Fiat 124 Spider Project

A car in the process of being painted, covered with plastic sheeting in a garage or workshop, with tools and equipment around.

What happened?

This Fiat 124 is a little more special than some others, being a Pinin Farina edition of the car. It came in after being crashed into some form of pole, completely destroying the nearside front quarter.

The wing, which on most early cars are welded on, had been smashed in. The suspension had also bent and steering idler ball joints bent too.

This was quite the project, however with a little perseverance we knew we could get it done. Unfortunately I don’t have a picture of when it first came in but below is a picture of the wing tacked on and new front panel clamped into position.

Close-up of a vintage car with a black body and gold front, undergoing restoration. The front left fender is removed, revealing the wheel well and part of the wheel. Clamps are holding the fender in place, and a pipe runs underneath the car. The car is in a garage with a concrete wall and an open hood of another vehicle visible in the background.

Work carried out:

Getting the panels lined up and in position presented some unique challenges, due to the only panels we could get in any sort of reasonable time not being the best of quality.

This meant there was a lot of trimming, gap filling and general tweaking in order to keep body lines and general shape where it should be. Key parts being; the point at the front of the panel, where 3 body lines come together, needing complete reshaping as well as the ripples in the topside of the wing panel that went onto the key bodyline at the top of the wing. Both pictured below.

Close-up of vehicle metal bodywork with welding at the edge of a panel, surrounded by tools and car parts, indicating vehicle repair or modification.
A workshop with a partially assembled car, a large metal sheet in the foreground, and various tools and equipment on a wooden shelf in the background.

Below is after regrinding the front corner section and a light skim of filler. It’s important to note we achieved this with no more than a mm of filler in the very thickest spot.

Close-up of a partially disassembled vintage car in a garage workshop, showing the engine and an unfinished body panel, with various tools and boxes in the background.

Finally below is the remainder of the images taken during the work after filler priming. Final pictures to come soon.

A car being painted in a workshop, covered in plastic for protection, with various tools and supplies around.
A car in the process of being painted or repaired inside an industrial workshop. The car is covered in protective plastic and masking paper, with some of its bodywork visible. The workshop has metal walls, shelves with tools and supplies, and an open garage door.