Question About Fiat 500s

[Noah H.]

Hello,

I am going to purchase the newly re-released Tamiya Fiat 500 kit, so I have downloaded its instructions as a PDF from Scalemates and examined them thoroughly. They state that the entirety of the floorpan and inner wheel wells (excluding the area covered by carpet or rubber mats in the interior) should be painted body color. I have looked at countless images of Fiats on Bring A Trailer, some show the floorpan as being painted body color, and some show it as being painted black. I prefer to build my models to replicate cars in the condition they were when they left the factory floor, and would like to know if the floorpan and wheel wells really should be painted body color. I know that this is kind of an obscure question, but if you know the answer to it, could you please let me know? Thank you!

-Noah

[Ace-Garageguy]

I don't know, but last time I was in one of the shops I work with, they had a 500 in for some major work.

Next time I'm there, I'll see if I can get a definitive answer.

[stitchdup]

i think it depends on the year of the car. just from looking at pics it seems later versions got the black floors while the earlier ones had body coloured. your best bet is to find sales place that specialises in the 500. i was actually watching a tv show where they were doing a resto on one last night and it had a black floor, but only up to the sill tops and rear seat bottom edge.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Honestly, my best bet is that everything got painted body color, as that was kinda standard on Euro cars of the period...trunk, engine bay, everything, and whatever black there is was applied after the car left the factory.

Most of the resto "before" shots have pretty obvious undercoating that was most likely sprayed on to hide rust and dodgy repairs.

I've also seen more than one resto on these cars where the black undercoat was scraped away, leaving the car's original color underneath.

Some Euro cars of the period also got sprayed with a texturized "body schutz" in critical rust or noise areas prior to being painted...but in that case, obviously, the texture coat is body color too...and they usually were higher-end cars than a low-line Fiat.

[Noah H.]

1 hour ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Honestly, my best bet is that everything got painted body color, as that was kinda standard on Euro cars of the period...trunk, engine bay, everything, and whatever black there is was applied after the car left the factory.

Most of the resto "before" shots have pretty obvious undercoating that was most likely sprayed on to hide rust and dodgy repairs.

I've also seen more than one resto on these cars where the black undercoat was scraped away, leaving the car's original color underneath.

Some Euro cars of the period also got sprayed with a texturized "body schutz" in critical rust or noise areas prior to being painted...but in that case, obviously, the texture coat is body color too...and they usually were higher-end cars than a low-line Fiat.

Thank you for your help! This answers my question.

[Matt Bacon]

60s and 70s cars in the UK and Europe very much came painted body colour all over (and under). Rust proofing and weather protection was an aftermarket service and Ziebart, Waxoyl and DiNitrol were big names to the enthusiastic motorist (and motor sport fan… their sponsor stickers are very visible on rally cars of the period especially). The canny owner or sensible garage mechanic gave the underside a good wipe over or spray with the used engine oil after a change… those were the days!

best,

M.

[Noah H.]

51 minutes ago, Matt Bacon said:

60s and 70s cars in the UK and Europe very much came painted body colour all over (and under). Rust proofing and weather protection was an aftermarket service and Ziebart, Waxoyl and DiNitrol were big names to the enthusiastic motorist (and motor sport fan… their sponsor stickers are very visible on rally cars of the period especially). The canny owner or sensible garage mechanic gave the underside a good wipe over or spray with the used engine oil after a change… those were the days!

best,

M.

Thank you for your help!