New Fiat Owners

[79silver]

My wife and I have just purchaced a 79 Spider 2000. Previous owner had started to make repairs. He replaced transmittion, rear-end, shocks rebuild barb, new altonator, tune-up with new timing belt and new exhaust system. In short car is a pretty good running vehicle. Pretty much all original and in good shape, some rust on ther floor of the drivers side. Spare transmittion came with the purchase. Drawbacks the owner hammered 3rd gear and spare tranny is said to have issues with second gear, wiper control arm bushings are bad, ball joints and alinement are scheduled. Question is is ther a place to get new wiper bushings and best way to have tranny rebuild. Would it be better to try a junk yard and find another tranny, rebuild ourselves, or buy one? Car was a great deal at $2200. Proud to have her in the family.

[So Cal Mark]

welcome! and congrats on the purchase. As for the wiper linkage, the easiest fix is to buy a used linkage assy and bolt it in. Lube it up well as seized linkages are common.
Tranny repairs are somewhat pricey these days; hard parts have gone up in price substantially in recent years. If you're mechanically inclined, get a manual and do it yourself, especially since you have a spare to work with. As for ball joints, lower ones can be a problem and you want to replace them before they break.
Take a close look at the flex coupler on the front of the driveshaft too

[mbouse]

welcome to the site. Post pictures when you can.

though i haven't done it myself yet, i would suggest rebuilding that spare tranny this winter.

[rlux4]

Welcome to the forum. I drove my car as a 4 speed when I first got it, it wouldn't stay in 4th. When 2nd went also I had Jon Logan (Midwest 124) rebuild one for me. When I posted that I was doing the tranny another member said he drove his car as a 4 speed for 7 years, so doing a rebuild during the winter may be the way to go, you still get to enjoy it meanwhile.
Good luck with your new family addition.
Ron

[79silver]

Thanks for having such a supportive and informative web-site.

Thought I might share a little history with all of you. This is not my first Fiat, believe it or not ages ago my first vehicle was a 70 Fiat Sport Coupe. I bought the car from my grandfather for $200. Yes, this car is now impossible to find but when I told my husband I wanted to buy a small get-around vehicle that we could rebuild and work on together he first showed me a MG. I told him if I was ever going to truly buy such a car we needed to look for a Fiat, so the search began. Memories of days looooong past working on this little Fiat, with the engine in the back, where my father in his infinate wisdom put cinder blocks in the front-end to protect me until the day I had 2 of my best friends join me on a trip home from school and ended up cracking the tranny leaving a trail of fluid to follow me home and let my dad know I had just broken rule #1...no friends allowed, hehehe when did we ever listen to good ol' dad who always knew better. This car is worth any penny I put into her and will cherish every broken down moment .

So ...there is one thing I have not seen is any Fiats with little blue interior. We will send photos soon but if anyone knows where I can get interior replacements in blue it would be greatly appreciated. Also we live in the Seattle area so if there is anyone in the area that is willing to lend hand or experience that would be nice as well.

[So Cal Mark]

while light blue interiors weren't plentiful, there are some around

[rlux4]

HI again. I'm originally from your area. I transplanted to Southern California 28 years ago, and got stuck here. My whole family is still scattered between Seattle and Yakima. I still consider Washington my home. There is a good group of people right in your neighborhood, Fiat Enthusiasts Northwest. There website is here: http://www.fiatnorthwest.org/index.html
They're in Seattle/Renton area. Give them a shout.
Good luck,
Ron