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PART 1: Seek and Destroy. Then Fix.

7/2007: Car search and Craigslist Found some nice Fiats all over town but none had legal titles or sold for parts. Could buy one without title since GA doesn't require one on old cars but wanted to do it legally after talking to a cop friend of mine. Found prices in the $300-$6500 range. A lot for old Fiat cars but worth is increasing while available cars decrease. The best example was a 1981 Spider 2000 that I found at a chop-shop in Forest Park. Fuel injected with shot interior but it look like a perfect project car. No title and very shaddy feeling so I sadly said no to it. Also, the ride was harsh and no breaks. A month later, I found a nice looking 1976 Fiat Spider 1800cc car on Craigslist from a guy in Roswell, GA. He had it for around 2-3 years and put all his money into rebuilding the carb, seats and buying original parts for the body. I do not care about the 'classic' look so I was more interested in a car that ran and a strong underbody. Probably overpaid a few hundreds for the car but I wanted to finish my search and begin working on it. Drove it home 20 miles with a lot of misfires and a giant cloud of smoke at every red light. Felt good and strong but needed some care and maintenance. Later found that two sparks wires were not connected to the plugs. A lot of old mechanical records showed some engine work and new parts. Big ticket items already done: New free-flow muffler, redone carb, new Fiat logo hardware, and recent engine head work. Was able to document previous owners all the way to back to 1992. Still looking for the entire owner's history. A lot of early work receipts on the Fiat dealership. Great piece of mind when you can document work/owner history on a classic car. Update 3/27/2009 While searching the Web for my VIN, I came across a German Registry Website that had an old photo of Velozi while in California. At that time it was simply called a Fiat 124 but it had a hardtop and trunk rack. I knew this from my research but it is nice that I have an actual photo of it. The Internet is way too cool.
7/2007: Surface Cancer. Rust all over the place Growing up in Puerto Rico I remember Fiats as rust balls. The salty air was great for drinking rum and partying but it was hell for unprotected cars. My 'new' car suffered for surface rust. There was a lot, but small, body rust on hood, panels, trunks... No holes but it needed a lot of body work. Even the original Craigslist ad mentioned it was good engine but body work required. Checked the underbody in more detail and found it to be strong. Could be better but not bad condition for a 30-year old car. Recent shocks and connectors revealed strong towers. Floor panels looked and felt strong. The car was painted red but the primer/bondo was cracked and loose. You could see the original blue color on the car and the metal. Planned to strip the car to bare metal since it could not properly secure a new layer of paint. Got about 5 cans of Rust Eater from PepBoys and sprayed the heck out of the car inside and out with them. Added some rust protection to every corner of the car. Since I stripped all the hardware and pannel, I was able to spray it inside and out. Painted the underbody with a rust protecting paint and covered the whole thing with an underbody rubber spray. No dents on the body but once it is stripped it will need some reconditioning and treatment. I could sand the thing down and save some money but do not have a garage to work on. My work area is the City of Atlanta streets and some of my neighbors always give me 'the look.' Thanks Major Franklin for making the streets my temp work area. I found a store across the street from my condo that closes on weekends. The back parking area is big and away from the street. Also a bar with cold beer is 100 feet from it. Looks like I found my new garage!!!!
