New Fiat owner from Nebraska!

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wideopenplains
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Aug 02, 2017 12:21 pm
Your car is a: 1975 Fiat 124 Spider

New Fiat owner from Nebraska!

Post by wideopenplains »

Hey everyone,

Greetings from the great plains of Nebraska! Earlier this week, I picked up a 1975 Fiat 124 Spider. I’m excited to start my Italian motoring adventure!

I’m going to preface this by mentioning that I don’t have a ton of experience. At the beginning of this year, I started my first ‘adult’ job out of college, and finally have the resources to pursue this hobby! I was originally looking for an MGB, but then on a whim, I decided to check out this Fiat on craigslist. After driving it, I immediately fell in love with the look and feel of ther car, and had to have it.

The car starts (sometimes) runs, stops (eventually) but has very little rust (was told it was a California car) and as a bonus, it came with a white hard top, and extra set of wheels and tires!

My first goal is to get the car running more reliably. Right now, it seems to cold start pretty easily, but once it warms up, it will often stall out, and then won’t start again. I’m trying to identify, and learn more about the carburetor to see if adjusting it would help, but I want to make sure I know what I’m doing first! (will definitely be posting in the appropriate technical sections of the site as well)

The next step will be figuring out the gauges. When I test drive the car, everything except for the clock seemed to work, but now they're all dead, except for the tachometer, which just seems to move really slowly.

I have a small amount of mechanical automotive experience, I’ve done stuff like brake jobs, suspension work, and some general electrical, and other tune-up procedures, but I’ve never rebuilt an engine or carburetor, or done more complicated mechanical procedures. I know it will probably be a steep learning curve to begin with, but I am definitely willing to learn. Unrelated, but I do have some experience building and repairing computers, so if anyone needs PC help, or wants to swap PC advice for Fiat advice, let me know!

I’m ready to absorb as much knowledge as I can from the Fiat community!

Here are some pictures I took yesterday:

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RRoller123
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Posts: 8179
Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2011 2:04 pm
Your car is a: 1980 FI SPIDER 2000
Location: SAGAMORE BEACH, MA USA

Re: New Fiat owner from Nebraska!

Post by RRoller123 »

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

Post some pictures! They help a great deal when trying to help diagnose problems, inquiries, etc that you may have.

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

[Note: In the past few months, there have been numerous complaints regarding the performance of Photobucket. I myself no longer use it, but use IMGUR.com instead. The basic picture posting process is the same.]

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
'80 FI Spider 2000
'74 and '79 X1/9 (past)
'75 BMW R75/6
2011 Chevy Malibu (daily driver)
2010 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Ext Cab 4WD/STD BED
2002 Edgewater 175CC 80HP 4-Stroke Yamaha
2003 Jaguar XK8
2003 Jaguar XKR
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urbom
Posts: 45
Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2006 4:07 pm
Location: Nebraska

Re: New Fiat owner from Nebraska!

Post by urbom »

Whereabouts in Nebraska are you located? I am in South Central part of the state, south of Lexington. I don't think there are very many of us on the forum from this state, although I know of at least one other spider located not too far north of me.
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wideopenplains
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Aug 02, 2017 12:21 pm
Your car is a: 1975 Fiat 124 Spider

Re: New Fiat owner from Nebraska!

Post by wideopenplains »

urbom wrote:Whereabouts in Nebraska are you located? I am in South Central part of the state, south of Lexington. I don't think there are very many of us on the forum from this state, although I know of at least one other spider located not too far north of me.
Ah, I am near Omaha, so a little ways away I guess. Glad to here there are members in NE though!
Sscottdvm
Posts: 76
Joined: Wed Jun 14, 2017 3:46 pm
Your car is a: Fiat 124 1971

Re: New Fiat owner from Nebraska!

Post by Sscottdvm »

Good luck with the warm starting issue. I'm also a new 1978 owner. ( had an MGB for years). Car has the same problem. I've received a lot of good advice on this forum and have replaced a few parts. I have just resigned myself at this time not to drive on warm days. Hopefully you'll be able to solve your problem. When they run they're great driving cars. So far I miss the reliability of my MGB.
1978 Fiat Spider 124
BMW M3 2008
Subaru Forester 2008
MGB 1971,
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wideopenplains
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Aug 02, 2017 12:21 pm
Your car is a: 1975 Fiat 124 Spider

Re: New Fiat owner from Nebraska!

