No Title, Basket Case - Options?

[jofinneg]

Hi there,

I have a 1973 124 Spider that was originally from Georgia.

I bought it a few years back for a few hundred bucks- it had been sitting in the owner's yard, under an awning, for about 20 years.

Needless to say, she is in pretty rough shape.

I have not dug deep enough into the shock towers and cross member to see if it is more than surface rust- they appear to be ok, but I haven't pulled the engine yet to verify this.

The Bad:
-The left side floor pan is rusted through along the very left edge and will need to be replaced.
-The wheel wells are a rust-pocked mess and it looks like they tried to then paint directly over the rust
-Interior is pretty much a total loss, including the dash and seats
-There is a ding on the frame rail bottom just to the left of under the drivers seat. It looks like it was hit and jacked up an inch or so, but I can't see if it affects structural stability.

The 'Good':
-The rockers are in good shape,
-the trunk is dry and intact
-The door gaps are perfect- she seems to be nice and straight
-Old-style bumpers have only a couple dings and the chrome is pretty good
-Other than some bubbling here and there where it is rusting through, the panels are in pretty decent shape

I'm weighing whether I want to dive in and spend the money restore her, but before I do so, I need to know if any of you have any ideas on my options for titling the car. I'm in South Carolina, but it is an original Georgia car.

Does anyone have experience titling out-of-state, old vehicles?

What are my options?

Thanks,
John

[mdrburchette]

I just got rid of your car's little sister. I picked her up in Macon: 70 model, no title, floorboard about gone, everything intact. I just got rid of her as a parts car. You can still buy very good drivers for a whole lot less than you'll put in one in that shape. You can also recoup your money by parting it out.
I would have had to have the car in safe driving condition to apply for a "lost" title in NC. It just wasn't worth the effort.

[jofinneg]

Wait a minute- this is a Fiat forum, right? Aren't you supposed to urge me to save her, to hell with the cost?

I've dug a little deeper into the car.

It turns out that the wheel wells are in good shape- what I assumed was rust scaring was just paint over some type of undercoating. In fact, the entire underside of the car was undercoated at some point in its life. It didn't, however, prevent rust holes. She's got several through-and-through rust holes on the underside. At least one of the seat mounts is somewhat loose.

I'll try to take out the seats and take some pictures. Hey, how the heck do you take out these seats anyway???

Once I take some pictures, maybe someone can chime in if it may be worth it.

I did find the Wolf Steel guy up in Canada:

http://www.alfaparts.net/fiatspider.html

Any experience with his replacement panels?

Thanks,
John
Greenville, SC

[Exit98]

Hi John,

Seats out. That's easy, even for me.

Slide them all the way back. At the front of each rail is a screw. There's a captured nut below. Unscrew them. Slide the seat all the way forward. Two more screws at the back of the rails. Same thing. Take seat out.

You may want to shoot some WD40 or whatever first. Don't strip the heads or the easy job will get hard real quick.

Waiting for the pictures.

[jofinneg]

Hey all, I've got photos.

I've also gone poking around the engine. I have a '73 with a 1592. The head is cast as 132AB and it has a 4-2-1 header.

It looks like someone tried a shade-tree body shop job on the driver's side under the seat. There are some pop rivet patches. I imagine a good size hole lies under there. There is a good 6" hole on the passenger side and the chair bracket is also letting loose there.

As far as other spots on the body, the shock towers look to be in good shape, and from what I see, the cross member has just surface rust. I'll find out more when I get the engine out.

So, Fiat experts, how bad is it- what are you're opinions on the future of this car?

Thanks,
John


Driver Side Left Floorpan by fiatspiderforum, on Flickr


Driver Side Left Seat by fiatspiderforum, on Flickr


Passenger Side Right Seat by fiatspiderforum, on Flickr

[spiderrey]

Ive scrapped cars with less rust, and seen others build cars that were worse. So its up to you.

[dhagood]

looks to me that if you remove that black tarry insulation from the driver's footwell you would find more rust. all that you've shown is fixable; the question is whether or not it is worth it to you to retain that car.

[WarbirdAL]

I would love to have a 73. I would at least keep it until it fell apart if i weren't going to fix it. But then I am addicted to Fiats. I haven't found any cure for that, no matter how much money it drains me

[mdrburchette]

Our vendors offer floorpans. We'd love to see more pics to help you determine if it's worth saving.

[baltobernie]

Hey John, how'd you make out with the SC DMV? Were they able to help you with title information?