1981 Fiat Spider 2000 - What am I doing!? LOL!!

[seabeelt]

Ouch

[jimmycakes401]

Yeah. I was going to take it to the parts store to get parts for the brakes and springs of my Focus (which was up on blocks) and BOOM. I just looked at it and said, "You've GOT to be kidding." Rough week for cars.

[SLOSpider]

Was the screw and part of the rotor still attached as if the rotor came apart?

[jimmycakes401]

The rotor shattered into a million pieces...

[greenspider81]

Ahhhhh. It was brighter than ever today. Lol. I need my wife to get me an alternator. : )

I have an 81 2000 also. I changed the Alt to the 90amp alternator (ford tempo) and what a difference. Glad to hear your working on your spider!! I also added relays to run the headlights.

[jimmycakes401]

Ha. Wish I was doing exciting stuff instead of replacing exploding parts. The weather is just getting nice in New England and I can't afford to pick up a distributor and cap. Arrgh. I'm going to ground the alternator and take a peek at that once I get the distributor rocking again. I'm so annoyed that it blew to pieces.

[jimmycakes401]

Anyone have any distributor recommendations? Brands that work well with certain rotors? I usually shop at AR. Something that is less likely to explode???

[jimmycakes401]

Also, over at AR I don't see a 1981 listed. I assume its the same as a 79'?

[toplessexpat]

Also, over at AR I don't see a 1981 listed. I assume its the same as a 79'?

I just invested in one of these:

http://www.allisonsautomotive.com/produ ... electrical

.... this weekend's installation job!

A

[jimmycakes401]

Sadly, that's not in the budget.

[toplessexpat]

Yeah - I saved for this!

[jimmycakes401]

I just need a cap and rotor and I'm looking for brand suggestions. I guess some are more prone to crackin/exploding then others.

[jimmycakes401]

Well. Most people know I'm seeking help for my distributor problems if they've ready my request for dizzy parts thread:
http://www.fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopic ... 09#p180109

I was just under the car and in the engine compartment hunting for my missing advance weight. So far I have found MANY pieces of the the cap and rotor, but no weight. I even found one of the screws to the rotor.

Unfortunately, I also found two new problems. I'll need to do some googling and searching. They shouldn't be to big of a deal. I seem to have a valve cover leaking and I'm pretty sure the dizzy seal is leaking. If someone could verify by looking at my photo. I don't think anything else is leaking down to here.

Here's the base of the dizzy.


Here's my drivers side valve cover.

[RRoller123]

Neither look too bad to me, but I am no expert.

[narfire]

On the dist., perhaps take some brake cleaner and wipe the oil gunge off. Drive for a week and have a look again. There is a thin gasket that goes between the two metal surfaces there.
The cover gasket might be weeping, but again clean it off and see what it looks like after a week. A slow weep should not be an issue, just a routine wipe as compared to lifting the tower and replacing the gasket.