Hi from 1980 Spider in Berkeley

[yalcin]

Hi there from Berkeley, CA. Just picked up a metallic gold 1980 Spider (FI, 68K miles) from Joe's Fiat in Redwood City, and I'm super stoked on it. OK so it's auto, but with the crazy hills in SF bay area, I think that was the right call, for me anyway. I'm a born and bred New Yorker, and this is technically my first car! (Done lots of driving, just with other people's rides.) Couldn't say no to the style, and once I saw how cheap these still are it was a no brainer. I'm almost totally ignorant about car mechanics, but this seems like a good machine for learning the basics and I hope to be a quick study, especially with all the help I'll get from this amazing site.

While I'm writing... I'm noticing my machine is slow to start in the morning. Takes a few twists to get going. Once it's finally running the engine purrs great and performs without a hitch. And restarting after a few hours is much quicker -- it's mainly in the morning that it takes a while to get going. Not sure what the deal is. Googled a bit didn't get too far. I've left Joe a message and ordered some basic books to study up, but meanwhile, feel free to dispense wisdom...

[RRoller123]

Welcome aboard! Lots of great people here!

[NickBS1]

Hi

I'd like to know what 'cheap to buy' means out there ... i bought both mine as very tatty but sound in the uk after they were imported from California. I only paid £2620 for both so they must be really cheap over there???

Mine are classed as non running barn finds, which is what i enjoy restoring, but i'd love to pick up a few more BS1 or CS1's from over there ... can you still find them?

Nick

[Weelan]

Hey that's really cool! My company just opened a small office in Berkeley (basically for the Berkeley grads).

As far as it being tough to start at first, my experience is that that's not incredibly uncommon. Mine does it if it sits for a few days. That's on my carbed '79, so maybe the FI should start easier, dunno. Hopefully someone will pop in and answer that for you.

Congrats on the first car! What a way to start! I agree, for a classic, fun driving, great looking car, these are pretty inexpensive(initially and relative to other classics).

[yalcin]

Hey much thanks all for the welcome.

As for buying Spiders in California, I've seen everything from $750 to $12K and more, depending on condition. There are always a few on craigslist. The one's actually functional and registered for the road are usually a few thousand. I think I read somewhere that most of the Spiders in the US are in California.

On the slow start in the morning: Joe suggested I reconnect the cold start valve, which he apparently disconnected because it's way warmer in Redwood City (where I got the car from him) than here in Berkeley. So far it seems to have fixed the problem.

[toyfiats]

Glad to hear that Joe is still wrenching on Fiats. He's helped me out more than once - great guy to talk to, great mechanic. I need to go visit him and check out the dark corners of his shop for all the cool little parts he has stashed away before he packs it all away for good.

BTW, if you want to wrench on your car yourself, and need some local help - http://barf.mirafiori.com/

[yalcin]

Yeah, Joe's the real deal. His shop is amazing. He didn't look to me like he was going anywhere any time soon. He actually gave me a one-year warranty---on a 30 year old Fiat!

BARF looks awesome, thanks for the pointer.