15x21 - Fiat 124

[bunniefuu]

Is it a bird? Is it a plane?
Of course not. This is a car show.

It's a 1971 Fiat 124 Spyder. It's perfect.
Not only that, it's a survivor car.

I'd like to keep as much of the originality
as possible. I'm sure Ant agrees.

What is it with you and
sports cars at the moment?

Is it me or does it just
look like a little Ferrari?

Is it like a Ferrari? Well, it does leak.

I'm hoping the leak is coming
from a gasket here or a seal here.

We need to treat that originality
with the lightest of touches.

Whoops. Yeah, baby, look at that.

But if we can get it just right, we
can bring the survivor back to life.

That doesn't make any sense, does it?

So it's a beautifully written,
world-crafted advert for a car

that's got me on the road today to
come and see this 1971 Fiat 124.

And I'm so excited about this car
because Frank seems like a really nice guy.

But secondly, this car is a survivor car.
Nobody's fiddled with the paint work.

Nobody's had a go at
the engine. This car is just

as it was when it rolled
out the factory in 1971.

Original cars always
have a good story to tell

with their knocks, scrapes,
bumps and bruises.

Sometimes it's worth not
painting over a car's history.

Sometimes it's worth celebrating it.

And that's what this
car's got. It's all original.

And I'm excited about
seeing it just in its raw state.

I know the task ahead of
me if I was to buy this car.

It will need new rubbers,
new hoses, new gaskets. It

will need properly
recommissioning back for the road.

But as long as we
retain the originality of

the car, this could be
a really good purchase.

It's offered at the moment for just $5,000.
That's about £4,000.

That's incredibly cheap.
I've seen him go for double that money.

So, Frank, I'm on my
way to you. Let's hope the

car is everything it
says it is in the advert.

Look at this. Proper car set up, isn't it?

Hey, Mike, how are you?

I'm all right, Frank.
Very nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

Thank you for giving up your time
today to show me this cracking little Fiat.

So what can you tell me about the car?

It's a 1971 Fiat 124 Spyder. And it's just
in very good original survivor condition.

It's never been restored. It's all original
paint, all original interior chrome.

And the only things basically
that have been done to

the car are tires, brakes
and those kinds of things.

That's fantastic, isn't it?



Amazing. Absolutely amazing.

Because cars like this,
they always go through

some kind of restoration,
especially being a Fiat.

Because let's face
it, the steel that they

got in the factory
wasn't the best of quality.

And they were prone to quite a bit of rust.

But looking down the
flanks of this car, you can see

it's rust-free and under
the wheel arches as well.

Everything is crisp and straight.

Can I have a look at the interior?

Absolutely.

So this nice, easy soft top should
just peel back nice and easily.

Well, not as easy as you'd
hope, but it goes back.

Come on, mate.

It's not that bad, is it?

No.

Ah, look at that interior.

It's a bit of a shame, isn't it?

Because it's all beaten up.

You can see the sun's
got to it and chewed

away at the cloth on
the top of the headrest.

So that rips.

Some tears in the seats there.

The dashboards crack.

The dials are milky.

The carpets are a bit tatty.

Other than that, it's perfect.

It's really nice, isn't it?

Okay, let's have a look down the back.

The arches here.

And then down the back,
absolutely wonderful.

Except for this broken rear light lens.

What a shame.

I know, but it is original.

And this has already been
opened, so let's... Oh, wow.

It looks nice and fresh.

The floor is completely rust-free.

And this color...
What do they call this?

It's called Amaranth,
and it's a pretty rare color.

They only made it for a couple of years.

Did they really?

Yes.

Tell you what, it reminds me
of my favorite Italian red wine.

It's almost like a Bordeaux, isn't it?

Absolutely.

That's French, obviously, but I'm
talking about an Italian red wine.

It's absolutely glorious.

Oh, this c*ck is so good.

It's so nice.

Period-correct details across the dial.

Do you mind if I grab the key?

Can I start her up?

Absolutely.

Oh, wow.

That starts on the button.

And that exhaust note is
absolutely perfect, isn't it?

It's Italian.

What a great little car.

Let's look under the bonnet.

Whoa, look at that.

There it is, that 1.6 twin-cam inline-four.

