'Nother 72 restoration (in Wisconsin, no less!)

[njoconnor]

Though it's been almost a year since I joined, I just recently got around to working out the pix posting routine. So, figure I'll use this thread topic for general updates, and post specific hair-raising issues to their appropriate subject categories as they occur.

Here are the "first pix" of the car, about a month after we got it. More on the Ansen wheels in a future post they are being replaced with CD-3's. We're third owners the 2nd PO had the car for over 20 years, but did not drive it since 94. In 11, he had the engine, brakes, cooling and fuel systems rebuilt/refurbished, then sold the car in JUL 12 to us. Currently, the car's on stands, interior just about completely clear, tar almost all out (Spyder blades and a Dremel multi-tool are my recc's...pix of current and progress in next post). These pix are the "official" photos of the car's originality, which allowed us to apply for and get WI Collector plates, with no further annual registration fees (we just can't drive it in January. Oh. Darn). Pix















We just got the seats back from the uphoslterer's today, shoutout to Vic's Auto Upholstery in Madison, WI! Beautiful work (pix soon...promise). Also, kudos to Mark Allison, Chris O,, and Csaba for help in recent phone calls/emails.

Note the avatar is spouse Pat and faithful dog Lucy checking out the fit of the interior...

More as it happens....

Neil

[SLOSpider]

That a nice car to start with. Havent seen that location for an antenna before. Seems like they moved them all over the place.

[njoconnor]

I suspect it's an owner-installed piece. It's in an inconvenient spot, though. There's no room for a retractable underneath due to the wheelwell/jack storage. seriously thinking about closing it up and relocating several inches aft to accommodate a retractable. Radio was aftermarket Pioneer tape deck. Likely to be replaced by a Retrosound unit or similar. Like all of our cars at this stage, it has a long list of changes....and growing!

Neil

[124JOE]

hey neil im in janesville my antenna is on the dr side
ive had collector plates since 98 and i wont drive it in winter "that salt kills"
buy you can temp register for jan

[vandor]

Nice car, great projects! I think those wheels were called 'Slots'.
You are lucky it has the later taillights with the 3 piece lenses, as parts are available for those.

[leeputmanjr]

You'll have to bring that nice car out for a drive with the Milwaukee Fiat guys! I make the drive up from Chicago a few times a year to drive with them.

-Lee

[124JOE]

You'll have to bring that nice car out for a drive with the Milwaukee Fiat guys! I make the drive up from Chicago a few times a year to drive with them.

-Lee

thanks casba i have a few of your parts on it

im off every other week so let know when

[leeputmanjr]

Here is the Chicago Fiat Club website where a lot of the Milwaukee guys hange out:
http://www.meetup.com/chicagolandfiatandlancia/

Free to sign up, and check out the club!

[seabeelt]

Nice looking car Our seats were in the same condition and sent out to be redone. We should have them back next week. Looks like the center section of the dash is a replacement. Hard to tell for sure from the photo. Best of luck with the car, they are a blast to drive
R/

[njoconnor]

Yeah, we really like it. Center section USED to have a "seatbelt warning light" (the square opening in the lower wood section). New wood will have no hole, and the warning light wire will be capped off(or repurposed....not sure yet). Going to install a custom set of 3 point belts once we're farther along. The $15 O'Reilly lapbelts we bought for ferrying the car around will be used in the rear as golf club/guitar/stuff tiedowns .

Seat pix: see old seats:



Newly recovered seats from Vic's Auto Upholstery in Madison, WI:



Full seat and headrest



New seat back

Rear seat was in fair shape, but we had it redone anyway. Boot needs replacing as well, but that's waiting for the top order later this summer.

Updated interior photos:



Rear seat area; needs a cleaning, then POR/primer/paint. More than a little shocked to find no structural issues here (so was Dan, my restorer!).



Forward cabin. Two small pinholes on the passenger side floor. Driver side shows POR'd replaced floor pan by KARS, Reeseville, WI (Dan Klister). Dash coming out next, finish cleaning up the firewall/footwells, then coatings.

More updates as they happen.

Neil

[124JOE]

keep them coming

[njoconnor]

Sorry about the silence/absence, but we have a major kitchen rebuild in the planning/selecting/scheduling process, and time's been short.

Over the past couple of weeks, however, I put a fair amount of garage time in, and decided it's time for updates to the forum. Following are pix in the interior prep sequence, which I have to say, I'm very pleased with the results!

First pic is of the (finally!) stripped interior floor (kudo's to Dremel for their excellent multi-tool):



Next are the floors treated with the rust inhibitor/converter. I used a NAPA product given to me (free!!) by my restorer (not POR), and it seems to have worked well (I also patched 3 small pinholes with liquid steel putty....also works great!):





After the converter/inhibitor, a coat of Rustoleum RustStop primer:

http://i1361.photobucket.com/albums/r66 ... d3ad5e.jpg

http://i1361.photobucket.com/albums/r66 ... efe568.jpg

And, a coat of Rustoleum RustStop enamel,in "Marine Blue":

http://i1361.photobucket.com/albums/r66 ... 886a0d.jpg

http://i1361.photobucket.com/albums/r66 ... 9c322b.jpg

The black cable in the rear passenger area is the old antenna lead, left in place to function as a pull through for a new cable and grommet set up during the next finish stages.

I'm really pleased with the results. The blue will (probably) never be seen once carpet and interior panels are back in, but it looks great and makes it easier to work (better light reflection). Also, despite lots of "right/left" and smacking with ball peens, the steering wheel never budged! But...thanks for the advice in another thread, none-the-less.

The car will head to the back garage for the next month, since the main garage will be the staging area for the kitchen re-do. I'll focus on reassembly/touch up of the seats, installing new trim pieces on the door panels, and start the electrical contact wire brushing/cleaning. Once the budget settles down from the kitchen (hopefully by SEP!), the new parts will come rolling in: insulation, foam, carpet, dash/console, seatbelts, top, weatherstripping, etc. It occurs to me that I am done "disassembling", and will be finally building the car back to full function. A very nice feeling, that!

Comments and questions welcome. As always, thanks for all the direct and indirect support from the Forum!!

[RRoller123]

Man that is nice work! And good luck with the kitchen reno, those are big, intrusive projects!

[tartan18]

This past week I tackled removing the tar coating on the floorboards. What I found helpful was getting some dry ice (about 2 pounds), laying it on the floor, leaving it for about 10-20 minutes then whacking it with a BFH. The tar shattered into small pieces that I vacuumed up. Worked like a champ. Doing this I discovered a large hole under the tar behind the driver's seat. I cleaned up everything then coated the floorboards with Wurth Rust Guard (similar to POR 15) and several overlapping pieces of fiberglass.

[Bunnet]

Thank for that suggestion on the tar, I have in my car too on the front passenger seat and figure I was the only one and if you see underneath the car you can tell their hole in it