Bye Spider. Totaled!

[katsi]

Wow, so sorry. Good news is that you and your wife are ok. Hopefully, the insurance will allow you to start a new project.

[mdrburchette]

Wow, I just realized which car this is. So sorry to see all your hard work end this way, but I'm so glad to know you and your wife are okay.

[SLOSpider]

NNNNNOOOOOOO The Fiat of my dreams! I am so glad you both are ok. I know how you are feeling after a stray doberman dog ran out at night around Thanksgiving 2011 and took out my fender. I was so upset about the whole thing I let my friend continue to drive it and he bought it. I didnt think I would be back in the Fiat business but then a 73 came my way and well, here we go again. You did a wonderful job restoring that car and when the time is right another will come along.

[Snoopy]

I'sorry to read this.
You do a lot of work... and now this...

[djape1977]

good thing the car was not rotten, otherwise it would have desintegrated on impact.

interesting choice of words - "restored"and "main bearing in diff failed and tyres locked up".
doesn't restoration mean that someone went trough all the mechanics too? not just the paintjob and new rims?

were there any simptoms before the failure? whining, knocking noises, vibration? in my 15 years fiddling with old fiats and ladas this is the first time i see a failure that locks up rear tyres instantly. i've seen halfshaft bearings fail and wheels coming off with the hubs, brake shoes desintegrating and locking up one wheel but both at the same time???

[SLOSpider]

good thing the car was not rotten, otherwise it would have desintegrated on impact.

interesting choice of words - "restored"and "main bearing in diff failed and tyres locked up".
doesn't restoration mean that someone went trough all the mechanics too? not just the paintjob and new rims?

were there any simptoms before the failure? whining, knocking noises, vibration? in my 15 years fiddling with old fiats and ladas this is the first time i see a failure that locks up rear tyres instantly. i've seen halfshaft bearings fail and wheels coming off with the hubs, brake shoes desintegrating and locking up one wheel but both at the same time???

A bit harsh don't you think. Perhaps you should research what was done to the car before posting. As far as restored it depends on who you are asking. Most "restored" cars are not front to back new everything and the term is used loosely. Give yourself a few more years and drive a car going over 30mph when one of the trailing lower arms decides to let loose and your start an instant tail spin, numerous times. Ask me how I know. I have been in two cars that broke the lower arms broke. Lucky for me the second was a car at low speeds. Been dealing with Fiats since 1979 when my dad bought his and guess who got to work on it .

[Daniel]

Looks like a hard impact thank God you and your wife are ok! I know losing the car was disappointing but cars can
be replaced.

[fiat218]

[Fiat88]

Main thing everyone is ok but that was a nice looking spider. Hopefully you can transfer most parts to another.

[djape1977]

A bit harsh don't you think. Perhaps you should research what was done to the car before posting. As far as restored it depends on who you are asking. Most "restored" cars are not front to back new everything and the term is used loosely. Give yourself a few more years and drive a car going over 30mph when one of the trailing lower arms decides to let loose and your start an instant tail spin, numerous times. Ask me how I know. I have been in two cars that broke the lower arms broke. Lucky for me the second was a car at low speeds. Been dealing with Fiats since 1979 when my dad bought his and guess who got to work on it .

yup, i've had a pleasure of experiencing a lower trailing arm failure on my car at 60mph on a bridge no less and frankly it wasn't that dramatic. rear end became "fishy", i slowly went off the trottle and that was it. if i was going fast tru a bend it would likely be far more exciting. again, what kind of instant and catastrophic failure inside the diff can happen that would lock up both wheels without any warning? main diff bearing? dont they cause all sorts of noises and rattles before they go bang?

i know that there are people out there that aren't mechanically inclined and just know how to drive their cars but they're usually the first ones to come to my shop when funny noises appear. i'm the one who's got the nerve to drive a car with klanking noises coming from underneath because i know what had failed and hope that it won't fail completely untill weekend

i'm currently restoring a 1970 spider for a customer and diff was one of things to do on a long list but this topic had moved it up high on a list of priorities

