Restoration of a 1987 Bertone

Bought the paint -- factory original non-metallic black. I know, I'm not quite ready for paint but buying it will help motivate me to keep going. I'm going to paint it in pieces so I can get all the edges, underside of deck lids, and door jambs properly. I'm getting anxious to see this thing all shiny and new.

Need to order new carpet as well. I would gladly pay someone to put the carpet in because it was a royal pain to remove.
 
Been a while since I've posted but I have made some progress. Got some new wheels, as shown in the Discussion forum. Engine is done, suspension and brakes are done. New aluminum radiator that I will be installing today. Next is onto the interior and I would like some opinions. I'm getting new carpeting for it because even though the original carpet looks nice in the pictures, it is pretty ratty under the floor mats and the driver's side has a hole in it.

I'm thinking of red carpet to set off the red inserts on the seats. Opinions?
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Red is nice but... I might have had red in my '83. I know there was a special edition in 1982 which had a red interior as in everything red. It was way too much IMO. Black would be the safest bet then you could do red mats or black with red edges both would probably match your seats better. Since the door panels and everything else is black with accents having the expanse of red carpet might prove a bit much as well.
Regards
 
The pass seat looks super-moldy, is that what the white stuff is? If so probably smells bad, too, and certainly not healthy to breathe.

This product is not a cleaner per se, but it will kill any living organisms residing in or on cloth, vinyl, leather, seat foams, carpets, any soft porous material, etc. without harming the material in any way. Once they are killed, use a cleaner to remove dirt and stains.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Sterifab-Pt/347312352?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=9396


As far as the carpet goes, knowing your source and the manufacturing type (molded, sewn, sections?) for the carpet might help refine our advice.
 
The pass seat looks super-moldy, is that what the white stuff is? If so probably smells bad, too, and certainly not healthy to breathe.

This product is not a cleaner per se, but it will kill any living organisms residing in or on cloth, vinyl, leather, seat foams, carpets, any soft porous material, etc. without harming the material in any way. Once they are killed, use a cleaner to remove dirt and stains.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Sterifab-Pt/347312352?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=9396


As far as the carpet goes, knowing your source and the manufacturing type (molded, sewn, sections?) for the carpet might help refine our advice.

That photo was taken the day I brought it home, both seats were very moldy. I cleaned the driver's seat and snapped the pic as a before and after. The seats are actually out of it now.

I'm considering a sectional carpet. I found a few on eBay for a decent price.
 
The molded OEM carpets fit and look the best but are pricey and no more durable than the original, which is to say not all that durable.

Sectional might be OK if the carpet it's made from is good and wears well. If it's black, the carpet sections have the advantage of blending together to give the appearance of a one-piece.
 
I wouldn't bother with cheap(er) carpeting. I bought carpet from MWB, and unfortunately they only have the one grade. It's not bad, but the nap is all wrong, fit is OK overall. I'd be even more concerned about contour fitment with cheap carpeting.

Henk sells quality carpeting, so if you're going to replace, I'd strongly recommend buying carpet you will be happy with down the road.

http://www.x19partsholland.nl/CATALOGUE/tabid/2476/CatID/651/Language/en-US/Carpets.aspx
 
You never know exactly how much rust you have until you take it apart. Some cancer on the right front corner, the rest of the front end is in excellent shape with just a little surface rust here and there.

Found an NOS front corner piece so I now begin the cutting and welding process.

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Headlamp assemblies removed. Actually much easier than I feared it would be. This allowed me to thoroughly inspect, clean and paint.

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Inside the pocket looks ok but...

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Obviously some bad cancer here.

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Body work is not exactly my favorite thing to do but this piece should make it easy. It's NOS so it should fit perfectly. Actually, it looks like most of the factory piece is glued in place so welding should be minimal.
 
Got the new corner welded in. I had to cut away some extra metal, which means I had to weld it flat to the fender. Therefore, it will not have the crease like the factory and will not perfectly match the other side. But the bumper, fascia, and grille cover almost all of it anyway so it won't stand out. And it's better than rust holes.

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Floors are in really good shape except for some rust around the drains. Patching in new drains. I'm not the best welder but it works.

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Now to grind down the welds, drill in new drain plugs, sand down the remaining surface rust, paint the topside and undercoat the bottom.

I also did the Brown Wire Mod. The brown wire running from the battery to the fuse box was melted on the end and had been spliced at some point in the past. I went ahead and pulled it out and ran two new heavy gauge wires from the battery to the box. I did notice the dash lights are brighter so hopefully that's a good sign.
 
I did the brown wire mod. I replaced the brown wire from the battery with two new red ones. I used a 3-way power distribution block from Amazon and relocated it to the rear of the fuse panel.

BWM.jpg


Everything works great and I have noticed the dashlights are brighter. However, the amp gauge isn't reading as high as I expected, it is in the white but barely above the red. Based on what I've read, I was expecting it to be halfway into the white zone. I checked the wire to the alternator and all appears okay.
 
What happens when you rev the motor? Sometimes alternators are not fully awake at idle speeds.
 
Hi huey,

Like Carl said. The alt wont charge till you rev the engine, but if you still have a low reading at speed, get out the multimeter and check volts in various spots along the charging circuit. E.g. at the alt, the battery and the brown wire connection near the ignition switch.

Another thought: The gauge on my 85 is sticky. Many times it hangs low till I tap the side of the gauge pod. Then the needle pops up to where it should be.
 
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