Front end asymmetry of a Series 2 Sport

[Old Man Wattsy]

Hi all,

Further to my thread about the front being offset towards the passenger’s side, I have another question about the front end.

As you can see from the picture, the dihedral or swag line of the drivers side intersects the light about 60% towards the bottom of the light whilst the passengers side is only 40%.

My questions are:
1. Can someone explain the amount of asymmetry in a typical Series 2 Sport, and
2. Is my car typical or an abnormal example?

Hope someone can help

Cheers, Mick
(PS.I still haven’t found any indication of front end panel damage from an accident).

[zagatoman]

Hi Mick

Very strange, never noticed before any difference in the symmetry before on Zagato’s. Do you have problems fitting the alloy headlight surround on the drivers side?

I have attached a few pictures so you can see a few other cars.

The yellow series 1 is mine.

Paul

http://i40.tinypic.com/19y07o.jpg
Series 1

http://i43.tinypic.com/5wd0ko.jpg
Series1

http://i40.tinypic.com/xe0mx4.jpg
Series 1

http://i41.tinypic.com/v3zqiv.jpg
Series 2

[johnsimister]

Someone once told me, or I may have read it somewhere, that Zagato couldn't keep up with demand for the Fulvia Sport body panels towards the end of production and farmed them out to little back-street Turin panel shops who hand-made them according to Zagato's patterns. Some were quite 'approximate' and some cutting-and-shutting was usually necessary as the panels were built up into shells. I don't know how true this is - I'm trying to remember where I heard it - but it could explain the asymmetry. It was quite common in the world of the carrozzeria, I think.

John

[KeppelmanJ]

Nice, clear pictures. I can't tell if your real question is an academic one (Why are S2 Sports like this) or practical (Should I do something about it?), but in my limited experience seeing Sports on the west coast of the US I've seen lots of variation. I see other oddities on yours too: the top form line on the fenders/wings meet the windshield/screen (!) differently side to side and one front wheel appears to be farther into the car than the other. My car was a first series aluminum car which came to me from junkyard in LA looking more like a potato than a car. I looked hard at the Sports I could find to see what a restoration should look like before I began. My impression was that the surfaces and forms were pretty good on individual cars but not consistent in their details. Seems in your case that remaking a replacement headlight bezel so it fits will be easier than moving the fender shape for symmetry. Some wag said Zagato bodies were like sports coats: stylish but not so well constructed. That was my impression too.

[ncundy]

Slightly off topic but on the subject of the wheel protrusion; that’s almost certainly due to misalignment of the front panels. From the picture Ed posted (on the your other thread) on the bare structure you can see the outer lip of the inner wheel arch (if you follow me!). The front panels (both wings, front panel, valance and the wiper panel) where almost certainly welded into an assembly separately then fitted over the top of the structure as a single piece. It would then be a toss up as to where they started welding first. This of course then sets the position of the rest of the front panels.

On each of the three Fulvias I have restored one inner arch weld is nice and close – fits all the way round. The other always has a slight gap and marks where the wing and the inner arch lip have been bent to fit. Thus although the subframe and wheels are in the correct position relative to each other one wing is always slightly out of datum.

Now I believe on Zagatos the outer wings weren’t welded to the inner wings, but they must be welded somewhere at the front (bottom of the front legs ?) which has pulled it in somewhat.

Further evidence of an inaccurate wing is the headlamp and crease mark. John’s proposal sounds to me very likely. There will have been a myriad of small companies providing specials or overflow capacity, “get out of jail” cards etc – especially to a small concern like Zagato that was probably finding that the demand for the car was more than they could chew.

[1,6 HF]

The scenario John Simister outlined may well been the case. And even under the best of circumstances at the best of coachbuilders, quality control standards for low-volume production would have meant that body panels required a great deal of hand fettling. Beyond that, as Johhny Keppelman suggests, Zagato was not known for a high standard of construction and fit.

[Old Man Wattsy]

Dear all, thanks for your comments as they are appreciated.
In general, it seems that I'm going to be restoring the car with its asymetry as-is.
Paul, Thanks for the photos. The top car appears similar to mine but not as exaggerated. The drivers side alloy surround was in the boot when I bought the car as the metal arround the attachment holes had rusted away however I don't recall any problem when I gave it a trial fit - maybe the surround had ben fettled into shape.
John K, my question was to understand a little more about the manufacturing process plus planning what I would do to restore the steelwork. Also, the "top form line on the fenders/wings meet the windshield/screen" is the same on both sides. Unfortunately, the glare from the sun plus the colour of the garage door blended together so that the silouette of the door disappeared. I also had to go to the car to check when I first saw the photo.
Neil, my outer wings are not welded to the inner except at a few key locations.
I also found this picture of another car that may have been built by the same panel shop!!! :rolleyes:
Cheers, Mick