1980 124 spider F.I. barn find

[doc18015]

Hi all, I recently purchased subject car after sitting for 15 years. This can be a resto or rodded depending on the engine condition and rust issues.
Where is the best place to buy parts and get great prices when needed such as timing belt, gaskets, seal for the camshafts, etc.?
I left it sit for 4 days so far w/mix of Marval Mystery Oil and Blaster penetrating oil in each pug hole. I am going to take off both valve covers and oil the cams from the top. Drain gas tank and refill. Fres battery and try to start it. Missing anything?

Keep all advised and thanks for your help!!

[MJSSpider2K]

my only advice is to put a breaker bar on the crank and turn it by hand a few revolutions before you attempt to start using the starter this way you are sure that everything is moving free and loose. Other than that jsut expect A LOT of smoke form the MMO you poured into the plug holes.

Good Luck

[doc18015]

bump


Anyone????

[lanciahf]

There is a vendor list at http://www.njfiats.org/joomla15/index.p ... &Itemid=60

[doc18015]

Hi and thanks for the vendor list. I have dealt w/International Auto and am not liking their prices. I will probably make this car into an ABARTH replica of sorts. I need to research the Abarth parts available and go from there.

Got the engine to turn over by hand......now to do the valves/camshafts, remove the radiator to replace the engine seals.

Anything in the way of special tools needed to replace the seals ? I have never done it so any helpful hints will be appreciated.
Thanks!!

[lanciahf]

The motor is pretty straightforward to take apart. Just be aware of timing the crank,cam & aux. pulleys correctly during reassemble. I would get/borrow a manual before you start taking things apart..

[doc18015]

Thanks for the reply RE: Manual. I just received the Fiat workshop manual from IA. I am looking for any suggestions from those on the board that have done similiar work. Any short cuts or areas of concer are most needed. Do the seals pull out or do I need any special tools? The manual suggests hammering out and tapping in....got to say that I am not sure that is the best way to go.

Any help is appreciated.

[Foster48x]

Check out this thread. Allot of good links to vendors and manual downloads.

http://www.fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=8703

Rick

[kristoj]

There is also a vendor list here: http://www.ohioflu.com/id4.html

[pooldoctorstl]

You will want to do the timing belt even if it looks good because of the age, and if it was in a barn for a long time you will probably want to go through the brake system with new or rebuilt master cyl, calipers, proportioning valve, and new hoses. The gas tanks in our cars are prone to rust, so inspect the inside of the tank and you might need to take it to a radiator shop to have it cleaned and treated or just replace it. You don't want a bunch of loose junk clogging the fuel filter repeatedly.

Have fun!

Jeff

[doc18015]

Hi and thanks for the great info! I think I could have done better by shopping early but I now know of many other resources.

I drained the gas tank . Only about 1 1/2 gallons came out and smelled remarkably Ok . The draining was clean and easy from the lower gas tank hose. I have no way of inspecting the inside of the tank. I think what I will do is put 5 gallons of gas in plus a couple of bottles of Techron for the fuel injection. I think the filter should stop any bad guys from going through. I will use the 5 gals. when I have the car running; then install the new filter.

I am planning on removing the radiator;doing the timing belt and all seals this weekend.

[jfrawley]

To see inside the tank just take the sending unit off the top of the tank and use a flashlight (please no matches) to see into the tank. Pretty quick and easy. When reattaching the sending unit, do not over tighten the small nuts because they will break off (don't ask how I know).

[doc18015]

Hi John, I thank you. Will do on Sat. Am. Hope it is clean !

[spider2081]

Last fall I picked up an 81 FI that had been sitting in a garage since 94. The engine appeared frozen. I poured a about an ounce of automatic transmission fluid in each cylinder and let it sit for a couple weeks. Then with the spark plugs out I put the car in 5th gear and pushed the car by hand making it rock. The engine freed itself.
I then drained the fuel tank by removing the hose from the fuel pump. I removed the sender and inspected the tank, outside of the strong varnish smell it was not too rusty. I put in a few gallons of gas. Then I disconnected the hose at the cold start valve. Connected a longer hose to it and pointed it into a gallon plastic jug. Installed a Fram filter G6399 before the pump and ran the fuel pump to get as much of the old gas as possible out of the system. Reconnected the cold start valve and ran pump again for a few min. Installed a new Fuel fliter at the pump output. I probably should have disconnected the return line to the tank but I didn't think of it.
I had to replace the magnetic pick up on the distributor as the wire insulation was gone. Installed new spark plugs.
The engine cranked about 10 seconds and ran.
Once it ran I replaced the timing belt, water pump etc did the brakes and new tires. Car has been running great. Really needs new shocks though. They are frozen.

[doc18015]

Hey Spider thanks for yours! It looks like you took the risk of the belt lasting for that quick start-up. I started to replace the seals this weekend. See my post under " Crank nut removal". I , too, had a very difficult time removing the crank nut. I replaced all the seals but the two camshaft seals. I could not get the nuts off without risk off jamming a valve. I could not put my chain vise on either gear because the thermostat was in the way. Could not remove the thermostat because of the two high bosses sticking up on either side of the cam covers (did not have a socket small enough in height ) to fit in). So, they were not done. Since I could not hold either gear w/chain vise (would not fit w/o removal of thermostat), I painfully put the new belt on. The impact gun did nothing. Really IMPORTANT: make sure the auxilary gear is pointing at about 1 : 00 PM ...if not the engine rod will hit and not allow the engine to turn over. The rest is waiting for me to complete this evening....I hope.