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MLingo · Post by **MLingo** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 9:37 am

Hello, my name is Mark Lingo, I live in St. louis Mo. and just purchased a 1981 Turbo Spider from an original owner with 26,000 miles and have used this site to try and diagnose a couple of issues, this is a great resource. Thanks.

So Cal Mark · Post by **So Cal Mark** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 10:00 am

welcome, what a great find; a turbo with low mileage!

mbouse · Post by **mbouse** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 10:03 am

hey, Mark.

wowzers, that sounds like a great car. when can we see it?

MLingo · Post by **MLingo** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 10:38 am

Yes, I was very excited to find it. She is in good shape, but could use new paint, the hood and trunk were re-painted by the dealer when it was only a couple of years old because of bad paint, now it is cracking and flaking in spots. No rust, I have all of the original paperwork, and service done, including the window sticker. They had it rust-proofed at the dealer when new, not sure what was involved but it may have helped. I will post some pictures (if I can figure out how to do so) I am no mechanic nor am I computer savy. The color is blue/gray with a tan top and tan interior.

adrians · Post by **adrians** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 4:17 pm

Hi MLingo

A 1981 Turbo what a great year and model I must say ! !

Post pictures as soon as you can.

See this post by baltobernie on 'how to'

http://www.fiatspider.com:16080/f08/vie ... =13&t=5074

MLingo · Post by **MLingo** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 5:33 pm

Thanks for the tip, hope this works. I will post more photos after restoration is complete.

kristoj · Post by **kristoj** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 6:50 pm

Mark,

Welcome to the forum. You have come to the right place. It looks beautiful in the pictures, I must say. The turbo models are great fun! Yours makes mine seem like a high mileage car at 37,000 miles

And yours is even the same color combo as mine! I am the third owner. I think you will find that many parts deteriorate from age despite the low mileage. Over my first year of ownership, I basically refreshed most of the car from top to bottom (seals, brakes, hoses, belts, turbo rebuild, etc.), so hopefully I can be a good resource for you.

You have the service records, which is great. If it hasn't had a timing belt replacement in the past five years, you need to start there. The timing belts dry out with age and a broken one can lead to a cracked engine block. You can see pix of mine by clicking the link below my signature.

TulsaSpider · Post by **TulsaSpider** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 7:06 pm

Beautiful! A rare find! Congrats!!!!

ga.spyder · Post by **ga.spyder** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 7:23 pm

Welcome to the forum! That is my favorite color combo...ok,I may be a little prejudiced.
Craig

MLingo · Post by **MLingo** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 8:51 pm

Thanks, the site has been helpfull. I have had the timing belt and water pump replaced (altenator belt also), and will be installing front calipers and new brake hoses this weekend. The previous owner had most of the hoses replaced along with some work to done the turbo a couple thousand miles ago (although it was about ten years ago).

rlux4 · Post by **rlux4** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 9:44 pm

Wow what a car!!
Welcome to the forum Mark.
Ron

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Pictures of 1981 Turbo Spider

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