The Tale of Antonia

[blurple124]

Well, this will be the last post needed in order to bring this thread up to date!

I have started in on the floorboards now. Focusing on the rust holes and trying to get rid of any dangerous areas.
Beginning with a wire wheel and grinder, I cleaned the surfaces as much as possible, then vacuumed and wiped everything down with solvent to prep for surface treatment. For this I have two compounds, one is Naval Jelly and the other is by Permatex:



Both are effective, but they work differently. Naval Jelly is designed to dissolve the rust, then get wiped off. The Permatex actually converts the rusty surface to a hard, paintable surface. I used this for the floorboards, simply painting it on.

The rusty, pitted surface ends up looking something like this:

Not perfect, but the rust is stopped.


Next I started cutting out large sections in simple shapes. We use a lot of sheet metal at work, so I was fortunate enough to get some scrap pieces cut to size which I could just drop in. All I had to do was make sure the hole was the right size and weld it in.



Looks like I'm Fred, searching for my Wilma!

I began welding in a piece where the fuel lines had rotted the floor.


It is not easy welding such thin metal, but it should look okay once I grind the welds down. I will probably use a seam of body filler to make smooth transitions. I will need to put in some metal on the seat mount yet, but I am currently out of MIG wire!

[BrwnRecluse]

I need to bring my car to you!

[blurple124]

As of today, August 24th, I have owned this car for just one year. I thought I would take some time to reflect.

When I picked this car up, I knew it was going to be a project car, but I saw and still see a lot of potential in it. The price was right and, though some may argue otherwise, the time was right as well. What I have learned from this car at a relatively young age will certainly stay with me and become useful for many years.

I must be honest, if I were aware a year ago of the problems I have since found, I would have never bought this car. Rusted shock towers were a walk-away deal for me, especially as bad as they were.

Despite this, I would buy this car a thousand times over if I had to do it all over. It has taught me so much that I couldn't have possibly learned any other way. Lessons both mechanical and beyond the wrench, if you will. For someone who has every intention of becoming an automotive engineer, there is nothing like getting your hands dirty and learning where today's technology came from.

Yes, it is true that these lessons could be learned from working on any old car, but I can't think of a better car to have chosen for a beginner's restoration. The FIAT Spider is not only beautiful, it is technologically advanced for it's time, very easy to work on, very inexpensive to work on, and comes with the largest, most supportive enthusiast community I have ever witnessed. The accomplishments I have had couldn't have been possible without this forum.

Thank you to all who have helped and continue to help others like me!


I understand that some who observe what I am doing may shake their heads at my crude repairs or shady solutions, but what you must understand is that this is exactly the point of this project for me! I am a college student. My funds are not plentiful, but my passion for the work certainly is. My goal in taking on this project is to do the best job that I possibly can, while spending as little money as I possibly can. This means finding inexpensive solutions with high effectiveness. This car will never win a concourse show, nor is it intended to. This car will, however, continue to live for many years, if I have any say in the matter.


It has been a very productive summer and an incredible year learning about the car. Most of the progress you have seen on this thread was made between June 11th and now. Here is a list of what has been done in this time, for your record and mine.

• New Engine Hoses
  New Valve Cover and Intake Gaskets
  Cleaned/Polished top end of motor
  Repaired Starter Motor
  Repaired Turn Signals
  Rebuilt Front and Rear Suspension
  New Shock absorbers
  New Timing Belt and Bearing (just went on ten minutes ago)
  Floor pans repaired (in progress)
  Underbody painted
  Trunk cleaned and painted
  Gas tank repaired and painted
  New tires
  Wheels cleaned and repainted
  Smog Equipment removed
  Exhaust repaired
  New E-Brake Cable
  Paint cleaned up (then made dirty again)
  New Air cleaner
  Custom Shift knob
  New Fuel Filter and Coolant Overflow Cap
  New Spark Plugs and Wires
  Electronic Ignition Conversion
  Clean caliper wedges and paint caliper yokes
  Fender Repair
  Rust coversion/prevention
  And a thorough cleaning!

All this and I am still not through with the summer. I plan to have the car driving this week. I will have to fill it up with gas! That will be the first time I ever fill my car up. Over a year on one tank of gas, see if you can do that with your Prius!


Thank you to all who have tuned in on my progress. It will continue for the next week before I return to school! I hope that I have been able to share this great experience with all of you and that you are having or have had an experience like this in your lives.

Cheers to the FIAT Spider!

[4uall]

You and your work are a true inspiration. Keep up the great work

[redcars]

I have known and worked with a number of engineers in my time and the best and good ones are the ones that have taken the time to work with their hand on the type of equipment that they engineer. I believe you will end up making a very good enginner. It is not many who understand the need to be fully rounded in ther knowledge. I see nothing wrong with how you are fixing your spider. I am doing mine a little nicer, but I am near the end of my working career and can aford both more time and money for my spider. Good luck and keep up the good work.

[fiat218]

Hell ya, looking good, stuff gets cover up with carpet, so who cares

[blurple124]

Thanks for all of the support, guys!

Between yesterday and Friday, I finished welding up the driver's side floorboard, installed the new timing belt and pulley, ran a new aluminum fuel supply line, hooked up all of the hoses, painted the timing cover, and began painting the radiator. Now it is raining, so I can't do anything else! I will write up a post once I have proper pictures of everything. Coming soon!

[blurple124]

Also, it turns out that the advanced autoparts and Vick's pulleys were the same part.

