New Fiat Owner

[ssk124]

Hey Folks,
Just got a new ( to me) 1971 Fiat 124 Sport (BS)
Works fine and runs straight and the interior is a mess.
I am looking for help on learning and fixing it up a bit.
Cheers..

[2ndwind]

Hi Cheers,
Congrats. You'll get plenty of help here. Where are you located? If you did not know it, we like pictures. Here's the link on how to post pictures:

http://www.fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopic ... res#p37831

[ssk124]

Thanks for the welcome..
Recently acquired a red 1971 Fiat 124 Spyder.
Pics at
http://picasaweb.google.com/sridharsk/F ... directlink

I am a newbie when it comes to cars and working on them and hence the purchase.
Based in Scranton PA.. Northeast region.



Sridhar

[kmead]

Definitely a project but its certainly a great start. Nice flat hood with no bumps.

So to help you, you need to start asking questions.

What are you going to start on?

[Nancy1340]

Sridhar congratulations on your new baby. A little work but hopefully not to painful.

[mdrburchette]

Congrats on a solid start. It looks like the car has several pieces from different year models on it. You've come to the right place to get everything sorted out.

[meangreenspider]

I have definately seen worse interiors. When I bought my car I had to remove several active wasp and hornet nests before we could push it onto the trailer.

[ssk124]

Thanks Karl.

I am new to message boards as well.

I am trying to change the shift boot and have been having a TIME to get the shift Chrome part out. I did read a hilarious description by MBOUSE and would love to get some details on this.
thanks in advance.

Sridhar

[kmead]

To remove the chrome shifter is actually pretty easy once you understand the parts they used.

The chrome shifter has some large rubber washers and two different snap collars. The one that has you stymied is the one at the very bottom. It is a crenelated plastic part with a ring, the top of the crenelations have an outwardly radiused protrusion. The radiused protrusions interact with the bottom of the shift lever. Releasing this part is the key to removing the shifter.

See this illustration to understand the parts involved, the offending part is #1 in this illustration:
[

If you put the car in reverse or in fifth you will have a better chance of seeing some of that part peaking out of the bottom of the shifter. Using a small straight blade screwdriver or preferably a pointed pick with a 90° bend, reach between two of the crenelations and lever the plastic part down and out of the bottom of the shifter. You may need to use two tools in combination to get a few of the sections of the part to disengage. Once the clip is loose, shifter can be pulled off which may be very easy if the rubber parts are worn or surprisingly difficult if they are newish.

A word of warning, the part is plastic, it is old and as a result could well break. Happily it is available from all of the various vendors as part of a kit so you will be able to reinstall the shifter. If you don't replace the bottom part the shifter will periodically pull off depending on your shifting style.

http://www.fiatplus.com/shift-lever-bus ... 84613.html

http://www.vickauto.com/cgi-bin/store/76-1300.html