Adventures in 1975, 3 questions (Starting, idle, and clutch)

[noKYspider]

I picked up my 1975 Spider yesterday and drove it about 15 miles home and then on a quick trip around the neighborhood. The car hadn't been driven in about 7 years so the fact I got it home without any major issue was outstanding. Here are three things I have questions about.

Sometimes the car starts within milliseconds, sometime it won't start at all and I have to wait a few minutes to try again. I initially noticed this when I was looking at the car before buying it after it had started right up, was then turned up, and then tried again. A friend of mine thought it was a fuel filter issue so I've bought one to put on in the very near future. We also thought it might be stale gas from when the car was parked but that should be cycled out by now. I wanted to get thoughts on here to see if there's anything else I should look for.

The second thing is the car wanting to die when it goes to idle as you're stopping at a stop light, sign, etc. I think this might be something that can be addressed in a tune up so I'm going to look at getting it scheduled at the local Fiat specialist next week. Again, if there are any other thoughts I'll look those over too.

Last, is the clutch pedal issue. About half way home I noticed the clutch wasn't pushing all the way out toward the back of the car. This may have been happening every time I drove the car but I'm not sure. The gearbox engages quickly as you're releasing the pedal from the floor (within an inch or two) but the last 4" of travel back towards me just hangs there. I can return the pedal if I pull it back with my foot but it doesn't do anything on its own. Aside from that everything shifts well and I haven't noticed any problems at all through the gears, even going into reverse. Hopefully this problem is fixed with a cable adjustment or something simple but I'm afraid it might be something worse.

So, there are my first noticeable issues with the car. For a car with 120k miles or so I was very happy to be able to drive it home. If you have any thoughts or suggestions as to what to look for I would really appreciate it! Thanks for whatever help you might be able to offer.

[GeorgeT]

Unless it's been altered, your distributor has two sets of points, one for cold starts and then it switches to the second set, with more advance, when it warms up. Check your timing, it may be too advanced (better yet, convert to a single set of points).

Your idle issue may be related to this also.

For your clutch pedal issue, check to see that the HEAVY pedal return spring is attached to the pedal under the dash.

[So Cal Mark]

that short trip wasn't long enough to use up stale fuel unless the tank was nearly dry. A fuel filter won't affect start up, I'd look at the point gap and whether the choke works. Look closely at the clutch cable where it passes through the firewall and at the pedal where the cable attaches. Both of those spots are weak points.

[noKYspider]

that short trip wasn't long enough to use up stale fuel unless the tank was nearly dry.

It was almost dry when I picked it up. I put 5 gallons of 93 octane in it if that matters toward this issue. I'll look at the suggested areas later today or tomorrow. Thanks for the ideas, keep em coming!

[narfire]

yes, look at the firewall where the clutch cable goes through. To get a good look you might want to take the brake fluid resevoir off to get a better look.
The cable can also bind in the sheath with time.
Is the clutch fork return spring still on? Have to jack the driver side up and look at the tranny. Perhaps just adjusting the clutch cable is needed? Back the 10mm lock nut and then screw in the 17 mm adjusting nut 10 turns or so to start. The pedal idealy should have about 1" play at the top before you have resistance.

[RoyBatty]

Also don't overlook the pedal pivot shaft up under the dash.
My '75 had been parked for far longer than yours and I had to go up under the dash to the pedal cluster and spray Tri-Flow on all the bearing surfaces to get the brake and clutch to stop hanging up.

[noKYspider]

Okay, here's a little of what I've found out so far. First, the clutch spring is attached and seems to have a decent amount of tension on it. Maybe it's not that great but I just don't know.

Next, I checked the choke and/or throttle adjustment pull knob on the bottom left of the steering wheel. I'm not exactly sure how this control is supposed to function but here's how it works for me. It seems to move freely and doesn't appear to be bound up. When the car was running I pulled out on the knob and the RPMs got faster. It almost seemed to act like a second throttle (accelerator pedal) that you could turn to lock in a higher idle rate to help keep the car from dying. Maybe I didn't have it set high enough because the car died in the driveway and then started playing the "I don't want to start again" game.

I tried to get it restarted in the driveway for a few minutes with no luck so I walked away for a while. When I came back I tried again but with no luck. I then noticed the emergency brake off with the switch engaged so I thought maybe the e-brake had to be engaged. I lifted the brake, turned the key, and the car started right up. Not wanting to try my luck in the driveway, I decided to back the car into the garage before trying the e-brake trick again. With the car in the garage I disengaged the e-brake, turned the key, and the car started right up so that must not be the issue.

I think my best bet is going to be to take it to the local expert to get a tune up and find out anything major that I should fix myself before really starting to venture out. Here's another question for you. On the left side of the driver's footwell there's a little lever that turns from left to right but I have no idea what it is for. It's just to the right of the hood release and I found it while I was looking at the clutch spring. Does anyone know what this lever is for? Thanks for the thoughts so far, I appreciate them!

[RoyBatty]

If you at all mechanically inclined, it sounds as though you need to bypass the controller for the dual points distrubutor and run it as a single points unit. I think there are descriptions of that process in these forums. Consider putting and electronic module in to eliminate the points. I did this more than a year ago and couldn't be happier with the unit I installed. Mine is the Pertronix module.

The pull control on the left is a direct connection to your throttle linkage. My RC flying buddy and personal Fiat advisor tells me that he thinks that was intended to be used for starting off on hills for those folks that can't quite coordinate the three pedals when you are at a stop and need to get going again facing uphill. Right foot on brake, left foot on clutch, raise the RPM's with the twist lock knob, ease out clutch and then release brake.

The other lever you described is the control for the fresh air vent valve coming from the cowl.

[noKYspider]

I'll look into the points. As long as I have some instruction on what to do I should be able to do the work myself. I just ordered a Haynes manual last night to help me with knowing how the car is built and maybe figure out some of the mysterious things on the car like the throttle knob and unidentified lever that I talked about yesterday. Thanks for the advice.

[noKYspider]

Oh, and if the throttle knob isn't the choke then where is the choke control?

[Fi8spider]

Always exciting stuff picking up a Fiat from a long slumber.

You could try is removing and cleaning up the terminals on the battery and earthing point onto the car body, check the condition of these leads including terminal to wire connections too.
Another thought, while you have the battery disconnected check that the connections on the back starter motor are still in good condition and are on clean and tight.

Well done with your find.

[GeorgeT]

Oh, and if the throttle knob isn't the choke then where is the choke control?

Automatic choke in the carb.

[RoyBatty]

Oh, and if the throttle knob isn't the choke then where is the choke control?

If the stock carb is installed, you have a hot water choke. If an after market carb is installed it's probably an electric choke.