Charitable program received donated Fiat 124 Spider today

[tomscat1]

Hi,

I run a residential facility for male adolescents. For the last 6 years or so, we have operated a car donation program as a fundraiser for the program. We are fortunate to have been the beneficiary of the generosity of a large number of people who have donated their vehicles to us... well over 300 vehicles so far. We are presently expanding the scope of the program to utilize the car donations to provide a voc ed/hobby shop opportunity for the kids in the program who are interested in exploring their interest in the automotive field. We have also provided cars to some of our graduating seniors, to enable them to get to work and school while out on their own. And, finally, last month we completed a Community Service Project in which we took one of the donated cars, prepped it a bit, and in conjunction with a local Church Group, donated a 2000 Dodge Caravan to a needy single mother with four children.

So why am I sharing all this here, you may well ask? Today, we received a donation of a beautiful 1973 Fiat 124 Spider. It has been in storage for the past 7 years. It has a dead battery, needs a new top, and needs a brake line, but it is drop-dead gorgeous body-wise and interior-wise. The previous owner stated that a 'high performance engine" was installed when he bought it. I am not sure what that means exactly, but it does have dual weber carburetors. I will try to post a pic as soon as I can.
I have joined this forum today in the hope that I can learn about the car, and perhaps obtain some guidance as we try to decide what to do with it. We have a number of options... sell the car; hold a fundraising raffle for the car; use the car in the program as a learning or motivational tool--- to say I am anticipating a tremendous interest on the part of our resident teen males is a gross understatement, as you can imagine; use the car, once it gets running, as a rolling advertisement for our car donation program; and so on.

Enough for now... I am sure I will have some questions for this forum. We are very mindful of our good fortune in receiving this donation, and we are also grateful for the existence of forums like this.

ummm.... Ciao!

[Site Owner]

Welcome Tomscat -
Sounds like a good cause and I think you'll find lots of good advice in here.

Good luck to you

[tomscat1]

Welcome Tomscat -
Sounds like a good cause and I think you'll find lots of good advice in here.

Good luck to you

Thanks very much. I look forward to it. I do have some personal experience with cars as a hobbyist myself, but that experience has been limited to mostly German models.

Are there rules/instructions on posting pics here?
Thanks in advance.

Tom

[htchevyii]

Welcome, here's a link to how to post pics:
http://www.fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopic ... res#p37831

[tomscat1]

Welcome, here's a link to how to post pics:
http://www.fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopic ... res#p37831

Thank you very much.

[TulsaSpider]

Welcome! You have come to the right place!! The dual carb set up is desirable and indicative of a performance upgrade. You will have to do some investigative work to determine what else has been done. 1st priority! you will need to change the timing belt, then all rubber hoses under the hood.Brake inspection is a must as well!

[tomscat1]

Welcome! You have come to the right place!! The dual carb set up is desirable and indicative of a performance upgrade. You will have to do some investigative work to determine what else has been done. 1st priority! you will need to change the timing belt, then all rubber hoses under the hood.Brake inspection is a must as well!

Yesterday I put it on the battery charger for a few minutes to see if I could get it to turn over. Dead as a doornail. I turned the key a couple of times.... until I noticed that I was... er... letting some smoke out of the wires! It appears to be coming from what I assume is the fender mounted solenoid. I left it at that for now, since I had to get back to the agency for a meeting. I hope to get back to look at that early next week. I will check and clean all the connections for the ignition system, and let the battery charge for a while, before trying it again.

Thanks for the info on the timing belt, etc. I have a couple of BMWs with timing belts, also, and I did replace one a couple of years ago. Good opportunity to learn a little about what is under the hood. Is this an 'interference' engine? I don't think this is the original engine... PO told me it was upgraded at some point.
I know one of the rubber brake lines needs replacement due to leaks.

[rlux4]

Hi Tom, welcome to the forum.
Yes, the original engine was an interference model. They all were until 1979 when Fiat came out with a 1995 cc engine and at that time changed the designation of the car to Spider 2000. You'd need to use the engine number, which will be just above where the mechanical fuel pump is mounted, or just to the right side of it if it's a 2 litre engine. If you have an electric fuel pump the mechanical pump mount would be blocked off, so look on the driver's side of the block, towards the front at about the center.
I don't know what may be causing the relay to get toasty, but one thing to check is the wires coming off the back of the ignition switch. Almost all of the power comes through the switch and it can be problematic, especially at the connector down line from it. Most owners do a "brown wire surgery" to help aleviate this problem. Here's a good page detailing the procedure: http://www.mirafiori.com/faq/content/bwfix/bwfix.htm
Good luck with the car, and good job recognizing and appreciating it's beauty.
Ron

[baltobernie]

Hello Tom and Welcome. Good luck with getting the Spider sorted out.

A local guy has run a similar program for several years, and I know personally that he'd be willing to share with you his experience in getting yours off the ground. http://www.theexcelinstitute.org/ You're only a short train ride away, and George is very generous with his time. Just like with Fiat electrical repairs, it's nice to talk with someone who's "been there; done that".

[Exit98]

Hi Tomcat,

Where are you?

The single major issue with our Spiders is rust. You need to check the floors and in particular the shock towers and determine if the car is structurally sound. If its sound then you are good to go. 1973 is a very desirable year. Your car should have the small delicate bumpers front and rear.

Mechanically anything can be fixed.

We need to see pictures of the little beauty.

Once you get it running you better hide the keys from your charges who will be clamoring for a top down spin.

Good luck.

[tomscat1]

Hi Tomcat,

Where are you?

The single major issue with our Spiders is rust. You need to check the floors and in particular the shock towers and determine if the car is structurally sound. If its sound then you are good to go. 1973 is a very desirable year. Your car should have the small delicate bumpers front and rear.

Mechanically anything can be fixed.

We need to see pictures of the little beauty.

Once you get it running you better hide the keys from your charges who will be clamoring for a top down spin.

Good luck.

I am in SE Connecticut along the shore close to RI. The car has been garage-kept for at least the last 7 years, and well taken care of before that, but I will check out those rust-prone areas. I do have some pics to post, but I am not crazy about using photobucket. I guess I will, if that is the only way, but I will need to learn how to use it better.

Thanks again for the warm welcome and all the info to all the guys above. That Excel Institute looks very interesting, and I will pursue the brown wire issue. I went to school in DC, and lived there for a time many years ago.... but way before Excel started.
I do look forward to delving into all of this as time allows, but, since I do have other duties to attend to, it may be a relatively slow process. Work can be soooo inconvenient, at times.

[tomscat1]

Ok, I was able to get a pic posted as an avatar. That's a start. I am not sure it does the car justice.... but at least you can see it now. Sorta.