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.
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.
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 do not have a bracket for the fuel pump, which means I need to head out to various auto parts store or home stores and find a bracket that will hold my pump. I've tried a few auto places already and have not had any luck. The next step will be fabricating one. While I wait to find out what will happen with my fuel pump I can mess around with various bits I have laying around. Today I took five minutes to buff out a portion of the hood. Here's a shot of the progress. The car is covered in a film of years of goo. A small little layer of nastiness that washing didn't take off. The compound unleashed the thin layer of brown and attached it to my buffing pad. It is now drying preparing itself for another round. Possible tonight.
I brought the Fiat outside one more time yesterday and cleaned off the body and got a lot of the mud out of the wheel wells. I think the plastic wheel wells are missing. I may have to order them, which is a shame because they are not cheap.
Today I'm going to get the car back on jack stands. I'm going to get underneath with the shop vac and a brush attachment. I want to prepare to paint under spots where I'll be replacing hoses. Since they are easy to access right now they'll be simple to paint.
Today, I also want to pick up hose clamps for most of the engine compartment and some of the fuel line. I'm not sure how far I will get today, but I'd at least like to get supplies.