New enthusiast from the NL

[2000usa]

Hello from the Netherlands!

I found this great forum in my search from my next Spider, great to read all stories and tips!

Short personalia:
Ivo
33
Living near Amsterdam
Proud father of 1 daughter
Previous Spider owner!
Daily drives: Alfa Romeo Guilietta / Fiat 500S

After a wide variety of daily drivers - all continents/makes/models/years/ - it was time to endulge in my preference for open top sportscars. My first project was in fact a 1980 Green-and-Tan Fiat Spider 2000USA (hence nickname):






Unfortunately after moving house, losing my garage, it was time to sell it on (2006). I stumbled upon it a few months ago, at a Spider specialist in the city of Alkmaar, unfortunately abandoned by the guy I sold it to; as I was told he left the car at the specialist to replace the top, but was never to be heard from again.... apart from the top which now was mint, the rest of the car did not seem to be treated with the same TLC I gave it earlier.... shame to see your prior car go to waste like that.

Anyways, after tracking down new storage, I was looking for another funcar, rear wheel drive, big engine and 4 seats, since we expanded our family. I found a very clean 1995 Ford Mustang, 2 owner, original Dutch delivered car, which i drove for 2 years.





I sold it after 2 years and looking back at how many times we drove with the three of us in the car I expanded my search for a 2-seater, which resulted in a 1996 Mazda MX-5, limited Art-Vin edition #1/40 units, pretty rare. Very fun car to drive, much different than the cruiser the Mustang was.




However, already after a month afther purchasing it, the wife started to complain that is was a pity we couldn't drive together..... oh well. I was able to find another owner for it, so currently we are running without a project car!

Given that the Spider still has my interest and the fact that it has a small backseat, I am now looking for my next weekender.

My last car was more or less stock, the next one will have to become a bit more sporty: Bumperless/Abarth bumperettes, lowered a bit, chromodora's CD68/Volumex etc. These are more or less my goal/inspiration:


(does anybody have more info about this particular car, turning signals, wheels?)


Keep you updated and looking forward to reading all your projects/restorations/mods etc!

Cheers, Ivo.

[Exit98]

Quite an array of vehicles.

So you are now looking for a Spider? Are there many in your neck of the woods or do you think you'll need to import one?

Good luck and let us know.

[baltobernie]

Hello and Welcome!

I wish you luck in finding a modified Spider, only not in your rear-view mirror

[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

[2000usa]

Thanks for the welcome!

Although we are a small country, usually there are around 10-25 cars for sale at each given time. Also, with Germany and Belgium next door, i should be able to source one eventually. Most cars are more or less stock, so any modifications should come from me i'm affraid. So for now i'm looking for the right car in terms of exterior/interior vs quality vs price.
With the new taxation-scheme in NL (to be eligable for the tax exemption one cannot drive the car in December, January and February), i feel that there will be some more cars for sale in the comming months.

Ah, the police Spider, good ol' times.... most known are the 911 Targa cars in the same livery, but this was on my bedroom poster!

posting of pics: thanks, i think i need to do some resizing...

[2000usa]

Dear all,

Sorry for not posting for a while, I was searching for a new spider... well, here she is!

After looking into more then one car being offered nationally, all not meeting my wishes, I stumbled across a nicely modified '81 Spider 2000USA (ha, my nickname is correct again now!).

The last owner was definitely a Spiderlover, and treated the car well, nice looking interior, new Sonnenland top, original magnesium Cromodora CD30's (innertube), clean engine bay with 123-electronic ignition already fitted, along with some other performance parts.
The injection system has been replaced with a single Weber (34 ADF) which I will rebuild soon as it is running rich now (car has been sitting for the last 1,5 years), stalling on approaching roundabouts. I suspect dirt in the system or a defect choke. Perhaps in future, I might mount some dual Webers or sidedrafts.... ** dreaming**. Already the sound from the exhaust (forgot the brand) is quite nice, so for now I'm happy!

The car is bumperless already, with Abarth bumperettes, and had the sidemarkers deleted.

Next to the costmetic changes, the previous owner also added some 'comfort increasing' features, such as central locking with remote, alarm, electric windows etc. Even Xenon-headlights and a rearview camera with monitor in a custom aluminium dash are included. Both last items were not directly on my musthave list, but fortunately all is installed in a decent matter, and I have the original dash with the car, in case I want to change it. Also with the rally-style mirrors mounted on the wrong place, causing zero visibility, the camera is a welcomed safety feature!

Planned maintenance and repairs:
- Carb revision/rebuilt
- Timing belt and spanner
- Oilchange and filters
- Install mass kill switch
- Find and install rear seatbelts
- Install front spoiler
- Repair some minor imperfections in the paint

I would like to lower it a tiny bit, but given the low clearance it already has now, even without the guard mounted, I will have to give it some serious thought, as in my neighbourhood there are some high speedbumps to take in consideration...

Short pic of how I bought it, more will follow:




It already quite close to my inspiration picture

[2000usa]

Carb has been rebuild, definitely needed some fixing and replacement of parts. Now running smoothly again, although on the rich side, but stable. Also I replaced the battery, incl. the planned killswitch for when in storage, and installed the oldpan guard.

Beginning this month I did my first rally/tour for the year in the area of Amsterdam; although I know the area quite well, I still discovered some new backroads, and got some nice comments on the car.




In good company:

[2000usa]

Pics of work in progress:

will it ever come together again....



Killswitch


Spoiler is delivered and some spareparts to be mounted in coming wintertime:

[2000usa]

Cleaning up the thread: Had a nice summer! Nice drives and fun in the Spider.

Still promised some interior and engine bay pics:









Frontspoiler fitted: