Hello from south central PA!

[klunkychris]

Greetings all!
Brand new Fiat enthusiast here lol.
Looks like I’m inheriting my friend’s father’s 1975 124.
It's in fair shape. Been in the garage for maybe 10 years after a brake MC failure. Unfortunately he’s older now and his health is not letting him work on cars.
I’ve promised to give him visitation rights once it’s back on the road. Hopefully this won’t be too bad.

It wont be arriving in my garage until closer to Nov, but meanwhile… I’m on a crash course on Fiat 124’s!

Me: I’ve been a life long auto guy, big Toyota fan from the 80’s and 90’s… have an 87 Supra Turbo and was big into Landcruisers for many years. I’m capable as a mechanic and have a good engine building garage locally for everything I can’t handle or don’t have time for.

I won’t bore you with the whole history, but I remember his car from high school. His son is NOT a car guy and has no interest lol.

So it sat because the brake MC failed. He has a replacement but decided to change the booster at the same time. Bought the booster but says the bolt pattern is different? Then life got in the way…
He also replaced the gas tank and put and electric fuel pump in…but never really hooked all the lines back up.

He had no problems with the car prior to the MC failure. Says it ran great and everything was fine although the steering was a little loose. (I’ve seen some of the info on the steering setup…) it was always garaged and never driven in rain (much less snow). He doesn’t think there’s rust and on a quick look the body seems clean.

I know sitting in a garage takes its toll… it’s been under a car cover the whole time which hopefully helps…

Any tips on the MC?

Other ‘Fiat’ tips to look out for on a spider that’s been sitting in the garage for a decade?

Thanks all! I’m looking forward to getting this back in tip too shape. I’m extremely impressed with the amount of aftermarket support from companies like AR/Allison, Vicks etc! Gives me HOPE! lol

Chris in south-central Pennsylvania

[18Fiatsandcounting]

Any tips on the MC?

Other ‘Fiat’ tips to look out for on a spider that’s been sitting in the garage for a decade?

Welcome Chris, and yes, I have a few tips:

I'd replace the MC before diving into replacing the brake booster because, while the former is fairly easy, the latter is not. To replace the MC, just make sure you have the correct new one (fittings in the same places), put the penetrating oil of your choice on the nuts, let it sit overnight, and use a 10mm flare wrench to remove the 3 brake line fittings. You can try with a good quality regular wrench, but these fittings are usually stuck and it's very easy to round the nuts at which point you have a bigger mess. A flare wrench is less likely to round the nuts. Once those are off, remove the two 13mm nuts that hold the MC to the front of the booster, and the MC should be able to be removed. Squirt some new fluid in the new MC, install, and bleed the brakes.

If you do want to replace the booster, just let us know. One question: Do you know that the booster is bad?

For a spider that has been sitting for a while, my suggestion is to replace the timing belt and all the rubber hoses. Coolant, fuel, etc. If it were me, I'd also do a complete brake job with new hoses, seals, etc. If the pads and rotors are OK, you can probably just reuse them, but some people like to do it all at once. Your call.

-Bryan

[klunkychris]

Thanks for the tips.
Yes, currently sourcing some good quality brake flare wrenches. I have an older chain parts store set, but not sure they’re the best.
The booster wasn’t showing signs of being bad, the owner just figured it was time to replace while doing the MC.
Timing belt was apparently pretty new when first parked, but I agree it’s probably good insurance

I also plan to go through the brakes and replace all the rubber lines. I guess the proportioning valve in the rear also needs checked out. Sounds like it can cause issues sometimes. However, I’ve got my fingers crossed that it and the calipers etc ‘should’ be ok after a service since they were working ok before parked. I know sitting can cause issues… and I’m not sure about the lines sitting open for so long… so we’ll see. I might even rebuild the calipers since I’m going that far. Brakes are kind of nice to have functioning properly LOL.

Good time to replace coolant as well. I’ve seen 1st hand the issues with old coolant causing bad corrosion. More cheap insurance. It seems 124’s are difficult to bleed afterwards? Maybe I’ll try to find the high spot in the system and see if a bleed valve can be put in? (I’m sure others have looked into that already)

I’m kind of excited about this. Always looked like a fun car!

Forum question, I guess we can’t attach photos in this form? It looks like you can only link external hosted photos?

[18Fiatsandcounting]

Forum question, I guess we can’t attach photos in this form? It looks like you can only link external hosted photos?

Yes, unfortunately that is correct. Also, your approach to fix things on your spider sounds good. Let us know if you need any help.

-Bryan