Well she is home...

General chat about the car goes in here.
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tdskip
Posts: 276
Joined: Wed May 25, 2011 2:48 pm
Your car is a: 1968 Spider
Location: SoCal

Well she is home...

Post by tdskip »

Picked her up today and she's in the garage now. Got the old fuel out, new stuff in. Oil and coolant look good. Cranked her over and no odd noises, and the electrical system came up like it should. Haven't tried to start her yet, maybe tomorrow.

Biggest thing now is that she was stored with her eBrake on and she doesn't want to roll easily.

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Looking forward to getting to know everyone here.

Thanks,

Tom
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spidernut
Posts: 1906
Joined: Wed Jan 25, 2006 12:20 am
Your car is a: 1979 Fiat Spider Automatic
Location: Lincoln, CA

Re: Well she is home...

Post by spidernut »

Lookin' good! Let us know how it runs when you get it started. Your adventure begins!!!
John G.
1979 Spider (Owned since 2000)
1971 124 Sport Spider (Owned since 2017)
1977 Spider (Sold 2017)
1979 Spider (Disposed of in 2017)
1979 Spider (Sold 2015)
1980 Spider (Sold in 2013)
1981 Spider (Sold in 1985)
2017 Spider (Owned since 2019)
User avatar
Dawgme85
Posts: 148
Joined: Fri Aug 07, 2009 8:15 pm
Your car is a: 1977 124 Spider - Shelob
Location: Sammamish, WA

Re: Well she is home...

Post by Dawgme85 »

Wow, look at those, uh, over-riders! Must be a '73 or '74? Seems to me they were only required in California and one other state (New Jersey?).

I like that light blue color. Relatively unusual (IME). Hard to tell from the pictures, but could it use a good polish? It sure made a world of difference to Shelob when I spent a couple hours with my Griot's buffing kit.

Hopefully it runs as well as it looks. Enjoy.

PS I saw an orange one of about that vintage on the road just this afternoon. It just had the smaller over-riders, though.
1977 Spider 1800 (SHELOB - driver)
1970 124 Sport Spider (99% complete barn find, now in my garage, awaiting restoration)
spiderrey
Posts: 2623
Joined: Sat Jan 28, 2006 2:08 pm
Your car is a: 70 124 spider-74x19-03 ranger edge
Location: San Dimas, Ca

Re: Well she is home...

Post by spiderrey »

Those bumpers came on calif 74,s. Also appeared in one other state.
dom

Re: Well she is home...

Post by dom »

If it has been sitting a long time you should change the oil and filter before you start it
tdskip
Posts: 276
Joined: Wed May 25, 2011 2:48 pm
Your car is a: 1968 Spider
Location: SoCal

Re: Well she is home...

Post by tdskip »

Dawgme85 wrote:Wow, look at those, uh, over-riders! Must be a '73 or '74? Seems to me they were only required in California and one other state (New Jersey?).

I like that light blue color. Relatively unusual (IME). Hard to tell from the pictures, but could it use a good polish? It sure made a world of difference to Shelob when I spent a couple hours with my Griot's buffing kit.

Hopefully it runs as well as it looks. Enjoy.

PS I saw an orange one of about that vintage on the road just this afternoon. It just had the smaller over-riders, though.
She is a CA original '74. I'll clean her up over the next couple of days but she's already a lot nicer than my others - grin. I got a dope slap "see, this is how to buy them you dope. not projects like all those others you have...." Ha.
Last edited by tdskip on Sat Nov 10, 2012 3:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
tdskip
Posts: 276
Joined: Wed May 25, 2011 2:48 pm
Your car is a: 1968 Spider
Location: SoCal

Re: Well she is home...

Post by tdskip »

dom wrote:If it has been sitting a long time you should change the oil and filter before you start it
It's been about 3 years, oil is clean and to level, but agree.
BEEK
Posts: 1833
Joined: Wed Mar 24, 2010 10:45 pm
Your car is a: 1975 Spider
Location: clermont fl

Re: Well she is home...

Post by BEEK »

74 california and maryland . im so envious, my first spider was a baby blue 74 i want one like it so badly
Automotive Service Technology Instructor (34 year Fiat mechanic)
75 spider
, 6 Lancia Scorpions, 2018 Abarth Spider, 500X wifes, 500L 3 82 Zagatos. 82 spider 34k original miles, 83 pininfarina, 8 fiat spider parts cars
son has 78 spider
Fi8spider
Posts: 378
Joined: Sat Jan 03, 2009 7:12 am
Your car is a: 1974 Fiat 124 Spider

Re: Well she is home...

Post by Fi8spider »

I think I understand the way you feel BEEK.

That's a really sweet 74 Tom!

