Doh..! Whooops..! Sh*T...!

[kev131]

I've just had one of those "what an idiot" incidences!

My 131 is stored away from the elements in a block built garage under a car cover and accompanied by a de-humidifier. It gets well looked after generally - It even gets a bedtime story every now again if there is a storm outside and he cant really settle in for the night!

The garage also houses all of the outdoor paraphernalia that one accumulates over the years such as tools, lawnmowers, discarded stuff, etc, etc. I have many shelves and have made good use of the wall for storage as floor space is now at a premium. Well as I reached upwards with a heavy box of spares one day recently, I dislodged a lurking metal halogen floodlight and bracket which fell......on to the bonnet of my car. A sickening thud was heard before it rolled on to the floor. As the car was still under the protective cover I wondered could I face pulling it back to see what the damage was. I couldn't believe my luck to see that the bonnet was completely undamaged - Great steel in Fiats - Always knew it.?

Then I saw this....!? ?





Doh..! Whoops..! Sh*T..!? ?

Now I'm not sure what to do. I had intended to paint the bonnet anyway as it is not an exact match - If I have an overspray/filler job done here, will I have to paint the side of the wing as well? If I do that will I have to paint the whole side of the car to ensure consistency?

Or can I get away with a dent magic type approach and hope that a good painter can blow in a localised paint job instead?

Any ideas..?

[Upprcalypse]

I guess I have no clue how to handle your problem, but I just wanted to tell you that you're not alone...



(take a close look at the front of the X 1/9, although this was one of these that fell over due to an overpacked garage  )

[Thotos]

Oh!!!? ? what a bummer!? ?
You are certainly not alone. Things like that have happened to a lot of us although I know that won't make you feel any better.

Still, crying and swearing will not make the car better. But a good panel beater and sprayer will have it back to its former glory in no time. I'd recommend you use a good old fashioned panel beater to get the wing back into shape. The metal would have stretched and it's best to be pushed back into shape than tapped with a hammer and filled back to shape. Colour match shouldn't be too difficult on your car so they should get away with a localised spray job. Even though you say the bonnet doesn't match, having seen your car I would agree with you but the difference is so minute that I would rather live with it than risk it ending up worse with a new paint job. So get the wing fixed and don't worry about the bonnet.

[chris131]

Well personally kev, I'd paint the bonnet and the top half of the wing. By that I mean remove the black strip and paint down to the middle of it, so that when you put the strip back on it will cover any blow in lines (not that there should be any).
You should definately get away with just the wing as the rest of the side is perfect.

But with regards to the bonnet, my integrale has an evo bonnet fitted which was a little out, and I was getting a dent in the wing replaced something similar, and I got bonnet and wing painted and it made a real job of it, looks 1st class and you wouldn't even think the car had been touched.

Best of luck anyway.

chris

[parrish]

Here's the damage caused because i shipped a cylinder head in the back of my 131.
The back panel is brand new!
Luckily there is no external damage.

[simon131]

Kev, really sorry to see this Terrible at the time - but now it gives you a reason to have the bonnet sprayed, if you still really think it's necessary!

I've done a similar thing to this with my orange Special. I knocked it with one of my kids' scooters and it has taken the paint off of the rear arch - no dent - just paint, so not quite as bad as yours mate

Do you think that you can get it all sorted in time for the 3MA? Let's hope so!

Keep your chin up - just think that it could have been far worse!

Simon

[kev131]

Just to close off this thread - The car went in last Wednesday night  for a 2 day job ready for collection on Saturday morning.

Here are the results although it's hard to see the effect in photos. I went for both the wing and bonnet in the end - Which in the view of the bodywork guy would involve the wiper panel and the top of the other wing. 3 coats of lacquer blends the new paint with the old.

See what you think....