Greetings from Colorado--1976 Fiat 124

[JerryH]

Hello everyone,

This is a terrific forum. I've learned a lot during my month of 'lurking' here.

I've owned my 1976 124 since Thanksgiving 2009. I bought it from the guy down the street who had it sitting in a field for 5 years. I didn't do much to it last year, but now I've got the bug. I've rebuilt the alternator (new field coil), rewired the electronic ignition and disassembled and cleaned both carbs. The engine is running pretty good now--now it's time to tackle the transmission (no 3rd gear) and replace the timing belt. My 13 year old son and I are working on it together--he's really enjoying himself.

We'll probably have a bunch of questions for you all once we get the tranny out.

By the way, this is my second Fiat. I owned a 1978 124 back in 1988-1994. I had a lot of fun with that one.
-Jerry

[JohnnyRaggs]

Good to hear about your Fiat. Im in the same boat right now. Got a '71 that Im working on. Nice to see your working on it with your son, will be good times when your cruising together.

[mdrburchette]

A Fiat is a great car to work on with your son. It's not overly complicated or big. Let us know how you progress and if you have any questions or insights, make sure you post.

[JerryH]

Well, we finally got the transmission out. We've been referring to the Haynes manual for directions. We followed all the directions in the manual and there was no way that it was going to come out without removing the lower part of the gearshift (the Haynes manual doesn't mention this). We removed that and we still had interference between the bell housing and the floorpan and we couldn't slip the tranny back far enough to drop it down. We tried to loosen the engine mounts and tip the engine back to give us more room, but we couldn't tip it back far due to interference between the carb and the firewall. So, we borrowed a cherry picker and pulled the engine off the engine mounts, slid it forward just a bit and the tranny finally came free.



Now, since the engine is this far out, we might as well remove it to do the timing belt and inspect the clutch. There's probably only about 6 more connections to be undone. Do you guys agree?

Here is my son eagerly tearing into the transmission.



I've got a question about disassembling the transmission, but I'll post my question in the technical section of this forum.

[johndemar]

Jerry...Sounds like a great father-son project. Everyone on this site is doing something to their cars, so keep us posted with your progress.
Your car has been upgraded sometime in the past. The 76 did not come with an electronic ignition or twin carbs. And if my eyes don't deceive me you have headers on it as well.
And as your almost there you might as well pull the engine. Easier to check all the seals and clean up the engine bay.

[JerryH]

Well we took her out for an extended test run tonight. She ran very well. Here's what I did over the past few months:
1. Rebuilt the transmission using the parts from the Classic Ricambi transmission overhaul kit. Quite the learning experience. It was fun.
2. Resurfaced the flywheel and replaced the clutch components.
3. New timing belt, water pump and tensioner bearing.
4. New heater valve (the old one was leaking).
5. New guibo, pillow block, bearing and U joints.
6. While replacing the U joints I found the drive shaft had been damaged previously. It appeared that the PO had driven it with a busted U joint for some time. The PO had replaced the U joints, but I felt the shaft was sufficiently damaged that I didn't want it back in MY car. So I contacted Tom at Aspen Imports in Denver and he fixed my up with some better parts.

If anyone is interested I could post photos of my work.

The car runs surprisngly well. I wouldn't be surprised to find that the engine had been overhauled shortly before it was parked. It feels pretty strong.

Now I'm concerned about passing emissions testing. The car is running well. I'll make sure it's running lean when I take it in. I think I'll pass the smog test, but I'm worried that they might 'ding' me because my car doesn't have a catalylitc converter. I don't think it had one originally. It's a '76. I've got the original owners manual in the glove box and it shows that only some cars are outfitted with cats and the ones that had cats had a dashboard light that lit after 25K miles to remind the owner to replace the converter. Also, Tom at Aspen Imports said that if I don't have the unleaded fuel restrictor on the gas tank input that the car wouldn't have a cat. Does anyone have experience with a '76 passing Colorado emissions? By the way, if your Colorado vehicle is a '75 or older you can get collector's plates and you don't have to get an emissions test. Missed it by one year!

[Nancy1340]

Of course we are interested. Nice looking workshop BTW.
It's great that your son is doing this with you.

[Exit98]

Jerry,

Here's a little info that may help you.

I've got an original (I think) California Spider 1976. There is a plate on the driver's door that clearly states is has a Cat. So my point is, if you don't have a plate like that I don't think your's had one.

As an aside, all polution controls and the cat were stripped off the car a long time ago. It's no problem for me here in NJ but I have no idea how the PO managed to get by the Calif smog check all those years.