Fiat Barchetta - Pictures and Restoration

[stoocake]

Hi all, got a Fiat Barchetta last night - a friend of mine has been trying to sell it for a year now and between the two of us, we eventually worked out a nice arrangement, so here I am. The car will be a bit of a rolling project, but the majority of the work is hopefully going to be done within the next week.

It has been laid up for over a year, out in the cold and not driven in that time. It's been for an MOT and failed on the wiper linkage & motor (the linkage has seized, and burned the motor out with it).

There's a few other problems and areas that need attention, but I'll go into more detail as I go. For now, I'll leave you with a few pictures.

[stoocake]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm glad everyone is keen to see this car get some care and attention.

Over the weekend I've been doing a lot of work on it, and finding out any areas that need time and money spent on improving. I'll let the pics do the talking:

The engine bay looks ok, just need a clean and a tidy up:


...Such as the rocker cover could do with a paint:



So I made up a booth


Then after some cleaning and sanding, added a layer of VHT wrinkle paint


And the next day I had this. I was going to sand off the lettering to bare metal but I really like it as it is. What do you think?



I'll do the actual rocker cover at some point - probably just clean the metal and leave as is though.

The interior needed a bit of a spruce:












Seats out - 3p up!


And a clean


Cleaned the toneau seal in the shower


The drain tray is a bit blocked


Cleaned up:


Same story with the sills - both sides were covered in gunk



This is getting anal now eh?



I've got plenty more updates to come but I've probably sent everyone to sleep. There is a fair bit of welding that needs doing but I might need to use a plasma cutter to get out the rust - bit tight for space.

Comments welcome

[stoocake]

OracIe said:

Nice car, same engine as my old Punto HGT.
Get a GSR induction kit on it, really does help it breathe and sounds great, would suit your car better than a punto for sure!

It does seem like a great wee engine for the short time I've driven it. It's already got a stainless exhaust and a K&N panel filter in there so I'll leave that as is for now.

And don't worry, I'll keep it tasteful throughout. I've got OEM matts on the way, and I'll need to find a replacement gearknob as the standard one is 100,000miles worn. Steering wheel is starting to show it too, but it's a while away from letting the car down.

It failed its MOT on the wipers - very surprised the rust I'll put pictures up of later wasn't flagged up on it.

[stoocake]

Bit slow to post but got here in the end. I promised pictures of some lovely rust - I'm sure you're dying to see it.

I had a feel round the arches to see if there was anything worth looking at, and a large panel just dropped out :-S





My aim was off with the camera - this is taken from the trailing edge of the OS sill, looking up


And from the brake disk, looking directly up:


Still, new wiper mechanism/motor is in and working:


And treated it to some genuine mats




Had my helper on standby all weekend too


I'm going to re-grease all the slider pins for the brake calipers this week, and just make sure everything is sound in the arches, so more pictures coming up soon

Cheers

[stoocake]

Jujuuk68 said:

Would finding parts from a scrappie from a rhd Punto to make a conversion, make more of a project?

Maybe, but I wouldn't be interested in doing it to be honest. I like the car as it is and I've goth another 2x projects on the go anyway - my mk1 Golf might be visible in some of the pictures as that's parked up next to it. In fact if anyone wants, I'll put a thread up about that too?

[stoocake]

Kentish said:

Excellent, I'm really chuffed to see you restoring this as they are great & a dead cert for a future classic!

Thank you so much - it's so nice to know that other people care about keeping cars like this on the road too.

[stoocake]

djdestiny said:

My mate bought a brand new one when they first came out, he is now on his 2nd one but it's been off the road for a few years now. I think he's going to be disappointed though because it lives outside!

Yeah they're not really built for it are they I'm going to invest in a decent cover to store it over the winter if I can't get it in the garage

[stoocake]

Megaflow said:

Is it just me or do those slots to the right of the rusting hole look like angle grinder cuts?

I'd be checking for poor accident repair damage elsewhere.

Yes that was me - testing what metal was good and what's not. I'll be removing it in a slightly neater fashion when a) I get time and b) I get over this throat infection I've come down with. The fun.

There's no accident damage elsewhere - it's very clean underneath apart from this bit.

[stoocake]

Megaflow said:

Fairy snuff...

Odd for that bit to be so bad then. Are they know to rust there or could it be connect to the blocked roof drain?

I've no idea - the blocked drain was on the other side, and it wasn't actually blocked - just loose silt. Stuffing welding wire down both sides confirmed that the drains are clear. I can only imagine this side might have had water getting in via the arial hole and allowing it to sit on top, but as this is the highest point and water is free to run down the front, I'm a bit stuck. Maybe cutting it away will reveal something and help diagnose it.

Either way, new panels will be welded in and covered generously with underseal and sill-wax. I might leave an inspection hole and plug with a rubber bung so I can keep an eye on it.

