My New 1980 Spider

[firstfiat2929]

Hi:

I have never been a car guy. But now I am. I live in southern california (W LA) and love the beach as much as the next guy. And thought - now I just need a cool way to GET to the beach. Convertible was the easy answer and after a few months of searching I learned that I needed to have one of these classic spiders.

I got one, paid the mechanic to make it safe and now have a new member of my family and am a happy dude. 1980 fuel injected red with tan interior (I think the original color though was a green). Body is in great shape and there is little to no rust. California car.

So i've decided that working on her and restoring her is something I'd like to take on myself. I am a Medical Doctor so I have a natural inclination towards physiology and mechanisms but was never one to work on cars with my dad or anything like that. I've really enjoyed reading a few books and auto mechanics and standing above the engine with my shop manual much in the way that I used to stand over corpses with an anatomy textbook in med school.

The interior definitely needs work but is in very decent shape. I may get a way with some touching up of some the paneling. Right now I'm working on trying to fix my passenger side window which is busted up because the window regulator cable is frayed and off track. I'd like to see if I can get the horn working too. The intake manifold is stripped where the mixture screws go in so it might need to be replaced. Apparently my mechanic tells me my 'resonator' is missing on my exhaust and its just a straight pipe but I think the manual refers to it as a second muffler. It did pass smog though. Its a 5 speed manual and pops out of second frequently so it probably needs some tranny work.

I'd really like to know if anybody has any recommendations for books, websites, etc that can help me learn about this car and auto repair in general. I don't have too many good car fixing type friends and I'd be really keen on meeting some folks who seem to enjoy this as much as I do.

All the best,

Jeremy

[Foster48x]

Welcome to the site Jeremy. You'll find many knowledgeable members here that are very helpful.

Before you get started searching the site check out this thread. It's a pretty thorough list of some of the things your looking for and will save you some time. http://www.fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=8703

There's not much that hasn't been discussed on the site already so if you can't find it ask and we'll all do our best to help you out. Oh and by the way the 80FI was a great choice for a first Spider... don't let the 82 owners tell you otherwise .

Good luck with the restoration!
Rick

[baltobernie]

Hello and Welcome!

While this and other online forums are terrific, nothing beats having a trained expert look at the patient first-hand. (M.D. vs. Web-MD?) Those of us fortunate to live within driving distance of a Fiat specialist benefit greatly from their experience, even when we want to do the actual restoration or repair ourselves. Take your car, digital camera and notebook to Mark's or another Fiat-specialist shop. That co-pay will be the best money you've ever spent on your Spider.