Meeting the CEO of Fiat

[kenncarp]

Hey guys! Im new to this website, but my name is Kenneth Carper, and im from Little Rock, Arkansas. I am 15 years of age, and have been rebuilding my 1979 124 since Feburary of 2012. It had been sitting in a field out in the weather for 13 years, since 1999, which is longer than i lived then! I contacted the owner, and persuaded him to give it to me! I know what y'all are thinking now, like oh this kid just had his dad rebuild it for him, or he dosent have to pay for any of it, but let me tell you now, i have learned so much from this experience! Once we got it home, we had to replace all fuel lines, and do a ton of electrical work such as replacing the distributor, rotor, control module, and all the plugs and wires. We then got it running, after we ran into some problems with the ignition. We then threw some michelan tires on it, and replaced the rear axle, which was blown. We did some carburetor work, and replaced all of the front A arms and all the shocks and bushings. Since then we have done a lot of interior work, and small tuning. about a year ago i was invited to go to Turin Italy by the Fiat CEO himself, Alfredo Altavilla. i sent him a letter in the mail about a month before that telling him my story, and he invited me for a tour of the Maserati factory, and their headquarters. Me and my family took a trip there for 3 weeks, and met him and saw some of the prototypes of some secret fiats to come . I got to drive the original prototype Alfa Romeo 4c before it was released, and got a tour through the maserati factory which was absolutely amazing. He then offered me a internship and 4 years of school at their engineering school right after i graduate high school. This is the article about my trip:

http://www.nwaonline.com/news/2014/mar/ ... /?features

We then visited other parts of italy and had an amazing trip. I figured id share my story with all of you because I'm young, and thought it would be cool to share it. Here is the link to some pics of my car:

http://s12.photobucket.com/user/kenncarp/library/

I would love to hear from you guys what you think i should do to the car. I am saving my money now to paint it red, and the hood hoops on the front black. I didn't want to do the Abarth style black hood and red car since it isn't an abarth. Also what do you guys think would be some ideas to give the car some stance and lower it a little? Looking forward to hearing some input!

[spider2081]

I'm reassembling a 1980. Spider at Danny's Shop, Fun import Auto & toy's in Vernon, CT. This past week a 18 year old guy came in with an alternator from his 81 Spider. He is repairing the car with his father also. He learned to drive a standard transmission car with the Spider. Most of all he was thrilled to lean how to repair the problems his 34 year old car has.

It is so great to see young people have appreciation for our old sports cars.

Congratulations on all you accomplishments.

Enjoy your ride.

I'm looking forward to see more posts from you.

[4uall]

Kenneth, that is truly amazing

Great to see the youth of today appreciate the cars of the past

[kenncarp]

I'm reassembling a 1980. Spider at Danny's Shop, Fun import Auto & toy's in Vernon, CT. This past week a 18 year old guy came in with an alternator from his 81 Spider. He is repairing the car with his father also. He learned to drive a standard transmission car with the Spider. Most of all he was thrilled to lean how to repair the problems his 34 year old car has.

It is so great to see young people have appreciation for our old sports cars.

Congratulations on all you accomplishments.

Enjoy your ride.

I'm looking forward to see more posts from you.

Thats cool! Are there any big fiat groups in Connecticut?

[autotransgression]

i am very impressed, and glad that you are fortunate enough to have a family who is willing and able to help you with this project. i fell in love with a fiat spider which sat forever with a 'for sale' sign in the corner of a restaurant parking lot in the town where i grew up. unfortunately, i could not afford it, and i definitely couldn't get my father onboard; he only knew american cars, and only had SAE tools.

as for getting some stance, the monza wheels i just got from mark allison are amazing. i have springs on order (from vick, as i also needed some other front suspension components which allisons does not have) to lower it 1 1/4". so i can only speak for the wheels at this time, but i should have some feedback on the progressive lowering springs by this time next week.

as for the paint, i know what you mean about the abarth paint scheme, but i pretty much don't care. i love the look, and it has been so many years since there really were many around that i don't see any problem. i will never misrepresent the car as an abarth, and will offer up a pair of buttocks for anyone to kiss, who has a problem with that.

