Fill your boots!

How far is the "fettling" going to go? ( how long is this peace of string )

I am in need of some under tray repairs myself (Mine looks to have been cut off with an angle grinder at some point! ). have not started looking into it yet.

We're did you get your glass fibre kit from?

Just a bog standard selection from the local car store; glass mat, resin, hardener, and a couple of sacrificial brushes to make sure the glass is well wetted down.

Handy tip: use masking tape on the back to hold everything in place while you do the other side, then remove it when the first side is set.

This fettle won't go too far. In a perfect world the car needs a full strip and dip, patch, and rebuild as new. Unfortunately that's about ten grand, which I don't have. If only I could persuade all the users here to send me a tenner...

You'd have about £150!

Glad the old gal is going to soldier on

Hope you're using marine paint there on them rusty bits, Neil, oo-arrr

big difference, my console panel is coming out today for the same job. Im going to attempt the ashtray surround as well but appears like a tricky job

How are you cleaning up the console Neil? I'm wanting to do the same since I seem to end up with the gunk in my fingernails if I try and adjust a dial whilst driving.

Window and lock problems sounds the same as me too!

The top removable bits of the console - see the pics - I've cleaned down to the ABS plastic with nail varnish remover, meths, and a blunt scraper (actually, more of a get under the stuff and pusher) aka granddaughter's 'can't be trusted with metal' plastic knife.

The bottom bit is such a pain to get out that I'm swabbing it with meths and nail varnish remover in situ in a vain hope that it will at least clean it and perhaps restore a non-sticky finish. It seems to be working in some places but not others, and probably needs more work. I can't stay in the car for more than half an hour at a time, though, the fumes do me no good.

Looking good so far Neil

Good work on the window! And brownie points for replacing the shower screen

My 16vt certainly had puddle lights and I assume all did - do the later plus and 6 speed include them?

A reasonable conclusion re the 2nd-hand door, what a cheek.

Yeah, and the insurance company doubled the premium the next year, in spite of a protected no claims: apparently the percentage of Fiat Coupes involved in claims had gone through the roof in my post code (pop. 1).

Actually, on further thinking - I believe the door was replaced new: if it had been a 16vt door there would be somewhere to connect the puddle light wires to... perhaps the lifter mechanism was bent in the original incident, and they've replaced just that with one from a 16vt, complete with its loom?

Yes, the door would have had a slot in the bottom to house the unit.

Neil, I can tell you my 16v (which originally was before I converted it to vt) has puddle lights, but these do not work

Aaargh! Confusion reigns!

I recently had to remove the door panel on my 20VT and interestingly my shower curtain was on the 'inside' between glass/lift mechanism and the door frame. Made it much harder to manipulate and reattach.

I can imagine three-quarters of it being perfectly feasible but how would one get pressure on the last bit to stick?

Unless just the top and some of the side only is glued and the rest left to hang down....

I have to say I really like the way you're going with your project. You're building a nice usable vehicle, not a garage piece.

There was a tight fold on my curtain which indicated to me that the top should have been clipped by the door card over the window frame edge, which aligned the inner armrest section with a bit that would fasten down nicely. I'm pretty certain that packing tape was not part of the original recipe!

Thanks, Szkom - the aim is to get it solid where feasible and pretty where it show; I can't afford a full strip and dip rebuild mainly due to the remarkable inability of the members of the forum to take a subtle hint (DO THE DECENT THING AND SEND ME A TENNER EACH!).

I definitely think your approach is spot on. It wouldn't do the car justice to go back to bare metal. It can be driven every day, so it should.

"Genuine original patina"

The picture Banacle posted of his drivers side shower curtain is just how mine was.

It looks like there should be the main curtain plus at least one and possibly more small sections stuck on at the front.

The passenger side on mine is obviously inside out - but I was right that it should be hung over the window frame rail.

An ideal time to create a slot in the underside of the door for your puddle-light!

For wiper-refurbing will you use a rattle-top?

Yep. Given the unlikely event of the Bravo in the afternoon (see 'other cars'!) it's going to be rattle can for the wheels, too.

You're a step ahead of me. I need to do the wiper and scuttle panel again, finished the centre console off in black and it looks okay, not as bad as I thought it would although I need to re-do a couple of bits as the paint has reacted, but, meth spirits cleared the gunk off far easier than white spirit did!

Was that with the gloss you were considering, Alexis?

The main problem I had with the wiper panel was making sure it was clean - I had to wash it two or three times with soapy water and rinse to make sure all the life-forms were extinct. There was a thriving algae/moss colony living in some of the creases.

The coupe's now in for respray - went off this morning - so the ball's in Joe's court for the moment. Main concern now is getting the Bravo back.

It was with the gloss indeed. No photo's at the moment, but I suppose the next step is to do the centre console and maybe do the clock surround as this is now matt in comparison with gloss.

The phoenix she emergeth!

No shunting into rocks now

I was there on the 30th April.
Sorry I did not spot Neil's car, but lots of good work going on based on the photos!