[stoocake]

Sorry for the complete lack of updates. The weather has obviously stopped me from being able to make any progress - still loads of welding to go but constant rain makes it impossible.

I've actually just got rid of my project car and made enough room in the garage to fit the Fiat in - so I may be able to make a start on this in the coming days. Stay tuned

[stoocake]

It's in! First time I've ever parked a car in a garage. Just got to make some space around it and get started.

[stoocake]

djdestiny said:

Funnily enough, I had a look round my mates one this morning.
It needs a cambelt sorting before anything else, its been sat for a few years!
He said its done 1k miles in the last few years.
Interior is MINT, it just needs a damn good wash and wax externally.
Ive offered to detail and machine polish it properly, so will get some pics up when its done

Please do! Will be good to see

[stoocake]

Wow! Always got something holding me up - this time it was moving house I've now moved in with the girlfriend and before vacating the old house, I was in a bit of a rush to get the welding sorted.

Sadly I completely neglected to get any pictures, but it's taken me a good 20 hours or so to recreate the awkward shape of the arch by bending 1mm thick steel by hand. Worth it in the end - not perfect and I've used a skim of bodyfiller to make it smooth but I'm pretty happy with it

Underseal still drying:



It's booked in for an MOT tomorrow! My fingers are crossed but I noticed the ABS cable to the front NS brake sensor has been cut, and noticed that the bulb has been removed from the dash! Wasn't flagged up in the MOT before I bought it but either way, it's something I'd like to fix.

Wish me luck!

[stoocake]

MOT failed...but only on effort provided by the handbrake. It's 15% and the pass is 16% apparently! Bit annoying :-s

I've had a quick play with the cable and it appears to be a caliper problem rather than cable/pads/disks etc and reading around, the rear brakes are notoriously useless on these cars.

Stand by for a further update - after 4 months it'll be good to finally drive it!

[stoocake]

Finally got the MOT done! Back brakes needed the compensators removed and I'm going to have to drive it a lot to get the back brakes bedded in a bit better but I'm delighted.

Just taxed it and the DVLA site there's been a gap in the tax and it's neither been taxed nor SORNed since 1st May :-S I bought the car on the 18th May so had no idea! Oops - hope they don't come after me for it.

[stoocake]

Paul S4 said:

I know a bit about Alfas...( I have a 156), but not much about these great looking Fiats. What engines do they have, and are there any RHD conversions ?

Believe it or not I'm more of a jap fan, but I can't resist the charms of cars like this. I talked my dad into buying a 156 2 years ago and he absolutely loves it.

The Barchetta has a 1747cc engine (some say 1.8, some say 1.7) with 130bhp. I believe it's a Punto engine, or dervived from the same.

There are right hand drive conversions but generally it seems to put people off - the cars are designed to be LHD and so are not symmetrical, and the ones that have been converted have been doing to varying degrees of success.

I have to say I've found it very easy to transfer to driving a LHD - I've driven abroad only twice in my life, but 3rd time doing it is in this car and never once have I gone to open the door instead of changing gear, so it shouldn't put anyone off at all.

[stoocake]

I haven't updated for a while as I've not really touched the Fiat. Building a motorbike has taken priority over the summer but managed to make a little time for it lately.

One of the brake backing plates was a bit rusty so I wire brushed it and left it for 24 in a soda solution hooked up to a battery charger. After pics to follow



And the panel ready to weld in to the near-side rear arch as it had rotten through.



Plenty more work to do but hopefully I'll get the car back on the road this year.

[stoocake]

Still working on this. The closer I look the more it rusts! Ahh Fiat.

I took the bumper off to have a look behind and get better access to the bits I need to do.



Bits of rust like this:


Exhaust hanger looking flaky too


Double skinned area outside spare wheel well is well underway


I ground the rusty areas back to bare metal and later coated in Bilt Hamber Hydrate 80



Rust has set in all over the inner arch



This box section is above the wheel and strengthens the NS wall of the boot. Scraped off the seam sealer and found rust all the way around. Ughhh!



This is me trying to remove the rotten inner arch by drilling out the spot welds. Awkward place to work but it's coming on slowly.




I especially loved this bit...peeled away the underseal under the drivers floor to find this oh dear!! I'm going to have some serious repair work to do in this area.

[stoocake]

duffy78 said:

its a lovely looking car but at what point do you stop and think to yourself is it worth carrying on with the repairs?

Edited by duffy78 on Thursday 25th September 16:23

Never! One of the many cars that I think are worth the time and effort and I'd sooner have this in the garage than anything else at the moment. I'm loving learning the skills to do this kind of work and it can get frustrating at times but doing a little bit each day and keeping the ball rolling makes it very enjoyable.

[stoocake]

Loving the pictures of others Barchettas. It's amazing how much of a difference that different wheels make on these.