Before work commences on our 1972 Fiat 500L

Under the bonnet is looking a little tired so we have decided to remove the leads, tidy the bonnet area and refit the wires in a much neater and presentable fashion.

We’ve gently removed the debris and grit that has built up over many years on the engine. Lauren has applied one coat of red engine paint as a base already but we’ll need to apply 2 or 3 further coats to give it an even finish.

As you can see, the front and rear bumpers are in fantastic condition however, the bumper bars are starting to corrode. Rather than re-chroming we have decided to buy a brand new set from internationally renowned Fiat specialists Ricambio International

The tank was originally finished in black and if you were to buy a brand new tank now it would also be black.

When we accepted delivery of our little Fiat 500L we made the decision to keep the car original.

As you can see, it is a brilliant little car that clearly enjoys being on the road. It’s not concours, it’s an everyday usable example of this iconic classic so although we felt we could tidy her up in places we never intended on carrying out huge jobs that would spoil the ‘patina’ of the car.

We wanted the tank returned to black so instead of replacing with a brand new one we kept it original and cleaned it up before giving it a new black finish.

The interior window trim has started to come away so we need to refit and secure into position.

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