Greetings!

[ragtopDan]

Greetings Fiat Enthusiasts!
I've just become the proud owner of a 78 spider (will post photos soon). It's a nice 1800, pretty much stock as far as i can tell at this point. hardly any rust to be found. it's been sitting in storage in a warehouse for the past 15 years or so. the head is in a box, carb (weber 32) is half assembled and misc nuts and bolts everywhere... your classic "basket case." So the story goes, the prev. owner loaned out the car to his mom who happened to be driving it when the dreaded timing belt failed, bent a valve and has not been on the road since. Looks like the head has had some work done to it - valves ground down, possibly milled. it's pretty clean, but prev. owner must have done some carpentry work nearby cuz everything has a nice layer of sawdust. i have spent the past 2 weeks cleaning up and sorting parts and trying to inventory what i have and, of course, what i dont have.
I need to dive right into the forums and try to find some good photos of engine rebuilds and anything to watch out for while reassembling this beauty. I have a manual or two and I'm pretty handy, but this is my first engine job. Looking forward to getting her back on the road with the possibility of some small performance improvements in the future.
Regards,
RagtopDan

[4uall]

Hello & welcome to the greatest place on earth

[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/f15/viewtopic ... 13&t=32169

And here is another picture-posting thread:

http://www.fiatspider.com/f15/viewtopic ... 12&t=23084

This short instruction covers how to resize pictures so that they don’t get cut off at the right side:

http://www.fiatspider.com/f15/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=30441

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

[toplessexpat]

Thoroughly recommend two pieces of literature:

- a Shop Manual (ebay, vendors)
- Brad Artigue's "Maintaining The Italian Roadster" (Amazon)

... and welcome to one of the most rewarding and simultaneously frustrating pieces of ownership you're likely to have!!! (Unless you also own a TVR)

Andy

[ragtopDan]

Finally got that photobucket thing worked out. Here she is... looks nice shape.

[joelittel]

I recently built up a 2L and in doing so had to inventory a couple boxes of engine parts.

I highly recommend printing out the microfiche from Artigue's site. It shows every part and more importantly how they all go back together.

http://www.artigue.com/124microfilm/

Each link is a substantial amount to print so be aware, but it was very worth the time and effort for me.

[ragtopDan]

thanks Joe!
That microfiche is fantastic. Just leafing thru the pages has already answered several questions.
I was glad to see the FedEx guy today. I finally got a handful of shims I needed to finish up work on the head. Should be in good shape now. Just about ready to drop the head back on. Also got the high-idle diaphragm that was not included in the Weber 32 carb rebuild kit i picked up locally.
Supposed to be cold and chance of snow in western NY this weekend, but should bounce back next week with record highs. Still have a lot of work to do before she turns over.
While waiting for the parts to arrive, I spent a little time last weekend cleaning her up, degreasing the engine compartment, a little steel wool on the shiny parts, etc... check it out
Dan

[toplessexpat]

Hey Dan - whereabout's are you? I just left Albany...

[ragtopDan]

about an hour south of Rochester