My Second Fiat - The Runner

[Foster48x]

even my mother-in-law sounded happy ...

Exactly how many "Happy Pills" did it take to make this possible

[Europa]

I had a new one so I replaced it and the universe went back to its balance, life looked better, I could hear birds sing, a big breasted woman with a hot body went by the front of my house jogging, my wife just smiled, even my mother-in-law sounded happy ...

I think I will end the day on that note Good night!

Look at what happens when one gets his/her FIAT to run just right. All's well that ends well.

[2ndwind]

Pardon my ignorance but what did that wire go to?

[wachuko]

Pardon my ignorance but what did that wire go to?

Goes to the distributor... it is the pickup. Goes from the distributor to the ignition (right under the coil).

[wachuko]

Troubleshooting some poor running conditions... help welcomed... well, needed, really

Another poor running FI Spider...

Also sent the dash parts to Denise for some TLC...

[84pininfarinablack]

ive still got that extra tranny... Well have to get it to you soon if your still having the issue just swap it out..

[wachuko]

Let see... was it the blue and white wire that went to the... and what is this brown wire doing over here?? ooohh man....

[BEEK]

in the orlando area, e-mail me if i can be of assistance, 20 year fiat mechanic

[wachuko]

in the orlando area, e-mail me if i can be of assistance, 20 year fiat mechanic

BEEK, welcome to the forum!! It is great to see the team in Central Florida growing.

I am now working on moving the wiring from the 83 to this 81 so that all the dash instruments plug in without major surgery.



I had to take a break from the engine work I was doing as I was getting a bit frustrated. First finding out that the auxiliary shaft was broken (see thread: Can Engine Block be Fixed), replacing that, fixing a few things here and there, shaping the oil pan again... then the car is running very rough... See here: Poor Running FI Fiat Spider

So just to relax I decided to work a little on the interior before starting all the diagnostic process in the engine bay.

We should plan a get together of all the folks in Central Florida. There are quite a few that have joined the forum recently (me included).

Thank you for the offer to help. After I reach my level of incompetence (which should not be long now, ) I might take you up on it . First, let me try to bust my knuckles, shed some blood, curse a little, and invoke the FIAT gods before I do so

And a few unrelated photos... I just love the lines on this car...

[wachuko]

Got my clock!! Thank you Nick!

[wachuko]

Ongoing work replacing the wire harness inside with the '83 wire harness...

I decided to also tackle the windshield, the one in the car looked like it got hit in two places by a small rock and had two small chips in it. Since I needed to move the visors over from the other car I decided to just move the whole thing over:

Old unit:


'83 unit in place. The visor mirror (not the aftermarket you see there) still had the plastic protector in place. Pretty cool.





With the windshield in place I started working on the wiring. I loosen the four bolts holding the base of the pedals and the steering rack to get some additional space to pass the fuse box over.





Found some surface rust just above the fuse panel on the side of the car. Time to take out the cleaner, metal preparation, and the POR15





Steering wheel connectors can now be connected (not only is the wiring different, the actual plug/connectors are different as well).





I will also clean under here and paint it with POR15 to protect it. I was surprise to not find rust in there. Lots of leafs, but no rust...





That is all for today... will start bright and early tomorrow. Want to finish the wiring so I can get back to troubleshooting the engine.

[wachuko]

I installed the wire harness from the '83, the steering wheel. Now I have working headlights (the steering wheel on the '81 had a broken switch...)

Was also able to resolve the poor running condition

Now I can start putting the dash back together and just wait for the new dash panels to install the instruments. Yeah!!

While I wait for that I will work on the carpet and top, in that order.

[wachuko]

Wrong photos... here of the interior wiring:





The labels really helped...



Had to loosen the heater to be able to pull the wires behind it...



Connected the gauges to make sure it was working... only ones I was not able to connect were the speedo and tach since I have to redo those to the new wiring configuration...





I know it looks like a spaghetti... but it is all in place and only needing the dash to hide the wires...





All for today, ciao!

[rlux4]

Jaime, that wiring does not look like spaghetti. It's 100% better than what's normally behind the console.
I'm enjoying watching your progress. Although it does make me feel envious of your energy.
Ron

[pooldoctorstl]

Going back to a subject about 4 pages ago in this thread, did you ever get the LR bumper shock bolt out? I did mine today on my 82 by draining the tank but having done it, I think I could have done it by jacking up the tank. I say this because I loosened the clamp and drained the tank, but when I lifted and moved the tank, the filler hose never came completely off the tank neck. So I think it would have worked with a jack under the tank.

Jeff