Thanks for all the welcomes and information.....
dmwhiteoak wrote:Well just where in central Texas are you located? I'm in North East Texas.
I am in the Killeen, Ft Hood area.....about an hour north of Austin.
vandor wrote:The jackrabbiting may be because of the throttle linkage if it happens mostly when taking off from a stop. Up to 1974 Spiders had a throttle linkage that included at rod that had one end attached to the firewall, the other to the engine. Well, when you start off in first gear the engine will move a bit on the engine mounts, which changes the throttle, which moves the engine the other way, which changes the throttle the other way, etc etc, so all this results from an on-off-on-off throttle that produces the jerking sensation.
If the engine mounts are tired they can allow excess engine movement and will make this condition worse.
This sounds like what may be happening, since it is only under acceleration from a stop. Once rolling, I have never experienced the problem. I will check the mounts out when I pull the starter.
SunnySideUp wrote:With regards to the issue of "the back end was trying to almost jack rabbit" - look at the condition of the bushings in the trailing links and the panhard rod. Chances are that the bushings are just worn out and need to be replaced. If the links themselves are not damaged (broken, bent, rust, odd modification from previous owners, etc) then you can get replacement bushings from several of the suppliers. The panhard itself has some intentional bends in it. It, too, may just need to have the bushings replaced. If you need new link assemblies (rods with rubber bushings installed) those are available from several suppliers, as well. It's an easy thing to check -- look for cracks or splits in the rubber. Start there and then go deeper if needed.
dmwhiteoak wrote: Mine was doing the same as far as jackrabbiting, but I replaced so many bushings I can't say what fixed it.
I will look at the bushings if the motor mounts don't make a change. Hopefully, it is just the mounts.
dmwhiteoak wrote:If you decide you must replace the starter go with a gear reduction starter. You will be glad you did. The factory starters are big, bulky and heavy and a pain to remove and install. I have two good factory starters I'll give you if funds don't allow for the GR starter.
vandor wrote:
I also recommend the gear reduction starter, I've had one for many years. The problem with the original starters is that most have been already rebuilt many times and only the most basic parts are available for them, so even rebuilds are not very reliable. Last time I had to take 3 starters to the rebuilders before they found one that was rebuildable. Likely very soon we will stop selling the rebuilds for lack of good cores.
I will look into the gear reduction starters, but since this is my son's car, I am making him work for the money and pay for the repairs. It looks like those are $200-300, and there is other work he will need to do, so I may hit you up for one of those factory ones, dmwhiteoak.
vandor wrote:
There is a great Fiat club in Houston which also has members in Austin, San Antonio, etc. We do a weekend drive in the Hill Country every fall and spring which are great fun. I can put you in contact if you like.
That sounds like a ton of fun. I would certainly be interested, as would he. Can you send me the info? I am not sure if there is a minimum posting to get PMs, but if you could PM me the details, that would be wonderful. If it doesn't work, let me know and I will bump up my post count to whatever is needed.
