I joined a few days ago and first posted in the Related section. Anyways, I'm currently a sophomore in electrical and computer engineering at Auburn University. Here's my car story:
Over the summer, I was working with a satellite team at the University making a little money. I've always wanted to get an old car to restore, so I figured now might be a good time since I would never be dependent on an old car for my only means of transportation during my stay at college (the transit system is very good, not to mention the fact that my roommates have cars). I spoke with my dad, and he told me that the most fun car he's ever owned was a 1970 124 Spider. However, I didn't think much of it to be honest. I was very interested in a Triumph TR4, Spitfire or an MGB. When I told dad this, he said no way. He didn't want me spending more time repairing the car than driving it, I guess.
Finally, I was looking on Craigslist and found a Fiat 124 that looked pretty good. It was very close to a friend of mine in Atlanta. I told him I would meet him over there one weekend to check it out. My dad met me down there too, and we ended up liking what we saw, so we bought it. It's a 1976 124 Spider. It has 86k original miles, with an engine rebuild in 1999. When I bought the car, the guy said it had no rust. However, little did I know, there was indeed some rust on the driver's side floorboard and apparently some on the firewall. I was also told that it was the original paint, though after looking at the front fenders and seeing some orange peel, I was quite suspicious. Sure enough, it had been repainted. I paid $2400 for a running (well, almost) car, so I thought I did pretty well. When we were driving it back to my friend's garage (a 10 minute drive), it broke down halfway there. Not good. We were able to let it cool down and jump it off to drive it the rest of the way. As you may imagine, I was not feeling very optimistic after that.
I left it in my friend's garage to come back a week or two later to find that he changed the oil and replaced the air filters for me. How nice!! Me, being 19 with no experience driving stick, let a school friend's dad drive it back. It did very well on its two hour drive back. He handed me the keys for me to drive it for the last 15 minutes. I ended up stalling twice: once at a stop light (left it in fourth...oops) and once when climbing a hill. The first time was all my fault, for sure. The last, not quite. It did the same thing there as it did when it stalled out at the red light in the previous paragraph. The engine started bogging as if it was running out of gas and then stalled. We did the same thing: let it cool down and jumped it off. It ran fine all the way back. I put it on the car charger overnight and drove it several times after that. I was told that it seemed to be charging fine from the alternator, but I was suspicious. Not suspicious enough to stop driving it and actually check...silly me. I was driving it back to my place one evening after taking a friend out for a drive, and then it does it again...stalls out just a few hundred yards away from the turn in to the complex. My friend's dad comes and tows us back. The next day I check the charging voltage. Sure enough, the alternator was dead. I end up buying a new alternator and putting that in the next weekend. Now it's charging at a healthy 14V at fast idle.
The car's been a lot of fun, whether it's on the road or up on jack stands. I love working on it and driving it! Right now it's up on stands so I can replace the shocks and springs. It's coming along nicely. I do have some questions, but I'll post those in the specific areas.
Anyways, I'm glad to have found the forum and hope to get a lot of good feedback for this particular project!
Here are some pictures of the car, including some detail shots of problem areas and stuff I've done: http://antiquekid3.imgur.com/1976_fiat_124_spider#zjMOp
Kyle
I'll be looking at getting new upholstery for everything, though the front seats definitely need it the worst. I took out the rollbar when cleaning out the car, but I'll be putting it back on soon since the back wheels are off (makes getting to the bolts much easier).