What a great little engine.

The longest-running production
engine of any manufacturer.

Yeah, that's amazing, isn't it?

And really reliable.

Unbelievably reliable.

Yeah, unbelievably reliable.

And this one is still
going well after 47 years.

Do you mind if I take it for a test drive?

No, sir.

Go for it.

Excuse me for a minute if
I drop some Italian names.

If you're a fan of cars, you're probably
familiar with Calazira Binaferina.

That's the design house.

That famous name
that's done some of the

most evocative and exotic
cars the world has ever seen.

Well, they did this.

Also, the little inline
twin-cam four-cylinder,

the five-speed gearbox
and the disc brakes.

They were created by Aurelio Lampridi.

That's the person that
did the Ferrari Monza.

So this car has got pretty good pedigree.

Now, it's my guess that on the
Italian production line back in the 70s,

they had a musical artist
by the name of Leonardo

that sat at the end
of the production line.

And it was his job to just
take the towel pipe off of every

single one of these cars that
come off the production line.

And it was his job to just fine-tune
it to give it the perfect exhaust note,

like a finely-tuned trumpet.

Well, Leonardo, you've done a cracking job.

The interior, yep, it's
a little bit Fredbear.

But we need to save the interior and keep
as much of the originality as possible.

So I'd like to rescue the dashboard.

I'd like to save the door cards.

Of course, we've got to repair the seats.

I'd like to recommission
this car properly for the road

and make it a survivor
car for another generation.

That's what I'd like to do with it.

Now, it's quite clear I've
fallen in love with this little Fiat,

and Frank is asking just $5,000.

That's around £4,000.

And this car is most
definitely coming back with me.

But I need to go back and just try
and get a little bit off of it if I can.

It'd just give me a little bit
of a hand at the other end.

But as it is, I'm in love with this car,
and it's on its way back to my workshop.

Well, Frank, that was
one great little drive.

That's an incredible
little car, it really is.

I love it, absolutely love it.

But you want only $5,000 for it,
and I want it to be really cheekier.

I know there's no reason to
give me any money off the car,

but would you take $4,800
for it, just for the hell of it?

I think I can do it.

Top man, I really appreciate it.

It's such a pleasure to meet you.

You're a lovely fella,

and I've just bought
myself a Fiat 124 Spyder.

I absolutely love it.

This car is intoxicating.

It's wonderful to be behind the wheel.

Hey!

What is it with you and
sports cars at the moment?

Oh, come on, look at what
your eyes are staring at, son.

Number one, I love sports cars.

Number two, they're easy to sell.

And number three, don't
ask something so stupid,

it's a Fiat 124.

It is beautiful, and I love the colour.

What is that?

Well, it's named Armanth.

It's almost like my
favourite Italian red wine.

It's beautiful.

And get this, right?


the paintwork on this car.

It looks like the original seats as well.

Well, you can be a little bit
cruel about the seats, and I'll

take that on the chin because
they are a little bit shabby,

but dare I say, original.

It's actually quite big in here.

For a little car.

Yeah.

I like all this as well.

Yeah, it's all original,

all period details across the dashboard.

Everything seems to work.

The only thing that didn't on the
way back was the speedo broke down.

And yes, it just needs a bit of a tidy up.

We need to do something
with the seats, but it's all good.

Try the roof.

You don't need to get out and try the roof.

This little handle is
one of this car's features.

Comes up nice and easy.

Oh, look at that!

And look how good the roof is.

Nice, eh?

And it doesn't need
repairing, it's in good order.

That's really nifty.

See?

Right, so, OK, it's a little bit aged,
which is fine, we can deal with that.

So my worry is, where's the work?

So I'm assuming... Yeah, you would
assume it's going to be in the engine bay.

Fire up.

OK.

Come on, son, let me
show you underneath here.

Sounds great!

You have to get that in.

There you go.

Look at that.

Little twin cam, inline four,

running as sweet as a nut.

And you're going to
love it when I tell you this.

You ready?

You don't need to do
anything to the engine.

Other than, you know,
a little bit of aerosol.

here and there on a wash.

So you're telling me everything
in the engine bay's done?

Yes.

