My Second Fiat - The Runner

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wachuko
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Your car is a: 1981 Fiat 2000 Spider
Location: Orlando, FL USA
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Re: My Second Fiat - The Runner

Post by wachuko »

Make sure all the hardware of the top frame is tight and moves like it's supposed to. Blow clean all the moveable joints with compressed air, lightly lubricate and lightly blow the lubricant into the joints. Then clean the frame of all the grease — you don't want this on your new top!

Lay the new top over bows and slide stiffeners under rear body bar pulling the top taut from side to side. Push bar down as far as possible and tighten the bolts, starting from the center and working to the outside.

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Slip the top over the front bow and glue the top to the bow using a good fabric cement or any good contact cement such as Wilhold Contact Cement available at most hardware stores. - In this step the instructions from IAP asks that you glue the top at the front bow, the instructions from Chris Obert's installation guide mentions that you can go either way. In our case we decided NOT to glue the front. It allowed us to validate install and remove the front to do some additional fitting. For example, we noticed that the strip of foam on the front bow was in pieces and when the new top went in place you could tell the places where the foam was gone or bent out of shape. We took the top off the front bow, cleaned the old foam strip and used double face tape (1/2" wide) to replace it. Again, forgot to take a photo of it, but this is where the tape was placed. The bow has an indent all across so it is easy to see where it goes. We just installed it flush with the border.

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Lift top halfway up and pull cable through the top by tying the string to the cable. - The top that Frank got had a cord/string to fish the cable... I was not that lucky, we had to use a cloth hanger to insert it and then taped the cable and pulled it through.

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Fasten top into position and glue remainder bow covering into place. Also glue quarter pads around rear bow and quarter window glue strip. - This we left till the end... But something cool that Frank did was to install velcro on his... so instead of having to glue the top to the bows, his just wraps around with bow and is fixed in place with velcro. Pretty neat... I, on the other hand, had to glue those in place.

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With the top's front flap wrapped around the front bow we (well, we meaning Frank and me taking photos :lol: ) proceeded to install the rubber gasket with the plastic trim and front brackets/clamp down harness/watchamacallits

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Slip cable under end of body bar and pull it thru the clip. Pull cable taut and tighten screws.

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Replace the rear molding.

Pull inside window flap taut and punch through bracket location in front. Use the bolt and trim washers to hold in position. These are where the rivets were previously. Fasten front and rear of this flap. Replace bracket coverings (cut off bolts if necessary to make brackets lay in the proper position).

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I couple of suggestions. Read two links... I found the one from Chris to be the best one, more detailed. The one from IAP was great at providing a quick/high-level understanding of what you need to do. Some highlights: Do not glue the front of the top to the bow, not really needed... the double face tape at the front bow if your foam strip there is gone... back of the top, center the top across the back — the top center is the center of the slots the plastic is pushed into. Measure the center of the car, place a tape, use that to align the rear of the top.

Cables, the ones included with my top were too short... Lowes sells these... we will be replacing Frank's with a longer set as we need a bit more play on the sides to allow the side flaps to come down a bit more.

Do not glue the flaps around the bows until the very end, once you are certain everything is fine. I will be doing that next weekend.

Take a lot of photos of everything BEFORE you remove the first bolt/screw... you will be glad you did. I just can't thank Frank enough... I had not point of reference to install mine. If it was not for having Frank's car as a reference, I would had been toast.

Leave the beer, wine, or hard licor for after the install... stick to espresso while doing this... :)

If you know you need to recover pieces... get that ahead of time :roll: Don't ask me why... again, I will be finishing mine next weekend because of this. :oops:

I will upload a few more photos as I finish what is left from mine. Ciao!!
Last edited by wachuko on Mon Feb 13, 2012 12:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Wachuko

1981 Fiat Spider Progress thread
1967 912 Progress Thread
1981 911 SC Coupe RS Transformation
1983 911 SC Coupe RSR Transformation
1991 964 C4 Cabriolet Progress Thread
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124JOE
Posts: 3141
Joined: Fri Jun 24, 2011 7:11 pm
Your car is a: 1978 124 fiat spider sport 1800
Location: SO. WI

Re: My Second Fiat - The Runner

Post by 124JOE »

perfecto!!!
when you do everything correct people arent sure youve done anything at all (futurama)
ul1joe@yahoo.com 124joe@gmail.com
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courtenay
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Your car is a: 1980 Spider 2000
Location: Courtenay, BC, Canada

