Hello.

[simon]

Hi, I'm Simon. I'm currently in the market for a spider. I have my eye on a 78...and if all goes well i'm hoping to give it a new home this week.

I'm down in the Tampa, Florida area...any other Tampa fiat spider owners?
Looking forward to diving into some posts here.
-simon

[Gunsmith]

I'm not in Tampa but I do notice alot of Spiders for sale a little south of you near St Pete and Naples. There was on Craigslist over here on the East coast not too long ago. I amsur you will be able to find a good one. Oh yea, Welcome to the forum!

[rlux4]

Hello, and welcome to the forum Simon.
Good luck getting just the right Spider. There does seem to be a lot of them available in your state, just be sure to check for rust in the critical areas; frame and shock towers.
There are quite a few owners from Florida here on the forum so you should be able to hook up with some.
Ron

[Hutch]

Hi Simon
I'm new here as well, just picked up a 77 after 26 years of no spider. Try http://www.craigshelper.com , it allows you to search multiple areas of craigslist easily. Good luck in your search!

[So Cal Mark]

welcome to the site! good luck finding a car. let us know how we can help

[flyboy]

Hey,
I am just down the bay in Gulfport. I have a '78 (not currently running! lots of work to do this weekend). Did you pick up the one you were looking at?

[kristoj]

Welcome to the forum! Post some pix when you get it.

[simon]

Flyboy - I actually live in Seminole - not too far from Gulfport at all!

I did end up getting the 1978 spider. I'll post pics tomorrow (it was dark by the time i got her home). I want very badly to take her to work tomorrow, but the top has quite a few holes and it rains so much this time of year - so she'll stay in the garage until the weekend. I'm going to have to find a new top right away. (and a muffler - it's a bit loud without one).

I'll post some pics tomorrow night.
Thanks everyone for the warm welcome!

[simon]

Okay...i took a few pics this weekend...and managed to solve 1 (of many) electrical problems.

I don't have access to anyone who has experience working on cars...and i'm a complete beginner...so i'll posting often on the board with questions. I have a list going.

[rlux4]

Looks like the car is in pretty decent shape Simon. Especially cool is how your car and mailbox match!
Don't hesitate to ask here on the forum when you run into something that you need help figureing out.
It's pretty common to see the rear left bumper support left on when the bumpers have been removed. Whoever did it found out you have to lift the gas tank to get to the bolt and probably said "I'll do it later".
Do you plan on keeping the bumperless look? Mark (our moderator) has a set of round lights for the front that might look better than how it is now.
Congratulations.
Ron

[simon]

Mark (our moderator) has a set of round lights for the front that might look better than how it is now.

That was one of the first things i was going to ask about...i can't really drive it with the signals hanging out like that...but, seeing as the directionals don't currently work (another issue i'm sure i'll be posting about eventually) i haven't done anything to change them yet.

I'm going to try to start my marathon of questions this evening if i can get some time to sit down and post them all.
thanks for the encouragement!

[baltobernie]

Hello Simon, and Welcome. Good to see another Joseph Campbell fan, too!

I don't know what your budget is, but as Ron says, that's a nice looking car. Depending on how extensive the "improvements" POs have made to your car, you might consider simply replacing all of the wiring with a modern, American harness. The whole shebang costs about $300 in parts, and you can do it yourself with simple hand tools in a week's worth of evenings. Instructions here: http://www.artigue.com/fiat/Pubs/Fiat_Painless.pdf

[kristoj]

Looks like you have a pretty solid car to start from. The interior looks to be in really good shape. The seats and door panels are the expensive parts and they look perfect. Carpet can be sourced from a number of vendors for $200-$300.

[simon]

Hello Simon, and Welcome. Good to see another Joseph Campbell fan, too!

I don't know what your budget is, but as Ron says, that's a nice looking car. Depending on how extensive the "improvements" POs have made to your car, you might consider simply replacing all of the wiring with a modern, American harness. The whole shebang costs about $300 in parts, and you can do it yourself with simple hand tools in a week's worth of evenings. Instructions here: http://www.artigue.com/fiat/Pubs/Fiat_Painless.pdf

I downloaded the PDF and read it through. It looks like a really good idea - especially reading over how many other people have had electrical problems. As of right now i'm working alone. Is this really something one person could complete on their own?

[baltobernie]

If you are OK with the caveats regarding emissions, you can do this yourself. There are two gotchas I've found since doing mine: The car must have an internally-regulated alternator, and the charge indicator lamp will not work with the new harness. I think your car is new enough to have the Bosch alternator, and the charge lamp issue is best solved by replacing the clock (which probably doesn't work, anyway) with a voltmeter http://www.egauges.com/vdo_mult3.asp?Ty ... es&Units=E so add another forty bucks to the budget.

I'll be available to answer any specific questions you might have, and we can call upon other owners of your vintage to fill in any gaps.