It doesn't bother me anyway because
these are such brilliant engines.

Now, getting parts for
them is actually easy.

Yeah, over 100,000
made their way to North

America, so there is
an abundance of parts.

And they're really good little engines.

It went on for years.

The handling's good,

the brakes are good.

The only problem I can find
with the car is there's a little leak

coming down from the rear
end, but nothing you can't handle.

All right.

Well, I really like the patina.

I like the way it looks.

It feels like a classic car and I
think that's all part of the charm.

Well, that's one of the
things we need to celebrate.

I want to keep this car as original
as possible because is it me

or does it just look like
a little Ferrari, this car?

Yeah, well, I hope it's not Ferrari money
because original usually means expensive.

Well, you would say that, wouldn't you?

But, you know,

just celebrate the fact that it's an
original little car and it's a survivor car.

We can definitely earn
a profit out of this car.

All you need to do
is fix it again, Tony.

See what I did there?

Fix it again, Tony.

I think you'll like that.

Come on, it's fix it again.

Fix it again and Tony.

Ah, I've got to do it there.

Everybody loves this car.

I love it.

Mike loves it.

In fact, I challenge
anyone to walk into this

workshop right now
and say they don't love it.

It has a kind of used charm about it.

The thing is,

the word charm is often used
by mechanics to mean worn.

and that is the
problem with this fear.

Everywhere I look,

the car's worn,

the seats are ripped,

the dash is broken,

the bodywork's
faded from the sun.

Even the speedo doesn't work.

And I haven't looked
underneath yet.

No oil leaks.

Someone's obviously
cleaned it up.

Looking really solid.

New bushes on the rear.

But the diff,

you know, that's obviously
got a really bad oil leak.

That's good news for me.

At least I get my hands dirty.

The prop shaft on this
fear is actually in two pieces.

One here and one here
with a joint in the middle and

that joint's really good at
absorbing all the movement.

Imagine the axle's going up and
down over bumps, but it still needs.

to maintain that rotation.

The thing is though,

that I can see a bit of light through
there and yeah, there is a lot of

excessive play in
that carrier bearing.

It's completely sharp.

You're gonna need a new one.

If you're looking for Italian originality,
then stop because I've already found it.

It's a 1971 Fiat 124 Spyder.

And Ant's already working on it.

That's obviously got
a really bad oil leak.

Yes, it may have a leaky
diff, but it's an Italian survivor.

Lap it up.

A differential's a
really clever bit of kit.

It takes the power from the front of
the car, obviously from the engine,

and puts that power
into the rear wheels.

So if I do the job of the prop
shaft and rotate this flange,

turning the rear wheels is really easy,
which means when we put the 104 brake horses

that the Fiat has
into the rear wheels,

this car's gonna
be loads of fun.

Now I'm hoping,

and fingers crossed,

that the leak is coming from a gasket here
or a seal here, and I can see the spray

of oil on the
underside of the car.

But what worries me
the most is that a diff

that loses oil can suffer
really bad damage.

So I'm gonna have
to inspect inside here.

Now I can't take

the diff off just yet because it's
locked in place by the drive shafts.

The drive shafts are housed.

inside this axle housing.

Which means I've got
to take the wheels off,

the back plates,

the discs, and the calipers.

That was a good job I
took the drive shafts out.

The seal here is also perished.

I'll add that to the list.

Aw, look at that.

That's the cutest
little diff I've ever seen.

If I hold this tight and
rotate the ring gear,

you can hear.

there's a slight knocking.

Now that's okay, that's called backlash
and you want to hear a very slight knock.

The thing is, if it was all too tight
the gears would wear away over time.

And of course, if it was too loose,
that knocking would become a pounding

and it would destroy
the gears over time.

It needs to be just right.

By using this Gauge I
can check that backlash.

That's really easy.

It's got this nice
powerful magnet.

That fits against the casing.

And then this is a
really precise dial.

It measures in minute numbers.

I want to rest it
against one of the teeth.

The tolerance for our diff is
between 31 and 51 thou of an inch.

And ours is reading
in the early thirties,

which is good news.

Another thing to check at
this stage while the diff is out

is what's called preload.

And what that means is the amount of force
it takes to rotate the free moving diff.

