With the removal of the two doors and the steering column, I can really say that disassembly is finished (well, apart from the wheels and suspension). Meanwhile metalwork also has started. I decided to work on the bottom and rocker panels first to bring back some strength and structure back in the body. If you're gonna start, why not start at the bottom......
Taking out the doors was a great hassle. The hinges were totally stuck and Ghia didn't really 'design for disassembly'. On both sides of the car, one of the hinges had to be cut with the angle grinder.
From the bottom, I had already spotted a rotted out cross member under the drivers seat. This will have my first attention. Cutting it out was a bit scary, beause it's a very fundamental part.
At a nearby restoration company, I had a repair piece made for the cross member. This has been tacked in place first. Also a repair piece on the side of the center tunnel has been welded in.
Then I started making a floorpan-rear section. Ghia has left the original front section of the Fiat 1500-floorboards in place and used a new, flat piece of sheetmetal to close the rear-end.
And made 'some' holes in the floorpan, which I will be using later to spotweld the floorpan in place.
Now, what to do with the inner rocker panel;
I was hoping I could save the original one, but it appears to be in pretty bad shape. This will also give me the opportunity to work inside the rocker box. I am not very enthusiastic about how Ghia constructed this. There seem to be 4 (!) sheets of metal welded over eachother. I think some obsolete sheetmetal of the Fiat 1500 Berlina was left behind during mass-production.
I have made a sketch for the structure, the way I want it to be.
looking good:
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