I'm in the process of assembling the retro 80 and am finding much of the new rubber and door handles don't fit. The new door handle have a loop around the back that wont make it into the hole. Looks like I will have to mod the loop or replace it with the old style arm. The trunk seal is too fat and the lid wont close. can't use the cowl seal for the same reason. the corner hood pads are twice too thick. I also found an interference point between the flat hood and the inner fenders that require a small about of grinding. Currently i'm using some thick electrical tape to replace the pads and side windlace. The tape is about the thickness of a truck innertube. I went back to my original 70 seal between the firewall and the cowling. I don't have a seal for the back of the hood and the cowl yet.

I was able to grind the loop on the door handle arm to gain enough clearance to install. still a tight fit that will require a little lube.

Dam it

If it were easy Russ, where would the fun be? Fortunately you're innovative and patient enough to make it work.
I bought side marker light housings from a certain vendor in Georgia that weren't close to fitting. Same with the front seal for the top, it was huge. No way the top would close. Ended up putting the old stuff back on. The seals I picked up from Csaba and Ramzi, doors,etc., were spot on, although the original trunk seal was good enough to use again.

I hate it when Business produce crap stuff from China and when they get it you cant tell me they don't try to fit it. And guess what they just play stupid cause China does not give refunds. Then its left up to us to try to make the crap work. Its goes across all things that are reproduced. No care taken for quality control and meeting original specs. I had some pieces fabricated to raise the tails on VFR motorcycles. I made it to be bolt in and stronger than the factory unit. Although it was a bit thicker I had all the holes countersunk so you can use original bolts. I find this out by having a sample done then test fitting on MY OWN bike first. Then once Quality Control is over I have the units made up in a batch. Wouldn't we all pay more for the parts that play an important role in the car if they not only fit as OE but actually made in the USA or ITALY. I see reproduced ashtrays that look fantastic for almost $200.00 Are you Fin kidding me?!

I understand the delicate balance between quality and economics on very low production parts. I think the Fiat vendors do a fantastic job of sourcing all their stuff at a reasonable price. In the case of the door handles, fiat may have made sublte changes in the holes over the years and the handles fit the later models ok. I post theses issue to let all of you know a lot of these items are not plug-n-play. It gives the vendors feedback as well. most of the vendors are forthright on the quality and issues with their products. you just need to ask.

SLOSpider wrote:I hate it when Business produce crap stuff from China and when they get it you cant tell me they don't try to fit it. And guess what they just play stupid cause China does not give refunds. Then its left up to us to try to make the crap work. Its goes across all things that are reproduced. No care taken for quality control and meeting original specs. I had some pieces fabricated to raise the tails on VFR motorcycles. I made it to be bolt in and stronger than the factory unit. Although it was a bit thicker I had all the holes countersunk so you can use original bolts. I find this out by having a sample done then test fitting on MY OWN bike first. Then once Quality Control is over I have the units made up in a batch. Wouldn't we all pay more for the parts that play an important role in the car if they not only fit as OE but actually made in the USA or ITALY. I see reproduced ashtrays that look fantastic for almost $200.00 Are you Fin kidding me?!

Don't smoke and you won't need to show it off

Its not the smoking issue its the fact it seems they spent more time on an ash tray than something more important like rubber seals, and replacement handles...

I did replace my older 80 outer door handle with a new style that was different, just can't remember if it was the same as the loop but looks (from memory) remarkably similar, I remember I have to do a lot of jiggaling to get the thing in.
Would it be worth just swapping that loop bit out for the original?

I took a serious look at just swapping out parts as my oem handles were fine mechanically. I decided to grind first as that seemed to be the path of least resistance.

That's what you get when the parts are made by someone who has probably never even seen a Fiat Spider. I've seen a big decrease in the quality of auto parts in the last few years. Unfortunately, it seems that most consumers are more price driven than quality driven, once one manufacturer outsources to China, the others follow. I work at a Toyota and Honda dealer and see many customers that are happy to buy OEM parts at several times the cost of aftermarket ones after they have had several failures. Too bad for them that they can't buy a QUALITY aftermarket part and save some money.