We're talking nonsense...
As promised, here is the next installment on the restoration of my Fiat Dino Spider. After the paint stripping and the initial shock, things progressed constructively. During the bodywork process, several key areas quickly emerged:
-
The front crossmember: The component that the radiator sits on was so deformed that it had to be completely removed and refabricated. Presumably, the car had been incorrectly jacked up at this point in the past.
-
The rear panel: In the lower section, the original substance was almost gone. As already mentioned, there had been a previous attempt here to repair the damage provisionally with riveted sheet metal. This area has now been extensively replaced with new metal, true to the original.
-
The battery tray: Both the inner and outer areas below the battery tray required extensive refurbishment and repair with new sheet metal.
-
The rear left corner: Due to earlier rear-end damage, elaborate work was necessary here – fortunately only on the outer panels, not on the load-bearing structure.
-
Wheel arches and sills: Conversely, the rear ends of the wheel arches and the front sill ends, which initially caused me great concern, could be returned to a mint condition with relatively little effort.
The following pictures document the repair of the aforementioned areas.
After the welding and alignment work came the fine-tuning. Despite the precisely fitted new panels, a little filler and sanding is unavoidable in order to achieve a perfectly smooth surface for the later paint job. This was done very carefully to preserve the fine details, curves, beads, etc., just as they should be according to the original.
After completing these preparations and an excellent paint job in the original color, the time had finally come: I was able to pick up the freshly painted body again.
This was the starting signal for the next big milestone – the reassembly, which I will continue to report on here.
