1978 Fiat 124 Spider Abarth Budget Paint Job in 12 Minutes

A customer brought in their 1978 Fiat 124 Spider for a new exhaust. The car also had some nasty body damage from a light pole and a not-so-good respray. Fred has his hands full pulling out the damaged rear taillight housing and surrounding panels. Needless to say, Fred tackles the job with some unorthodox methods to get the results he's looking for.

[@garyl5128]

Nice job - looks extremely good and I bet the customer got a better job than he expected.

[@UWrenchTV]

I think so too

[@roymurray6374]

I'll never get tired of these vids. Fred was the short time owner of my beater Crown Vic Police Interceptor recently, saw it on the side of the road on my way to work with the for sale sign on it. Of course it didn't look nearly as cool as it did when I owned it, but it did shine up nice. I have 16yrs of memories and good times tied up in that old car.

[@liamclarke64]

Thank you for bringing that Beautiful little girl back to life - I admire your work so much!!! Awesome job!!!

[@UWrenchTV]

Thank you so much!

[@thekatmann9730]

That's a rad little car!! Nice finish, even on a budget..

[@tismeDenis]

Nice job indeed 👍

[@UWrenchTV]

Thanks 👍

[@bigkeg9173]

One of the prettiest Fiats ever made
Nice job guys 👍

[@steveh9869]

Great work and ingenuity. I’ve used a ratchet strap on a tree before and although it works, it’s the talent you have in understanding how metal behaves that makes the difference. Thanks so much for posting this video and I’m really enjoying the channel!

[@UWrenchTV]

Cool, thanks!

[@MichaelAmster]

Nice job - especially with the MacGyver tools

[@UWrenchTV]

HaHa - whatever it takes 💪

[@seanmartinez6981]

I saw the car in person today. It looks great, even better in person than the end of the video glamor pose. I was surprised this was a budget job as the end product foes not present as a budget job.

[@philmccrackin1775]

Dam that had a lot of filler. Lucky it didn't fracture and drop off. For a budget job, Pretty decent finish for what you had to deal with. 👍👍

[@StraightLineCycles]

I wish you guy was in Missouri.

[@jamesk3565]

came out really nice. seeing all that filler i really wanted to see it completely stripped but i definitely understand budget restraints

[@garyworokevich2524]

Pulling out the rear tail light area with what is available, cool.
My Dad and I pulled a shock tower out on a Chevette, using similar methods.
It worked, sort of.
The little beastie would pull to the right one month, left the next month.
After a couple of years the unibody broke in half.
Owner was happy got 2 years out of it. Just a grocery getter.
It did not look as good as Fred's work, not even close.

[@charliebrown1828]

Had a Pininfarina. Really miss it.

[@beauregardrippey5508]

Tight work on straightenin out that rear end. Shit was all kindsa wonky lookin before you did yer magic. 👍🏻its too bad they wanted it re-red. Was hoping for a different color.

[@waltermartin6176]

Great video

[@UWrenchTV]

Thanks!

[@hydroxacte]

Content comment: for similar stories, add in some footage of putting the trim back on the painted car. It would be very satisfying to watch the bezels and badges and stuff going back on.

[@dougsteele5104]

I love my Abarth

[@sailorjoe6634]

Love That color

[@garyworokevich2524]

A little off topic.
Do you folks use a vibratory bowl with ceramic pellets
to clean small parts ?

[@UWrenchTV]

just a parts washer

[@joeyprather4739]

Would you share the budget for work like this?

[@thewilder-side2990]

What is the paint code for that color? I love it for my fiat

[@UWrenchTV]

I'll see if Fred has the code. Might have been a custom mix.

[@thewilder-side2990]

@@UWrenchTV any thoughts on the color code yet? Thanks

[@robertschris79]

Yeah whats the paint code ? Please do share

[@norwegianzound]

How much did you charge?

[@UWrenchTV]

5-6K

[@jackboyd9280]

Why didn't you do an internet search for a used rear panel