i am pretty new on this forum, so i am definitely not any kind of sage to listen to, but the opinion i am applying to my spider was formed over many years of owning, restoring, and customizing motorcycles: do what makes you happy. if you have the time and resources to completely restore a car to concours condition, hey...that's great. but the vast majority of owners just want to have a good-looking, working car. i saw one slightly derogatory reference somewhere around here, regarding non-original mirrors, for instance. well, my stock flag mirror was hardly useable, and i could tell that even at the best of times, the cable system that adjusts the mirror from inside the car was a pretty weak design. so, i had no problem with placing a round chrome mirror in its place. it does everything the original does, but better, with the exception of having to roll the window down to make an adjustment.

seriously, make the car work for you. have fun getting it there, and have fun driving it, once it is there. you are awesome.

[kenncarp]

i am very impressed, and glad that you are fortunate enough to have a family who is willing and able to help you with this project. i fell in love with a fiat spider which sat forever with a 'for sale' sign in the corner of a restaurant parking lot in the town where i grew up. unfortunately, i could not afford it, and i definitely couldn't get my father onboard; he only knew american cars, and only had SAE tools.

as for getting some stance, the monza wheels i just got from mark allison are amazing. i have springs on order (from vick, as i also needed some other front suspension components which allisons does not have) to lower it 1 1/4". so i can only speak for the wheels at this time, but i should have some feedback on the progressive lowering springs by this time next week.

as for the paint, i know what you mean about the abarth paint scheme, but i pretty much don't care. i love the look, and it has been so many years since there really were many around that i don't see any problem. i will never misrepresent the car as an abarth, and will offer up a pair of buttocks for anyone to kiss, who has a problem with that.

i am pretty new on this forum, so i am definitely not any kind of sage to listen to, but the opinion i am applying to my spider was formed over many years of owning, restoring, and customizing motorcycles: do what makes you happy. if you have the time and resources to completely restore a car to concours condition, hey...that's great. but the vast majority of owners just want to have a good-looking, working car. i saw one slightly derogatory reference somewhere around here, regarding non-original mirrors, for instance. well, my stock flag mirror was hardly useable, and i could tell that even at the best of times, the cable system that adjusts the mirror from inside the car was a pretty weak design. so, i had no problem with placing a round chrome mirror in its place. it does everything the original does, but better, with the exception of having to roll the window down to make an adjustment.

seriously, make the car work for you. have fun getting it there, and have fun driving it, once it is there. you are awesome.

Wow, judging from your fiat knoledge, you just might be a fiat sage . Im looking at just doing an cheap econo paint job, but if you do the prep yourself they can turn out great! Im defiantly looking at the monza wheels, and have been looking at the performance springs on vicks. I myself have been raised on motorcycles, and do motocross. (Honda power) but anyways back to fiats. Where did you get your roll bar? My dad is looking in to buying one of those soon since i get my liscense in 5 months thanks for your kind words!

[RRoller123]

For parts, there are many great vendors; Auto Ricambi and Allisons are standouts!

[kenncarp]

For parts, there are many great vendors; Auto Ricambi and Allisons are standouts!

I have also purchased multiple parts from vick auto if you havent heard of them. They have a ton of stock, and have some performance parts of there own! What would you suggest to lower the suspension down maybe a little? I dont want to cut the springs, and i havent heard many great things of marks performance springs, or any of them. I just dont want to lose the smoothness of the ride

[autotransgression]

Wow, judging from your fiat knoledge, you just might be a fiat sage . Im looking at just doing an cheap econo paint job, but if you do the prep yourself they can turn out great! Im defiantly looking at the monza wheels, and have been looking at the performance springs on vicks. I myself have been raised on motorcycles, and do motocross. (Honda power) but anyways back to fiats. Where did you get your roll bar? My dad is looking in to buying one of those soon since i get my liscense in 5 months thanks for your kind words!

well, don't know if you know this, but we old guys find it really, really cool when someone a lot younger is not only following the same passion that we are, but is getting at least a couple decades' worth of a jump on us at doing so. gives us hope for the future.

