For years, the Fiat has sat in her garage and as well in the back of my mind until I recently decided to take the initiative to begin restoring grandpa's Spider. When I approached her about the car she gave it to me, said grandpa loved the car and that she knew I would someday want to 'fix it up."
I've had the vehicle for about 3 weeks and have gotten the car to start (new battery, removed old gas, oil and filter change, and some light knocking on the carburetor for needle, fixed automatic choke in and out on carb and choke water lines, flushed radiator and thermostat check, rebuilt all brake calipers, and replaced brake shoes).
That was my first goal - to be able to move the car in and out of the garage. I've actually got to take a few laps around the block to check the brakes which was a cool acomplishment. My grandmother lives a couple of houses down from my family and she immediately recognized the sound of the car when I started doing laps.
I didn't realize the alure of these vehicles until I had it out of the garage and in the driveway for a couple of hours and noticed two cars that had slowed or stopped to check it out.
A couple of things I've quickly learned about working on this car. You can find parts, but not necessarily as quick as the afternoon you are working on your car. After checking the first rear brake, I tried to find a caliper rebuild kit. After checking the local import shops the kit would take a couple of days to order. I remembered reading about Allison's Automotive somewhere in So Cal on the site - if he had em' maybe I could get them on Sat after an afternoon of little league games. As it happened, I caught Mark on his way out the door at 4:50 pm on a Friday eve and it just so happened that he was driving by my part of So Cal that evening. He was happy to meet me at the local Starbucks at 8:00 pm.
When I said, "I'll be wearing a black sweatshirt and hat." He replied, "Yeah, and I'll be the one walking in with two boxes of brake parts." Mark and his wife are two of the classiest and warmest persons you'll meet.
Next time, I'll order the parts I think I'll need ahead of time because chances are...I'll need them and won't be able to find them same day or same weekend for that matter.
Lesson number two - look for used parts, they're alot cheaper. I took a trip to the local wrecking yard JFTHOI and after searching the entire yard, and a pretty big one at that, I happened to come across a 1978 Fiat Spider that had been there for about 5 days. It looked like the Fiat locusts had already been there but there were still some great parts to be found. I think that this was like getting hit by lightning your first time in the rain because after that first wrecking yard search I have a feeling that Fiats don't show up alot and when they do, they're gone fast.
Lesson number three - working on a car like this your gonna need friends. I've gotten a tremendous amount of information from people posting great information to my posts. Shout out to Manoa Matt!
The last thing I've learned so far - post pics on your intro page. So here they are.
Peace! from Downey, CA.
Martin
The car could be described as a "65 footer". All lightcovers are still in good shape which is great because I've seen what the replacements cost. Being stored in a cramped garage for many years the body acquired many dents the worst of which can be seen on the front right quarter panel. Most weather striping for windows and doors will need to be replaced.
Overhead engine compartment. Engine has an oil leak that that really gets going after the car warms up.
Sideview engine compartment.
Interior has cracked dash, tears in driver seat, cracked and warped center console. Door panels have tears in the vinyl.
Top cover mechanics look and work good. I need to figure how to collapse it properly without force. Lucked out and found a replacement top in the trunk still in the box. Back seats have no tears and back seat side panels are in decent shape.
Front quarter panel. I've been told these wheels are aftermarket - look out for my post coming soon in WHEELS AND TIRES on how to clean the wheels up as the aluminum? is pretty dull and black paint is coming off the inside of the wheel 'spoke' type things.
Rear quarter panel.
It wouldn't be a Fiat without rust. All of this rust appears on the driver side door which I found a replacement for in grandpa's garage.
More door rust. What is that wide silver 'tracked' trim below the door? Does anybody know if it is OEM or aftermarket? It looks like this caused some rusting on the bottom panel it's attached to.
Photos hosted on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/37089869@N03/
Keep them coming.
Nice Denise!