Looking at another Fiat

[lordxenu]

I posted here a few months ago about another car, but I wasn't able to procure the money at the time for it...stuff happens.

Well now I actually have enough for a Fiat around 2-3k, and I found this not too far from me (I live in Upstate SC, the Fiat in question is in the low country.)

http://charleston.craigslist.org/cto/1277752747.html

It's an '81, the same year as the one I currently own (although it's out of commission due to flood damage, and years of sitting)

So I have a lot of parts and stuff I can probably use for some of the issues this car has.

But one that does concern me is the fact that there is a switch in place of the Oxygen Sensor light on the center of the dash, and from what he said the switch is wired in, so I wonder if he has the o2 sensor on a switch? I'm still trying to find that out, but the interior is immaculate, and he showed a couple of spots of rust on the drivers side door (2 small spots, one about the size of my fist, just paint bubbling...I think I can either fix it or replace the door with the door off my Fiat...if I remember correctly my doors are in great shape, not much rust on the body. Other than that I cannot see any rust through on the body, but if I check it out I'll check all the usual spots.

Just curious as to what you Fiat guys think...good buy? I plan on doing some work on it to make sure it's good to go, such as repairing the oil leak, and I'm almost certain given the nature of these cars that the starter problem is a ground issue or something else electrical.

[So Cal Mark]

looks like a decent car but the owner sure doesn't provide alot of info on it. My bet is that it will need a rebuilt starter. The O2 sensor light isn't wired directly to the sensor, it was tripped by a counter box in the speedo cable as I recall as a reminder to replace it every 30000 miles

[lordxenu]

looks like a decent car but the owner sure doesn't provide alot of info on it. My bet is that it will need a rebuilt starter. The O2 sensor light isn't wired directly to the sensor, it was tripped by a counter box in the speedo cable as I recall as a reminder to replace it every 30000 miles

From what he said about the starter, it would work one minute and not work the next, and by rocking the car he could get it to work again.

Also like I said, instead of having the o2 light, he has this little blue rocker switch in its place. I'm not sure why it's there, he says its wired into the o2 sensor...so maybe he put it there to turn the light out? If it's something like that, I have a replacement for it, and it's an easy fix...if it's not...well yeah.


You can see the rocker switch in this picture.

[So Cal Mark]

the interior looks pretty nice, I wouldn't be overly concerned with the switch. I'm sure it can be put back to original without much effort

[lordxenu]

the interior looks pretty nice, I wouldn't be overly concerned with the switch. I'm sure it can be put back to original without much effort

Ok, sounds good. I've been communicating with him through emails, drilling away with question :p

I was impressed by the interior too, the last one I was looking at didn't even look that good on the inside.

With that in mind, on to the rust...he says this side has the only spots of rust that he can tell:



It just looks like a simple sand job and repaint to me, but I dunno. Seems like a solid car

If it isn't gone by the time I get paid (Which it probably won't, there's a couple around here that have been in craigslist for a few months...) Then I'll most likely be going down to Monck's Corner for a look.

[So Cal Mark]

you might check the rocker panels closely and behind the seats for rust, but it looks pretty darn good

[mdrburchette]

The does look in pretty good shape, especially on this side of the US. Like Mark says, I'd be checking the floorpan behind the seats, open the door and check the inner door skin where the rust is showing through and the floorboard behind the pedals.

[lordxenu]

The does look in pretty good shape, especially on this side of the US. Like Mark says, I'd be checking the floorpan behind the seats, open the door and check the inner door skin where the rust is showing through and the floorboard behind the pedals.

In order to see the inner skin of the door, I have to peel the interior panel off right? How would you do that without breaking it?

I'll definately check the floorpan,, however I just realized...where would you pull up the carpet to check?

[rlux4]

To get the door panels off; by this time, most cars have had some screws added around the sides or bottom of the door panel, if not, it's snap-in plastic plugs (that will break when pulling them out.) Then you need to take off the door handle (a screw or bolt in the center of the pivot point) and the window crank ( the normal "c" clip under the bezel), and the arm rest (three phillips head screws on the underside.) Then it will lift off. It's tight at the top where it rolls over into the window channel, so a little wiggling will let it come up.
If it's original, the carpet has a pad under it that is a booger to get up, have a putty knife ready.
This car is the color combination that I was originally looking for when I got my Spider. It's a good looking cutie.
Ron

[lordxenu]

Alright, just got information on the switch...it's not wired to the o2 triplight at all. It's actually a fan used to control the radiator cooling fan (I guess the off position just means it turns on with temperature, on position turns it on manually)

Still an easy fix, and it works based on temperature, the guy says he's never used it because he put a new thermostat in when he got the car and never had a problem out of it. While I don't like the idea of homemade electricals in these cars (it's a birds nest under these dashes), I don't think it's a big deal, and I'm still very interested in it.

He's actually going to video tape the car driving down the road this weekend and send me a video, so I guess that's cool