New Member with a pretty major project ahead

[JJorda]

Hi everyone! Hopefully I'm in the right place for Fiat information - although my car isn't a spider. I recently acquired a running 1971 Fiat 124 Sport Coupe. From what I've read, mechanically they are the same as the 124 Spider. It has the 1608 motor, 5-speed, and plenty of rust. The car isn't in the condition that's decent enough to save, so it was going to become a track car until it's too rusty to be safe.

I'm from a world of easy to find parts - Jeeps and musclecars, where everything is available. I do have some experience on the lesser travelled paths too, with an old Honda Civic CVCC. Are there any impossible parts to find for these cars? Stuff that I should be really careful around 'cause they haven't been made or reproduced in 30 years? Any strange maintenance procedures to keep in mind? There seems to be conflicting information on what oil weight to use for the engine. What's preferred, or is that opening a can of worms I don't want to start with? On the track, I was planning on using a 20W-50 synthetic due to the increased heat. Any reason to think that's too thick?

I've seen some big brake kits available for the Spider - if the suspension is the same, should these work on the Coupe too? Has anyone on here used the big brake kits? Did the master cylinder need to be upgraded for the increased fluid volume to the front calipers?

I'm sure I'll be back with more questions soon!

[RRoller123]

Welcome aboard! You will find plenty of knowledgeable and friendly people here.

Here is a thread on how to post pictures directly to the forum:

http://www.fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=21014

And here is another picture-posting thread:

http://www.fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopic ... 12&t=23084

And here is a link to a map of Spider owner’s locations. Many forum members have listed their locations.

https://www.zeemaps.com/map?group=191825

Pete

[JJorda]

Pictures? Yeah, I can get some. Pretty dark out right now, but this weekend I can get some. I'll post them once I can remember my photobucket account.

For now, the car on this page is pretty close to mine, except for alloy wheels and more rust on the one parked outside my house. http://fiatlancia.com/71124coupegreen.html

I guess I should have put the questions above in the proper forums - I'll move them there later on.

[vandor]

Make sure it's not too rusty already and that it's safe. You need some solid points to attach a rollcage to.

Hardly any trim pieces are available, but if it will be a racecar you will be removing most of those, right?

20w50 is fine, but I'd only use syntetic if all the gaskets and seals are new. Old worn ones will leak like crazy if you change over to synthetic.

Yes, suspension and brakes are exactly the same as the Spider.

[ORFORD2004]

I bought the big brake kit from Vicks and paid $800. The first time i hit the brake, i was hoping to see my teeth on the dash like in cartoon . But no it was more like ABS. It slow down but not locking the Wheel. My booster and MC was new.
Wildwood caliper have 4 pistons but they are so small. Whit my turbo this summer, i will see if it's enough or i will go another route. Worth it the money? I don't think so. But that's me.

John

[baltobernie]

What sort of "track racing" will you be doing?

[JJorda]

Considering the condition of the car (too far gone to restore), it'll turn a wheel in anger again at the 24 Hours of Lemons some time next year.

[djape1977]

just fix existing brakes and get yourself some high quality pads.

mechanical parts are available and inexpensive.

strange procedures? depends on what you're used to. most people start running around in circles and pulling their hair out when they see more than one cam
no locking tool for crank or cams on 124, but timing marks are clearly visible.
adjusting the valves is simple as it gets, but you need to have a large collection of shims at hand and a proper tool.
bleeding the brakes is same as on any car.
suspension is self explanatory, but if you're used to seeing leaf springs, this one will have you scratching your head

[JJorda]

Thanks for the info! I think for now I'm going to go with replacing the brakes with stock parts and taking it on it's first serious test drive since about 1986. Once that's done (hopefully later this month), I'll post up the results.

The only strange part that I've read about is the rear brake compensator - it looks like in order to bleed the brakes I need to jack up the car by the rear axle instead of letting the body rest on the jack stands.

[djape1977]

not so strange when you think of it. it works by "feeling" the position of rear axle in relation to body. jacking up the body and letting the axle hang "tells" it that car is under heavy braking, nose down rear of the body up, away from the axle. this position means that valve iz 90% closed which may result in inability to bleed rear brakes.

[JJorda]

I guess I should replace "strange" with "not something that's ever been on any of my other cars". If I didn't read about it online, I would have been scratching my head for a while trying to figure out what's going on.

But now, pictures!

[JJorda]

Not enough room to past links to all the pictures in one post....

Engine Shots!



Been a while since this car was last driven regularly:


The interior really is almost all there (missing a map pocket or something under the glovebox is all that's missing), it was taken apart when the previous owner replaced the floors. It even has the 8-track from the 70s. I'd try to do a full-on restoration, but there's too much rust to save the car. There may even be too much rust to race it - in which case I'll probably wind up parting it out or selling it whole. But I hope I can complete a few laps at some point!

First steps are to reassemble the brakes (you can see the calipers in the bottom right of the picture of the interior) and take it for a test drive. The engine runs fine and the transmission feels like it shifts ok - but I'd like to test it while moving.

[djape1977]

that car is restorable. for starters, body is straight and there seems to be no previous bodged repairs or accident damage. is it economical to do so is another question

[JJorda]

that car is restorable. for starters, body is straight and there seems to be no previous bodged repairs or accident damage. is it economical to do so is another question

I agree, if you throw money at the problem, anything is restorable. But for me to restore this, I'd have to find a clean, rust-free shell to use as a parts car, and I'd be better off starting with that clean, rust-free shell. There's spots rotted away on this car that I would be just guessing as to how the metal originally went. Everything being welded together doesn't help, either.

I replaced the fenders on my Civic in about 10 minutes. It would take me a few hours just to remove these fenders.

If this would be worth $125k+ when restored, I'd save it. But I'd be spending $60k on a $10k car when it's all said and done. I think a bit of racing will be a fitting send-off, and it's parts will one day live on in other 124 Coupes in the future.