So I have to say that I am very thrilled with my new (79) fiat spider. I took it in for smog and some repair and the carb is jacked and the air intake was blocked. I am excited to learn about this machine when I get my factory manual... HOWEVER. My mechanic said something interesting when I asked if the carb just needed to be replaced... He said that "Legal" replacements would all be rebuilds and not new....
what is the difference between "legal" and not
and are there no new replacement parts like a carb to be had out there?
I am looking forward to tearing the engine up when I get comfortable with the anatomy and the jargon but I don't really want to mess something up by getting something "Illegal" or getting something completely torn up that can't be replaced.
Carb Problem
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So Cal Mark
Re: Carb Problem
if your car is in Calif, your mechanic is right, to a point. Unless you install the exact part number new carb as the original, it's not legal. But, I've never seen a smog tech check the carb numbers. In my experience, if the stock air cleaner is on the car, every smog tech passes it on the visual inspection. The problem with universal replacement Webers is vacuum and vent ports. If you have hoses that can't get hooked up you will probably have problems on a smog check.
I take lots of Spiders in for smog checks for customers, and I've never had a carb questioned. I also did smog checks for over 20 yrs, and never worried about the carb number as long as it looked stock.
I take lots of Spiders in for smog checks for customers, and I've never had a carb questioned. I also did smog checks for over 20 yrs, and never worried about the carb number as long as it looked stock.