Do you prefer to modify your Fiat, or keep it original?

[pastaroni]

yeah.. making a bell housing will cost quite a bit. adapter plates are much easier and cheaper to make...

[Gerard Del Monte]

Other than something rare like an Abarth or Volumex, I'd have no hesitation whatsoever about modifying anything. Unlike the Brit fanatics, who think that any changes to their old MGB or TR4 is heresy, I think our cars are never goigntobe littleprecious jewesl, sohave at 'em I say. My own car has non-OEM paint color, custom wood interior trim, aftermarket alloy wheels, and is eventually going to revert to the old chrome bumpers and I will juice up the engine.

[Jim DeShon]

My 77 was all stock for years. First came the fog lights, then the aftermarket hardtop. Now it has IAP lowering springs & Koni shocks. I think it could use a stiffer front sway bar when I find one to my liking. The 1.8 is coming out for a rebuild this year and I "ga-run-tee" it won't go back stock ! I don't need it for daily transportation so I am going to have some fun with the motor.

[perthling]

I have internally debated this issue for some time. At present, I now have 3 Fiats to cover all bases! My 1974 124CC which my mum bought new, it is very original and will remain that way. My '74 Spider has remained relatively stock since I imported it in 1997, but will be rebuilt soon back to Euro spec (small indicators, higher compression engine, plus leather interior, but retaining original colour scheme). And I have just finished putting another CC back on the road which has twin carbies, 15" rims, sports seats and the like which I will use for tarmac rally events.

This is how I have reached some consensus on whether to modify or retain originality. Now I just need a bigger garage.

[racydave]

my 61 is going to stay as stock as possible, Thats why I bought the 79, and besides the 79 is just begging to go faster, a single plane intake manifold, and webber 36 adl will be a good start. and then I saw some spiders with modified bumpers... really need to get back to the 61 soon, it will probably take 2, or 3 years to complete. Dave

[YeLLoWBoAt]

I would leave it stock only if I had avery rare/ untouched car.

If it works/ looks better, I say swap it.

[mlynch003]

We lowered our 82 to get the rear end out of the air, got rid of the 3.90 to 1 rear gear and updated the brakes with modern pads and new rotors. Fixed the neglect/wear and tear under the hood. got rid of the wiring gremlins and ENJOY.
We lowered the car by cutting one coil off of the rear springs when we put the rear end under her. The look is SO much more attractive. Before the car looked like a mid 60's Mustang with shackles and the rear of the car hiked up, it looked ridiculous, I hated that look and was determined to fix it. Cost of cutting the springs $0.00 and this also made the springs about 10% stiffer. The big problem with lowering is the fact that the rear brake link is then too long and the rear brake bias is screwed up. I have had to make a custom link for the 82 to bring the rear brake pressure back into the ballpark. We broke a ring and pinion, so I bought an Automatic rear end and now the car performs like it should. The 3.90 gear makes the engine rev so high on the road that the car was not enjoyable, never felt relaxed. The 3.58 automatic rear gives about 2600 rpm at 70 and now we can cruise all day at 65 without strain. Our car is just a tick slower to 60 and you can't lug around in 5th gear in town, but overall the car is so much more enjoyable. Never was a good drag car anyway! The long stroke, high torque nature of the FIAT 2 liter engine makes the low ratio rear gear worthless. Fuel Mileage has gone up and the wear and tear on the engine have certainly gone down. Drive train noise is also reduced dramatically since everything is not flailing around at 4000 plus RPM all the time. You just need to ride in this car and FEEL the difference, it is unbelievable! I almost forget that the car is nearly 25 years old.

[Indigo124]

Fuel injection all the way baby. Especially when you can build yourself a kit like megasquirt for around 400$. Fully tunable, more reliable, more efficient for fuel and emissions...

Sorry old guys, but you cant beat technology.

Natalgia aside of course. but what are IDF throttle bodies for?

tell me about this mega squirt kit... how hard would it be for me to convert my 79 carb'd fiat spider to this... i been getting 20 mpg when i used to get 30 and im pretty tired of it too...

[leif-amber]

Whats a rare spider? Which ones are there alot of? I see most people talking about 80 models online, but the ones I see around alot of are like mine, which is a '73 model 124, is it one of the ones that are easy to find?

[spiderrey]

the years i see fewer of are 68- 69- 71 72-73-74. rare ones would be the turbo or anniversary. the rarest is a 67. only heard of 2 of those

[spiderrey]

michael, i too am in the process of installing the automatic s rear end onto my car. i have a 70. am in the processs of cleaning it up rt now. it will lower my car 1 to 1 and a half inches i hope. will also change out all the brake lines to braided ones.

[FIATCOLOMBIA]

wow! where did you get the rearends, gears?

What are the benefits of the automatic rear ends 70. what else you need to change to make it work on a spider? whats the cost?

About gears when you said you change the 3.90 to 1 is that the 5th gear? what ratio did you put in its place? how much?

can you change gears and stay with the same read end?

As you can see im lost... but exited and in need of guiadance

Thank you.

[spiderrey]

some of the later spiders came with automatic transmissions. these rear ends were geared higher. its just a mater of swapping yourts out 4 1 of these.