New Toy, New to Forum & Now New Pics

[FiatSparky]

Hey Everybody! I am new to Fiats and the forum so I thought I's introduce myself. Heres my story:

I just bought a 78' Fiat Spider that I saved from rotting away in a underground garage in Vancouver. I picked it up from a friend of the family. It came up to Van from Cali about 10 yrs ago and was a daily driver until about 02'. The owner parked it underground garage at a friends for temporary storage as he moved to Europe. After deciding that shipping it to England would be a total pain in the ass he signed it over to my parents friend. She decided to sell it but never listed it and when my parent heard of it told me right away. It was started but never driven for 5 yrs until the battery died 2-3 yrs ago. And now after reading multiple posts on reviving a Spider after multiple years of sitting I had it running in a little over an hour. It had 4 flats and about 3 inches of exhaust soaked dust ( 7 yrs worth ) all over. But now she's a beauty! It's virtualy rust free apart from 2 small loonie sized ( silver dollar for the americans ) spots. One on the rear quarter and one by the antenna. And some scratches in the left front fender. The top has a 8" gash that appears to be from a knife. Apart from that the exterior in a dark cherry red ( name of the actual color unknown ) and has no dents. The interior is in decent shape but need a thorough cleaning. This is going to be one fun car! I wish I knew how to post pics? Can anyone help?

I have a couple of questions; How long does it take to burn off all the ATF fluid that I poured into the cylinders (1 - 3/4 oz each)? What will need to be done to the brakes after sitting so long? Any other forseeable probs that I should keep in mind? Where is the Cat Conv and what do I do to take it off. It is a Cali car so I'm assuming it has one.

It fired up right away and I only left it running for about 2-3 mins due to all the smoke coming out the exhaust. But it purred like a kitten and sounded great. I'm going to let it burn it off outside Monday morn.

Well there is my story, sorry for the novel.

Scott

[rlux4]

Welcome to the forum Scott.
Hey don't be sorry for the long post, it's Sunday, most of us have the day to relax with a good novel.
You may find that when you start the car again Monday it won't smoke for long. A few minutes usually does it.
After sitting so long, you'll want to think about changing all the rubber out. Tires, fuel lines, hoses, belts. Be sure to get under the car and check out the flex disc, or guibo as it's called. If it goes out at speed it will cause severe damage.
You'll be checking the brakes, you should also clear out all the old brake fluid with new. If it had gas in it (do you call it petrol?) you'll no doubt need to clean out the tank and fuel lines, along with a new fuel filter.
It sounds like a great deal. You're way ahead of the game at the price you got it for.
Here's a turorial on how to post pics:
http://www.fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopic ... res#p37831
Ron

[katsi]

I think that everyone here would agree that you should really change out the timing belt B4 it breaks and damages the valves. Also. you should change out the fluids. What color is the smoke?

[majicwrench]

Cat Conv is under car, no reason to yank it off unless it is plugged. Car was designed by some very smart people to run well WITH the convertor.
Looking forward to pictures!
Keith

BTW, I fixed a ripped top on a Firebird decades ago with those iron-on jeans patches, it added what looked like a scaled racing stripe to the top and looked kinda cool, and lasted for all the years I had the car.

[FiatSparky]

Here are some pics while I was working on it and after a quick brush off. I'll post more pics in a couple of days after it gets a proper bath.

[FiatSparky]

Oh, and what is a "Guibo" and what does it do? Where do I find one and how hard is it to replace?

Thanks in advance!

[wengr]

hey that car is going to look great with a little cleanup. not bad at all - what a deal! A guibo is a rubber donut shaped piece located between the tail of the gearbox and the driveshaft.

[narfire]

When in Calgary,I'd contact Ital Motors up the road in the other hockey town. Mario or Fred have been with Fiats for/since a he.. of a long time.They have a ton of parts in stock or try some of the vendors in the states ie international auto parts Or vicks are just a couple.
All the suggestions are spot on when reserrecting a fiat thats been stored for a while.
That looks like a good deal,I recently went to Strathmore and picked up a sweet running 72 but has structural rust issues.
Have fun and if you are feeling brave when the car is sorted come down for a drive.
Chris

[mbouse]

just for the record... some of us "Yanks" know what a loonie is..

nice looking car, you should be very happy. glad you did not wait for a bath to take the first pictures. those will make for great "before" shots.

[FiatSparky]

And here it is all clean. I took it for a quick spin and everything seemed to work just fine.

[Jim]

Scott,

Great car, great find!! I have a '78 with exactly the same interior and exterior color scheme!! When I joined the forum some people thought the colors were not original. Since I got the car from my fatherinlaw who bought it new, I knew the colors were original.

I can see only two differences from mine, you have a roll bar and yours has, what I think, are add on door protectors.

It is a great car to drive; enjoy it!!

[Kingme2]

Nice ride! Perhaps we'll honk and wave, passing on on Macleod. Mines a sweet black one.

Good (local) shop: visit Carmine, at Ansel Motors... used to be a Fiat/Lancia/Alfa shop... he's very good. 103 4st NE (basically 1 block north of Memorial @ southbound- Edmonton Tr)

Keep up the picks, good to see.

[TulsaSpider]

Wow great find!!

[geno58]

Lookin mighty fine, got a roll bar and all, yep I like it.