I bought a Fiat...and here I am.

[Avant1]

Good afternoon,

First I have to extend many thanks to this site, and all contributing members who's posts have helped me decifer the strange logic-deyfying wiring that strings throughout these suckers.

The quick story of what I'm messing with. While my girl was in Mexico, I stumbled across a 1981 Spider 2000 for $400...long story short my girl wasn't too happy I picked up another car...let alone one that didn't run.

The car: Red w/tan interior, black top, 74k mi, 5 sp, has been in storage for ~14yrs, and was last licensed in 1996. So obviously some things needed to be replaced...the worst of it was the gnarly cooling system, and one of the brake lines had turned completely solid!

I've replaced:
Combi-relay, t-belt, t-belt tensioner, head gasket, plugs, injector seals, water pump, radiator (replaced w/Volvo 940 unit and overflow tank), most vacuum lines, and some misc. brake parts. While the head was off I painted the head and cam covers, and the plenum red, which turned out pretty good. I'm working on it as I have time, but it's pretty close to being road ready. I'll add some pics here shortly.

[baltobernie]

Hello and Welcome! That red w/tan is a beautiful combination. My guess is that when the top last needed replacing, the PO bought an all-purpose black one instead of the correct tan. After 14 years, all liquids in the car are probably semi-liquid

Sounds like you're well on your way to having your girl going from unhappy to "how cool is this?". Now's the time to be prepared for when she eventually says, "You love that car more than me!" The correct response (commit this to memory) is, "Now sweetie, you know I love you both ... equally."

[mdrburchette]

Sage advice from a man that's been there, right Bernie?
Welcome to the forum. If you've learned anything, you know you have to post pics. $400 is an awesome deal if the body's solid so we want to see what we missed out on.

[Danno]

I agree with Bernie's assessment of the likelihood she will come around on this car. my wife disliked my Spider for the longest time. I committed to buy a 128 last week and she complained. I said "I guess we could get rid of the Spider," and she actually complained because she actually thinks the spider is "cute." and pictures herself driving it. news to me.

moral of the story:
go buy another car that's uglier and then she'll like this one better. Then you sell the ugly car because she was mad. Bad-a-boom, suddenly she thinks you listen to what she has to say. everybody is happy.

[mdrburchette]

Why doesn't that work on husbands? I've tried it.

[2ndwind]

When I bought my spider my wife asked: "Just why did you buy that car?" I replied that it was time for me to have some fun. When she drove it the first time she went tearing down the ramp to the freeway and yelled several times "I TOTALLY get this!"