[Cyrus43]

Hey ravi, Ant new pictures and updates on the car? I hope the body work is all done.

[SuperSelect]

A tip off by an alert BHPian and dear friend, and an impromptu trip to chor bazaar last week sorted out a whole lot ! Got my greedy hands on a whole lot of aluminium bits - Inner door handles, window handles, outer door handles (need the housings now), front parking lights, and number plate lights.. Lovely !
Also got a neat front emblem - a thick one, with a V- cut at its back, which I believe is the original required for my car.
Progress meanwhile is slow, but sure. The rear section is done now, most tinwork should end by wednesday.
The body line of the car is shaping up well, I think.

[Stanher]

Hey ravi, wow! You lucky devil!

Awesome, man! So you've got everything you need then! And yeah, intruiged to see the correct badge with the V-cut at the back, 'never noticed that!
I guess this was rightly meant for the V-shaped S.Select grille.

And your car also seems to be shaping up well! BTW, why have the hubcaps been left on (I know they are not going to be used again on the car..)
Or were they just forgotten there?

[anjan_c2007]

Originally Posted by SuperSelect

A tip off by an alert BHPian and dear friend, and an impromptu trip to chor bazaar last week sorted out a whole lot ! Got my greedy hands on a whole lot of aluminium bits - Inner door handles, window handles, outer door handles (need the housings now), front parking lights, and number plate lights.. Lovely !
Also got a neat front emblem - a thick one, with a V- cut at its back, which I believe is the original required for my car.
Progress meanwhile is slow, but sure. The rear section is done now, most tinwork should end by wednesday.
The body line of the car is shaping up well, I think.

A nice collection of spares with you in the picture-the door handles,parking lights,logos.Hope your SS will get well soon.Lets see the car back in its pristine, showroom condition.

[SuperSelect]

Update after a looong time guys:
She's finally being readied for the paintshop.. Last bit of welding: the internal pillar supports for the quarter glasses are put in place.
The dashboard has been sorted out - redone to accomodate the following:
Ignition in the centre, Two jewel lights on either side of the meter console, and one toggle switch below the left jewel light.
Bumpers et al have come out "chakaa-chak", the Bhandup guys have done a great job, thanks a ton Adheesh !
Awaiting the paint job with bated breath !

[anjan_c2007]

Thats some progress SS. Hope the car will be ready soon with all the chrome bumpers fitted and so on.
I only feel that mechanics/ craftsmen like Hakim live longer than us. So we can hand over our cars to them and get it back in a better shape. The expertise in old car maintenance is fast moving towards extinction. And the offspring's of these older mechanics seldom learn from their fathers.

[the mole]

So ravi what colour is it going to be? What about interiors? progress looks good buddy keep going.

[Cyrus43]

Oye!! Dont forget to allign your bumpers before you do your final finish!! And there is supposed to be a hole there for the bumper supports. Make sure all these small details are taken care of.

[SuperSelect]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

Thats some progress SS. Hope the car will be ready soon with all the chrome bumpers fitted and so on.
I only feel that mechanics/ craftsmen like Hakim live longer than us. So we can hand over our cars to them and get it back in a better shape. The expertise in old car maintenance is fast moving towards extinction. And the offspring's of these older mechanics seldom learn from their fathers.

Thanks Anjan ! Yes I too feel guys like Hakim should live forever.. With parts and consumables too getting difficult to source, I wonder if these beauties will last even another generation ?

Originally Posted by the mole

So ravi what colour is it going to be? What about interiors? progress looks good buddy keep going.

The colour's just been finalized Amol - Dupont shades- Sky Blue "Standard" for the body, and Olympus White (a sort of off white) for the Roof. Yummy !

Originally Posted by Cyrus43

Oye!! Dont forget to allign your bumpers before you do your final finish!! And there is supposed to be a hole there for the bumper supports. Make sure all these small details are taken care of.

Oops - mistake became. Thanks Cyrus. Inspite of getting the bumper bolts chromed, I forgot the hole. Will get it done and primed asap. Also the holes for the FIAT 1100 logo on the bootlid.

[JayD]

Nice to see progress on the car ss. I guess the colour combo would be similar to my landy right?