Post by wideopenplains »

Thanks Scott! I will take all the luck I can get!

I looked through your post on the hot start issue, and it sounds very similar to what I'm experiencing. Let me know if you ever solve it! Mine seems to be getting fuel alright, but the electronics are sketchy at best. This weekend, I'm going to start going through the wiring since most of the contacts I've looked at so far are pretty corroded... let the troubleshooting begin!
spiderbit
Posts: 17
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2017 12:10 pm
Your car is a: 1981 Fiat 124 Spider

Re: New Fiat owner from Nebraska!

Post by spiderbit »

Congratulations from a fellow Nebraskan! I've been a 124 owner for 2 years now and have had a blast. I've not seen a single other Fiat Spider on the road in Omaha, so we're definitely a small club. My car also originated in California and has had a rust free life.
TwinFast
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Posts: 102
Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2016 2:06 am
Your car is a: 1978 Fiat 124 Spider

Re: New Fiat owner from Nebraska!

Post by TwinFast »

wideopenplains wrote:Hey everyone,

Greetings from the great plains of Nebraska! Earlier this week, I picked up a 1975 Fiat 124 Spider. I’m excited to start my Italian motoring adventure!

I’m going to preface this by mentioning that I don’t have a ton of experience. At the beginning of this year, I started my first ‘adult’ job out of college, and finally have the resources to pursue this hobby! I was originally looking for an MGB, but then on a whim, I decided to check out this Fiat on craigslist. After driving it, I immediately fell in love with the look and feel of ther car, and had to have it.
The plains of Nebrask, ah ... the deep center of the heart of the US ;-)
Nice to hear from from you and your italian adventure.

I start my italian adventure with a californian Spider. I firstly said that i hate US bumper, and i replace my bumpers with an EU bumpers. And now after 2 years, i still don't like US solution for the bumpers but i really prefer them than bumperless Spiders.

It's a personnal opinion ...
Fiat 124 Spider 1.8L 1978
Jaguar XKR 4.2L 2009
Harley Davidson Fat Bob 96Ci 2011
sonosml
Posts: 74
Joined: Thu Feb 12, 2009 9:20 pm
Your car is a: 1968 124 Spider
Location: Anamosa Iowa

Re: New Fiat owner from Nebraska!

Post by sonosml »

Greeting, I'm in eastern Iowa and there are some members in Des Moines so we should all get together some day.
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wideopenplains
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Aug 02, 2017 12:21 pm
Your car is a: 1975 Fiat 124 Spider

Re: New Fiat owner from Nebraska!

Post by wideopenplains »

Wow! It's cool to hear there are a couple owners nearby. I would definitely be interested in a local get-together, I just need to get my vehicle on the road before then!

Currently troubleshooting some ignition issues.. then need to go over the brakes, and you know, whatever other issues pop up before I have those things fixed. Always an adventure!
donm
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Your car is a: 1980 spider [carb]
Location: Hamilton. MA

Re: New Fiat owner from Nebraska!

Post by donm »

I get out to Kearney, Nebraska occasionally for business and talking to my customer about how flat the county is, he said "you can watch your dog run away for two weeks".
1979 Spider
2001Saab SW
2004 Saab Aero
Life's too short to drive boring cars
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wideopenplains
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Aug 02, 2017 12:21 pm
Your car is a: 1975 Fiat 124 Spider

Re: New Fiat owner from Nebraska!

Post by wideopenplains »

donm wrote:I get out to Kearney, Nebraska occasionally for business and talking to my customer about how flat the county is, he said "you can watch your dog run away for two weeks".
Hah! I've heard that one a couple times myself. There are a few hills here in Omaha, but anywhere west of here seems to be just like that.
urbom
Posts: 45
Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2006 4:07 pm
Location: Nebraska

Re: New Fiat owner from Nebraska!

Post by urbom »

This time of year, when the corn is out, you are about right. In August, when the corn is 8' tall, a person can get claustrophobic. Certainly different from where my son lives in North Carolina. Their trees even look funny, all tall and straight. I've been in central Nebraska all my life, and have come to enjoy the "wide open".
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