Hello from New Mexico, US

[RLphys]

Hi Everyone, I am about to purchase a 1979 Spider and could use some advice on what to look for or check before I buy. The car has pretty good paint and interior and is in running condition. However, it hasn't been driven at all in a year or so (though I did take it for a test drive) and not much before that. Not much is known about the car's history since it was purchased and used as a showroom piece a few years ago by a fiat dealer. I have owned US domestic antiques for several years and am an OK mechanic. I am looking to drive the car 1-3 days a week. I could use some pointers on what year/model specific problems I should expect and where I should order parts.

[RRoller123]

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

Carb or FI?

Check crossmember under engine for cracks and all bolts properly installed.

Rust is the devil with these cars. Check everywhere, shock towers and rockers particularly, and floors of course.

Check for a leaking heater core or valve, under dash, passenger side.

Compression test of course.

There are a million other things people look for, I am sure others will chime in!

Pete

[RLphys]

It has a 2L engine with a carb. I am compiling a list of things to check. I found this guide (link below) that looks reasonable.
https://www.mirafiori.com/faq/content/buyspid.html

[AndyVAS]

Check for rust. Lift the carpet and take a good look.

The 79 & 80 carb cars have some complex vacuum and emissions stuff. Plan to simplify that first thing.

Hope the car turns out to be worthwhile.

[azruss]

lifting the carpet won't help much as there is much under there to hide rust. crawl under the car and look closely at the seams between the floorboard and the side tubes and tranny cover. The front shock towers connect to an upper square tube that runs front to back. Every fiat I owned had a crack in that tube at the shock tower.

[RRoller123]

azruss, you wouldn't have a pic of this typical crack location, would you? That would be really informative.

[johndemar]

As far as parts go, there's lots of options for these cars. Mark, the moderator on this site, owns Allison Automotive, Csaba and Ramzi, at Auto Ricambi have most anything you could need and are great guys. Vick's and Midwest Bayless are also sources, and I'm sure I'm missing a few.

But I agree with checking out the structural rust, and even that can be repaired if your willing to put in the work, but IMO it wouldn't be worth the time, money, and effort. Lots of solid bodies still out there.

[DRUMMOND]

Box section above shock tower. Typical crack location is in the v section where it is welded together

[AriK]

Interesting. I've been trying to track down a creak from this area that's caused by sudden up/down suspension motion (no creak with soft compresses or side to side motion). How can i get visual access to this area on the passenger front side and what has to be remove in order to repair it?

[azruss]

Here is the typical stress crack area at the front shock towers. The red indicates locations where I have found cracks. The cracks can go over the top of the tube. It can also be hidden by undercoat.

[AriK]

Thank you for that Azruss. I have to drop the wheel well cover in order to inspect that, but that spot's totally accessible.

[azruss]

Arik, I got rid of my plastic inner fenders as they were holding dirt and moisture where it screwed to the fender flares causing lost of rust issues.

[AriK]

Azruss you had it right on the nose. I dropped the wheel well covers and used a spatula to scrape off thick rubbery putty that the previous owner coated everything in. And there it was a stress crack that covers three sides of the upper box section, exactly as indicated in your image. It's also apparent that the upper shock tower took a hit at some point (not on my watch and i have the car for 9 yrs).
The putty is in the process of drying up but its underneath surface is still greasy which kept the wheel well in pristine condition, still with its black paint. (i'd post a pic but i haven't sorted my new image host)
I spent part of the afternoon prepping the area (scraping and degreasing) for my welders appointment this coming Tuesday. Need to get this sorted quickly for the coming drive to FFO.
The alignment has not been affected, tires are 7 yrs old and wearing evenly.
Funny thing is, now that i scraped and cleaned off all that crap, the creaking sound upon the suspension moving has stopped. Seems like the putty was creaking into itself.
Thanks for the tip on leaving the wheel well covers off (but it looks so ugly without them ). I'll spray the area with oil and keep them on, i don't drive the car in the rain unless it catches me by fluke.
I've been looking for the offending creak for 2 yrs now. The sound resonated into the cabin (especiall the glove compartment) around the engine compartment and phaetn even heard it as i was pulling away from his house.
Again Russ, thank you for pointing me in the right direction.
Peace, Out.

[RLphys]

Thanks for all the tips! I checked everything that was mentioned that I could get access to and took the car to a reputable European car specialist for a pre-purchase inspection. The car checked out pretty well with a few things in need of improvement. I will be picking it up tomorrow!

[azruss]

Arik, here is some more stuff. I had to pull the headlight bucket so I could see where I was welding on the top of that rail. It was a PITA to fix. I also welded a washer around the weep hole to strengthen the area.
The cars without the plastic inner fenders had a splash sheet behind the tire, sealing the wheel well from the interior. They eliminated this piece when they added the inner fender. While you have that piece off, look at the back of the wheel well and you will see door hinge brackets. If you don't have one or the other, you will trash the interior.