26 years later

[bwilson27]

My first car was a 1971 Spider. I ran it till the wheels fell off. (sometimes literally).
That was back in the early '80's, and after I finally blew the engine flying down the highway from LaGrande to Baker (Oregon), I went without for 26 years.
For 26 years I dreamed of owning another. In that time I've owned just about every make of car there is besides a Fiat.
That all ended a few weeks ago when I bought two on Craigslist here in Phoenix. Both are rough, the one with the engine has rusted floors, the one without an engine, eh, not so much. But two can make one, and now my project has started.
I've got the engine out of the '74 now, and the '75 stripped down to nothing but the body... The rebuild will be a slow process, possibly taking years, but when done, I'll have the Fiat I've been dreaming of for all those years.

Link to pics as they happen in my sig, for anyone interested.

Oh, great forum!

[mbouse]

looks like you gotcher hands full for a while.

the roll bar in the white car looks just like the one i recently installed in my '80

[bwilson27]

Yeah, I do. But I have my 8 year old daughter to run tools for me and help with the easy stuff, in exchange for a promise that it'll be her fist car when she's 16.

I like the roll bar in the white car much better than the one in the blue car. It's lower and doesn't have the big upright supports right in the middle like the blue one has.

The engine (that came out of the '74) looks really good, the po said it ran well... So that's good. It has the single plane intake and the better carb. There were plenty of spare parts in the trunk of the '75, including another carb, starter, header, alt and many other pieces.

[cutchaguy]

No kidding!!!! I was raised in Baker, '83 grad, and got my BS at LaGrande in '89! I'm new to the world of Fiat and am finding this forum indispensable. Welcome aboard.

[bwilson27]

Yeah, I went to school in Hermiston.
When I blew the Fiat up, I was heading to my cousin's place in Baker. His name is Troy Towell, he graduated there in '83, too!
Did you know him or any of the Towells? They're the ones who ended up with my Fiat. I never knew what they did with it, but my guess is that car is somewhere in Baker still.

Also- my brother, Ray Fields, went to college in LaGrand during that time as well, maybe you remember him?

[cutchaguy]

Yep! I knew Troy. I go back occasionally just to remind myself why I left. :p

[bwilson27]

Small world, isn't it?
Did you ever get a chance to see Troy's black '69 Mach I? That thing was BAD.

[cutchaguy]

I didn't. I loved those Mach 1's and wish I did!

[rlux4]

Welcome to the site B. You matched me. Check out my signature line.
Ron

[bwilson27]

Thanks. Yeah, these cars are bad addictive. I'm not sure if it's just cause they're sweet little cars, or because of some personality quirk we have that drives us to crave them, but once I had one, I never forgot it, and always told myself I'd eventually have another when the time was right.
They're like crack, I guess. And every time someone posts a new picture of their Spider, I immediately love it, no matter how rusty or beat they are. They're still Awesome. And the restored ones are like works of art in my eyes.

[jimincalif]

I'm sort of in the 26 year thing as well. Had a 78 Fiat 128 3P I traded in in July of 1983, got my 80 FI Spider in August of 2009, so 26 years between Fiats.

[bwilson27]

Hey! It's a club!
That '71 being my first car, I didn't have much experience working on cars. I remember having a heck of a time figuring out the problem when the voltage regulator went bad. I probably put 3 batteries in it and a couple alternators before some kind parts guy finally told there was such a thing as a regulator. I remember trying to figure out why I couldn't find any wheels to fit my car, and trying to force 100mm wheels on it. I probably owned about 3 tools total- A pair of pliers, a screwdriver and a 1/2" wrench, which would never work for me, for some reason.

[Fonz]

wow what a journey, I guess you always go back to what you love. Best of luck.