[john a milne]

Just read through the entire thread, What a Journey!

It's great to have all this information and the support that has been given to inspire others to under take challenging restorations such as this. It's so reassuring to know you are not alone.

Karl had been my mentor when we were doing up our 62 Fiat deluxe and in retrospect we didn't have that many challenges as the car was in very good shape to begin with.

I find it interesting to try and identify all the various models and changes that took place. Hopefully some day a detailed book can be written to document the Indian Fiats. First on my list would be an accurate chart of the standard colours and interior fabrics.

I am sure this has been discussed somewhere but haven't found it.

being able to copy photos from the internet into ones photo file has been a great asset that I wish I had last year when trying to decide what colour to paint our car. Also having been upgraded with the Deluxe trim, wish I had more details from the original owner,

I have incorporated some of the details and finishes that were offered in Italy and am considering putting in Carpets and have yet to determine if the Deluxe model had fabric upholstery. Can anyone shed some light on this. I haven't been able to connect with any Italian Fiat Clubs yet.

I am still looking for a few items to bring the car closer to original specs and would appreciate some help as there are hardly any Fiats or Padminis on the streets of Calcutta. I have only seen two Fiat taxis in the last two months, the 2nd one last week nicely done up.

WANTED
1. lock set, keyed drivers door handle, ignition, boot lock.
2. molded rubber mats.
3. Fiat 1100 chrome boot logo.
4. Simple bonnet chrome piece. (ours came with the logo)

Some other thoughts to share and will post them later.

It's great to be part of the Fiat Family!!!!!

[wasif]

John.

You are correct about the absence of Fiats in Calcutta. This would be due to the HM factory being there spewing out those ugly Ambys.

There were aways a large number of Fiats in Hyderabad. My family has two single owner cars, a family friend has one too and its reg is APC 1.

APC 1 is owned by a family of avid birdwatchers and it has a sticker on it that says " Sudden Stops, we are birdwatchers ".

Our car is APY 6354. It was bought new by my mom's father and is grey in colour.Its done around 96,000 KM and still has its original rubber mats. The doors and the bottom portion of the dash still have the original upholstry.

Been repainted twice and the seats were done once. I think they just covered the original material with the new and its still there under it.

I remember once I was using the car without the family being awrae of it and a cow grazed the passenger door. When I returned I noticed a dent there and was dismayed. I loosened the door pad, closed the door and gave it a push from inside and it just popped back leaving nothing to show

On most of the Padminis, if not all, the bottom parts of the bodies and the doors would rust and need changing every couple of years whereas the Fiats would go on as the quality of the metal used was better.

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by wasif

There were aways a large number of Fiats in Hyderabad. My family has two single owner cars, a family friend has one too and its reg is APC 1.

APC 1 is owned by a family of avid birdwatchers and it has a sticker on it that says " Sudden Stops, we are birdwatchers ".

Interestingly a few months back Stanher had posted pictures of APC 1 having come to the scappers. Dont know what happened after that.

EDIT - Are you familiar with this neat car?

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/1092079-post185.html

[wasif]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

Interestingly a few months back Stanher had posted pictures of APC 1 having come to the scappers. Dont know what happened after that.

APC 1 at the scrappers. Thats unbeleveable. How could they do this to the car. The Tahers were always fanatical in keeping it in good nick.

Are you sure its the same car. Where are the pictures.IT was deep green in colour.

EDIT Reply : Karlos I think APY 4266 is the Burney family car. Like I said our family and friends had a lot of these cars all bought new.

There was also a similar black car with a Parsee gent in Begumpet in immaculate nick. It has the front quarter glass, the opening type.

BTW Karlos our car still has those triangular plastic sun visors on the corner of the rear window glass. This I havent seen on many cars .

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by wasif

APC 1 at the scrappers. Thats unbeleveable. How could they do this to the car. The Tahers were always fanatical in keeping it in good nick.

Are you sure its the same car. Where are the pictures.IT was deep green in colour.

100% sure it was the same car, dark green. Fairly original, but seemed negelected over the years. Even bodily nothing too special by then. I have the pictures at home but can access them only on the weekend. Stanher, can you do the honours?