Pro and con of 1979 Fiat Spider?

[So Cal Mark]

the seats changed in 79, about the same time drivers got heavier

[mbouse]

You will also need to swapout the seatbacks to the later designs .

i'm not disagreeing that the seat backs could stand beefing up. what i do not understand is the above portion of warren's comment.

which seat backs in 1981+ vehicles are stiffer than the '79-80 models?

i am doubting that the seats got BETTER at any time after 1980, since that type of change in design would take a few years to manifest those weaknesses.

[rlux4]

Ahh. Now I understand ya Mike. And you're right. Same seats. As a matter of fact, that's part of the reason I wanted an 82. The last year Fiat made them, and I was hoping that by then they'd corrected the weak seat back. But, no such luck.
Ron

[mbouse]

maybe warren meant EARLIER seats? i have had less experience with those...

[Mathew26]

The late model seat backs are the same from 79-85.5 they sadly are all just as badly made. The early model seat backs are considerably better. You can reenforce your seat back with some steel tubeing and welding.

[katsi]

Well, I can attest to the fact that if your timing belt breaks, you will MOST LIKELY have a better chance of walking away with no engine damage as opposed to an earlier model . Also, that whole thing about the bumpers weighing so much is a bunch of phoey ! I herd all these stories about how heavy the bumpers were so I recruited some help from a neighbor to take them off. He is still laughing . One hand pick up and not hard. Maybe it's heavier than earlier bumpers but, they are not heavy. I don't know who started this factoid. I think one other possible downside could be the door handles. Although they look a bit cooler (to me anyway) I can see how they would have a tendency to break as that little metal handle is the only thing to grab ahold of. Finally, where you live might be the most influencial opinion in deciding wether or not to take on a post 78 spider. You see, you will most likely opt to swap out the carb and intake if you want a little more getty-up (it's actually quite and easy job - once you've done it once ). In some states, you will not pass inspection without the technicolor air constricting apparatis that the 79 and newer models were graced with. On the other hand. You don't have to worry about points in a 79 and newer model either. Unless, you get a 79 like mine that came with a fricken points dizzy and I had to swap that out (also an awesome upgrade).

Hope my 2 cents helps.