And it is a minuscule
measurement in inch pounds.

And to check it I need this very
small and very cute little torque wrench.

I'm looking for anywhere
between 14 and 17 inch pounds.

I made a homemade lever to hold
the flange as I undo the main nut.

Using a screw set in the seal
A*DS in removing the old seal.

Make sure the surfaces
are clean and use a bit

of assembly lube when
installing the new seal.

That'll deal with

the leak at the front.

And this little puppy here.

will deal with the
leak at the back.

To stop the leak at the axle I pull
the old seal with a slide hammer.

To install the new seal I match a socket
with the same size diameter as the seal.

And use that socket as a driver.

A few taps on the
socket will seat the seal.

Now I can slide the
axle back in and secure it

in place with a C-clip
and install the brakes.

With the diff all finished I can
now focus on this carrier bearing.

And now it's out of the car you can see
it's pretty much broken into two pieces.

And to get it out I've
got to strip down the prop

shaft which means removing
these universal joints.

With those retaining
clips out of the way.

I can now simply.

bang the universal joint out.

And to get the actual bearing
carry off I need to use a puller.

In fact I'm going to just
tear off the ripped bit.

And then.

that.

and this is going
to help me relieve it.

Right I've got a nice
new carrier bearing here.

A little bit of assembly grease.

just to help slide it on.

Place that over a bit of a tube.

Grab my persuader.

Perfect.

Right, new UJ.

One of these
little puppies here.

And that's the prop
shaft finished but I'm

not going to put it
back in the car just yet.

I want to leave it out of the
way so I can sort out the speedo.

Speedos on this age of car only rely
on a handful of components to operate

and in our case there's a cable that
runs from the Gauge in the dashboard

all the way down to
the side of the gearbox.

And that cable.

fits here.

Now if I take it out.

nice and easily you'll see that on the
inside of the cable there's a square drive.

And what happens
is the gearbox rotates.

It obviously rotates that square drive
and shows a reading at the Gauge.

So the faster the gearbox turns the faster
the cable turns, the faster the reading.

Now it's really common that this cable can
get gunged up and eventually it can break.

But there's a test that you
can do that's really easy

using a hand drill.

Now if I simply

fit the drill on the end
of the square drive.

like so,

and on this car reverse it
so it goes anti-clockwise.

And I reckon I can just about see the
speedo Gauge from where I'm standing.

and then go for it.

And sure enough
the speedo's working.



That's quite impressive
for a hand drill.

Now the good news is that tells me
that from here forwards the system's fine

and the problem's going
to be from here backwards,

which really only isolates
it down to one part.

And that's that little angle drive
that sits on the side of the gearbox.

And that's a pain

because it means
dropping the gearbox.

Using this lever bar I'm just
going to push the gearbox.

just to one side
enough to slide out.

this little puppy here.

Now this is basically
a tiny little gearbox.

It takes the drive here
from inside the gearbox turns

the corner 90 degrees
and puts it into the cable.

Now there's the problem.

You see the drive's moving nice
and smoothly but it's not moving here.

In fact,

this is locked solid.

Something in here is broken.

Thing is there's just no point taking
this apart and having a look inside.

I just need to get

hold of a new one.

Or more importantly I mean Mike
needs to get hold of a new one.

Why are you knocking?

Well the door was locked and
I don't want to get the key out.

I ain't got time.

That's the part that you
want it for the speedo drive.

Really hard to find that
I get one second ahead.

Lovely.

Is that it?

Yeah.

Lovely.

All right, good luck.

Now the good news is.

putting this back in is
as easy as taking it out.

And there it is.

It spins nice and smoothly.

Right, that's all fitted.

Which just leaves one more thing
to do and that is test it on the road.



One of the best things
about this fear is its story.

Its history.

I mean look at it.

It's been used and
driven and loved.

It absolutely oozes character.

The thing about character it always gets
to a point where it goes the stage too far

and character
becomes an eyesore.

Also, this car has lived most of
its life in California where of course

it's really sunny and the UV
light plays havoc with things like

vinyl and carpet and paint.

I mean look at the dashboard.

It's all cracked
which means it's

got to come out.

Whoops.

Sorry, Mike.

