Picked up my Spider yesterday

[dmg36054]

Hi everyone,

Well, I'm officially a member of the Fiat Spider family. Picked up my 1981 last night. This photo was taken this morning, so it has the morning dew all over it, but I think it looks nice. A really solid car. The seller was very motivated to get rid of it. He has done a considerable amount of work to the car, but the differential went out about three weeks ago. He's lost the passion for working on it, plus he has three kids in college. I was extremely happy with the deal we made.

The car runs really good, and rust is practically non-existant. This is exactly what I was looking for as a project car. Other than the differential, it needs very little, only cosmetic items.

I'm looking forward to getting my hands dirty with the Spider over the fall and winter. I guess I need to take inventory of things that need to be done, other than the differential, and get to work.

[124JOE]

nice car i seen three in my area,one was black he put panasport wheels on her and sold it quick in the tenth year.

[bradartigue]

Nice one! Have fun with it. Don't remove the bumpers (I have to tell people that).

[rlux4]

Very nice. It looks like the guy took excellent care of it. Congratulations, welcome to the family.
Ron

[dmg36054]

Thanks guys. The car is in really good shape. It was undercoated early in its life, so that helped a lot I suppose. The wiring needs to be looked into; nothing major, just a few bits here and there. I plan on replacing just about everything in the cabin: seat covers, carpet, door panels, dash, console, etc. The top is only a few years old. Some front suspension components have been replaced by the previous owner, but I suspect a few more things need to be done. I'll probably just go ahead and replace everything at once, instead of a few items all along. Just go ahead and get it over with.

I love the fact that it has air conditioning. It comes in really handy in Alabama. I just have to get it working by next summer!

Probably the best thing about the car is the fact that my wife likes it too. She is actually pretty excited about getting it "fixed up".

I plan on posting progress photos, but I'm sure I'll have lots of questions. I'd never even laid a hand on one until a week ago. I have a lot to learn.

[spidernut]

The car looks great! I think you have a wonderful plan on the suspension. Be careful, because you might get a case of the "might-as-well"s ... might as well replace the A arms since I'm replacing the bushings, since the A arms are out, might as well put performance springs on it, since the springs are out, might as well replace the tie rods, since all of that is out, might as well drop the cross member and reinforce it, since the cross member is out, I might as well replace the oil pan gasket....etc. You get the idea! It is easy to do speaking from personal experience. Sure is fun though!!!

Keep us posted on your progress.

[kmac33]

Welcome to the world of Spider ownership!
Looks like you picked up a nice example!

[gwb]

Nice car, I think I remember seeing this on craigslist a while back

[dmg36054]

Yep, that's the one.

[Sunracer]

Good looking machine!