My first post after my intoduction post... I will try to give a quick back-story... A couple weeks back I ran across an ad on CraigsList Seattle that seemed like a very good deal, but not knowing the market I spent several days on this FS learning as much as I could about the FIAT 124 Spider and what to look for when purchasing one. (Thanks to all of you for all your knowledge!) I took that knowledge to see the actual car and found it to be in very good shape. I didnt find any of the regular bad spots which I had learned were a big weakness in these cars; rust primarily of course. I decided to buy it and a couple days ago I finally got the 1978 to my garage where I could dig deeper and really see what I am working with. I am very pleasantly surprised to say the least. Photos are below. (I have learned in my short time here that we all love the photos!)

The worst of the rust appears to be in the trunk around the battery box and the gas tank itself. Both areas are what I would call heavy surface rust. Some of the other keys spots seem to be eerily free of any rust. The floor pans both front and rear are super clean. Shock towers are rust free, as is the crossmember. Wheel wells are rust free. The body and paint is in OK shape. There is a baseball sized dent and the paint is chipped, scratched and scuffed in several areas. The interior is in pretty good shape for its age. Three 2-3 inch rips in the seat vinyl. The passenger door panel is missing some trim. The original carpets are in great shape. Front and rear. Back seat area is in good shape. The top is faded and the rear window is cracked, so the top will just need to be replaced. All electrical works with no issues.

My plan is to take care of the mechanicals so I can enjoy this car over the coming summer. This includes timing belt replacement and all the sensible upkeep that goes along with it. I will then take care of the body trouble spots and hopefully stop any further. Put a new top on it and a new stereo in. I will put the body work and repaint until next winter/spring.

I know the things I will be undertaking have probably been documented on FS already, so if you know of any key posts regarding timing belts, tune-ups and any other items that I should address to make this a reliable runner please pass them along. In any case I will try and keep up with posting the progress along the way and hopefully return some of the knowledge bestowed upon me by the FS community. I encourage any suggestions, comments and critiques.







Jackevyn
2003 Ford Excursion 6.0 Diesel - tow vehicle
2002 Hyundai Sonata - daily driver
1992 Airstream Excella 29' - another rolling restore...
1978 FIAT 125 Spider - the new project

Welcome aboard mate, its seems at some point there was a leaking battery back there that caused that rust. Good looking car, not my color of choice....


Rodman

P.S. I like the steering wheel BTW

Congrats! Plenty to keep you busy and having fun.

Yeah, root beer brown wouldnt be my first choice either. Probably not even my 5th choice, but after looking at other Spiders, both in person and on this site, I couldnt pass up the solid bones. I dont plan to paint for at least a year, so I have some time to consider a color change. Maybe to a burgundy/maroon kind of color that would blend better with the brown cause I dont think I will do any kind of frame-off type restore. Unless the Spider bite is stronger than I think...

Jackevyn
2003 Ford Excursion 6.0 Diesel - tow vehicle
2002 Hyundai Sonata - daily driver
1992 Airstream Excella 29' - another rolling restore...
1978 FIAT 125 Spider - the new project

jackevyn wrote:Yeah, root beer brown wouldnt be my first choice either. Probably not even my 5th choice, but after looking at other Spiders, both in person and on this site, I couldnt pass up the solid bones. I dont plan to paint for at least a year, so I have some time to consider a color change. Maybe to a burgundy/maroon kind of color that would blend better with the brown cause I dont think I will do any kind of frame-off type restore. Unless the Spider bite is stronger than I think...

Jackevyn
2003 Ford Excursion 6.0 Diesel - tow vehicle
2002 Hyundai Sonata - daily driver
1992 Airstream Excella 29' - another rolling restore...
1978 FIAT 125 Spider - the new project

make sure you take care that rust problem in the trunk soon... only get worse

Nice find.
Mine is also a 78 that was originally that color & some PO has painted it...you guessed it...Burgundy, much better in my opinion.

Keep us all posted & welcome aboard

So its been several days and I have had a chance to dig in a little deeper. I am continuing to feel good about this project as I am still yet to find any significant rust other than around the battery compartment. I have pulled all the factory floor insulation which was pretty much dry, but looks like it was wet at some point in its life. There is a spot or two of surface rust I will be addressing soon. As you can see I am also in the middle of the heater core replacement. I have it out now but I welcome any advice in this part of the process. Any tips or tricks are appreciated.

Next up is to clean up any rust in and get the trouble spots painted with some rust inhibitor. I will be looking into the doors very soon as well..

Those floor look great for being in that area. Must have been garage kept a lot of its life. happy hunting

i used baking soda and water in on and under my batt box area and tank then use inhibitor then paint

>Yeah, root beer brown wouldnt be my first choice either

Clean it and wax it, you may learn to like it. I have a friend with a brown Spider and it looks pretty nice!