Hi! One owner '78 Spider

[wqqdster]

My wife bought her Fiat new in '78..... I came along in '81 and it's been a member of the family ever since. It's been sitting for quite a while with a respray about 10 years ago and a fresh interior just before it got parked. It has spent it's entire life in NorCal, has never seen snow and is rust free.

Twenty years ago I put sway bars on it, Koni shocks, widened the stock wheels 2 inches and mounted 205/60/13's for a great handling little car.

I'm presently replacing the head gasket.... long story I don't want to tell..... and the brakes were gummed up so I'm going through them completely. I'm reinstalling the soft top (she doesn't like the hard top) and getting it ready for her to drive in spring.

After almost 40 years, two kids and a number of other cars she's coming back to where we started.

[johndemar]

Welcome. Lots of good folks here willing to share their knowledge and get your spider running again.

I'm sure I don't have to tell you about addressing those 20 year old tires.

[wqqdster]

Hey John...... the tires aren't twenty years old, just the set-up.

Thanks,
Gary O

[wqqdster]

Sooooooo, got the new head gasket, timing belt and water pump in, engine fired, the old soft top back on, calipers rebuilt, fronts bled and found the center brake flex line completely plugged up..... dang! Also looks like I'm gonna need a tire or two. I widened the wheels many years ago, give the car a great look with stock caps.
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[wqqdster]

It's ALLLLLIIIIIIVVVVVVVE!!!! Gonna get it registered and start putting some miles on it so it's ready for my bride this summer.

[courtenay]

Very nice - well done! It's really nice to hear of one-owner cars that are still on the road. I sure wish I had the foresight to hang on to my original '72. Somehow marriage, kids and a mortgage got in the way of rational thought.

[wqqdster]

Bruce, we had our kids and managed to hang on to it. My wife tried to sell it a couple times but I talked her out of it each time....now she's glad we kept it.

Fortunately (?) when she wanted to sell it wasn't very valuable.

Gary O

[wqqdster]

Passed smog first try!!!!!!! The last step to getting it back on the road. Still have to fix the turn signals and install a new radio but it's ready to roll!

Gary O