7/2007: Engine Oil leaks anyone? Oil all over the block. I saw this when I bought the car and I found it to be just an isolated problem to one area. Looked like crusty hoses and broken seals. No block cracks. Began looking for wet spots and found the dip stick bolt as a problem. (Top Photo) Also the 90 degree breather hose was dry and cracked. After many failed attempts to fix or replace the crusty dipstick bolt and seal, I went to an old hardware store and found a 16mm 1.5 bolt and shut the hole and leak. Now I have no dipstick until I find a replacement. Also, the 90 degree hose was not easily available. Went to AutoZone and they let me looked in the back to find one that I could cut to size. Found it and fixed the problem. Degreased the engine and no more dirty oil in the block. Ordered a Spring Air Box to replace the old, big, black, round, ugly thing on top of the carb. A newly rebuilt carb deserves no less than a shiny, overpriced air box from International Auto. The engine had a valve job done 2 years ago but there was a lot of smoke. At first it looked like the piston rings might be busted and burning a lot of oil. To minimize the cloud of smoke, I changed the spark plugs to hotter ones (one was completely broken), replaced the spark wires, changed motor oil to a 20/50 kind, a bottle of No Smoke, replaced fuel line and added some fuel additives. Problem fixed. No new piston work and a nice little smoke puff from the ANSA free-flow exhaust. Now it runs and sounds great. Only thing is that when the engine asks for heavy fuel, it misfired. Think the fuel pump screen is dirty. I will look into this soon. The charging light is always on so I checked the alternator and found it to be messed up. (Bottom Photo) Hell to find a replacement for one at local parts stores. Heard of a place in Hurricane Shoals, Lawrenceville that still rebuilds alternators, starters and generator. Lawrenceville Auto Electric fixed and made the alternator look brand new for $94. Not bad since AIP charges $198 + $100 core for a Marelli replacement. They cleaned the housing and even painted the pulley. Looks brand new. I guess I found the only auto electric place I will ever need.
8/2007: Exterior Began taking everything off the car. Lights, decals, grills, handles... Took it all home and gave it a good wash. The previous owner had replaced most items with newer ones so a quick clean brush got them to shine again in no time. Nothing broken but a lot of small parts to clean. Began looking for wheel options; not many for a non-modified Fiat. Not willing to pay $280/per wheel for an old 4x98mm bolt pattern. Went to Adapt-it USA and ordered some 4x98-4x100 wheel adapters. The only issue was the center bore was too small to fit the Fiat. A quick drive to the local Capitol City Machine shop in Doraville and I had adapters that fit perfect. Now I can fit any 4x100 wheel on the Spider. Also, they act as 1/2" spacers to give it a more aggressive stance. Top Photo: Car came with the original 13" wheels and new Firestone tires. Nice for the collector with new Fiat hub caps but I am looking for a more modern look. I always liked the Panasport wheel look but sure as heck are not going to pay the retail on those wheels. I refuse to pay more on wheels than on a car. Bottom Photo: The eAuction Depot in Augusta, GA was selling four 1990 Miata wheels with low-profile tires for $200 on eBay. Original wheels were 13" and I started looking for 15"s but for $200 with tires, the 14" Miata ones looked great to me. The look is also based on the Panasport. If you look at an early Miata you will notice a lot of things inspired by the Fiat Spider. Also, I park next to a Porshe Boxster and see a lot of Fiat style in that modern car. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Took out the original double tube bumpers and sold them for $100 on Craigslist. They took away a lot of the aggressive front look of the car. The rear left bolt is crazy to take out. Since the fuel tank is in the trunk, it blocks the bolt. You have to remove the tank in order to take the bolt and bunper shock out. Too much work for a person without a garage. Took a hacksaw and a couple of hours on the streets of Atlanta and cut the bolt in half.
8/2007: Interior The interior was in good shape: Reupholstered seats, new carpet, and good condition consoles. Cracked wood steering wheel, old and dirty looking wood. In general, the interior was in good condition just needed a good cleaning and polish. Got a nice mahogany steering wheel and Momo adapter from eBay for around $70. Took out the wood parts and ordered free sample laminate from Arborite in Honey Speckle Maple. After ordering about 10 large samples under different names, they figured it out and began sending me small 1"x1" cuts. But I managed to find a way around it to get all the required material for the dash. Easy and awesome upgrade; cut them to size and drop some Envirotex Lite liquid plastic on top. The parts look like they came from a late-model BMW. Nice. Once again, a guy on Craigslist was selling two black leather racing seats for $300. They looked great and could fit the Fiat rails with modified brackets. Got them both for $200. I went to Home Depot and bought some 1” iron strips to build some type of adapters for them. Perfect fit. Sold the original seats for $150 to the same guy that took the bumpers. A friend of mine, Sandra Gray, is a high-fashion designer and she is making me handmade shifter and emergency break boots. Also, working on a cover boot and car dust cover. Great to have talented friends.