Today I took a few minutes to lay down some black over the Master Series Silver. I ran out of black paint, so I will need to give this 48 hours of dry time before I can put a second coat on. I'd like to do three coats, But I don't think it's in the budget. Next up: Body work and deciding what to do with the carpet.
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I had already put two coats of Master Series Silver under my cowl. Today I decided to put three coats of Rustoleum Stop Rust spray paint enamal over it. When I finished top coating the cowl I headed back into the interior of the Fiat and put a second coat of silver over the entire interior. From the fire wall all the way under the back seats. The can recommends allowing 3.5 hours drying time prior to top coating. I'm not sure if I'll get to it today, but I have seven days to top coat before needing to sand. I'd love to have three coats of black gloss on there before tomorrow. We will see. Today I'm attacking some holes under the cowl. I'm running out to the garage and spending five minutes here, ten minutes there poking, mixing, filling, rubbing sanding and more. I hope to have the holes patched and two coats of silver over the problem area. I also took the time to fiber fill the drain holes and smooth the flow of water. Rather then smacking against a wall, the water will run up a smooth ramp. Still not perfect, but better than factory. And since I sealed the under cowl so well, any standing water that is left should evaporate quickly. I also don't plan on driving the car in the rain, so this is just a precaution. Better safe then sorry. I started by brushing some resin on the offending area. I wet out some cloth on a piece of card with some fiberglass resin. Once it was good and wet I picked it up (making sure I had gloves on) and layed it into place. I took a disposable brush and worked out all the air bubbles on both pieces and feather the edges. The smoother it is now the less sanding there will be later. After it sets I will scuff off the wax that rises to the surface and give it another coat or two of Master Series Silver.
I'm very excited. Today was a big step in getting my Fiat back together. I put down a coat of master series silver. After prepping the interior and under the cowl for the past week I was able to head outside on a beautiful day and lay out some color. Silver to be exact. All of this will be covered by rug or a cowl so neatness wasn't a huge priority for me. I really just want everything to be protected and water proof. Here are some images to check out. I hope to put another coat of silver and do some fiberglass patching before I top coat with black. After that I start on the exterior so I can get some gas in her and see if she starts! Today I spent some time wire brushing, sanding and cleaning the cowl. I used some rust dislover in the problem areas and after wiping everything down I used rust treatment on the problem areas in case there was a tiny bit left. I need to wait 24 hours before priming. I also seam sealed a few spots and I'm contemplating building up the area near the drains so the water moves more smoothly into the drains. Tomorrow I will coat the cowl with Master Series Silver if everything works out. After that I will be glassing an area that has some holes, coating with silver again and then top coating in black. As you know I've been peeling up all the tar tiles off of the floor of the Fiat. Today I realized there was more on top of the transmission hump so scraped it all off. I also took the time to seek out any other little patches laying around that I had missed. Then I noticed that one of the tiles went under this shifter plate. Since I had to take out the plate I figured I'd media blast and refinish the part. I'm really happy I did. It was a little rusty, but now it looks great. I won't be able to see this part when I'm finished, but at least I know it will be well protected. Unfortunately the inner boot and foam piece look absolutely disgusting and will need to be replaced. I didn't really want to spend any more money on the interior. I'm not really surprised though. I'm not really sure where I will get the parts yet, but I did find the inner boot online. But I want to find someone who sells both parts. What an exciting day. Today my father in law came to visit and he came with a gift! His neighbor had a Mercedes Bens convertible cover laying around. What a great cover! Feels like great quality. It will come in handy if I need to pull out the Fiat to work on other cars. It will also keep all the dirt, dust and grime from the garage off the paint. I'm too lazy to dust. I can't afford a new carpet kit right now, so my options are to dye the original carpet black or to go with a black painted metal interior for now. I'm looking at Duplicolor Fabric and Vinyl paint. It can be found locally and it comes in gloss and flat. According to the instructions it does not require a primer. I think I may go in this direction for now until I can buy myself a kit. If I do dye the carpet I will be sure to post before and after pics as well as report on durability. Seeing as I will more than likely have floor rugs, I'm not too concerned about wear. Below I have posted a video of someone updating an old carpet with dye. My carpet is tan so it may take a few coats. The good news is that my carpet is tiny. If the weather holds up, I hope to get the Fiat out into the driveway this weekend and sand down the interior and cowl area. Once that is finished I can top coat with Master Series Silver and then do fiberglass repair. Everything will be blacked out and I will start re-assembly. I also need to black out the console and refinish the door panels. Here is some helpful info on dying vinyl in the interior. I started working on cleaning up the cowl section of the Fiat, when to my surprise I found a big old rust hole! The rest of the interior is so great, it's a shame this had to happen. My only option is to clean up the area really well, remove as much rust as I can, seal it, and lay out some fiberglass. It will be an afternoon project, but I'll need to wait for the weather to get warmer. I'd like to do this outside. I'd also like to pull out the heater flap and figure out a way to get it more solid. It's falling apart. I wish I had the time and the money to strip the car down like this. Maybe if I lived in Italy where it might be A LITTLE easier to get parts. |