'73 Fiat Spider Project

[courtenay]

I'm 6'4'' and the only problem I've had - going back to my first Fiat in 1972 - is the stock steering wheel. It severely limits a tall person's ability to use the clutch (knee hitting wheel) and shift between first and second (knee hitting shifter). The Fiat dealer I bought my '72 from in '72 solved the problem by including a 12" diameter MOMO steering wheel in the deal. Worked like a charm. When I bought my '80 a few years ago, I had the same problem and adopted the same solution.

[RRoller123]

I am 6'2" and have only minor issues fitting in the car. I agree that with the larger wheel, there is little clearance to the knee when shifting between first and second, but so far it is minor to me and I haven't yet considered changing the wheel. The one thing that irritates me is that the clutch and brake pedals are too close, side-by-side in my opinion. I wear work boots constantly and it is difficult to drive the car with them on. I wonder if anyone has modified the side-to-side pedal spacing?

[caboat]

Thanks for getting back to me about sitting in such a little car. It really made me more curious about sitting in my and now I have. Plus I took some new pictures.

Now this was tough but I found the hood release man that sucker is hidden up in there

I was also amazed at how good everything looked inside all things considered







There will be a lot to do with this car once I get it here where will I start?

[spiderrey]

Wow a 73 with a c, thats not very common. I like that. Lets know when you can read the numbers on the side of the block.

[caboat]

I finally have a title on this car now and have had it towed to my house so it is accessible on a daily basis. In exploring things I kept asking myself where is the dip stick on this thing and after reviewing several picture I have come to realize that is a very good question, where is the dip stick. Mine is missing.

Also I figured a good cheap starting place would be to replace the 27 year old spark plugs and I remember reading some people had very specific suggestions about spark plugs but I didn't write those down and now I can't find those recommendations. I have one totally dorked up rim and will replace with the spare and hopefully get air in the 3rd tire. Fortunately two 27 plus year old tires held air. This car needs to be a roller ASAP as the top is in bad shape and their is more rust than I had originally noticed.

[fiat218]

reading this , it maked my 1980 a steal at 500, i have been lucky to find grate fiats, i paid a lot for my 1969, but that is ok, i am sure who ever has a 69 knows how much money can be stuck into it to make it close to perfect

[deftone]

Hi and welcome, Im in Wylie and struggling through a '69 conversion. Maybe we can talk fiat pains over a beer sometime?

[caboat]

My money is tight until payday and time is tight until I finish grad school and my kids are a little bigger. So I decided I can take the gas tank off for free since i know it will need to be cleaned out at a minimum as it has been sitting for over 27 years. I got all four nuts off no major problems I got three washers off along with lock washers. I also managed to all the hoses disconnected and didn't worry about damage to the to the hose clamps. Now the problem. I can not get that stupid thing out. Something made me think there might be a lot of really old gas in the tank so i looked for a drain plug on the bottom. I found a drain plug opened it and only a trickle of some nasty smelling stuff drained out. Tank still didn't come out. What am I do wrong. Sorry for the lengthy description and no pictures tonight.

[caboat]

wiring harness?

I'm pretty sure I want to replace the wiring harness and I think I can build one pretty good one my own. I have found what looks to be a pretty good probably fairly accurate wiring diagram for 69-73 http://www.mirafiori.com/faq/content/69_73_COMPLETE.pdf

I didn't see anything that mentioned lengths in this thing though. The other problem is the recommended gauge of this wire. I saw a post about updating the alternator to 95 amps which seemed to be the consensus. If no one knows where to find the length of the wires I suppose I will just use the existing wire and make it a little long until I'm ready to install but I would like a recommendation on a good gauge to go with the 95 amp alternator.

[rodman]

wiring harness?

I'm pretty sure I want to replace the wiring harness and I think I can build one pretty good one my own. I have found what looks to be a pretty good probably fairly accurate wiring diagram for 69-73 http://www.mirafiori.com/faq/content/69_73_COMPLETE.pdf

I didn't see anything that mentioned lengths in this thing though. The other problem is the recommended gauge of this wire. I saw a post about updating the alternator to 95 amps which seemed to be the consensus. If no one knows where to find the length of the wires I suppose I will just use the existing wire and make it a little long until I'm ready to install but I would like a recommendation on a good gauge to go with the 95 amp alternator.

what happen to this car?? still working on it?