New Member in SoCal - 81 Restoration

[fiatmike124]

Hey fellow spider addicts. I am a new member in Thousand Oaks, CA who is retoring an 81. I'd like to say first and foremost that this forum and its members are an invaluable resource for any Fiat Spider owner. I have learned so much so far and am inspired to attack more and more of this car. It was a nicely running california car with no rust at all. Although I am not trying to keep it completely stock, everything visible will be new or appear new when Im finished with some customizing. So far I have:

1) Removed entire interior. It will be eventually be all new (upholstery, dash, consoles, carpet panels, heater bezel,)
2) Refinished floorboards (they were excellent with no rust..california car)
3) Replaced dash with repoduction and made custom dash panels out of carbon fiber. This took a lot of time and patience. I think they look great and will post pictures soon.
4)I replaced the clock glass. Not sure why....it seems like it eats the battery.
5)Fabricated tail light assemblies and eliminated the printed circuit boards. In doing so, I corrected the polarity for potential use of LEDs. I used the black plastic covers that the pcbs were riveted to as basis for my assy. This way they just snap in to the lens assy. i will post a picture of this to soon.
6)Made a cold air intake..mostly for looks.
7)Fabricated a door panel. Not sure if i will keep it.

After working mostly on the interior, I couldnt resist the engine. There was a heavy amount of oil on the rear right of the engine as high as the distibutor mount. It could have been from the cam tower, head gasket, distibutor, rear exh cam cover, exhaust manifold. So I have taken it all apart and will replace all gaskets and seals that could have been leaking. I think the primary source was the exh manifold where I found a very loose and oily stud. I am also going to rebuild the distributor with new bearings seals, o rings & gasket. The head is out (without the cam towers) for rebuilding/resurfacing and I will do the cam buildup and valve adjusting when it is back. Who sells the best tool? I saw somewhere that IAP one was not the right size. I dont know if ill touch the short block but we'll see.

Anyway sorry for the babbling but I have been using this forum so much and now i felt it was time to introduce myself. I am about to donate to this site because what I have read so far is pretty much priceless.

Cheers,

Mike

[RRoller123]

Welcome aboard!