I'm over here, http://www.fiatspiders.com/F10/viewtopi ... =20&t=1794 , if your interested, I've joined a few forums to educate myself, the story of how I acquired my spider is here, http://www.fiatspiders.com/F10/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1792 . I follow a few of the more involved restoration projects on various forums to see the correct way to do a proper restoration, although I may end up with a "FrankeFiat" it'll be all mine. Your restoration is truly amazing, especially considering the conditions you're working in, I'll definitely be following your posts to the end. Did you check your wiring harness while it was out of the car? I'm thinking of doing this with mine to make it easier to find problems, when I cleaned mine out when I first brought it home, I found 4 active mouse nests and 3 more not being used. The cat had a good time that day

I got the steel from the scrap gondola at a fabrication shop I have access to, It took me about a week (working after work) to make my "Spider Spit".
edit: looking at my posts, it took more like 3 weeks, time flies when you're don't know what you're doing

the weather her in UK is the big enemy in outdoor restoration work, but so far i managed to get on. Yes i've got the wiring loom out of the car and stretched out for inspection, checking every end for continuity and making sure i haven't got any damage. I can see this job taking me a few weeks before re-installing it in the car. I'm trying to give it a good clean while i'm at it.
The spider spit, is a work of art. while trying to clean /paint the underside and when i replaced the drivers side floor panel, i wished i had a spider spit.
Like yourself, i'm doing all the work myself so anything wrong, i've only got me to blame!

ps.reading your progress with interest!

It is entertaining at the least !

Suspension parts ready from powder coating.


Zinc plated the steel parts incl bolts etc



One side done! I discovered that i can get away, with not having to use spring compressors. Lowered the bottom arm enough to get the spring in position and then used a jack to lift.



aluminium cover i made to stop any rubbish and dirt getting into the pocket

Wow that looks so nice! I like the clever aluminum plate covering that hole too.

Definitely looks like you're going 1st class all the way. Before you painted , did you use any type of seam sealer on the body? and if so what was it. I've talked to a restoration shop a few miles from me and he said just get some high velocity duct sealer from the local heating and cooling supply house, that's what he uses on all his restoration work. He gets it in a 1 gallon can and uses a refillable caulk gun.

hi, i used a seam sealant that the local paint supplier recommended. Be careful with what you use. In the past i have used typical household silicon but found that either the paint does not stick to it very well and starts to peal off, or as soon as you start driving the car vibrations etc, caused cracks and again paint peal. The proper automotive is a lot more rigid (best way to describe it). It's possible that the sealant you talked about is exactly the same. I'm sure the guy knows what he's doing....

He told me about avoiding the stuff that has silicone in it and to specify the commercial grade high velocity ( I asked if the high velocity would make me go faster ) gray sealer, it hardens, but not to where it becomes so rigid it cracks when the body flexes. He's been using the same brand for about 30 years and he said he's never had a problem with paint adhering to it. He even took the time to show me how to heat it up a little so that it will flow out of a caulk gun (it's made to be applied with a flexible putty/drywall knife) It takes about an hour to skin over and 24-36 hours to full cure. I'll research it a little more when I get ready to use it and talk to the tin knockers at work to see what they think, (they use both the low and high velocity stuff), maybe even talk them into loaning me a gallon for scientific purposes

time has come to do the wiring loom. Not my favorite job, much prefer mechanical things, but got to be done. Checked all connectors for any corrosion, replaced the ones that looked suspicious and generally tried to tidy up the loom



best to put the main loom in before the pedal assembly! part of the loom with al the fuse box has to fit above the pedal frame and the gap is... rather small. Almost everything was labeled before taking apart, so it made life easier...

Again! Inspiring!!
Keep up the great work Cos!!

Heater control parts arrived from plating, so time to put this together!

I wished the arms were painted black. Not sure if they look as good plated.

I think they look great plated. Just wanted to say that it's all looking absolutely stunning. I'm hoping Sofia will look half as good...

Can I ask a really dumb question? Since you've just put your front suspension back together you have all this fresh in your mind - when I took the hubs off to clean up and paint with POR15 I forgot to label RHS/LHS. One of them has a reverse thread for the hub nut - intuitively I would have thought this is the right wheel (as you accelerate the tendency would be to tighten that nut) - is that right?

Keep up the brilliant work!

cheers

sam

I think they look great plated. Just wanted to say that it's all looking absolutely stunning. I'm hoping Sofia will look half as good...

+1!!!!
Wait, mine is not Sofia... But I strive to make mine as beautiful a work of art!
Amazing work!!!

Sambo42 wrote:I think they look great plated. Just wanted to say that it's all looking absolutely stunning. I'm hoping Sofia will look half as good...

Can I ask a really dumb question? Since you've just put your front suspension back together you have all this fresh in your mind - when I took the hubs off to clean up and paint with POR15 I forgot to label RHS/LHS. One of them has a reverse thread for the hub nut - intuitively I would have thought this is the right wheel (as you accelerate the tendency would be to tighten that nut) - is that right?

Keep up the brilliant work!

cheers

sam

Sam hi, thanks for the coments.
I need to check this weekend and get back to you. I boxed parts in sets and marked them to avoid confusion. I need to search for the hub nut and confirm.

cos wrote:

Sambo42 wrote:I think they look great plated. Just wanted to say that it's all looking absolutely stunning. I'm hoping Sofia will look half as good...

Can I ask a really dumb question? Since you've just put your front suspension back together you have all this fresh in your mind - when I took the hubs off to clean up and paint with POR15 I forgot to label RHS/LHS. One of them has a reverse thread for the hub nut - intuitively I would have thought this is the right wheel (as you accelerate the tendency would be to tighten that nut) - is that right?

Keep up the brilliant work!

cheers

sam

Sam hi, thanks for the coments.
I need to check this weekend and get back to you. I boxed parts in sets and marked them to avoid confusion. I need to search for the hub nut and confirm.

Hi Sam, unfortunately still waiting for the new nuts to arrive and i turned my garage up-side down but could not locate the old one to confirm, sorry!