Rebuilding Grandpas Fiat

[joelittel]

For what it's worth I have my computronics unit mounted on the block. The hardest part was making/bending a custom arm to hold the alternator.

[bluespider262]

Those are vw beetle t-bars in the autoricambi photo. I like the look of those too.

We are neighbors i'm down in pleasant prairie.

[124JOE]

we should all be on zeemaps
https://www.zeemaps.com/map?group=191825

[joelittel]

That's a cool map, I'll look into getting on it. I thought I included my address on a map of Spider owners when I first joined the forum. Is there more than one map?

[joelittel]

Baltobernie earlier you said "Are you running stock ignition? Aftermarket units can be configured with custom advance curves to compliment your engine mods."

Can you elaborate on this?

[baltobernie]

Ask SoCal Mark. In one of his blurbs describing his Computronix product, he mentions this topic.

[alsaleen]

The map is handy, I'll have to see if i can list my address on my profile, as im not on the map.

This summer I'm sure I'll have the car by common grounds in Kenosha, one of my spots I like to stop when driving/ridding.

update on the car, haven't gotten much done except the exhaust, engine, trans, basically everything under neath. Work decided to down size so it looks like I will have some time on my hands to finish up

I was looking for a red upholstery kit, and ran across these guys, does anyone here have experience with them?

https://www.carupholsteryguys.com/categ ... w?cat=2038

[alsaleen]

Well I picked the car up from the shop that was supposed to adjust the carbs go over what I had done ( I admittingly had a few odds and ends that they had to take care of)
they also had new tie rods, ball joints, springs, and shocks to put on then align. I had to get an alignment anyways so figured id let them do it.
I was going to have them do the wildwood brakes as well but they too wayyyy to long to get to my car and decided id do those.

Well that was a bad decision, I got the car back yesterday afternoon on lunch, and drove 4 miles to work. then home and out to eat. the car ws running poorly so it'll need some carb adjustment ( no experience on this) then this morning I decided id drive it to work to run the old gas out of it, topped it off with new stuff and got about 4-5 miles from my house when the brakes went to the floor at 55 when I was slowing to get into a turn only lane. wasn't able to get back in the non turn lane so luckily there wasn't oncoming traffic and I used the other side of the road for a run off....

long story short when they put the front end back together, someone didn't put the caliper on correctly. so now ill be needing a new wheel (caliper was wedge between that and rotor), and now I NEED to install the wilwoods that are in my living room.

pictures from before the incident.

[DUCeditor]

I just picked up on this thread. Kind'a taken aback by some of the "Do this, not that" early-on comments. Then encouraged by the (to me) more positive and helpful ones that appeared. Whew!

You car is gorgeous! Both the body and that motor!

I've had my `77 for nearly 30 years. (I guess I fall into the "grandpa" category, despite not actually being one.) And no, I never took mine anywhere near as far towards being a true performance machine as you have. (I had Ducati motorcycles to satisfy that need) I'm, like some others here, more a driver -- taking mine out of storage every Spring and using it as a weekend back road toy until late in the Autumn.

But you are young so the approach you are taking makes, at least to me, perfect sense.

Anyhow, I loved looking at the photos of your machine and look forward even more to hearing you tell of your early drives once all those bugs have been worked out. And if you persevere they will be worked out!

Keep those postings coming!

-don

[Ptoneill]

First..great looking car!! Second I fully agree with going thru the entire brake system my brake booster failed on me, you can still drive but you better "plan" your stops. The cost of new parts particularly parts that are safety related is well worth the investment.

I installed the Computronix's on my 2ltr using the port on the left side,I moved the alternator to the passenger side of the engine. It costs a little more because you have to get a mounting plate and an adjustment arm but it really looks good!

These cars will never (except for a very few) be worth serious money, I have probably exceeded the value of mine by 30K. My point is that they are beautiful machines that give the average person a wide choice in how "they" want it to look and perform. If you are happy then do it!!

Keep up the updates!