howdy ya'll

[racerx]

i am new to the fiat world as a group of friends and i just bought a 1979 spider to turn into a race car. the car is very rough with lots of rust in the floorboards but we are on our way to fixing it. i have been reading some of the posts to the forum over the last week or so and it seems like it is filled with a lot of good information and good people. i look forward to getting to know you all more as we get our car geared up for the road!

[mbouse]

i'm sure you know the entry fee to the site is pictures... now and later.

welcome to the site.

[ga.spyder]

Pretty sure by your greeting you somewhere here in the South?Where you located,and what class do you plan on racing the Spider.Welcome to the site.
Craig

[racerx]

a very reasonable entrance fee indeed! i would love to post the pics i'm just having some difficulty figuring out how to get them uploaded. i could put one in the signature but that wouldn't show you much would it! the FAQ section wasn't all that clear about the subject either. any help would be appreciated!
i am in atlanta georgia. i am assuming "ga.spider" puts you somewhere in the vicinity too.

[racerx]

ok...after some investigation, and an expedition to flicker, i hopefully have gotten a couple of pics up. these pictures are following a few days of intense removal and exploration so bear with me! the engine gas tank, exhaust system, top and interior are all removed. some things will be returned to their orignal home when the floorboards are replaced (yes that is my driveway showing under the drivers seat location), some probably wont. i will try to get a better overall shot this weekend. it has been raining a lot here so it has been hard to get to!

BTW. what size engine usually comes in a 1979 spider 2000? we got this car from a guy who bought it on a lark and doesnt really know much about it. i have seen a lot of different sizes mentioned on the forum from a little over 1600 to 1800cc.




thanks for the welcome!
mike

[racydave]

Welcome! A 79 would come with a 2L stock. The carb was very sickly, and its a good up-grade. There have been alot of posts on the subject. Heres a good link for tech data including carb up-grades.http://www.artigue.com/cars.html

[ga.spyder]

Hey Mike,
I am up in the mountains in Blairsville.We have gotten a bunch of guys in the Atl. area lately,who just bought or are restoring Spiders.The 79 would have a 2000cc DOHC,carbed motor.In 80,some went to fuel inj. 81's and 82's are all fuelies.There is a Fiat mech in Duluth,and he has some used parts. Bayless in Marietta is a big mail order parts business.One of our new members,velosi,said he picks parts up there to save the shipping.Too far for me.Good luck and dont be shy about askin for help.
Craig

[azygoustoyou]

Welcome Spider Monkey!!!
The car looks good. That hole isn't bad. I couldn't get my foot through it. LOL Good luck with the build. These guys on here have plenty of good advice. Looking forward to more pics.

[racerx]

racydave,
cool stuff on the carbs! yes mine was pretty sickly. but that was largely due to the fact that it hadnt been run in at least 2 years! before we broke it down to fix the big problems we had it running on its own power and starting pretty much on demand still bogged down a lot though. thanks for the welcome!

Craig,
great to meet another GA boy on the forum! it does seem like there are a lot of fiats out there now doesnt it? i was looking for comparables when we went to buy this one and there were at least 5 on craigslist. surprised me as i hadnt ever really noticed one out driving! and thanks for the information on the parts sources. i am sure that will help a lot. you wouldnt happen to know if those places buy used parts too would you? some of the trim, top, and miscillaneous stuff wont be used in the final "race" version and the cash would be good for buying the parts i WILL need!

Also, would either of you happen to know what the HP rating of the 2000cc motor is? or the gear ratios in the transmission? since ours had 4 dry rotted tires i have never gotten it out of 1st gear to do a calc! and i have heard that the wheels are 4x98mm but ours came to us with one old honda wheel, which i think is 4x100. sure it isnt a big difference, but i would love to know for future purchases!
thanks!
mike

[rlux4]

Howdy back atcha, and welcome to the site. Good luck with your project. How did you and the others come to decide on a Spider as the car you would use for the races? And what kind of racing will you be doing?
I don't believe you'd find another year Spider with less HP than the 79s had, stock. To meet federal emissions requirements they had to keep tweaking the carbs down, and adding smog crap to the point where they were pretty gutless (my first Spider was a 79), When they changed over to FI in 1980 for California bound cars and all Spiders from 81 on it made a big difference in performance. What the stock 79 HP was though, I don't really know.
Ron

[ga.spyder]

Mike,
The horsepower on the 79 was 85hp.The fuel inj. cars had 20 more!The final ratio was 3.90. I have a copy of the factory shop manual on CD.Send me a pm with your address and you are welcome to it.Not a great copy,but all the info is there.
Craig

[racerx]

Ron,
well, the race we are running is the grassroots motorsports 2009 challenge. the race involves a concourse judging, autocross course and 1/4 mile drag. the main rule is you can only spend $2009 on the car. that was a pretty big limitation on what was available! we originally started with a $150 BMW 328 that we planned to put a V8 in. but some of the team thought that even with that kind of power it would be murder (or just plain embarrassing) to drive on the autocross portion and that was a main driver for entering this race. so we started looking for something smaller, with better handling potential. we found this one running for $500 and all of us agreed it was a cool looking car to start with... and that's pretty hard to do with 4 type A's in the discussion!
unfortunately, the horsepower wasnt all that impressive from what we have felt. (thanks Craig for putting a number to our feelings!) given the original plan of a V8 in a beemer, we all kinda assumed when we bought it that we would do the same thing with this car. but the more we look at it, the less a V8 fits. we certainly dont want to make a fast "1/4 mile brick" out of it. i have been reading a lot of the articles on the forum and it looks like the price tag for getting into the HP neighborhood we want to live in (@180 to 200) with this motor may be hard to do for the bucks we can allot to it. any suggestions would be appreciated! especially those that use pretty typical and available parts!
Craig, thanks for the offer on the specs! what is a "pm"?
thanks!
mike

[ga.spyder]

Sorry...a pm is a private message.Youy can click on the little notepad under my name and send me something w/o making it public.Hell,just send me a email nuker598@yahoo.com You will have a tough time getting that horsepower and stay under the $2009.I have gotten grassroots motorsport mag for years.Did you go to The Mitty a couple weeks ago?Using the Spider,I think a small block would be the cheapest route.There is a guy in Gainesville that has a 5.0 in a Fiat. It may give up a little on the autocross,but you'll kick ass on the strip!That guy with the V8 in a Vdub won a couple years ago.There is a group of us building up a Fiat for the 24 Hours of Lemons in Sept.Any spare parts ...list em here on this site.You get the right people and dont have to pay a percent to Ebay.
Craig

[mbouse]

well, that's a great start. nice looking engine bay, only one item missing.

[kmac33]

Mike,
Welcome to the forum. I am another of the Georgia owners - I'm in Decatur. I have to agree that the only chance you have of getting close to the horsepower you are after is to find a "junk yard" V8 that you can squeeze in. Good luck with the project, and keep us all posted!

Kevin