Has a LOT of go fast goodies...FAZA cam, PBS crank, 1500 stroked to 1600, Euro 1500 head ported polished, dual 40's, tube header...pick it up next weekend.
PO has been driving it for a week or 2 after extended stay in his garage. New battery, gas and tires and he said its running great and could be driven home (about 350 miles)
Very nice. Looking forward to hearing more about it. I only have my Spider to compare it to, so I'm trying to image what a rear engine car would feel like. My only rear engine experience has been at K1 Speed.
Flew to Spokane early this morning to meet with Gary, the PO. He filled me in on more of the parts info. the cam is Faza 35/75, flat top pistons with stock 1500 size as the block was a NOS 1500 he bought when he upgraded the motor. The head is a Euro 1500 cnc ported/polished he also bought new. The crank and pistons came from PBS. The chrome tube header he can't recall but it's still in nice shape. The car has 71000 miles, the motor about 15 to 20k in his estimation/memory.
The body is considerably rattier than I expected from the pics. The lower windshield surround is very badly pitted. There is one or two other areas where rust will need to be addressed but overall the body is rust free. There are several dents here and there and the drivers door was opened too far at one point causing it to "flare out" at the hinge end. The paint it at the very end of its life span.
The 2nd gear synchro seems dodgy but if you're gentle on shifting you can find it just fine. The interior is in really nice shape, no tears in the seats and very little damage on the dash. The lens is cloudy so it can be hard to see the instruments in bright sunlight. The carpet is very faded orange and although it looks like it needs replacing I would LOVE to do orange again with the otherwise black interior.
The motor pulls great, nice low end and reasonable top end. I was cruising at 90 at 4800 rpm's for a fair amount of the 350 mile voyage home. The dual 40's are very very thirsty and at 90mph I feel like I was averaging about 12 but that might be a slight exaggeration. The motor lid does not close against the (custom made ) air cleaner so he made standoffs that keep it propped up. It was flapping up quite a bit during the drive so I will need to search on here for creative solutions. The air cleaner is a Z car variety and I definitely need to buy a new one as it is very old looking.
The front end is lowered with (once again) cut springs that were not pigtailed. Im not sure how it's working all this time but it is just as it was on my 128 wagon until I changed the shocks.
The weather could not have been better for the drive today, high of maybe 70 and very sunny and fairly windy through the Gorge but that's normal.
There is a load of parts a guy is hauling for me that includes a clean windsheild surround he cut from another car. My task is going to be eradicating rust and prepping it for paint.
Update on second gear: I filled it with MTL and while 1st to 2nd is not bad downshifting at speed is simply not an option. The grinding is intense if you even attempt it however gingerly you try. Otherwise the car starts instantly and drives beautifully. My son, who doesn't really like Fiats at this point definitely seems to have a soft spot for the X...
Michael and Deborah Williamson
1971 Spider -Tropie’ - w screaming IDFs
1971 Spider - Vesper -scrapped
1979 Spider - Seraphina - our son's car now sold
1972 Spider - Tortellini- our son's current
Congratulations! I love those cars, had 2 and they were both fantastic.