Okay, so we're going to

need a new one of those.

Hey up, sunshine.

As my favorite car.

Hey, Joe.

It's all right.

I've sorted out the oil leak

and affixed the speedo.

I'm a little disappointed that
we can't rescue the seats.

We wanted to keep the
originals but every time

we touch them they
just break and get worse.

But the good news is I've
managed to find a set of seat covers

that are going to match
the interior beautifully.

All right, do they
come with hog rings?

Got everything, yeah.

Hog rings a lot.

It's a full kit.

Okay, because that's a lot of work
to fit so I'm going to do your deal.

Have a look at the dash.

I'll do the interior.

Yeah, if I can do this,
don't worry, I can fix that.

That's no problem.

Really?

Yeah, I can do that.

Right now, I've got
an advert to write.

Would you like
a nice cup of tea?

Yes.

Good.

Why's he being so polite?

Should we call that
interior color camel?

Yeah, camel.

Yeah?

You know, one of the things
that annoyed me when I

was buying the car was the
glasses fogged up behind.

It's the little details that make
all the difference come sale time.

So while he's doing
that, let me just do this.

It might give me
a bit of inspiration.

for my advert as well.

Yeah, I reckon I
can clean that up.

Is the white paint.

that's reflective.

and shows you what speed you're
doing or what the oil pressure is.

Over the years, it
vibrates and it starts to

powder and then it hits
the inside of the glass

and it just fogs it up
and it's not too difficult

to prise the rim off.

and get behind it

and give it a good old clean.

And that is the foggy glass.

Look how bad it is.

Quick clean and
it'll go back together.

It looks absolutely brilliant.

It makes all the difference,

especially as it's the bit that you're
staring at all the time in the car.

Right, I just need to do the others now
as I try and find some words for my advert.

What happened to this?

Oh, it was already like that.

Right, your tea's getting cold.

The seats in this car
are a real let down and

as we're going for that
original patina'd look,

it would be really nice if we
can try and save the odd panel.

But the reality is that
these are just too far gone.

Also, Mike's actually scored because
he's gone and got me a separate set

of replacement seat covers
and they were only $300.

That's 230 quid for both
front seats and the rear seat.

I mean, that's an
absolute bargain.

Plus, looking at them,

they're not some sort
of throwaway rubbish.

These are proper spec
factory replacements.

Thing is, though,

they can be a
bit of a pain to fit.

Hopefully, the foam,

which actually looks
pretty good from here,

is going to be salvageable,

which I reckon it is.

That can go in the bin.

Inside the new seat covers,

there's this really fine metal
frame that helps lock it into the foam.

And then with these Springs,

I'll just Pierce one round here,

pass it through that hole,

and then lock it onto the
frame on the other side,

and it keeps
everything nice and tight.

Spin that over,

and look at that!

See, that little bit of
metal that sits in here with

the Springs pulling it down
helps keep the contour.

It looks brand new.

Now, I need to give the base a little
bit of a tidy up, maybe even blast it

and paint it, but
while I'm in the zone,

I'm going to crack
on and do the back.

Right, now today,

I've been given the task of repairing
the dashboard of our little Fiat 124.

It's got a nasty crack
in it because the sun

in southern California
beats the dashboards,

and it does degrade
them over time.

Now, most people would give
up on this and just throw it away,

but me, I want to protect the
original part, and I want to try

and retain that.

Also, the gear shift boot is all split,
so I've come to see a man called Dan.

Hey, Dan!

Hey, Mike.

How you doing?

Nice to see you.

You're looking well.

This is that Fiat 124
dash I spoke to you about.

Uh, you know, we can fix it.

You can?

A little filler,
yeah, we'll fix it up.

I've also got the gear shift gator
and some other bits of broken dash.

Oh, the trim piece is nice.

Yeah, so you're going to have
your work come out for you today.

Yeah, let's take a look.

Would you hand me
that piece of vinyl there?

See what you got there?

A nice Italian-looking
French seam.

What if we went
around the edges here?

That will just look incredible.

It'll add an extra level

of quality, but still

keeping the originality because
this is still behind in the car.

Okay, well, the first
step, before we even think

about fitting and
paneling all those panels,

I've got to look at these cracks,
and we have to have to fill these in.

