La leyenda del Fitito

Sunrise. A young man is driving on the freeway from Belgrade to Novi Sad when his Fića breaks down. He pulls over on the hard shoulder and decides to call his friend for help. As he rummages through the cabin he realizes he's forgotten his phone at home, so he decides to flag somebody down and ask them for help.

Given the time of day, he'd be looking back at the freeway for a while.

After what seemed like ages, a car became visible on the horizon. He instantly started waving his arms like a madman until he saw what the car was: a newer Mercedes.

"Oh great," he thought, "not only is this guy gonna stop, but he's gonna drive through the adjacent puddle, too!"

How the pieces fit together

Many of the parts in the photos from my previous post have since been mounted on the car; here is what the puzzle pieces looked like before, just to give an idea...

What follows is what has resulted from that big braking and suspension system overhaul that I mentioned earlier (which also looked like the photo above beforehand).

Front axle:

Rear axle:

This is what one of the drum brakes looks like on the inside...

Puzzle pieces

Just to show just how much detailed work has gone into this project, here are some photos of the many renewed (or just new) parts that now form part of my Fića. The pictures contain suspension components, bumpers, wheels, steering components, interior trim, hoses, brakes, and more.

Interesting fact: each of the screws has been individually rust-protected with a special coating containing gold, among other things, that is likely never to rust. They are visible in the last photo.

Click to view the high-res versions.

One last time

Here is my Fića with the aforementioned second coat of primer now applied. Not much more to say, except that this is the last look at the car before it's finally painted.

If anyone's curious, in the background is a 1952 Opel Olympia on which they are doing all the necessary bodywork. And no, it's not mine.

Click to enlarge, as per tradition.

Almost painted

Here are the newest pics of the car, seen with the primer (the white) actually on. It also has the shop wheels on it, meaning those are not my Fića's wheels, but the wheels they use so that the real ones don't get painted accidentally. The real ones are in the last pic.

They are going to give it another coat of primer before sending it into the painting bay to receive it's final color. Then it's going to dry for a little while, after which all the parts that remain will be mounted to the car.

Click on the pics to enlarge.

Progress report

There is very little left to do on the car at this point: the suspension, like the engine, has now been mounted, the entire interior has its (more or less) final coat of paint, and all of the interior components (seats, dash, headliner, etc.) are all ready to go.

The original-style steering wheel I was looking for has been found, and so have some rare exterior trim pieces, which are the very last of the parts purchased for my car. The final coat of paint will be applied very soon, and all that awaits afterwards is a testing period to make sure everything works like it should.

Note: the Fića in this picture is not mine, but another one they finished restoring recently. However, mine does have an identical car cover...