Re: My Second Fiat - The Runner

Post by courtenay »

All I can say is "wow" Jamie. A great pictorial lesson. Thanks!!
Bruce Shearer
'80 Spider Fi
'10 Volvo XC70
'06 GMC 1 Ton PU
'72 Spider a long, long time ago
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wachuko
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Your car is a: 1981 Fiat 2000 Spider
Location: Orlando, FL USA
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Re: My Second Fiat - The Runner

Post by wachuko »

courtenay wrote:All I can say is "wow" Jamie. A great pictorial lesson. Thanks!!
I edited the last post with some suggestions and highlights... be sure to read it.

I will also keep updating as I finish mine... I was missing some material to cover the front bow and the rear cover...

As you can see in the photo, mine is in bad shape and needs recovering...

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Wachuko

1981 Fiat Spider Progress thread
1967 912 Progress Thread
1981 911 SC Coupe RS Transformation
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wachuko
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Re: My Second Fiat - The Runner

Post by wachuko »

Flaps glued around the bows and plastic trim installed:

I centered the bow on the middle of the flaps, where you see the stitching. I then sprayed the flaps on the inside with some 3M Spray Adhesive. I sprayed closed to the flap, but just in case, I covered the window to avoid any glue overspray from reaching it...

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Plastic trim. Just snap it in place.

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All plastic trim for the bows installed...

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Still need to figure out how these flaps go...

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And need to buy material for covering the inside of the front bow... and clean the inside of the car :oops: Is dusty and the pollen index is not helping...

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and a couple of photos from the outside:

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Drive Safe!
Wachuko

1981 Fiat Spider Progress thread
1967 912 Progress Thread
1981 911 SC Coupe RS Transformation
1983 911 SC Coupe RSR Transformation
1991 964 C4 Cabriolet Progress Thread
2012 BMW X5 xDrive35d
2015 FIAT Abarth
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Snoopy
Posts: 254
Joined: Wed Mar 18, 2009 7:24 pm
Your car is a: 1980 CS0 2000 f.i. US [Build 1979]
Location: Stuttgart, Germany

Re: My Second Fiat - The Runner

Post by Snoopy »

Helpful description !
CS0 2000 f.i. 79, Abarth 500C 595 2013, Ford C-MAX 1.0 Ecoboost 2015
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wachuko
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Your car is a: 1981 Fiat 2000 Spider
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Re: My Second Fiat - The Runner

Post by wachuko »

Heading out tomorrow to Frank's house to replace a brake reservoir and the steering idler/damper.

I had a spare steering idler

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What this thing looks like apart:

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New bushings arrived... 2 different sets... :?:

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I tried these first...

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and they broke as soon as I tried inserting the shaft.

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So plan B, used the other set and got it repaired:

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Drive Safe!
Wachuko

1981 Fiat Spider Progress thread
1967 912 Progress Thread
1981 911 SC Coupe RS Transformation
1983 911 SC Coupe RSR Transformation
1991 964 C4 Cabriolet Progress Thread
2012 BMW X5 xDrive35d
2015 FIAT Abarth
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braca23
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Joined: Mon Jul 25, 2011 9:36 am
Your car is a: FIAT 124 Sport Spider 1971
Location: Belgrade - Serbia

Re: My Second Fiat - The Runner

Post by braca23 »

Hello wachuko,

I am pretty new here, and I must to say that Your work process, shown here, is very usefull for my starts on FIAT 124 Spider. I read this topic from A to Z, and I am planing to keep following Your work, specialy because some of that I should do on my own car.

Cheers mate! :D
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wachuko
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Your car is a: 1981 Fiat 2000 Spider
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Re: My Second Fiat - The Runner

Post by wachuko »

braca23 wrote:Hello wachuko,

I am pretty new here, and I must to say that Your work process, shown here, is very usefull for my starts on FIAT 124 Spider. I read this topic from A to Z, and I am planing to keep following Your work, specialy because some of that I should do on my own car.