So the first thing I do

is I take a straight edge,

a block or anything, and I
look to see how out they are.

They're pretty flat.

They're not too bad.

See, they're kind of flat.

So what I would do is I'd
just take a Sandy block.

I'd scuff down these edges.

I'll sand it up.

Seems like you're ruining
the dash, but you know what?

It's already got cracks on
it, so what's the big deal?

Yeah, good.

So you've got now a
good key for the filler.

What we do is I use a
lightweight plastic filler,

which is basically
auto body filler.

Throw a little on here like that,
and make... What you usually do

is a golf ball of filler
to a pee of hardener.

That's about the
ratio that we use.

Yeah, a little something
in there like that.

Just like you're
going to do that.

And then if you want to
hold that dash up for me.

Yep.

Got it.

What we're going to do is we're
just going to put a little in there,

fill that crack in.

Yep, that'll stand out nice.

That'll stand out nice.

So, okay, now we've got to
wait for this to dry, haven't we?

Yeah, you know,

half hour or so.

Let's just go ahead and
lay it over there, let it dry.

Let's see what
else you got for me.

Well, I got this.

This is the gear shifter.

This is the gator
that goes around it.

It's ripped at the bottom.

It's ripped at the top.

It's just falling apart,
the whole thing.

Can you,

can you make me a new one?

I'm going to cut these

because they've been
sewn so many times.

that I don't think I'm
going to be able to save it.

So what I'm going to do is if
you cut it right on the seam,

then you add the seam allowance.

See, now look,

that's what they

originally looked like.

Look at that.

So a nice even circle.

And there you have it.

Seriously?

Seriously.

Yeah.

I mean,

the old piece,
which is now here,

worthless piece of
junk a little while ago.

Within no longer than 20 minutes,
you've turned it into this beautiful,

original looking work of art.

Thank you.

Right, let's move on
to the dashboard then.

I'll lay that down.

You can put the
dash on top of this.

Two purposes.

I use this as a backdrop
for the overspray of glue.

It doesn't get on
the fresh bench,

and then I spray this, and
then we lightly stick it down.

Gotcha.

Just a light coat,

just to hold it.

That'll do that.

This is just a nice,

easy, dry coat.

This is the point of no
return, Dan, isn't it, really?

Absolutely.

Oh yeah, baby, look at that.

Perfect.

What I'm going to do is
I'm going to snip these,

go over to the sewing
machine, start sewing them up.

If you could do me a favor,

lightly scuff anywhere it's
going to stick any low spots,

especially in these
low areas here.

Gotcha.

Must be nice sitting
down and working,

I went to college.

All right.

How's it going?

Lovely.

Yes, I'm happy with that.

a quick test fit on this,
see how this looks.

Oh, you are kidding me.

I can't believe those bits
of material are so beautiful.

I've all come together to this.

That's incredible.

Well, it's not done.

We still have to glue
it all down into place,

so let's get rolling.

Right.

Okay.

Looks like my inner vinyl top.

I just want to show you just how
good this is because earlier on today

I walked in there with the original
broken dashboard from the Fiat,

but with your genius hands,

not only has it now got
this air of quality with

this French stitching
going all the way around.

Back in the car,

this is going to last for
many years to come.

Yeah.

How much has all this come to?

About 300 bucks.

All right, you're out.

You, sir, are a genius.

Damn, thank you so
much for this today.

I really appreciate it.

It's a delicate balance
bringing a survivor car

up to scratch without
ruining that originality.

If I was going to re-chrome
this, I would simply

get a massive hammer and
bash this back into shape.

So don't mess it up, son.

This little Fiat
is a survivor car.

Pretty much all
of it is original.

See, I love the fact that this is
the paint that left the factory in 1971.

And now, decades
later, it looks awesome.

I love it.

Now, I've been really

sympathetic with the interior.

I've only replaced
the bare minimum,

new seat covers, and I've fixed

some of the panels.

Mechanically, she's great.

Engine's fine.

Gearbox is fine.

Axle's really good.

And I could simply call
it a day and stop there.

Problem is, I'm not going to.

And this bumper
is the reason why,

or more specifically,

that massive dent there.

