New addition to the family

[radiopilot]

Well I picked up the new spider in Panama City, it handled the 420 miles back to my home without any problems.

Here are some promised pics, I also took a pic of the 1" thick folder of maintenance records for this car along with the original manuals.

















Nick

[Danno]

Nick, looks awesome. Love those wheels....

[radiopilot]

Thanks Dan...

After bringing her home (do we have names for these cars?), I carefully inspected (as much as I know?) all the interior items, most are stock besides the new carpet which I might sell on Ebay or here, the luggage rack (dealer installed option) not the chrome formed grill but aluminum flat bar riveted to aluminum pipe with end extrusions (not a pretty sight) was removed as can be seen in the photos... the windshield has some cloudiness around the lower edges (see photo), can this be removed, it looks like the cloudiness seen on the clock crystal, is there a way to heat the glass to remove this or will I be ordering a new windshield for this car?

The wheels are very nice but they too show the signs of needing new powdercoat paint or refinishing, the steering wheels has been replaced with an IAP wheel, and the original with the 'Ferraro' signature was in the trunk... are these wheels better than the IAP wheel or is it just a 'stock' wheel that should be replaced back for the stock look of the car?

In the engine bay it's all there based on stock photos of these cars in the manuals and websites for this year, but the engine needs to have some chrome somewhere in there... it could also use a pressure cleaning (what should I avoid)... Well got the cover back on the car and will wait for this weekend to change all the fluids ( the PO had all the work done by shops) so I might have to do extra things to make sure it's done right (we tallied up the bills the PO had spent on this car at different shops and it's a staggering $16,000+ in bills over the lifetime he owned it - how many times does the fuel filter needs replacing, it got a new clutch, rebuilt transmission, new radiator, 2 water pumps, fuel pump, heater coil, etc. the list goes on and on).

He must have loved this car since on the invoice it's got these same words 'Fix it please, got to have my car' over and over again.

Nick

[rlux4]

Hi Radiopilot, your wheels are stock. They are Cromodora style "J", sometimes called "turbo" wheels. At the get together at Merkel's on the 17th a discussion about wheels came up. Several guys thought they had mag wheels, but Merkel (who is quite the expert in all things Fiat) said the only magnesium wheel there that weekend were mine, which are the same as yours. Like I said before, yours and mine could be twins, other than mine came with the upholtered console option.

[radiopilot]

How will I know other than taking a wheel off that they are mag or alum.. is there an indicator somewhere on the wheels itself, the alloy material does look different from alum?

There is another wheel in the trunk, perhaps tomorrow I will lift the wheel and check it's weight against the wheel in my son's car, they are also very light too (but are they mag too?)

I'd like to see a picture of your consoles to see what they look like, I plan on redoing the interior.

Nick

[rlux4]

I'm just going by what Merkel said. I was suprised to hear it. I had thought mine were aluminum. He did say they would weigh about 8 lbl., where an aluminum wheel would be in the 12 lb. range. I'll get pictures of my console right now and post them later tonight. The only problem with the upholstered console, is that it's not two piece, like the plastic ones. So when I have to take it out, it's a very tight squeeze to get it out from under the dash. It's not upholstery over the normal plasic console, it's like fiberglass underneath.

[rlux4]

Pics of the console. Let me know if they aren't detailed enough, I was in the garage at night, I can do it again in daylight if you would like better shots.

[spiderrey]

i really doubt that those turbo wheels are magnesium. it is my understanding that they stopped using magnesium along time ago, due to the fact under an impact they tended to break and not bend as aluminum would.

[pope]

radiopilot,
Can you post your pics at 600 x 4?? resolution or less? Right now they are 1024 x 768. The pics are running off the screen. Their too big and we want to see all of those beautiful spider pics. Thanks

[radiopilot]

radiopilot,
Can you post your pics at 600 x 4?? resolution or less? Right now they are 1024 x 768. The pics are running off the screen. Their too big and we want to see all of those beautiful spider pics. Thanks

That's easy, right click your mouse and click 'view image', you'll get the full image on the screen.

Nick

[radiopilot]

Pics of the console. Let me know if they aren't detailed enough, I was in the garage at night, I can do it again in daylight if you would like better shots.

Thanks, the image shows the detail, what is the flap at the rear of the floor console behind the brake lever? I'd seen this before in other pictures of consoles, when I sewed my son's console I ran the material all the way so there is no flap.

Where does the console break in yours? From the pic it looks like it breaks just below the ash tray?

I'm now interested in those seats, are they custom made and leather, they're not from IAP or World U., they are very nice.

Nick

[pope]

radiopilot,
Can you post your pics at 600 x 4?? resolution or less? Right now they are 1024 x 768. The pics are running off the screen. Their too big and we want to see all of those beautiful spider pics. Thanks

That's easy, right click your mouse and click 'view image', you'll get the full image on the screen.

Nick

Yah I know, what I should have said was, So we can view your pics without having to right click on each one.

[radiopilot]

Yah I know, what I should have said was, So we can view your pics without having to right click on each one.

OK... I resized the pics...

Nick

[rlux4]

The flap is metal under the vinyl. It's only purpose I could make out is it has to be pried up to get to the bolt holding down the rear of the console. Once it's been pried up though, it does't want to lay down flat again. I've seen a lot of them sticking up like mine, or worse. The console doesn't break, it's all one piece. There is a joint where the plastic consoles come apart, but it doesn't separate. The seats upholstery is shot in my car, the wife doesn't want me to spend the $$ to get new, so these are seat covers. Leather from Pep Boys. Not as good a fit as upholstery, but very comfortable with foam backing. Plenty good enough for now, till I can afford upholstery!
Edit: Lest I offend anyone, I'm not bashing my wife, she's the best wife I ever had! And much more the practical one of us. I am spending $1300 for a tranny now, so I understand her reasoning.

[pope]

Hey Nick, cool car. Is it a F.I. Spider or does it have a carb? 1980 was the only year that they made both.