Advanced Auto: $85.89
http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/webapp ... rom=header

Vick Auto (and pretty much all other FIAT vendors): $39.50
http://www.vickauto.com/newstore/index. ... ts_id=1685

What?

[blurple124]

So close. So very close!

This past weekend, I finished up the floorboards. Welding the sheet metal was a sure challenge, and I was forced to tack weld everything in. For the most part it went well, though getting pieces to fit was no easy task. One technique I used was to shape a piece of cardboard as a template, then I could simply trace it onto the sheet and cut it out.






I reinforced the driver's side floor with a piece of angle iron, since the metal I put in is a tad thinner and had no bends to it.


Part way through working on the floorboards, I got distracted because my timing belt tensioner bearing showed up, so I installed that along with my new belt.

The bearing on the old one was horrible.


The new one was really nice!



I also painted the timing cover because I was sick of the yellow. That being said, I don't think I am a huge fan of my color choice. White is what we had in engine enamel, so I used it, but silver is definitely the way to go.



Sunday was a bit lost because it was raining here, so I worked on the Jeep all day long. I did, however, find a bit of time to paint the radiator and fan.

Before:



After:




I didn't get any pictures of the thing assembled after it was painted, but here is the engine bay right now. It needs a cleaning, but otherwise it is set to go.



So after all of that, I went back to the floorboards. I ground down my welds and used bondo to create a semi-smooth seam. I don't like to use body filler as a structural component, like I have seen, but I do not want my passengers or myself catching their feet on my horrible welding job before the carpeting goes in.

Some of it was messy at first..



But I was able to sand it down fairly well... it is not easy to fit a sander in some of these spots.


I gave everything a thorough cleaning, and then began masking. What a chore! By the time I was finished my car looked like a crime scene. Either that, or I have OCD!




But, I was able to get this done in time to lay down a coat of primer before supper:





I even had time to spray black, though I was working in the dark! I finally wrapped up just before 10:00. The paint dried overnight and is still curing. I will have pictures in my next post.

Today, the car comes down off of its pedestal! I have to install the swaybar and bushings, fill it with coolant, install the seats and back wheels, then hijack the battery from the Jeep. Then down she comes!

We are taking her in for an alignment tomorrow. My excitement is indescribable. I have not even driven this car 20 miles yet, and I have had it for over a year. I think it is about time I take her for a spin.

[4uall]

make sure someone takes a photo of you in her with your giant smile lol

[RRoller123]

Excellent!

[blurple124]

She is on her feet! Unfortunately, when you fix one problem, you find two more (and I just finished fixing a lot of problems....it adds up).

But, we will get to that later. For starters, the floors are finished! I laid down a nice layer of black Rustoleum (actually pretty impressed with the stuff so far) and let it dry overnight. When I came back in the morning, this is what I found:


No worries, though. The floors look much better, and the have only factory holes now!! ;D

Before


After


With the floors done, she was ready to come down off the blocks.


Touchdown!


I did a rough alignment before taking her down which seems to be alright so far. I dumped some gas in the tank and put coolant in the radiator the turned the key.....nothing. Nada. Not even a click of the solenoid. So I dug around, cleaned the contacts and tapped the solenoid. I must have broken it free because She turned over this time!

I had been using jumper cables to get power from the Jeep to the FIAT, but opted to just steal the battery right out. But then we were not getting any fuel! Ay Caramba! The electric pump was running, but wasn't drawing any fuel. We actually had to suck on the end of the hose and draw some fuel into the tank before it started coming through.

Plugged it in, and she was up and running! Then...tapata tapata tapata. Valve noise. I shut her down pretty quick when I heard that. Checked the belt and it was loose! Well, brilliant gentleman that I am, I had tried to torque the tensioner bearing with the timing cover on. The spring hadn't even applied tension! So, off the cover came (along with some coolant), then we used my white-out marks to make sure everything was lined up and applied the correct tension.


Wrapped everything back up and she ran like a charm...except for the missing and running rich... So we adjusted the carb properly and started up again. Smoke, this time. Oil leaking from the exhaust cam box.

Well, I had taken a bracket off from the EGR pipe, so after re-installing that, I was able to get enough pressure on the gasket to at least slow the leak...

With the engine idling, I let things come up to temperature, only to find out that my fan thermo-switch is no longer working. I can't catch a break, I tell ya!

I also hear a strange noise coming from the transmission. Only with the car in neutral and the clutch pedal released, there is a noise comparable to a rubbing brake pad. I assume this is the clutch not fully disengaging, but I have loosened the clutch cable and the noise persists. Any thoughts?



I needed a pick me up after all of this trouble, so I installed the seats on the car and drove it up and down the driveway for about a half hour!




It was enough to make me smile. It was dark, but today I will probably drive around the block to make sure all else is good. I am still struggling with the sway bar bushings, but it is all I have left to do and I have all day to do it.

When that's fixed, I wonder what else will be wrong!

[4uall]

AWESOME

[Weelan]

That's so exciting! congrats on getting it back on it's feet!

Likely the radiator fan not coming on is air trapped in the system. Time to fool around with trying to bleed the system, hopefully that cures that.

The clutch noise you're describing is probably the throw out bearing(i think that's the right name). I need to change mine as well.

[blurple124]

Hmm... so air in the system can cause the switch not to activate? Interesting. I had plugged a switch into the existing connectors so that I could activate the fan manually, but plug everything back together again when I figured out the problem.

Is the throw out bearing something that can cause damage if not changed immediately?