In fact, ever since this Fiat turned up
in the workshop, I've been staring at it.

I can't take my eyes off it.

I've been losing sleep.

This kind of stuff gives
me the heebie-jeebies.

Now, I have looked at
a new bumper online.

It's about $450,

about 350 quid.

But with this build,

that's not the way I roll.

Imagine a nice, shiny,

new chrome bumper
against that beautiful.

patina bodywork.

It just wouldn't work.

See, this is about balance,

and it's about finding that balance, which
means I've only really got one choice.

Repair what I already have.

I have to be quite careful
when tackling the chrome.

See, the plating on the
outside is actually quite

brittle, and if I whack it
too hard with a hammer,

it's likely to break.

Also, if I try and heat
it up and it gets too hot,

it'll discolor.

Another issue is that
when metal moves, it stays,

and it also stretches.

And this is some pretty
thick metal to move back.

If I was going to re-chrome this,

I would simply get a massive
hammer and bash this back into shape.

The problem is I need to
be a bit more sympathetic,

so I'm going to go a bit Maverick and
try something I've never tried before,

which in theory should work.

Now, using this piece
of card, I'm going to take

an inside template on a
good part of the bumper.

I'm going to cheat with this overrider
here because I know that shape's perfect.

A little Mark-up
there and there,

and then cut it out,

allowing for the material
thickness of the bumper.

Perfect.

Now, using that cardboard template,
I've created these shaped bolsters,

and this will follow the
contour of the inside of the

bumper, so if I check it on
a good part here and here,

you know, they fit

really nice and
snug, and the point is

is if I put it against
where the dent is,

apply some pressure between them,
that pressure's going to force it out,

and hopefully they're going to
follow the shape of the bolster.

Now, I'm going to need loads of
strength, and I can't do it by hand,

so I've employed.

this little bit of kit here.

This is going to give
me the power I need.

Now, these are kind of like the
jaws of life that the fire department

uses to get into
cars really quickly.

See, the power of the
hydraulics is way more

than I can do with muscle.

Now, this repair isn't
going to be perfect,

but then I knew it
wasn't going to be.

Yeah, that is
absolutely spot on,

because it's the imperfections in this
Fiat that are going to make it stand out.

Yep, this was absolutely
the right decision, and

I kind of prefer it
without those overriders.

I brought some true Italian
pedigree into our lives,

but those Italians do come
with certain Italian baggage.

That's a good job I
took the drive shafts out.

The seal here is also perished.

It's a survivor,

but that originality
does come at a cost.

What happened to this?

Oh, it was already like that.

But nothing Ant can't handle.

I'm going to send this
part off for a reveneer.

And we're going to Once
I'd release my inner Da Vinci.

Must be nice sitting
down and working, eh?

She's ready for the catwalk.

Sit again now, don't worry.

I think you'll like that.

But at what cost?

I bought the car for $4,800.

Carrier bearing, 60.

Differential seals, 17.

Axle seals, 7.

Speedometer drive gear, 127.

New seat covers were 300.

Vinyl spray for door cards, 85.

Dashpad recovering, 300.

To remake and reveneer
the Dashwood, 300.

To straighten up
the front bumper,

remove guards,

basically do everything there,



This gives us a grand total of
$5,996 and 95 cents, which is just over

four and a half thousand
pounds and 28 man hours.

Let's take her for a ride.

Italy.

What's not to love?

Wine.

Barrels of wine.

Grapes that make wine.

Upside down apple.

Hold it steady.

And massively temperamental,

beautifully leaky sports cars.

This isn't Italy, but you do get the
idea of what we're going for here,

setting the scene as it were.

Ha ha!

Oh wow!

Look at that.

Step on out, sir.

A winery.

That's very fancy.

For all your hard work, I thought
we'd go Italian and sophisticated today.

As a little reward to you,

I've even got us a little surprise
lined up for later, so open up the boot.

Oh, this is fancy.

Got to say, mate,
the car, look at it.

The way it's polished up,

it just looks.

absolutely incredible,

doesn't it?

Yeah, think about
this patina paintwork.

Once it's gone,
it's gone forever.

Imagine having to cover this up.

Oh no, you couldn't do that.

