Can't shift into 1st or reverse

Maintenance advice to keep your Spider in shape.
mdrburchette
Posts: 5754
Joined: Wed Jan 25, 2006 5:49 am
Your car is a: 1972 Fiat 124 Sport
Location: Winston-Salem, NC

Re: Can't shift into 1st or reverse

Post by mdrburchette »

What bad luck. You may want to reinforce your new pedal before installing it. Also, like Mark says, check the firewall where the cable comes through to make sure it's still intact and clean andcheck that ground strap at the bellhousing.
1972 124 Spider (Don)
1971 124 Spider (Juan)
1986 Bertone X19 (Blue)
1978 124 Spider Lemons racer
1974 X19 SCCA racer (Paul)
2012 500 Prima Edizione #19 (Mini Rossa)
Ever changing count of parts cars....It's a disease!
BartusCompater

Re: Can't shift into 1st or reverse

Post by BartusCompater »

Roger, roger. I'm gonna make sure that the same circumstances that wrecked this pedal aren't persistent. Thanks for the help guys.
kristoj
Posts: 909
Joined: Thu Sep 13, 2007 11:26 am
Your car is a: 1982 Fiat Spider 2000 Turbo
Location: Ohio

Re: Can't shift into 1st or reverse

Post by kristoj »

Clutch cables are not that expensive. In addition to Mark's suggestions, I would definitely also replace the cable just to be safe.
John
'82 Fiat Spider Turbo
'56 Abarth 750 GT Corsa MM
'59 Lancia Appia GTE Zagato
'62 Lancia Flaminia 2.5 3C Convertible
'68 Lancia Fulvia Sport Zagato
'70 Moretti Sportiva S2
'12 Abarth 500
'59 MV Agusta 250 Raid


Pictures of my baby!
BartusCompater

Re: Can't shift into 1st or reverse

Post by BartusCompater »

I threw the cable into the order for good measure, thanks for the suggestion.
BartusCompater

Re: Can't shift into 1st or reverse

Post by BartusCompater »

I've been fidgetting inside of that little foot area for what must be two hours now struggling to get the clutch pedal out. There isn't enough room to slide that main bolt out of the housing. I've slid the bolt out as far as it can go, and slid it out of the brake pedal, but I can't for the life of me get that clutch pedal off. There seems to be maybe 1/3" left before the bolt is free but there's just no room in there to move stuff around. Can anyone provide me with a pointer for getting this thing out of here?
BartusCompater

Re: Can't shift into 1st or reverse

Post by BartusCompater »

Removed the brake pedal, which was really easy, and got the clutch pedal out. Everything is back in place except for a couple of springs. One of these springs I'm not worried about, the other I've been struggling with is the clutch return spring. I'm not sure how to go about getting it back into place. It's a really strong spring.
mdrburchette
Posts: 5754
Joined: Wed Jan 25, 2006 5:49 am
Your car is a: 1972 Fiat 124 Sport
Location: Winston-Salem, NC

Re: Can't shift into 1st or reverse

Post by mdrburchette »

The easiest way to reinstall that hateful spring is to fill each coil with a coin. This will elongate it enough for you to get it hooked into place. When you move the clutch pedal all your change will fall to the floor. Hope this helps!
1972 124 Spider (Don)
1971 124 Spider (Juan)
1986 Bertone X19 (Blue)
1978 124 Spider Lemons racer
1974 X19 SCCA racer (Paul)
2012 500 Prima Edizione #19 (Mini Rossa)
Ever changing count of parts cars....It's a disease!
BartusCompater

Re: Can't shift into 1st or reverse

Post by BartusCompater »

That was great advice. I got the spring back on. I may have overfilled it, because there's barely any tension in that spring, but it'll stay on. I'm thinking eventually those pennies will start coming out faster and faster. For now I'm gonna finish putting this thing back together...
BartusCompater

Re: Can't shift into 1st or reverse

Post by BartusCompater »

Alright, everything is back and running. I left the pedal nice and loose to make sure I won't have to think about that thing again for a while.
rlux4
Patron 2022
Patron 2022
Posts: 4211
Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2008 8:32 pm
Your car is a: 1982 2000 Spider
Location: Granite Falls, Wa

Re: Can't shift into 1st or reverse

Post by rlux4 »

Good job. Thanks for the update.
Ron
Ron Luxmore
rlux2n2@gmail.com
'82 2000 Spider: after 26 years between Spiders.
kristoj
Posts: 909
Joined: Thu Sep 13, 2007 11:26 am
Your car is a: 1982 Fiat Spider 2000 Turbo
Location: Ohio

Re: Can't shift into 1st or reverse

Post by kristoj »

Nice work!
John
'82 Fiat Spider Turbo
'56 Abarth 750 GT Corsa MM
'59 Lancia Appia GTE Zagato
'62 Lancia Flaminia 2.5 3C Convertible
'68 Lancia Fulvia Sport Zagato
'70 Moretti Sportiva S2
'12 Abarth 500
'59 MV Agusta 250 Raid


Pictures of my baby!
akavinn1

Re: Can't shift into 1st or reverse

Post by akavinn1 »

I have the same trouble what should I see if it is the firewall failing ? Would it be a really small crack ?
BartusCompater

Re: Can't shift into 1st or reverse

Post by BartusCompater »

Here's a photo of my torn firewall: Image

That's the clutch cable in the center of the photo.
akavinn1

Re: Can't shift into 1st or reverse

Post by akavinn1 »

Wow mine don't look like that !
BartusCompater

Re: Can't shift into 1st or reverse

Post by BartusCompater »

That's good, paying for the welding was painful!

Make sure you fix the issue soon though, and make especially sure that you don't just tighten the clutch cable without actually looking into what is causing the shifting issues, you don't want it to end up looking like this!
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