I made an intro post early this year as I was searching for a Spider (before the craziness of quarantine started) that actually inspired a few other locals to meet and go for a drive together, and boy did I wish I had a Spider to join in with them. After a long hiatus due to all this craziness, I've finally purchased one this week! My wife has always wanted a classic car and I've always wanted another convertible after saying goodbye to a '94 Miata years ago, so this fits the bill perfectly for us. And I enjoy wrenching on things. Should be fun. You all have already been very helpful and I'm looking forward to being a part of this community.
Here are a few details:
- 1981 Fiat 2000 Spider
- 45k miles. True mileage, to the best of my knowledge. Previous owner had it for about 7 years and only drove it about 2000 miles (with records to show, and previous owner was a pastor, so I'd imagine he was truthful!
- Lived in Reno and Sacramento - hot and dry places. No rust visible on panels or underneath.
- Has air conditioning. Didn't even know that was an option! I haven't tried it but if it works, I better go buy a lotto ticket.
- Generally well cared for - new shocks, brake pads/rotors, suspension bushings, trailing arms, ball joints, tie rods, water pump/timing belt, starter, starter relay, battery, distributor rebuild, valve cover gaskets all within the last 2000 miles. All service records organized in a binder - always a good sign.
- Repainted a few years ago. Paint job is decent - some overspray that I want to clean up. Some flaws in the clearcoat. not a Maaco job but not a crazy expensive job either. For my purposes of having a fun cheap classic car, it's just fine.
- In general it's a good runner with a few niggling issues. I drove it home 2 hours in 90-100deg heat with no issues - definitely built some trust on that ride!
- Picked it up for $4,500. Originally listed for $6,500. I'm pretty happy with the price I got!
Issues:
- Dies when cold unless you keep your foot slightly on the gas until it warms to ~130-140. Is fine for the first few seconds but after that needs some gas until it warms up. This tells me (in my limited knowledge so far) the cold start valve is probably OK and the AAV is probably not. I'm planning to go through the Mirafiori FI tuning guide to address this. Can't believe how simple this FI system is!
- Failed smog (perfect CO and HC, very high NOx). Yes, I know you shouldn't buy a car without smog in CA, but the seller was about to let it go for a steal to CarMax, so she sold it to me instead for the same price so that it would go to a good home (she was a wonderful person). Anyway, the exhaust system is a mangled mess of poor welds and non-stock components after the header. The cat is even welded to the header flange!! Never seen that before. The welds there look AWFUL, so I'd bet good money there's a leak there prior to the cat, which is causing the high NOx reading. So, I'll be cutting everything off after the header and starting fresh with a proper exhaust system.
- Needs a few interior bits (boot cover and center console between seats)
- Clicking clutch pedal - haven't investigated yet but I imagine it's a worn cable or something
- Spongy brakes - need to flush badly.
Fun upgrades in the near future once she's running properly:
- Replacing hood chrome trim - already have a piece on the way from a fellow helpful forum member!
- Tires have great tread but are OLD, so I'll be replacing them. Probably going to step up to Panasport replica wheels at the same time. I just love those things...
- Will replace ugly 80's bumpers with Allison's Automotive early-model bumper retrofit kit. I thought about removing them entirely, but the rest of the chrome on this car is beautiful and it has the trunk rack, so I think the chrome bumpers will look best.
- New steering wheel (wood, maybe?) and shift knob / short shifter. This knob just spins around, it's awful!
- Will look into big brake kit after flushing these brakes and seeing what a proper original brake system feels like...
And some pics!
