Posted By: Ballypete
Restoration Project 'Doris' the 1998 20v NA - 28/03/2017 07:15
Doris is my first ever Coupe, so named due to the storm that was raging on the day I flew up to Scotland to view her. I was after a really low mileage Porto Blue car that I could perhaps spend some time (and money) on to return to her former glory.
I know they say never view a used car in the rain let alone a snowstorm, but I was seduced by her graceful curves and the sound of the 5 pot engine and risked a sketchy belt service history and the full force gales to drive her back to Leicester. She did this with ease given the few years she had been laid up prior to this.
She has just 36,000 miles on the clock which from records and history along with confirmation from letters sent to the two previous owners appears genuine. My timeline was to sort any mechanicals in year one, the eradication of all rust and body imperfections in year two, and a full respray and wheel refurb in year three at which point I would have a mint condition car to maintain over future years. I am a former aircraft technician so I figured I could put my tools to good use on most of the mechanical jobs, but I never learned how to weld.
I had a couple of weeks before she was booked in to see my local specialist JBT at Midlands car servicing, so drove her at every opportunity and visited a few of the other specialists.
Things I completed prior to visiting JBT:
1) Restore and polish fuel filler cap.
2) Replace the gas struts which hold the bonnet up as both were u/s via Joe at FCSS.
3) Sourced a pininferina badge to replace the o/s badge which was missing via Nigel at Motormech.
4) Sourced a set of good condition black leather seats via another forum member to replace the cloth ones, which although in as new condition are not leather...
The pics taken so far can be seen by clicking on the link.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=...mp;l=14f356ad9e
The visit to JBT confimed my suspicions that there was indeed a 'bit of rust', but he also found a hole in the boot floor on the o/s side in the usual place which has scuppered my timeline as this placed more urgency on corrosion rectification. It made sense for him to also sort the pressing mechanical issues at the same time, so Doris is now with JBT until the middle of June to sort the following:
1) New rocker cover gasket- leaking
2) New thermostat- stuck open
3) New radiator- corrosion
4) Front and rear brake calipers - corrosion
5) All brake pipes and lines - corrosion
6) Buckled o/s rear wheel- on the inner side looks like a bad kerbing, ravine or similar!
7) All belts and tensioners change
8) Suspension bump stops- perished
9) Handbrake cables- u/s
10) Front wishbones
11) Track rod ends- play
12) Front and rear suspension struts, springs and dampers- corrosion
13) All sills- corrosion
14) Rear wheel arches - corrosion
15) O/s front wing and inner wheel arch - corrosion
16) Hole in boot floor
The work starts in May and there will no doubt be a few other nasties discovered as the strip down gets underway so will be posting pictures of all stages of the work as it goes along.
Several people have asked me if I have taken leave of my senses in relation to what they view as a 'rusty old Fiat' and my answer to them is probably one that all on here can relate to which is 'it's not any rusty old Fiat, it's a rusty Fiat Coupe!'
That's all for now
Ballypete
I know they say never view a used car in the rain let alone a snowstorm, but I was seduced by her graceful curves and the sound of the 5 pot engine and risked a sketchy belt service history and the full force gales to drive her back to Leicester. She did this with ease given the few years she had been laid up prior to this.
She has just 36,000 miles on the clock which from records and history along with confirmation from letters sent to the two previous owners appears genuine. My timeline was to sort any mechanicals in year one, the eradication of all rust and body imperfections in year two, and a full respray and wheel refurb in year three at which point I would have a mint condition car to maintain over future years. I am a former aircraft technician so I figured I could put my tools to good use on most of the mechanical jobs, but I never learned how to weld.
I had a couple of weeks before she was booked in to see my local specialist JBT at Midlands car servicing, so drove her at every opportunity and visited a few of the other specialists.
Things I completed prior to visiting JBT:
1) Restore and polish fuel filler cap.
2) Replace the gas struts which hold the bonnet up as both were u/s via Joe at FCSS.
3) Sourced a pininferina badge to replace the o/s badge which was missing via Nigel at Motormech.
4) Sourced a set of good condition black leather seats via another forum member to replace the cloth ones, which although in as new condition are not leather...
The pics taken so far can be seen by clicking on the link.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=...mp;l=14f356ad9e
The visit to JBT confimed my suspicions that there was indeed a 'bit of rust', but he also found a hole in the boot floor on the o/s side in the usual place which has scuppered my timeline as this placed more urgency on corrosion rectification. It made sense for him to also sort the pressing mechanical issues at the same time, so Doris is now with JBT until the middle of June to sort the following:
1) New rocker cover gasket- leaking
2) New thermostat- stuck open
3) New radiator- corrosion
4) Front and rear brake calipers - corrosion
5) All brake pipes and lines - corrosion
6) Buckled o/s rear wheel- on the inner side looks like a bad kerbing, ravine or similar!
7) All belts and tensioners change
8) Suspension bump stops- perished
9) Handbrake cables- u/s
10) Front wishbones
11) Track rod ends- play
12) Front and rear suspension struts, springs and dampers- corrosion
13) All sills- corrosion
14) Rear wheel arches - corrosion
15) O/s front wing and inner wheel arch - corrosion
16) Hole in boot floor
The work starts in May and there will no doubt be a few other nasties discovered as the strip down gets underway so will be posting pictures of all stages of the work as it goes along.
Several people have asked me if I have taken leave of my senses in relation to what they view as a 'rusty old Fiat' and my answer to them is probably one that all on here can relate to which is 'it's not any rusty old Fiat, it's a rusty Fiat Coupe!'
That's all for now
Ballypete