New addition to the family

[mbouse]

thanks for resizing those pictures. both my computers were unable to wait long enough for the first set to show up on the screen. i was beginning to wonder if i was ever gonna get to review this post.

Good looking car!!

sorry, i did not see that luggage rack you were referring to,and i certainly would not consider installing it on that rear deck!

[radiopilot]

The car is F.I., it runs fine and idles fine, should I be aware of anything with the F.I. engines?

The rack is shown below, if I didn't know any better I would have thought this was put together using bathroom shower parts, look closely...



Nick

[pope]

That is a Swedish towel warmer but can also be used over basement windows to keep crooks out or if you stand it up, you can use it as a bike rack for the neighborhood kids in front of your house.

You will love F.I. spider. Not much goes wrong and pretty solid on startup. I love mine '80. In 1980, those spiders were only sold in California, carbbed every where else until 81.

[radiopilot]

Yeah... I can't imagine the dealer installed this on this car. Why wasn't the other chrome rack installed?

I believe I like the F.I. version though it doesn't lend to have some chrome (air filter) in the engine bay without too much expense, I may check out the K&B air filter assemblies and see what's in there, for my son's car I removed the huge stock air filter assy and installed the small chrome air filter with the manifold breather fitting... looks and works great.

What kind of gas mileage are you getting, for instance when we drove the car back from Panama City, we took my wife's Jeep Patriot 30mpg highway w/13 gallon tank, we filled both cars up and drove till she had 1/2 tank exactly when we both got to the gas station to fill up I still had 5/8th tank left... the spider has an 11.4 gallon tank according to the manual, therefore it's got to be getting better than 30mpg... makes sense?

Now I have to do the same comparison with my daughters Mazda 3i, her car also does 30mpg or better and it's F.I. as well...

Nick

[Ragno]

HI RELUX4,

I really like the stiched console. So you know a place where I can source one?

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.

[rlux4]

Ragno, no, I'm sorry, I wouldn't know where to get one that is "factory" like mine, other than luck into one that is from someone parting out a car newer than '81. 1981 is the LE Anniversary model that first had this type of console. After that they were an option. When I bought my car the seller didn't even list the upgraded console, so I was totally suprised to see it. I found out the background on it after I got the car. Others have had done, or upholstered thier original plastic console. Way past my skill level with a sewing machine!

[JeremyB]

Ragno, Absolutely beautiful Spider! I just spent the last 30-45 inutes studying you pics. In fact, I have copied a few pics from the net of things that I REALLY like. I am gonna do the same with some of your pics.

[JeremyB]

Ragno, after looking at your pics, I had a couple questions. I noticed the seats you installed. They look pretty tall. Can you drive with the roof up? Im 6'1-6'2. the stock seat are too a=small, and I want to get different seats. One of the issues I have been told is seat height. If the seats are too tall, it becomes a problem.
Also, I noticed you have your speakers mounted in the inside rear quarter panel. Did you build an interior surround for the back side of the speakers? And if so, how did you get it small enough to where the roof can still close and open? Also, did you mount speakers on the top side of the map pockets? By lokoing at the pics, I see soemthing there, but I cannto quite make out what it is.

[Ragno]

Ragno, after looking at your pics, I had a couple questions. I noticed the seats you installed. They look pretty tall. Can you drive with the roof up? Im 6'1-6'2. the stock seat are too a=small, and I want to get different seats. One of the issues I have been told is seat height. If the seats are too tall, it becomes a problem.
Also, I noticed you have your speakers mounted in the inside rear quarter panel. Did you build an interior surround for the back side of the speakers? And if so, how did you get it small enough to where the roof can still close and open? Also, did you mount speakers on the top side of the map pockets? By lokoing at the pics, I see soemthing there, but I cannto quite make out what it is.

Hi JeremyB,

Thanks for the compliments. I'm 6' and I can sit in the car with the top up with no problem. The seat heidth did increase an 1" or so, but the trade off in comfort is worth it. Speakers are mounted in both the rear quarter panel and above the map pockets. I ended up building new rear quarter panels out of 1/4 ply (not in the photos). I used foam speaker cups that I ordered from crutchfield to seal the speakers up. I have a compact powered Kenwood sub in the trunk.

[radiopilot]

Ragno... beautiful car and I noticed you too live in Savannah, maybe we could meet up somewhere on Tybee, or Forshyth Park and have a mini Italian car meet, albiet maybe 4-5 cars might show up but it would be a beginning and maybe one of us could initiate the club then, just a thought... email me a PM if you can.

Great looking car once again... thinking about removing the bumpers as well...

Nick

[JeremyB]

Ragno, Thats for the response! More seat questions. What kind of seats are those? How much were they(if you dont mind)? Where did yo uget them from?

[ga.spyder]

Nick Congrats on the new addition,it is a really good looking car.Does this mean you are free to cruise w/o having to borrow the son's car? Let me know if you have a S.E. Georgia 'I' car festival ,it would be a great excuse for me to visit that area!
Craig

[radiopilot]

Craig... Thanks, I kinda felt a little envious that I did all that work on his car that I just had to get my own spider!
The car is very nice and I hope to completely change her looks in the future, trying to collect the proper items (Abarth bumpers, wood steering wheel, etc.) before taking the interior apart, etc. I might do some things differently than what's in my son's car, any ideas... I'm really creative with my hands.

YEAH... we would like you to join us one Saturday or Sunday over in Savannah for a great old Italian day, we'll keep in touch when I'm ready to have both cars ready to stroll down Riverstreet.

Nick

[JeremyB]

Radio, I really like your Fiat! In fact, it look s ahell of alot like mine even down to the tan interior with the black roof! You said you wanted to replace the carpet, and the steering wheel? I may be very interested in both of them when you go to replace them. When teh time comes, lemmie know!
So let me see if I got this right. You did a bunch of work on your sons Fiat, then got your own! I bet you had to take in on several test drives.......Juuuuust to make sure everything was working properly huh?

[JeremyB]

I also really like the upholstered console. I'm not a car magazine person at all. But, Yesterday I saw a car mag that had a coupl epretty good atricles on body work, and seat reupholsery. I dont really think the console would be THAT terribly difficult to upholster. It seems that the biggest key to making it look "right" besides being very patient and precise, is making sure that you glue 1/4 inch foam to the back of the vinyl or fabric. Apparently, this is an important step to make it look good.
If anyone is interested, I could dig up the mag and post the info for it.