I mean, this is the
original paint from 1973

with its little bumps
and warts and all.

I think it looks
absolutely perfect.

Do you know,

it looks like a fine wine,

and it's aged just
like a fine wine.

Yeah, it's perfect.

You should see the inside.

Right, I can't wait.

Come on this side.

Sit yourself down in there.

Oh, look at that.

Look at the door cards
and the seat covers.

It's a shame we couldn't
keep the original ones.

Yeah, the thing is, they
were just so far gone, though.

If you think about it,

this is a driver's car.

We want it to feel
luxurious on the inside.

Yeah, but the good news is I
managed to find some new old stock,

so the seat covers
are actually from 1973.

They're really comfortable,

very nice.

Proper driver's car.

Talking of which,

let me drive.

No, no, no, you wait there.

No, the point is today that you're
having a day off and I'm driving,

it's a treat.

No, no, my plan worked,

which ultimately means.

that I'm driving.

The wheel's lovely because it's
got that kind of classic wood feel

with the dash.

It smells like a classic car.

It does.

It's wonderful.

Do you know why?

Because it is a classic car.

We're about to
say it in the obvious.

Look at this.

Does it feel any more

Italian than this?

Italian sports car,

vineyards all around us.

I feel like I'm in some kind of black
and white art house Italian movie.

Why is it black and white?

Well, it's always
black and white,

isn't it?

It's a classic film.

No, some classic films

are in colour as well.

Plus, if we had a classic film of
this car, it would have to be in colour

to show off the burgundy.

Okay, colour it is.

Oh!

Whoa, whoa, whoa,
whoa, whoa, easy.

You f***ing drove off the road.

You're f***ing brilliant.

Joy, it feels pretty
European now it's raining.

Hold on, hold on.

We didn't come this way.

Hold on, hold on,
hold on, hold on.

It's really easy to fall in love with
how the car looks on the outside.

I have to say, sitting in
here, I love it on the inside.

Magical, isn't it?

Between the two door cards,

everything is just,

well, it's like it.

It's new, isn't it?

We've got new wooden dashboards.

But not new.

But not new, yeah.

It's still got that original patina
because the dashboard's all original,

it's beautiful.

The dials, they're
all the original dials.

I took every single one of those dials
apart and I cleaned up all the glass.

They just look
amazing, don't they?

This car's lost none of its grace and none
of its classicness and none of its power.

Back end.

Whoa, whoa, whoa,
whoa, whoa, easy.

Oh, yes, lovely.

They are vultures, aren't they?

They are vultures, yes.

They're just waiting for our
careers to end, aren't they?

Argh!

Oh, there's one behind us.

I feel like I'm in

an Alfred Hitchcock film.

Oh, right.

In black and white.

In black and white.

Now this car is nearly 50 years of age
and we're convinced it's going to live on

for another 50 years happily
and hopefully in the hands

of Dish Cat behind me.

He's called Brent and
he's got a particular story

why he's looking
for this particular car.

Let's go and
find out what it is.

What's up, Brent?

Hey.

Why don't you want a Fiat 124?

My father recently passed away.

a couple weeks ago and I tried to
think of something that I could get

that would help me
remember him in a positive,

joyous manner and
when I was a young child,

he came home one
day with a Fiat 124.

and he was in the prime of his
life having just a fantastic career.

and I want to remember him
like that and so I thought, why not?

Wow, well, I can't
think of a better car

to pay respect to your dad
than this one because it's original.

It's from 1971.

It's the same paintwork.

It's new old stock

interior from 1971.

Car performs and
drives like it did in 1971

and I know every time you get in a
car and grab hold of that steering wheel,

you're just going to have a great
memory of your dad come flooding back.

I've asked $12,000 for the car.

What do you want to do?

I think that's a small price

to pay for a great memory.

Well, congratulations.

You just bought
yourself a cracking car.

Thank you.

Yeah, good luck to you.

Now this car is going to
live on in the hands of Brent

and his amazing family and
I know he's going to enjoy.

every mile he gets behind the wheel of
this car and we can't say fairer than that.

If you want to see more iconic cars like
this, being turned around by me and Ant,

then join us again soon
on Wheel of Dealers.

Tala!