[tr8bofin]

Greetings Fellow Alfisti,

I seem to recall that earlier 105/115 Spiders had a smooth painted finish on the sill while later Spiders had a stone guard finish from the factory. Assuming I'm remembering correctly, does anyone recall what year the stone guard finish came out?

Thanks in Advance!

 

[tr8bofin]

Also, I've noticed that some Spiders have either one or two seams that run perpendicular to the length of the sill in sort of a "tongue and groove" way. Other sills are smooth and don't have these vertical seams. As you may have deduced, I'm trying to understand what an original sill should look like on the various S1, 2 and 3 Spiders, and by extension which are factory, and which have been replaced.

 

[rusty mayes]

Following, I think I remember that my Dad's 67 Duetto had the rock guard finish on the rockers. He imported it from Germany. I don't remember removing any rock guard from my 69 Spider when I bought and repainted it back in 1980. That is not to say it did not come that way. My 69 has no perpendicular seams. I just replaced the aft section of left front wing and found a seam that was filled over.

 

[southernstar]

I believe that all Series 2 - 4 Spiders had verticle seams on the outer sills/rocker panels, whereas seams were leaded on at least the early Series 1 Duetto. I can’t say when stone guard was first applied, but can say that my 1975 does not have it.

 

[klharper124]

I don't think the stone guard was ever factory. I have put the stone guard on cars that I have painted because I like the look, but I own examples of series 1, 2 & 3 and to the best of my knowledge Alfa never put it on at the factory. Dealerships are another story. The grooves should definitely be there on series 2,3,4 and I am not sure about series one. Again these are frequently filled when the rockers are replaced or the car is painted. This can be done to hide blemishes or it can be done just because the owner prefers the looks. I have two series 3 cars where the stone guard was applied when painted and one has the grooves and the other is smooth, and which one I like changes with the day.

 

[southernstar]

Rust repairs are often done by using sheet metal to cover the entire area, including the seams. Using bondo to fill the seams, if they show any signs of corrosion/bubbling, is a very bad idea. If plain sheet metal has been used one can generally tell by inspecting the underside of the rockers, where the factory scalloped drains will be covered or completely absent.