When a car is left sitting in a busy workshop, keeping it clean is a near impossible task. This Fiat had done just that for many years prior to us buying it, and as a result the steering and suspension were covered in a thick layer of powdery dust, the kind that a bodyshop produces by the bucket load every week. This made it very difficult to assess the various components for wear, and to clean them properly would have required disassembly. Often at that point, disassembly damages the seals, bushes and bearings, and things quickly spiral into more of a rebuild than originally planned.
That is the position I found myself in with the Fiat. Besides, even if I had not needed to dismantle the running gear to clean…
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Classics World (Digital) - 1 Issue, October 2024