meanwhile, i am working on sage-hood. ha.

i got my rollbar from paeco http://www.paeco.com/Rollbars%20and%20Cages.htm. i went for the slalom bar (has the extra diagonal member) for extra strength, but made sure to order it at the street bar height, to allow the roof to go up and down. see, i live in seattle, and if i planned on driving this car ONLY on sunny days, there would be years when it hardly left the garage. luckily, this year is shaping up to be amazing...

anyhow, i do have some complaints. although the welds appear to be pretty top-notch with good penetration, one side of the bar is about 3/4 of an inch lower than the other. also, the rear mount plate on the passenger side, which bolts to the rear wheel well, sits at not quite the right angle. i did a little cold-setting (read: pounding with a 6lb hammer) to line it up better, and also added a couple washers to fill the tiny gap at the outer bolt hole. the thing that i am perhaps most upset about (although the least consequential) is that the rollbar pad i ordered from them for $16 turned out to be just a length of pipe insulation, of a diameter way too small to be of any use.

i didn't really have the heart to ship the thing back to alabama for slight reworking, so i just went with it as-is. i have no doubt that the car is infinitely safer than without it.

[kenncarp]

Wow, judging from your fiat knoledge, you just might be a fiat sage . Im looking at just doing an cheap econo paint job, but if you do the prep yourself they can turn out great! Im defiantly looking at the monza wheels, and have been looking at the performance springs on vicks. I myself have been raised on motorcycles, and do motocross. (Honda power) but anyways back to fiats. Where did you get your roll bar? My dad is looking in to buying one of those soon since i get my liscense in 5 months thanks for your kind words!

well, don't know if you know this, but we old guys find it really, really cool when someone a lot younger is not only following the same passion that we are, but is getting at least a couple decades' worth of a jump on us at doing so. gives us hope for the future.

meanwhile, i am working on sage-hood. ha.

i got my rollbar from paeco http://www.paeco.com/Rollbars%20and%20Cages.htm. i went for the slalom bar (has the extra diagonal member) for extra strength, but made sure to order it at the street bar height, to allow the roof to go up and down. see, i live in seattle, and if i planned on driving this car ONLY on sunny days, there would be years when it hardly left the garage. luckily, this year is shaping up to be amazing...

anyhow, i do have some complaints. although the welds appear to be pretty top-notch with good penetration, one side of the bar is about 3/4 of an inch lower than the other. also, the rear mount plate on the passenger side, which bolts to the rear wheel well, sits at not quite the right angle. i did a little cold-setting (read: pounding with a 6lb hammer) to line it up better, and also added a couple washers to fill the tiny gap at the outer bolt hole. the thing that i am perhaps most upset about (although the least consequential) is that the rollbar pad i ordered from them for $16 turned out to be just a length of pipe insulation, of a diameter way too small to be of any use.

i didn't really have the heart to ship the thing back to alabama for slight reworking, so i just went with it as-is. i have no doubt that the car is infinitely safer than without it.

Did you have to drill your own holes in the firewall? Does it bolt or screw? It really is a necessity for these convertible cars. Im so blessed to have a family that does support this and that helps teach me. My dad knows basic knoledge about cars, and my uncle is a mechanical mastermind, and my neighbor owns a body shop so i have some nice resources! As far as design goes on a roll bar, i think they all look cool so thats good. Who knows maybe I'll take a road trip all the way up to seattle sometime!

[autotransgression]

Did you have to drill your own holes in the firewall? Does it bolt or screw? It really is a necessity for these convertible cars. Im so blessed to have a family that does support this and that helps teach me. My dad knows basic knoledge about cars, and my uncle is a mechanical mastermind, and my neighbor owns a body shop so i have some nice resources! As far as design goes on a roll bar, i think they all look cool so thats good. Who knows maybe I'll take a road trip all the way up to seattle sometime!

they included nuts, bolts, and backing plates for the underside. i am a little confused by the firewall question. this definitely is not a cage, just a rollbar. i did have to drill, four each for the floor mounts, and three each to the wheel wells.

oh, the one other thing i will complain about is that they just bubble wrapped it and shipped it ups. the nice, heavy-duty black paint was pretty extremely gouged, right at the top curves, which are the most visible part.

