A Transition in Time

[divace73]

This post is truely eerie, just last night my wife came out to our garage and asked me what I was doing because she had seen me standing there just looking at Fiona I love how these cars draw the good type of attention and that even with the FIAT badges on the car people will still ask what kind/make of car they are.

I had to laugh at this. and I'm glad I'm not the only one, it's a bit like gazing into a camp fire and for that moment in time you have blocked out all the other stuff in your life....

[spiderrey]

I wouldnt say you know nothing. Just read alot hear and ask lots of questions. These guys have an endless amount of knowledge. Ive been in it along time and they still show me stuff.

[spiderrey]

I wouldnt say you know nothing. Just read alot hear and ask lots of questions. These guys have an endless amount of knowledge. Ive been in it along time and they still show me stuff.

[fiat218]

I wouldnt say you know nothing. Just read alot hear and ask lots of questions. These guys have an endless amount of knowledge. Ive been in it along time and they still show me stuff.

Yes I read a lot here, things don't stickin my head but I have got a lot of good things that I have needed for my 80 and 79' couple things for my 69 in which I will be using later, lot of question answersed , and fixed a lot from asking, so thanks

[DUCeditor]

I get a kick out of the transitions occur in threads. From, 'wow, what nice cars we have and how many people love them' to 'mine is sure better than yours.'

This is not unique to Spiders. I've been into guitars for even longer that cars (First guitar about 1961, first Fiat sportscar -- a 1500 -- in 1968.) And the same thing happens on guitar threads. Doesn't matter if its Les Paul or Martins. Some fellow shares his joy and enthusiasm for his instrument and someone else feels the need to jump in and say 'oh yeah, well my old, old one is better!'

In a word: Phooey

-don

[seabeelt]

Until i get the car(s) on the road, I can only work in the garage and imagine the comments

[azruss]

here is my take from owning a 70, 71, and 80. the craftsmanship on the early cars was fantastic. fit and finish. flatness of body panels. you could close the door with the push of a finger. when i went thru all my parts to supply my current resto, i found the older the part, the better condition it was in. i'm talking about brake calipers, horn compressor, instruments, etc. The all came from cars with very high mileage. My 80 is an absolute POS body wise. panels arent flat, lousy door fit. There is a hood difference. when i went to fit my 70 flat hood on my 80, it hit the tall radiator neck. the nose of the 80 hood is more "dolphin nose" than the early hoods. As others have said, spring height is a big difference and definitely lowered the handling in the newer cars. on the taillights, the 70 and earlier were a smaller light the didnt cover the vertical seam of the fender. the later ones did. if you try to fit the early lights, you will leave a gap in the sheetmetal on the outside edge. besides bumpers, the later cars moved the rear license plate up along with those hideous chrome plate lights. the early, bumper lights gave a much cleaner look.
With all that, the big motors are fantastic and make the car much more pleasurable to drive.

[spiderrey]

And thats why I have a built 2 liter in my 70. The best of both worlds.