Time to dive in...78 Spider

[C130Gunship0514]

Well it is time to dive in on restoring my early Christmas gift that my lovely wife gave me. To say I was surprised to find a 1978 124 Spider in my garage a couple weeks ago is an understatement. My wife is truly the best...I just hope she knows what she is in for!
She did pretty good picking out a decent project for me to build. The car is overall solid for a Maine vehicle. It has a few holes in the floorboards and the rear inner fenders need work, and a protion of the inner rockers had a previous rust repair that really needs to be redone. All in all though the rust demons have overall spared this one. Thank goodness I live next to a very good bodyman, I don't weld well at all so in my eyes these repairs are best left to an expert.
Mechanically I will be rebuilding and sorting most everything...not that it doesn't run well enough but simply because I want to. I used to be a mechanic on Alfa Romeos so I am truly looking forward to seeing the differences between the two marques. Even though I was born and raised on a diet of Alfa's I always preferred the lines of the 124 to that of the Alfa Spider.
This is going to be a slow burn for me, this one is for me to enjoy and build it my way! I hope to figure out how to post pics as I go. I love input and there are always things to learn and share.

[RRoller123]

Make sure you post a lot of pictures! We love pictures.

Here is a thread on how to post pictures directly to the forum:

http://www.fiatspider.com/f15/viewtopic ... 13&t=32169

And here is another picture-posting thread:

http://www.fiatspider.com/f15/viewtopic ... 12&t=23084

This short instruction covers how to resize pictures so that they don’t get cut off at the right side:

http://www.fiatspider.com/f15/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=30441

Pete

[C130Gunship0514]

Thank you for the links! I will set that up. I want to document the restoration with notes and pictures so that is a huge help. I will surely post pictures here for feedback and suggestions. Funny how when I was restoring my last '74 Alfa GTV we did not have all these smart phones and digital cameras...I guess now I have a reason to actually use the stupid thing if only for the camera!

[RRoller123]

Be sure to use the resizing feature, otherwise the pics get chopped badly.

[C130Gunship0514]

First order of business is to gut the interior. I am going to remove the seats, carpeting, and consoles in order to have the floor panels replaced. I dont want just a patch job done one them. Better to just start with new steel. I have seen alot of posts on here about the POR products. After the new floors are installed does anyone still put this stuff down or is a good painted surface sufficient? I am not a body man so any advice in this area is always welcome!

[C130Gunship0514]

Tonight I had a spare hour to remove all the interior piece except the dashboard. Seats, carpet, center console and even the driver side door panel. The driver side floor is definately going to be replaced. Not that I had any real doubt, but it is a little soft where the driver seat was and I think the best way to go is to replace the entire floor. This way I won't have to worry about it again.
I was also able to do some deeper looking at the car . The cross member is solid, as is the rear end. I did find some corrosion in the dreaded front shock towers. I feel these should be replaced as well not only for peace of mind but this car will be passed on to my oldest son someday. I have all the time in the world as well being there is no rush for me to complete the car. This is for my enjoyment and if problems arise they will be dealt with accordingly.
On that note does anyone have any recommendations as to who supplies the most accurate fitting shock towers?
I hope to start uploading pics in the next few days to document the progress....or regression as things come up!

[C130Gunship0514]

hopefully this worked it is my first attempt at posting a pic

[C130Gunship0514]

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A side shot...i have about 50 bales of hay that will need to be moved out soon to the outside feed shed in order to make room for my new found project...

[RRoller123]

In the background you just accidentally revealed that you are Spider Man.

[C130Gunship0514]

Hahaha! I have been looking for my mask for weeks!

[C130Gunship0514]

Interior is just about completely gutted. Removal of the driver seat shows just how badly the intrusion of water under the seats can cause a floorboard nightmare! Almost as if the Rust Fairy herself sat her sinister a** in my driver seat! Oh well that is why they make replacement panels!
I was hoping the front shock towers would be spared but again they too will be replaced. Safety is paramount and it does not pay to take shortcuts when lives are on line. I am going to re-build the entire front suspension anyhow.
I have to say I am glad that my garage is blessed with two models of the current generation FIAT's so I can still drive a legendary marque on a daily basis!
[http://rs1308.pbsrc.com/albums/s604/leg ... 0&fit=clip[/img]

[DieselSpider]

Interior is just about completely gutted. Removal of the driver seat shows just how badly the intrusion of water under the seats can cause a floorboard nightmare! Almost as if the Rust Fairy herself sat her sinister a** in my driver seat! Oh well that is why they make replacement panels!
I was hoping the front shock towers would be spared but again they too will be replaced. Safety is paramount and it does not pay to take shortcuts when lives are on line. I am going to re-build the entire front suspension anyhow.
I have to say I am glad that my garage is blessed with two models of the current generation FIAT's so I can still drive a legendary marque on a daily basis!

Rust can be brutal on these cars. Getting it all sorted sooner rather than later is a good thing to be doing.

Have been tempted by the 500C and was thinking that a 500LC might be nice. The 500 Pop really surprised me with the space in the front seat and it good manners on the Expressway.

[C130Gunship0514]

My wife and I could not be happier with the new Fiats. The big 500L is simply one of the nicest bargains out there. It truly is the most under-appreciated vehical being sold. Expansive room, plenty of power, drives beautifully in all weather ( which is always a concern with our heavy winter here in Maine), and both of our little boys can fit comfortably and safely. We have the 6 speed manual which does take a little getting used to, but after the initial quirkiness to how to shift properly in it the darn thing is beautiful to drive. The little black 500 is also just a great little car. I compare it alot to my '61 Mini that I had years back. Just a wonderful car.
Back to the Spider, it is always good to expect the unexpected when restoring these cars. Even when I was working at the Alfa Romeo shop in "rust free California" the rust bug is always present! Thank goodness for the modern day parts companies however that can nearly provide us with every replacement part possible.

[C130Gunship0514]

So the next order of business is to pull the dash out, and remove the pedal box. I want to take a peak at the wiring and see if any "unofficial" electrical additions have been spliced into the circuitry. My past expierience is that most likely someone along the way decided to add some electrical add on into the mix.
I also figure that considering the car is going to have body work thouroughly done I might as well make as much room for the body man as possible. After I don't pay myself for labor so why should I pay someone else for theirs if I have the means myself! I am slowly working my way forward and will hopefully be pulling the engine out soon.

[DieselSpider]

My wife and I could not be happier with the new Fiats. The big 500L is simply one of the nicest bargains out there. It truly is the most under-appreciated vehical being sold. Expansive room, plenty of power, drives beautifully in all weather ( which is always a concern with our heavy winter here in Maine), and both of our little boys can fit comfortably and safely. We have the 6 speed manual which does take a little getting used to, but after the initial quirkiness to how to shift properly in it the darn thing is beautiful to drive. The little black 500 is also just a great little car. I compare it alot to my '61 Mini that I had years back. Just a wonderful car.
Back to the Spider, it is always good to expect the unexpected when restoring these cars. Even when I was working at the Alfa Romeo shop in "rust free California" the rust bug is always present! Thank goodness for the modern day parts companies however that can nearly provide us with every replacement part possible.

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Glad to hear that. Too many buy former rental 500's that have been beat on and have all the problems associated with that and blame Fiat for them. I tend to hang on to my vehicles for some time so the transferable lifetime warranty is attractive to me especially here where there is no road salt to hasten a cars demise.