[KandJinmaine]

Ken I am very envious of you. I'm 51 not 15, and I learn stuff about our Fiat almost every time I get a chance to tinker with it. The meeting with the CEO and the invitation for an internship could very well be the chance of a lifetime and you should do everything in your power to go for it. If you truly love cars, and you are blessed with knowing that is what you want to do with your life, then you have an amazing head start on most of the rest of us. You sound like a very enterprising young man with a very bright future. Best of luck to you!
As far as the stance goes, lowering springs is the way to go. I don't know if it makes much difference who you get them from, I think we got ours from IAP ( international auto parts) I believe they were made by a company called Eibach. They give the car about and inch and a half lower stance but more importantly they make the car handle like a go cart. As they say here in Maine, It's "wicked fun" to drive. We just got ours allingned yesterday after a complete front end rebuild. The car had been on the back burner for a couple of years and it's great to have it back on the road.
One more thing, you may have noticed that I used the term "we" when referring to working on the car. That is because my beautiful wife and I have worked together on this car from they day we got it. The satisfaction and sense of accomplishment we get from doing it together is a wonderful thing and she now has the knowledge to figure out if something needs attention.
Good luck with the car and the career!!
Jeff

[kenncarp]

Did you have to drill your own holes in the firewall? Does it bolt or screw? It really is a necessity for these convertible cars. Im so blessed to have a family that does support this and that helps teach me. My dad knows basic knoledge about cars, and my uncle is a mechanical mastermind, and my neighbor owns a body shop so i have some nice resources! As far as design goes on a roll bar, i think they all look cool so thats good. Who knows maybe I'll take a road trip all the way up to seattle sometime!

they included nuts, bolts, and backing plates for the underside. i am a little confused by the firewall question. this definitely is not a cage, just a rollbar. i did have to drill, four each for the floor mounts, and three each to the wheel wells.


oh, the one other thing i will complain about is that they just bubble wrapped it and shipped it ups. the nice, heavy-duty black paint was pretty extremely gouged, right at the top curves, which are the most visible part.

Oh that stinks! I didnt mean to say firewall, it was 12 o clock when i was typing that last night . I feel like the black roll bar would contrast good with the red too. I might be ordering one soon. Thanks for the info!

[kenncarp]

Ken I am very envious of you. I'm 51 not 15, and I learn stuff about our Fiat almost every time I get a chance to tinker with it. The meeting with the CEO and the invitation for an internship could very well be the chance of a lifetime and you should do everything in your power to go for it. If you truly love cars, and you are blessed with knowing that is what you want to do with your life, then you have an amazing head start on most of the rest of us. You sound like a very enterprising young man with a very bright future. Best of luck to you!
As far as the stance goes, lowering springs is the way to go. I don't know if it makes much difference who you get them from, I think we got ours from IAP ( international auto parts) I believe they were made by a company called Eibach. They give the car about and inch and a half lower stance but more importantly they make the car handle like a go cart. As they say here in Maine, It's "wicked fun" to drive. We just got ours allingned yesterday after a complete front end rebuild. The car had been on the back burner for a couple of years and it's great to have it back on the road.
One more thing, you may have noticed that I used the term "we" when referring to working on the car. That is because my beautiful wife and I have worked together on this car from they day we got it. The satisfaction and sense of accomplishment we get from doing it together is a wonderful thing and she now has the knowledge to figure out if something needs attention.
Good luck with the car and the career!!
Jeff

That is so cool! Where did you get the car? When did you get the car? As far as having cars and automotive mechanical engineering as a career, thats what ive set my mind to. But ya know life happens . I will for sure be getting a new set of springs, and am looking at the monza wheels from allisons. I think they would compliment eachother nicely . I need to find a girl i can work on my car with also . You should send me a pic of your car sometime!

[kenncarp]

Kenneth, that is truly amazing

Great to see the youth of today appreciate the cars of the past

Thank you! And im glad myself i have the chance to appreciate it. Nice youtube channel by the way!