Oil pressure and other questions...

[MarkKrieger]

I posted here many months ago -- 1972 Spider owner many years ago, interested in finding one now as a project car. I've seen 5 or 6 of them, sometimes traveling a good distance, but they've all suffered from too much rust. I figure that I could pay more, get something with minimal rust, but still do some fun projects without spending a fortune on body work and paint. And I do not want to ship something without seeing it and driving it, I'd rather wait until I find something I can see and drive, I already have too many cars.

I've found one about 100 miles from me. It looks to have been restored about 8 years ago, not a great paint job according to the current owner, but no rust -- he took a zillion pictures for me, it looks very clean, no rust anywhere I could see, including under it. I plan to visit, but one small thing in the pictures bothered me a little, I thought I would ask, everyone here is so knowledgeable:

The picture shows the car being driven, it is a shot of the instruments. The car is going 50 mph, the tach is at 3000 rpms, but the oil pressure gauge shows perhaps 10psi (the needle is 1/4 way between 0 and 40psi). Is this normal? I recall my 911 showing lower oil pressure than I would expect, but is 10 psi at 3000 rpm a reasonable number?

The guy lists the car as a late 70s car, but the engine is fuel injected (pictures show this). He said something about the previous owner doing the swap from carb to FI . Is this possible? Various badges have the '2000' symbol in them, so I think this must be an 80s car...but I do not have the VIN yet. Maybe a MV dept made a mistake about the year??? Anyone have any ideas? Is there any specific feature of an 80s car which will identify it vs a late 70's car (other than FI)?

Last point: If I buy, I could take a train to the the location, pick the car up and drive it home, but I would worry about going 100 miles on a major road (where going less than 70 is dangerous) before my mechanic at least looks over the suspension so I don't get killed. Flatbed is an option or I could rent a car carrier. I like the car carrier idea, but none of my cars can tow that much weight. What have others done in this circumstance? -- for instance, maybe I could rent a small truck and the car carrier at the same rental place. Much less $$$ than a flatbed...ideas?

thanks,

Mark

The

[MarkKrieger]

I think I just answered my second question about what year it really is: The taillights are 70's units. I guess the previous owner put an FI engine into the car and added a '2000' badge or two. Not a big deal, but interesting.

Mark

[fredguaz]

Good Luck! I am also looking and may make a purchase next weekend.
From what I have read on this forum, the oil pressure gauge notoriously reads low. So low that in 1978, Fiat removed it from their vehicles all together because people were calling in with their 'oil pressure' problems! Within the gauge is also a red light. If that comes on, then I would worry.
The car I'm looking at is also about 100 miles away and I was looking into the transport issue. Having a drivable car will be a requirement for me to purchase so I decided that I would just drive the car on the interstate but have my wife follow closely behind.

Fred

[vandor]

Hello,
Most likely that car has a bad oil pressure sending unit. The middle mark on the gauge is 55 psi (40 N/cm2 or somesuch).

A cold engine will have 30-50 psi at idle, but once warm it is normal to see only ~10 psi. However, going down the road the needle should be close to the middle, around 35-55 psi. A general rule of thumb is 10 psi per 1000 rpm, although most Fiat engines max out around 60 psi because of the relief valve in the oil pump.

[bradartigue]

I've never had one work any other way, they show incredibly low pressure then, when the oil is warmed up, little or no pressure. I don't get nervous unless the low pressure lamp comes on. It will drive you nuts especially if you've just installed a motor and are trying to make sure it's all OK.

I've heard of people opening up the hole in the sender slightly to get a reading from it, or using an OEM sender - if you can find one.

If its any consolation the Ferraris and Lambos and Jags and Alfas using the same basic gauge all read the same way, lower than reality.