1967 Fiat 124 sport spider

[JasonM]

So me and the gf just bought a 67 Fiat, although I'm not sure it's a 67 or 68? The title says it's a 67, but the vin seems high for that model year.

So here's how we ended up with a Fiat my gf friends dad brought her home a Fiat for her first car, after they took the keys away from her moms 68 Mustang. Apparently she got caught racing it.

So she ended up with a 124 sport spider, she drove that car until her junior year of college, until her parents found out how much money they spent rebuilding it. They forced her to sell the Fiat, it was pretty much already rebuilt but they were done.

So when I meet my gf 15 years ago we started searching for a Fiat. We just found a decent one after searching off and on for 15 years.

[azruss]

nice to finally find one. I love the early models as they stayed closer to being a true sports car. tell us where you are located and, of course, everyone loves pictures. pictures have to be no larger than 700 pixels wide to fit. I use Hosting Bytes 2.0 to download the pictures and then just copy the link to your post

[JasonM]

Here they are.

[JasonM]

The plan at this point is to rewire our car and fix the clutch. There are a few other things that need to be addressed.
We are going to drive it for a couple summers, then tear the car down for a full restore.
I'm afraid to see what the body looks like under all that red paint. I know its had a drivers front fender put on it, and maybe a drivers quarter as well. There is some light damage on that quarter as well.
Whoever owned this car must have been a horrible driver...

But I have to say the car is pretty rust free, there is one spot on the passengers floor board. Probably 4" by 4"

My girlfriends car had no front floor boards (Fred Flintstone) I've heard its pretty common for these Fiats...


Thanks in advance for all the dumb questions that will come across these pages.
That brings me to this now that I think about it, who thought it would be a good idea to weld on the spiders front fenders?
How do you properly restore a car without taking off the front fenders?

[azruss]

These are all fully welded unibodies. The only parts not welded on these cars are parts that open and shut and the side and rear rocker panels.

[JasonM]

Well I guess that's good and bad. So when the car gets sand blasted how do we not damage the fender seals? And how do I fix the area where the drivers fender meets the cowl around the door area. The place where someone ran some silicon, that probably should be something like seam sealer.

[vandor]

Nice!
It's a '68, as that was the first model year imported into the US. It is a US model based on the sidemarkers and bumper overriders.

[JasonM]

Yeah that's what I figured, I did some research online before my account was activated. Someone posted up there vin number on there 68, mine was farther along than there's.

Mine starts as 7 thousand.

[MrJD]

I hate that they quit doing the turn signals like that... they looked so much better.

[JasonM]

Turn signals? Or side marker lights? My gf last one was a 71 so it had the rectangular side marker lights. One of the thinks I like better about the earlier 124s are the smaller tail lights. I didn't realize they were bigger on the later cars.

[JasonM]

Turn signals? Or side marker lights? My gf's last one was a 71 so it had the rectangular side marker lights. One of the thinks I like better about the earlier 124s are the smaller tail lights. I didn't realize they were bigger on the later cars.

[spiderdan]

Hi Jason
Thanks for posting pics of your Spider. Sweet, but then again I am biased. It looks a lot like mine.

Someone posted up there vin number on there 68, mine was farther along than there's.

I have a "Canadian version" 68. Vin 7843.
There are minor differences between the US and Cdn versions that I am aware of; I have no bumper over-riders, backup light or rear side markers)

Looking at the pics or your interior, I would suspect that it has been updated. (headrest, black gauges bezels, newer style steering wheel)

Any information I can help you with concerning the 68, let me know. I have lots of books and thankfully a great mechanic.

Does yours have the original 1438?

[JasonM]

That would be great!!!! I suspected the gauges were changed out, I know the steering and the whole colum was. Ours has no reverse lights, I had no idea that any of them had them? I was positive the head rests were not original. I think somone just cut some holes in the tops of the seats, then shoved in the headrests.

[JasonM]

That would be great!!!! I suspected the gauges were changed out, I know the steering and the whole colum was. Ours has no reverse lights, I had no idea that any of them had them? I was positive the head rests were not original. I think somone just cut some holes in the tops of the seats, then shoved in the headrests.

I hate the bumper over riders, the gf had them on here 71 so they will stay, since its her car.

[JasonM]

Oh and no the motor has been changed to a 78 motor, trans and rear diff. However were going to change the motor to a stock 1600 cc motor. Ours has a bigger Weber on it, and full Borla exhaust I was told.