New Member Darrin G

[DarrinG]

Hi there, I fell in love with the Fiat 124 Sport Spider when I was in High School way back in the early 1980's. I was driving my grandfather's 1969 Ford Ranchero at the time. Everyday I saw the Fiat 124 Spider sitting there and thought to myself, one day, yes one day I'm going to get me one of those. It was so cool, and so was the guy that owned it. If memory serves it was an early model Fiat 124 Sport Spider. Fast forward to October 2020 and I'm riding my bike around the track and I see this early model Fiat 124 Sport Spider, just sitting there is this guys driveway rotting away. It was in rough shape. Covered in dirt and dust. So I struck up a conversation with the owner, an older guy who was an engineer from up north. He'd had two or three spiders in his time, and this was the last one, a 1972 model with the flat hood, the skinny chrome bumpers and the wrap around taillights. He tells me he rebuilt the engine, but just isn't young enough to carry the project through. So I ask him what are his intentions, and he says to me, if you want it it's yours. So I have it towed home and in my enthusiasm I name her Zucca, which is Italian for pumpkin cuz it's about the color of a pumpkin, and I begin tearing it apart, and well, long story short, the more I get into it, the more I realize the only things holding this thing together are the cobwebs. I strip it down until it's just the shell, a rusty, holey piece of scrap really that I look at with longing and promise, and dread, and dollar signs. It's not that bad I tell myself. Eventually I list it on OfferUp for $500 in August 2022. But while on OfferUp I find a nice looking 1971 Fiat 124 Sport Spider, just up the road. So my dad and I go and look at it, and it is in great shape. The guy selling it bought it from the second owner that loved and cared for the car until his alcoholism got the better of him, and he sold the car to feed his addiction. Sad story really. Anyway, it was listed on OfferUp for $5,000, but the guy tells me he's willing to let it go for what he's into it which is $3,700. Oh, and and he tells me it doesn't run, he tells me the previous owner said the timing belt broke and things started banging against each other, and well that was the end of that. No worries I think to myself I have a rebuilt engine at home. So I go to the bank, withdraw thirty-seven crisp one hundred dollar bills and close the deal, and have the car towed home. I sell the shell of the 1972 for $150, and get $1,500 for the rest of the bits I took off Zucca and didn't think had present or future value. That was August 2022. As I write this in late August 2024, the car is at RestoMotive, fomerly known as Allison's Automotive, which it was when I dropped it off with Mark Allison in September 2022. Juvi Sanchez has taken over the business and he and his team have been working on the car. Turns out the engine wasn't in that bad a shape, it failed a leak down test, which could have been a cheap or expensive fix. When I told him I had another engine, he suggested I bring it out. What I didn't tell him was that in my enthusiasm I had completely torn it apart. The engine was in boxes. So, with an anything worth doing is worth doing right mentality I authorize a complete engine rebuild, and much more. Which has cast me dearly. I am not going to mention how much this project has cost me so far, but if you're and enthusiast you can empathize. Things I've done so far, engine rebuild, bored out to 81.5 mm, 10:1 forged pistons, street cams, ported head, electronic ignition, upgraded coil, 95 amp alternator, low gear reduction light weight starter, sourced waffle intake manifold and Italian 40 IDF Webers and turtleback air cleaner from Italy, sourced 5.5" x 13" Campagnolo ragno wheels from Italy, replaced all the bushings with performance urethane, replaced braking system, moved battery from engine bay to middle of trunk, replaced fuel system, replaced many suspension components. I focused on the mechanicals, maybe not all of the things I replaced needed to be replaced, but I wanted it to be reliable and safe (oddly enough it doesn't have seat belts), and fun to drive. Which it is. It's a blast. It still looks like hell, but it runs great. It has the heart of Zucca, so we still call her Zucca. I may even upload a YouTube video when I get it back next month. Let me know if you'd like to see that, and hear more about this project. Thanks for reading my rambling tale. Darrin G

[rdv]

Hi Darrin,
great story and a good decision to change the car! The result of your restoration looks really good! Just a classic looks-like-original car! The wheels are obviously modded, but our Spider looks good (99%) with every wheels on!

We are always interested in new member pics or videos! So we'll be waiting for your next output! When Allisons automotive is your prefered garage, you come from California? Still the best place in the States to find a good rustless car!

Is it already listed in the worldwide Spider Register? Regarding the previous owner I do NOT expect the car in the database.
Here's the filtered list for California cars, you can narrow the results by color "rot" (for red), type "BS1" or "CS" or "CS1" or year manufactured (i.e. "72"):
https://www.fiatspider.de/register?Fahr ... California

Would be great to get your car data for the Register, thank you!

And now: let's enjoy the Indian Summer!

Cheers Ralf

[DarrinG]

Ralf,

Thanks for the reply. Not sure what you mean by "the wheels are obviously modded" though. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Either way I'm assured they are genuine Campagnolo wheels from 1972. I also have the original Cromodora CD3 wheels If I want to go back to original. Yes, I am in So Cal. Yes, I will get my car listed in the registry.

Thanks again.

[18Fiatsandcounting]

Hi Darrin,
Great story, and welcome! I've owned more spiders than I care to admit, and I think my '71 spider that I still have is #8 or so. I also bought it in Southern California, Monrovia or Arcadia as I recall.

As chance would have it, I pulled the 1608 engine out on Wednesday, and I'm just starting the painstaking task of cleaning, measuring, etc. Although the original engine with unknown mileage, it ran pretty well and my main reason for taking it apart was to fix the slowly increasing oil drips. Somebody had been in the engine before as there is evidence of Permatex blue silicone sealant, and there were some things that were messed with, like the Woodruff key on the crankshaft pulley. And the crankshaft nut was insanely tight, which is probably because the previous person screwed up the key. However, the engine has the original 80.0mm bore.

Anyway, let us know how things progress. I've got lots of experience on the early cars, and they remain my favorite.

-Bryan
PS: "Modded" just means "modified" (from the original).

[DarrinG]

Bryan,

Thanks for the reply, and I just may be in touch as this project progresses. I have posted a couple of questions in the restoration section. One about dual weber throttle linkage which seems to be as rare as hen's teeth, and another about getting my Pininfarina hardtop restored, and another about where to get a sender from my Veglia Borletti Oil Temp gauge and where to put the sender after I get it. Other than that, I have to admit I've taken a somewhat hands off approach as I've let Juvi and Mark work on the mechanicals. With that said, it is nice to have a community of like minded enthusiasts to bounce problems off.

Thanks, and good luck with your project. Looking forward to reading about it.

[18Fiatsandcounting]

I can't help much with your questions, but just a thought: You might be able to use the low oil pressure switch (for the warning light) as a port for the oil temp sender. Assuming the threads are the same. An adapter might be required. This would mean you wouldn't have the low pressure warning light, but if the gauge is accurate, that might not matter.

-Bryan

[DarrinG]

Thanks.

[DarrinG]

I found an oil temp sender unit on Arnold Classic Shop.

https://shop.arnold-classic.com/en/3336 ... ider-coupe

Now I need to know where to screw it in. Hopefully Juvi or Mark have dealt with this before.