Rusted Out 1970 850 Spider Fix-Up

After having spent way too much to get the other two wheels tires dismounted, and then paying more for tire disposal, I decided to take matters into my own hands on these. Break the beads, get out the sawsall and grinder, and have at it! 10 minutes later the tires were dismounted. Unfortunately, the wheels are rusted beyond repair. I need some wheels!

In other news, the sanding continues.

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Daniel Gibson said:
After having spent way too much to get the other two wheels tires dismounted, and then paying more for tire disposal, I decided to take matters into my own hands on these.
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You need to get the Harbor Freight tire tool. Pays for itself in just a few uses. I now dismount the old tires and mount new tires for my Fiats myself. Of course you have to buy the bubble balancer too in order to accomplish the full mounting process. The balancer is a little more expensive, but the local shops were charging me in excess of $100 per set of 4 tires for the dismount/mount/balance process on wheels and tires I brought to the shop. I have done 4 sets myself since the last shop install, so the tools are "paid off" I suppose. It is a physical challenge for sure, but I am cheap. :)

Dismount and mount pics. Not very exciting since there is no video to capture the colorful language involved. o_O
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Balancing a Falken 912 on an ATS classic wheel for my 85X. I haven't had any issues balancing all the sets I have mounted. I was pretty surprised by that outcome.
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khnitz said:
ramona300: can you share a part number or link for the magnetic sump plug you used? Or did all Ducatis use the same size? Thanks!
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I bought the sump plug off eBay. The Fiat plug is larger than most and has an unusual thread which I can't recall now. I just searched through all the ads for magnetic sump plugs, just happened to find a Ducati unit that suited.
 
The teardown continues....
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I am in a bit of a quandary on this quarter. There are some small holes, but overall it is still pretty solid. Since I do not think I can handle these multiple curves, I may just reinforce with fiberglass from behind and let it go. It can always be cut out and welded again someday if necessary.
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Fortunately I was able to pop out most of this dent from behind. Very minor work to smooth it out.
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Also, I think I am going to have an exciting surprise tomorrow. Stay tuned!
 
For those of you who do not believe in miracles, big or small, you are missing out. Kathy called a local junkyard, and they said they had a fiat, but they did not know what it was.
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Woohoo! Still one in a junkyard after all these years? And, right next to it...
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Only one of the wheels I need, but that is better than none. The decklid is much better than mine, and the rear deck, although a little rough, is not nearly as rusty. 70 bucks for the decklid, rear panel and wheel. I thought it was a bargain. Plus, my hood made it today! Happy Fiat day!
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Daniel Gibson said:
For those of you who do not believe min miracles, big or small, you are missing out. Kathy called a local junkyard, and they said they had a fiat, but they did not know what it was.
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Woohoo! Still one in a junkyard after all these years? And, right next to it...
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Only one of the wheels I need, but that is better than none. The decklid is much better than mine, and the rear deck, although a little rough, is not nearly as rusty. 70 bucks for the decklid, rear panel and wheel. I thought it was a bargain. Plus, my hood made it today! Happy Fiat day!
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I once had an Audi Coupe similar to the one the 850 is on top of.
 
I am sure that someone somewhere asked "I sure wonder how that bodywork is coming along?". Well, wonder no longer, for here it is. That welding warp really buckled this flimsy fiat metal, and I almost have that long shallow dent under control. Popping it back out only got me so far. The rest is coming along nicely. I will soon have the major body work done on this side. Probably two more days. Then the passengers side...which is far worse.

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I couldn't resist. It looks so much happier. And for a brief moment I felt like I was cheating by buying body parts. Then I got over it.
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This just might turn into a car yet!
 
Happy 4th of July! I celebrated by goofing off, and then finally doing some work on the car late. Around the corner we go! Cut out the big rust holes. I will just fiberglass in the smaller ones like on the other side.

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I still had a few minutes of daylight left, so I decided to start my first mechanical chore on the car..brakes. Took about 30 minutes to get that freakin drum off!

Good news is that it looks great. New cylinder and I am off to the races!
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Tom Ginefra said:
I really admire your determination!
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Thanks Tom! I discovered something about myself a long time ago. If something speaks to me, I get a little possessed, and I must see it through! If I stop for even a few weeks, the project might never get restarted. So, off I go like a madman. If I make some mistakes, no biggie. I can always fix them later. Besides, I love fixing stuff. What I was born to do I guess. I know I shared my javelin story, so going back even further to Internet 1.0, here is the link to my amphicar fix up.

http://aquateenshungerforce.com/amphicarz/amphicar/index.html
 
Daniel Gibson said:
Thanks Tom! I discovered something about myself a long time ago. If something speaks to me, I get a little possessed, and I must see it through! If I stop for even a few weeks, the project might never get restarted. So, off I go like a madman. If I make some mistakes, no biggie. I can always fix them later. Besides, I love fixing stuff. What I was born to do I guess. I know I shared my javelin story, so going back even further to Internet 1.0, here is the link to my amphicar fix up.

http://aquateenshungerforce.com/amphicarz/amphicar/index.html
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After reading about your Amphicar restoration, I can now see why the 850 restoration is not an overwhelming task for you. Great work!
 
Whilst waiting for the fiberglass to cure behind the wheel, I thought I would take a look in front of the wheel. How bad can it be?
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Pretty bad!
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I have thrown so much rust on my yard I am now going to call my property "Little Italy".

Also spent the better part of an hour trying to wrestle off that other drum. No luck yet! Try again, and if still recalcitrant, then cut off wheel it is!
 
The drums and all the hardware inside are available and not too expensive. The same parts were used on the 128 and I believe the Yugo. MWB, FiatPlus and others carry all the clips and springs along with the drums.

Would it be Italian steel or Russian steel? You might want to check before declaring which nation your yard is a subsidiary of...

That doesn’t look fun.
 
Boy, updates involving bondo and sanding are not very exciting. But, here it is after the holes have been welded up and some bondo applied. Should be able to get this sanded down tomorrow and apply what will hopefully be the final layer of bondo just to level if all out.

The door is the last major piece of metal work I have. Some minor stuff in the engine conpartment and the replacement rear panel, but the end is in sight. I find that amazing.

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