Sun Prairie 72: Before and after

[njoconnor]

Last Saturday I finished the last (for now!) of the interior work (wiring the radio and fastening the mid-console). Washed, waxed, and vacc'ed the car, and on Sunday morning, loaded it up for the Botham show in Barneveld:

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Got to the show, and managed to find the last shady display space in the North Paddock, in the middle of a group of MG's and Triumphs (2 Citroen Deux Cheveaux leavened the mix... ). BTW, you can catch glimpses of a great TR250 parked next to us in the photos; I'd forgotten what a rare, and neat, car those were. Pat and I set up in perfect temps and enjoyed the day:

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After a quick tour, we realized we were the only Fiat in the show (and I don't recall seeing any other Italian cars on display, but there were some late arrivals).

Thought I'd toss some before/after pix up. Before are from the car's collector plate application; after, of course, at the show:

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The car handled beautifully on the entire 80 mile round trip, and gathered lots of positive comments from passersby as well as other drivers at stoplights. We met one of the first Fiat mechanics in Madison (worked for Fitchburg Fiat, the first dealer),; he had a lot of compliments for the car, and especially appreciated the wheels. Seemed everyone who stopped had a Fiat story, and relished the telling. We also met Brenda, one of the new Forum members, who stopped and asked questions about the interior work. No prizes (the competition from the muscle cars and a couple of classics was incredible), but a nice bottle of wine for showing. We had enough fun that we'll be back next year, this time with new, car-matching Fiat Club polos! (Yes, Craig, I finally joined!) And, yeah, I'll have the engine compartment cleaned up by then.....

Back up on the stands in a week or so for flexible brake line changeout, then prep for its supporting role in the youngest son's wedding in Oct (something borrowed, something blue, something old...).

[btoran]

nice work. the car looks great!

[RRoller123]

Nice! Thanks for sharing.

[Exit98]

Neil,

The car looks great, really nice work. What a difference the CD3's make. Where did you source them? I got mine all done from John Erskine in MD. Just got a 5th one from him for the spare.

BTW AR now has hood pads in stock. I got mine but haven't even opened the box yet so I don't actually know what they look like but you might want to consider them.

I see you have three point belts too. Maybe we can chat about them. I'd like to do them too but I fear its a big job and I can't mess up my back seat too much as my vinyl is pretty much un-replaceable. Did you do a prior post on that job?

[SoFlaFiat]

Neil, you have got to be the best "bolt on piker" I have ever seen!!!
What a difference! The car looks simply awesome!!

[njoconnor]

Thanks, all. Gotta say it feels a little odd not having "the next step" in my head after the last 18 months. Though, as we all know, oneis never done with older cars....and that's a big part of the reason we have them! Those grins under a sunny sky on a beautiful day are all the payback one needs.

Doug, I found the CD 3's and the caps on Ebay, of all places. Missed the first set of wheels I bid on, got the second set. I agree, they really make a difference! I'm undecided about a hood pad. I don't have the small gap around the edges, so any pad would probably have anunfinished edge showing. It's on the "maybe" list. The cleanup I mentionis literally that: scrubbing down the sides of the compartment, and depending on paint condition, buffing or re-painting. After seeing Alan's, I am inspired!!

Happy to discuss the three point belt issue. I did take some photos of the mods I had to make. How about I post them with comments in the next week or so? Feel free to pm me as well. Two biggest issues were: 1) the mounting angle for the retractor requires a very slooow pull out when putting the belt on; 2) I lost the small hole for the boot snap hooks (had to carve out plastic to fit the retractor). I'm going to put together some black adjustable nylon straps with d-rings, and loop them to the rear belt mounts. Then I can snug down the boot so it looks smooth.

Thanks again....

Neil

[Ptoneill]

Beautiful car....!!!

[njoconnor]

Thanks, Pat. Been watching yours as well....the way you guys have brought out the curves and angles on the car is just incredible! If the exterior looks like the engine compartment now does, you're going to turn a lot of heads!

Neil

[georgeramos]

Stunning! One question though, whats the plate on the trunk lid?

[njoconnor]

That's the "dealer plate" from the original selling dealer. The car was originally sold by Donn Gurney Imports on Madison's west side. The old dealership now houses Dunn's Import Repair, and the current owner worked as a Fiat mechanic there in the past, I believe.

Left it intact because it's metal, and pretty well fastened. It also draws comments, and helped me learn that Gurney was the second Fiat dealer in Madison; the first was in Fitchburg, a suburb just south of the city. Not sure when I last saw a dealer use a metal tag like that; most now use decals ( ), or license plate surrounds ( ).

Good eyes, George!

Neil

[124JOE]

very nice car there.i wish i could have made it down to the show.im in janesville and now own a 1960 500.needs total restoration.im not on here like i use to be.

[njoconnor]

Joe, good to hear from you! Noticed you weren't posting as much. A '60 500 sounds like it would be fun to have in the stable! Maybe you could bring it to Botham some year and we could double the Fiat contingent!

Neil

[Auspider]

Looks fantastic, awesome job! Was that an upholstery kit for the seats ? If so from which supplier as they look great!

[AriK]

Gotta love comparing before and after pics. That shade of blue is really sharp once cleaned up. Good job!!

[njoconnor]

Thanks, guys! The seats were not a kit, but recovered with repro vinyl by a local upholstery shop, Vic's (Madison, WI). He also made the boot (and charged me a little more than half the cost of ready mades). The seats, with repaired foam, new vinyl, and labor, were $900 for the whole job. It's why I suggest folks at least get a quote from a local vendor. Of course, it helped that the guy who does my resto/sheet metal work highly recommended him. And the collection of cool older cars parading through Vic's shop was a big selling point.

I thought long and hard about doing the upholstery myself, and I'm impressed with a lot of the work I've seen on the forum. But I decided to outsource the work this time. Maybe next time (or next Fiat!), I'll give it a try.

Neil