Fiat owner again

[Fiatracecar]

This is a great forum and all the owners that I have spoken to or emailed so far have been great. I am one of Rod's
co-conspirators, in the LEMONS spider. My son will be helping Rod with the pictures tomorrow. We hope to pull the motor and transmission, too. Meanwhile, I have been trying to sell the interior on the parts forum. With that in mind, thanks to you Ron for being so cordial. Although Ron couldn't use our black interior he was very encouraging.

I had never driven a FIAT Spider until two weeks ago. We have had and still have several interesting cars but I was fortunate enough to get the privilege of driving it 100 miles home the day we spent $500 for a car that is worth much more. It was a great drive, worn shocks aside, it revs sweet, the gear box is very positive, and best of all it seemed to corner as flat as anything else I have driven---sweet. It felt that good even with a couple of bushings that were outside of their housings. It is everything modern cars aren't, lightweight, nimble, and it talks to you at every point of contact. On top of all that as we continue with the disassembly process everything (except the top transmission to engine bolts) has been sensible. Every corner that we have touched during the disassembly holds interesting bits of thoughtful, artful, and minimalist engineering. I love this car. All that and reasonable parts, too! Good thing more people don't know or they would be so much more expensive.

A big thanks to your Administrators you are a very friendly group and this is a very useful forum.

Jonathan Stubbs
Woodland, Ca

P.S Our Lemons theme is bringing Bugs Bunny back to the spotlight, this1978 Orange Spider soon to be covered in Bugs Bunny artwork, (my son has artistic talents). And despite our fanatical desire to shed weight, we want to leave the windshield, wing windows, door chrome trim strips and the side strips just because the car looks better with them---ahh love...,

[mdrburchette]

Welcome Jonathan. Our Lemons car is also a 78 that a fellow in Maryland gave me. It's an ugly little critter and none of us have driven it to see if the tranny is any good. We did transplant a gone through 1608 into it and we have it running. Next step is to fit the car with interchangeable seats since one of us is a little over 5 ft tall and one is 6'4" with a couple in between. Our windshield is intact but we've removed the door hardware. We are also fortunate to be losing weight every day it's humid due to rust. If it keeps going the way it has, we'll weigh the equivelant of an engine and tranny by race day.

[Fiatracecar]

That looks pretty familiar. I'm afraid we are going to be heavier than you will be--not enough rust. I like the fuel cell placement. That should work well. Original tank and placement not the best. Did you manage to properly compress the front spring that is laying on the ground? We could only get one of the spring compressors on and couldnt get the spring completely compressed as a result. Once we cut the springs down it shouldn't be an issue but if it is it will be even worse since they'll be shorter. We did get our motor and transmission out yesterday, through the bottom. Really don't like those top to engine/transmission bolts. Tomorrow the engine moves to Rod's house.

When is the Lemons event you are prepping for?

Jonathan

[mdrburchette]

We made our own spring compressor that fits inside the spring. It works like a charm. How much are you planning to cut from your coils? We're looking to run the Chump race at VIR in April. We haven't decided whether we're running the 24 hour or the two 7 hour races but it's on a course most of our team is familiar with. If our car holds up, we're planning to run the Lemons race in Kershaw, SC in September.

[Fiatracecar]

If the Lemons Gods smile upon us and we don't get run over, there are three races this year within an hour or so of us.
Infineon, Thunder Hill and maybe the track in Fernley, Nevada-but I think that one will be at Thunderhill, too.

No decision on the springs yet, definitely took a lot of weight out. Cage will add some back. When we get there I will try to remember to post it here.

Jonathan

[ga.spyder]

Jonathan,keep us updated on you guys progress and we will do the same.We can surely learn from each other,as we have already done a lot of what you doing now.We will share our info...as long as we arent racing each other This weekend,setting front end and driving it to check tranny and diff....snow permitting.
Craig

[bugsbunny]

Ok after much trying I think I finally figured this picture posting out . Here goes. I have the engine at my house now to go through. Its leaking so bad everywhere we have no choice. Otherwise it runs alright. Nick with Lemons says quality seat sliders are OK. We have a wide range of driver height as well. As for springs, I think we will wait until the car is together at near racing weight before we start cutting.
Rod

[ga.spyder]

Rod,you guys are starting off with a lot better shell than we did.Most of the metal was already gone ...due to cancer.Made it really easy to lighten
Craig

[mdrburchette]

That car looks a lot like Juan, my 71 Spider! I bet it has a floorboard in it too, huh?

[bugsbunny]

Solid floors except under the drivers seat. We got it cheap because it's not registerable in California as it was a 49 state car without cat. Also a salvage title but we don't know why. Otherwise it seems well worn with about a zillion miles on it.