I privately imported my 74 from the U.S some 20 years ago.
The photos you've posted had the memories flooding back on what she was like when I first got her.

I have all the original documentation, sold by Imports of Stockton and lived it's life in San Fran until 1991.
The Cal bumpers were replaced with early blades and I retrimmed the interior in a tan leather.
Hood is off a 2.0 and to my knowledge I have the only one this colour in Australia.

Chassis No: 124CS1 0088088.
Build date: August 74.
Image

I'm slowly gathering a set of original 13" rims as I want to give the 16" Momos a rest. I think I'm yerning for the stock look in my old age. :lol:

I've spent quite a bit of money and time on her (as most of us on here have) but she is worth every penny plus some.

The respray was done in 1993 and is slightly off from the original color, being a young fella when I sprayed her I wanted the blue to spank the eyeballs a bit harder than the original (dawgme85 actually thinks the way I did back then, it needs a polish, original color for mine is a tad pale looking though still a great shade of blue).
Do we know what the Fiat color code is?

Anyway that's enough about mine, good luck with her and I look forward to reading more about your fab find.
tdskip
Posts: 276
Joined: Wed May 25, 2011 2:48 pm
Your car is a: 1968 Spider
Location: SoCal

Re: Well she is home...

Post by tdskip »

Fi8spider wrote:I think I understand the way you feel BEEK.

That's a really sweet 74 Tom!

I privately imported my 74 from the U.S some 20 years ago.
The photos you've posted had the memories flooding back on what she was like when I first got her.

I have all the original documentation, sold by Imports of Stockton and lived it's life in San Fran until 1991.
The Cal bumpers were replaced with early blades and I retrimmed the interior in a tan leather.
Hood is off a 2.0 and to my knowledge I have the only one this colour in Australia.

Chassis No: 124CS1 0088088.
Build date: August 74.
Image

I'm slowly gathering a set of original 13" rims as I want to give the 16" Momos a rest. I think I'm yerning for the stock look in my old age. :lol:

I've spent quite a bit of money and time on her (as most of us on here have) but she is worth every penny plus some.

The respray was done in 1993 and is slightly off from the original color, being a young fella when I sprayed her I wanted the blue to spank the eyeballs a bit harder than the original (dawgme85 actually thinks the way I did back then, it needs a polish, original color for mine is a tad pale looking though still a great shade of blue).
Do we know what the Fiat color code is?

Anyway that's enough about mine, good luck with her and I look forward to reading more about your fab find.
How cool, thanks for sharing.

This is a great forum guys, thanks for the welcome.
tdskip
Posts: 276
Joined: Wed May 25, 2011 2:48 pm
Your car is a: 1968 Spider
Location: SoCal

Re: Well she is home...

Post by tdskip »

OK - time for a bit of sorting. Fresh oil in her and connected the distributor lead to the coil to see if she'd fire. No dice.

I've got 10.5v to the coil, which seems a bit odd, I'd of expected that would be 12v.

Need to see if I'm getting spark because even with a quick squirt of starting fluid no hint of bang.

I know she has air at least :D
Danno

Re: Well she is home...

Post by Danno »

10.5V at the coil is low, but what are you getting at the battery? If it's the same, then you have found the problem!
tdskip
Posts: 276
Joined: Wed May 25, 2011 2:48 pm
Your car is a: 1968 Spider
Location: SoCal

Re: Well she is home...

Post by tdskip »

Danno wrote:10.5V at the coil is low, but what are you getting at the battery? If it's the same, then you have found the problem!
Hi there. I've got 12v at the battery, it is brand new purchased yesterday.

Pulled a plug but no spark.

Pulled the distributor cap and there is a rotor under there (ha) so this is about to get more, um, interesting.

The car was parked running, so I'm assuming the coil wiring etc is all good. You know what they say about assumptions...

Is there an online wiring diagram I should be looking at?

EDIT - my '74 TR6 has/had a seat belt interlock that resulting in odd starting behavior, end up bypassing it. Maybe what is happening here?
tdskip
Posts: 276
Joined: Wed May 25, 2011 2:48 pm
Your car is a: 1968 Spider
Location: SoCal

Re: Well she is home...

Post by tdskip »

Tried buckling both belts, no dice.

Found what I think is the interlock connection. Disconnected the yellow/purple connection under the seat, no dice.
tdskip
Posts: 276
Joined: Wed May 25, 2011 2:48 pm
Your car is a: 1968 Spider
Location: SoCal

Re: Well she is home...

Post by tdskip »

This probably wasn't helping. Both the wire and red connectors were disconnected.

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Assuming the jumper on the wire is the seat belt interlock?

I'm going to move this to the electrical section - thanks guys.
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