Cheers mate! :D
Glad to be of help. Just a way to pay back for all the information I also get from forum members.
Drive Safe!
Wachuko

1981 Fiat Spider Progress thread
1967 912 Progress Thread
1981 911 SC Coupe RS Transformation
1983 911 SC Coupe RSR Transformation
1991 964 C4 Cabriolet Progress Thread
2012 BMW X5 xDrive35d
2015 FIAT Abarth
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wachuko
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Your car is a: 1981 Fiat 2000 Spider
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Re: My Second Fiat - The Runner

Post by wachuko »

A got a set of Abarth bumperettes!!! A got a set of Abarth bumperettes!!!

Thank you Matt at Vick AutoSports Store!!

Also, Sunday afternoon I was able to swap the rear part of the wire harness and now I have all working lights. Remember that I have 83-8 dash, steering column, etc. from a parts car, in my '81, so I also moved the harness over.

Covered with new vinyl the rear trim piece at the bottom of the top... photos when I get home from work.

Now the frigging air flow meter is acting up... and I don't want to spend the $$ on a new or rebuilt unit if I am going with a dual carb setup... anyway, lots to do on the interior to keep me busy.... I was just hoping to drive it to work, now that the lights are fixed, while I worked on it, sob...
Drive Safe!
Wachuko

1981 Fiat Spider Progress thread
1967 912 Progress Thread
1981 911 SC Coupe RS Transformation
1983 911 SC Coupe RSR Transformation
1991 964 C4 Cabriolet Progress Thread
2012 BMW X5 xDrive35d
2015 FIAT Abarth
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DocGraphics
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Joined: Sat Mar 19, 2011 6:43 pm
Your car is a: 1978 124 spider
Location: Coeur d'Alene Idaho

Re: My Second Fiat - The Runner

Post by DocGraphics »

Congrats on the bumperettes! I love the look, matter of a fact I just won a set for myself off evilbay yesterday too!
Don Raugust
1978 Fiat 124 Spider "Fiona" - Burgundy/Tan
2011 pics: http://s918.photobucket.com/albums/ad22 ... 0Pictures/
2012 pics: http://s918.photobucket.com/albums/ad22 ... cs%202012/
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wachuko
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Re: My Second Fiat - The Runner

Post by wachuko »

DocGraphics wrote:Congrats on the bumperettes! I love the look, matter of a fact I just won a set for myself off evilbay yesterday too!
Cool! Congratulations! Check pm :)
Drive Safe!
Wachuko

1981 Fiat Spider Progress thread
1967 912 Progress Thread
1981 911 SC Coupe RS Transformation
1983 911 SC Coupe RSR Transformation
1991 964 C4 Cabriolet Progress Thread
2012 BMW X5 xDrive35d
2015 FIAT Abarth
dzyfngrs

Re: My Second Fiat - The Runner

Post by dzyfngrs »

Jaime, you're terrific. Thanks for a great time last Saturday and all the espresso. I think we did a great job on our cars and your photo diary is awesome. What can I say - you're the best!

Frank
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wachuko
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Re: My Second Fiat - The Runner

Post by wachuko »

Got a few goodies yesterday...

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The old hose had a cut so I wanted to replace that. Also, thanks to the great community of FIAT enthusiasts we have here, they are sending me an AFM that I can use until I sort out what the problem is or go to Carbs, or whatever :lol: Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! ORFORD2004 for what you did!!

Bumpers, could not pass up an available set. So... Now I need time to install all this.
Drive Safe!
Wachuko

1981 Fiat Spider Progress thread
1967 912 Progress Thread
1981 911 SC Coupe RS Transformation
1983 911 SC Coupe RSR Transformation
1991 964 C4 Cabriolet Progress Thread
2012 BMW X5 xDrive35d
2015 FIAT Abarth
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wachuko
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Re: My Second Fiat - The Runner

Post by wachuko »

dzyfngrs wrote:Jaime, you're terrific. Thanks for a great time last Saturday and all the espresso. I think we did a great job on our cars and your photo diary is awesome. What can I say - you're the best!

Frank
Do not give me all the credit. Could have not done the top without you. So let's just say that we are both amazing! :lol:

We still have the steering damper and brake reservoir to install on yours.
Drive Safe!
Wachuko

1981 Fiat Spider Progress thread
1967 912 Progress Thread
1981 911 SC Coupe RS Transformation
1983 911 SC Coupe RSR Transformation
1991 964 C4 Cabriolet Progress Thread
2012 BMW X5 xDrive35d
2015 FIAT Abarth
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