[corujoxx]

good thing the car was not rotten, otherwise it would have desintegrated on impact.

interesting choice of words - "restored"and "main bearing in diff failed and tyres locked up".
doesn't restoration mean that someone went trough all the mechanics too? not just the paintjob and new rims?

were there any simptoms before the failure? whining, knocking noises, vibration? in my 15 years fiddling with old fiats and ladas this is the first time i see a failure that locks up rear tyres instantly. i've seen halfshaft bearings fail and wheels coming off with the hubs, brake shoes desintegrating and locking up one wheel but both at the same time???

Your rigth, friend. The car was fully body restored, but engine, gearbox, etc. works fine, so I didn´d dismantle them. Rear axle actually has a noise, and I were waiting for a new bearings and rear pinions, but the car decides be faster than me. Sure next time I will take more care on it, I´ve learned the lesson. After the crash, we checked the rear axle and most of the bearing neddles were inside the gear, several of them completely flat due the pressure. I imagine the wet road helps also the car to spin easily.

Best regards

[djape1977]

ok, resolved. so there was a noise coming from the diff and you're a kind of guy who, just like me most of the time, thinks "nah, it ain't gonna brake completely just yet". bugger.
better luck next time.

[DeanJones]

good thing the car was not rotten, otherwise it would have desintegrated on impact.

interesting choice of words - "restored"and "main bearing in diff failed and tyres locked up".
doesn't restoration mean that someone went trough all the mechanics too? not just the paintjob and new rims?

were there any simptoms before the failure? whining, knocking noises, vibration? in my 15 years fiddling with old fiats and ladas this is the first time i see a failure that locks up rear tyres instantly. i've seen halfshaft bearings fail and wheels coming off with the hubs, brake shoes desintegrating and locking up one wheel but both at the same time???

Your right, friend. The car was fully body restored, but engine, gearbox, etc. works fine, so I didn´d dismantle them. Rear axle actually has a noise, and I were waiting for a new bearings and rear pinions, but the car decides be faster than me. Sure next time I will take more care on it, I´ve learned the lesson. After the crash, we checked the rear axle and most of the bearing neddles were inside the gear, several of them completely flat due the pressure. I imagine the wet road helps also the car to spin easily.


Firstly very sad to see this beautiful example of a Spider damaged, hopefully this can be rebuilt so it can shine as an example of how to restore the car.

Was the cars suspension lowered? The reason I ask is too many (guilty myself once) lower their cars with new springs (often cut) and new shockers and think they have done the right thing....this can be another great contributor of cars having accidents while driving in the hills. I recently had all the suspension arms/sway bars etc modified/re-tempered so they remain parallel to the road..... thus no 'bump steer' any more. Modifying the old cars away from original in bits and pieces can be dangerous. Normally when one touches one aspect of the car it will affect many other elements further along.

a lesson for us all again especially for ones doing the work in the garages at home vs getting experienced mechanics/engineers to do the work.

Again hope you can gain the courage to restore this car back to his beautiful glory. As others have said most importantly you are both ok physically.

Cheers, Dean

Best regards

[SanRafaelFaz]

Today I noticed a weird sound. Not sure where it's coming from, the rear wheels or the diff. It sounds like this: Wooooo, wha wha wha woowoowooowooo. Not trying to be funny, but that's the only way I can explain it. I normally drive with the top down so I haven't heard it until today with the top up. Only occurs at speeds of around 40+, as I slow it goes away.

[fiat218]

Today I noticed a weird sound. Not sure where it's coming from, the rear wheels or the diff. It sounds like this: Wooooo, wha wha wha woowoowooowooo. Not trying to be funny, but that's the only way I can explain it. I normally drive with the top down so I haven't heard it until today with the top up. Only occurs at speeds of around 40+, as I slow it goes away.

Wind, or no rear end pumpkin oil