuff on the underside of the cap to remove mould release agent. Scuff up the perimeter of the cap and mating surface of the dash with 60 grit sandpaper. Wipe again with IPA, and you're ready to apply adhesive per the package instructions. Good luck! and show us your results!