New member- hello from Portland Or

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74MikePDX

New member- hello from Portland Or

Post by 74MikePDX »

Hello, been using this site lately for tips and decided it was time to join. I had a 69 spider in High School about 25 years ago that blew up on me and always wanted another. Ten years ago I saw a 74 spider for sale while on vacation in Whidbey island and although it did not run all that well, I ended up driving all the way back down to Sacramento with it. Spent a few years buying things for it and wrenching from time to time, trailered it to Portland Oregon when we moved here 4 years ago but never really got it back on the road. Last year I really got tired of seeing it partly finished in some varying degree and took it to a mechanic to fix what I had screwed up. He was not a very good mechanic (couldn't figure out how to hook up the throttle linkage to the carbs) and I ended up towing it back from his shop and took it on one more time by myself and the internet. So here is where I have gotten in this long love affair with a car that has yet to give much back, not her fault.

Found some really nice wider rims on eBay from South America with the 4x98 bolt pattern and took a chance but they turned out incredible and I have not seen any like them since. Rubber came from TireRack, nice autocross stuff but they are now 6 years old and have seen little pavement so probably not up par. Upgraded the suspension with International Auto's package including performance springs and 1" front sway. Still need to get the rear sway but it is not a priority and not really sure I will need one based on how the car feels. I changed out the exhaust with a performance header running to a Hushmaster muffler by Flowmaster and the way the muffler fits it will be hard to get a rear sway bar in anyway. I found dual down draft Weber (IDF40 13 15's) and although they indicated on eBay "just out of my car, runs great" they were pretty rough and had them completely rebuilt by some really great old dude in Sacramento that new a lot about carbs. For the interior I switched out all panels from red to black, put in a roll bar and have attempted to put in a stereo system that you can hear with the top down. Stereo is not the priority so it does not work but did for a while and sounded amazing (I think I blew something up again). Interior looks pretty sharp but the car only has 48K and has been garaged so there was not much to do here. Outside the car was in incredible shape with hardly a speck of rust anywhere. The guy before me had the entire undercarriage coated with some sort of a sealer, no rust underneath anywhere.

So, with all this, I finely got everything together and actually got her out on the road. After a few drives she started to quiet down some and smooth out although I knew I still needed to tune the carbs better. Smiles all around, I was back in my Fiat and after almost 10 years of looking at her she was finally out. Then, on the way to work one morning, the back rear wheels started to cease and warped both rotors. The problem was the rear break positioning valve had given up which I was able to get through IA. This is where I tend to screw up a simple fix, like stripping the brake line nut, which I did. So now my car sits again for multiple reasons; money, knowledge about repairing brake lines and where do you find them.

I decided to post my story in hopes there is another Fiat nut here in Portland who knows more than I and would be willing to share some knowledge. In addition to fixing the brake lines, I would also like to fine tune the carbs and eventually rebuild a spare engine that came with the car. With the dual carbs and header, I am missing the cam upgrade and thought it would be fun to rebuild the engine and truly set it up for autocross. Cheers, Mike

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Last edited by 74MikePDX on Tue Aug 21, 2012 10:44 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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RRoller123
Patron 2020
Patron 2020
Posts: 8179
Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2011 2:04 pm
Your car is a: 1980 FI SPIDER 2000
Location: SAGAMORE BEACH, MA USA

Re: New member- hello from Portland Or

Post by RRoller123 »

Welcome aboard! Lots of good people and info here!
'80 FI Spider 2000
'74 and '79 X1/9 (past)
'75 BMW R75/6
2011 Chevy Malibu (daily driver)
2010 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Ext Cab 4WD/STD BED
2002 Edgewater 175CC 80HP 4-Stroke Yamaha
2003 Jaguar XK8
2003 Jaguar XKR
2021 Jayco 22RB
2019 Bianchi Torino Bicycle
leeputmanjr

Re: New member- hello from Portland Or

Post by leeputmanjr »

Welcome, from another owner of a '74!

I love what you've done with your Spider - mine is also a dual IDF beast, with roll bar :)

You can find a ton of pictures of my Fiats here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/leeputmanjr

...anyway...

Your brake issue. No biggie, many of us here have done worse, and had to fix much more! First - help us understand where/what got stripped. The brake line going into the rear brake compensator? Did you get the compensator off?

If it's just one rear brake line that got buggered up, that shouldn't be too tough to replace. Steel brake line is relatively cheap by the foot, just get a bender / flare tools. The hardest part is finding the correct size line & nuts. Use PB Blaster or some such on the old nuts, and a real brake line wrench to remove the other old nuts. Let the PB Blaster soak (& reapply a time or two) for a day or so. Adjust the compensator as per the manual, then bleed the rear brakes (of course making sure the rear axle is not hanging down!), and you're good-to-go!

There are others here that are MUCH more capable & experienced than me...but believe me, you can do it!

-Lee
georgeramos
Posts: 1359
Joined: Wed Nov 02, 2011 11:11 am
Your car is a: 1971 124 Spider 1608

Re: New member- hello from Portland Or

Post by georgeramos »

Welcome! i am in Portland and while im a newbie I do know some very knowledgeable and generous Fiat enthusiasts. Id love to check out your spider and talk shop so feel free to email me at grwoodworking@gmail.com

Best of luck

George
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tartan18
Posts: 505
Joined: Sun Mar 13, 2011 10:58 pm
Your car is a: 1975 Fiat 124 Spider
Location: Lebanon, Oregon

Re: New member- hello from Portland Or

Post by tartan18 »

Welcome! We can't have too many Fiat 124 enthusiasts in Oregon :D This forum has been a life saver for me. Lots of knowledgeable and friendly folk here.
Jim MacKenzie
1975 Fiat Spider
Finest Italian Automotive Technology
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