New Member from Ottawa, Ontario Canada

[Mirabelli78]

Ciao everyone,
my name is Roberto and I just had my 1st Fiat delivered on Saturday.
It's a 1978 124 Spider. I have always been and still am into Formula 1 (Forza Ferrari) and American muscle cars but my strong Italian heritage and recent honeymoon in Italy re-sparked my love for the Fiat.

I am excited to start the cleanup and restoration of this spider along with my wife who is extremely happy with the car.

This forum seems like a great common place and look forward to great information, great conversation and building relationships with fellow Fiat enthusiasts.

I will post some pics of the start of Rob and Meg's Fiat adventure.
Roberto

[courtenay]

Welcome aboard Roberto and Meg. I and my family lived in Ottawa for a few years and really enjoyed the experience. Great city. Winters not so great for sports car driving though!!

[mbouse]

welcome... let the party begin!

my wife loves her 1978 Spider, your wife will love yours too.

[kilrwail]

Welcome aboard from a fellow Ottawan, also with a '78. You should hook up with the Italian Car Club of Ottawa, hosted in part by Delio at Frank's Auto. http://icco.forzavx.com/ Let me know if you need a hand with anything.

[Mirabelli78]

Hi Peter,

Thanks very much. I will def. be looking into the Ottawa Club. And thank you for the offer for help. I will probably take you up on that.

My first project is replacing the timing belt. then change all the fluids in the car and give it a cleaning from top to bottom.
Rob

[mbouse]

please add changing the guibo to your list

[courtenay]

OK, as a relative newcomer to the Fiat world - I'll bite - what the heck is a guibo??

[Mirabelli78]

here is the answer from Mike...from 2008....


by mbouse on Fri May 30, 2008 10:42 am

that prolly was me.

the guibo is known by other names (of course). i prefer to call it the rubber donut. I think our suppliers call it the Flex disk. it is the connection between your transmission and your drive shaft.

http://www.international-auto.com/index ... p&pid=2600

i am not necessarily advocating this particular vendor. just know where i can find the picture of the part in question.
Mike Bouse
mbouse@chartermi.net
Home of the Michigan SHORTER SHIFTER
1978 Fiat Spider basically stock
1980 Fiat Spider modifed every season
Coldwater, Michigan

[mbouse]

my tactic works on occasion....

[courtenay]

How often do these Guibos need to be replaced? How does one know if one needs to replace their Guibo?

[kilrwail]

It's made of rubber, so if a car's been sitting idle for more than 5 years it's a good idea. When the car's used regularly, they last a lot longer than that. You can tell visually if the rubber's dried out and cracking that its days are numbered. You do not want it to fail at speed - things come through the floor, quickly.

[2ndwind]

Hi Roberto and Meg,

I didn't know about the flex disc/donut thing either. I was just planning on replacing the drive shaft center bearing and support. Then I learned that the "guibo" is kind of like the timing belt. If you don't know its replacement history, you don't when it will give out. Many people here have pointed out that a visual inspection is only tells you if it is OBVIOUSLY shot, not actual condition. I replaced mine along with new U-Joints while I was there. Whole job was <$200 and about 5 hrs. of time. 2 of those hours were wasted putting in u-joints with center-hub zerk fittings. They bind in the joint. You would think the FIAT suppliers would know better. Get sealed u-joints or cap style.

Good luck and enjoy your ride.

[narfire]

Welcome Roberto and Meg. As you probably know this is a great resource to help get and keep your fiat sorted.
Hopefully you'll love to "tinker" with the car as much as drive it. I believe Peter would be a great resource there in Ottawa, as he has had his car since new in 78.
Good luck and have fun.
Picture of a flex disk I took off a 72 that had been sitting for a number of years


you should see the cracks forming around the bolt holes