New Life into 5month dormant...(ITS ALIVE!)

[theProdikalSon]

Hello all,

I have been reading though postings trying to glean an understanding of Fiats. I am sorry if I am being redundant in my posting, but have not found similar issues to mine.

I recently bought a 1980 FI 2000 with a lot of rust that does not start. I have put the battery on a charger, as the owner said as far as he knew the battery was dead. The car has been sitting since may without starting.



From what I understand through postings I have the starter, alternator, and ignition wiring to worry about? Should I replace fuel filters and/or gas? I have never seen a fuel filter before and don't know how to spot one if I saw it..I have never worked on a car before, but I passed differential equations, java, wired my home, fixed my longboard... How hard could it be ?

So the battery should be charged in a few hours, and I am going to take a chance and try starting it. I will post the result later on..

-Andrew

There is a tide in the affairs of men.
If taken at the flood leads on to fortune
Omitted, and all the journies of life
are bound to shallows and flats.
On these kind seas where we lay afloat,
we must take the tide as it serves us.

[wikkid]

Do you have any friends who know anything about basic car maintenance and repair? The best would be to learn some basics alongside someone with some experience.

There are really basic things you should know about before working on cars. Do you know what jack stands are, and how to use them to hold up the car before you crawl under it. to where the fuel pump and filter are, for example?

There is a lot of good information online, but you should at the very least get a couple of books to help get you started: you can get a Haynes manual for Fiat Spiders, and it will also devote some pages to tools needed, good safety practice, etc. Also, the Fiat 124 shop service manual provides good instructions, but bear in mind it was written for Fiat mechanics, not for enthusiast owners 25-40 years later.

[theProdikalSon]

I don't have many friends, let along ones that work on cars

I have the manual and I am going through it now. It looks like I will have to head to an auto zone to buy a new battery.. It looks like it is not charging..

Jack stands sound pretty self explanatory. tripod, quadpods, or stilty looking things that prop the car up I'm guessing..

I have zero experience working on cars, but consider myself pretty technical.. Perhaps somewhat over confident in handling the matter, but my only alternative is to hand it over to a mechanic.

[wikkid]

If you are pretty technical, then get a few good books on basics, and Fiat-specific manuals, and follow the directions carefully. Especially the safety-related ones, to get into good safety habits to protect you and your car. Things like jack stands, blocking wheels, disconnecting the negative battery lead before working on anything with a wire involved....

Bring in the existing battery for a trade-in, and to be sure the new one is the same size so it will fit in the battery area.

Do you have any more information about how the car ran before it sat for 5 months? What was the reason for selling, and why did it sit for 5 months?

Can you get any records of any work done to the car?


These links will give you some good, basic guideline information for evaluating the car:

http://reviews.ebay.com/Fiat-124-2000-S ... 0002125761

and

http://www.mirafiori.com/faq/content/buyspid.html

[CajunMike]

Hello all,
I recently bought a 1980 FI 2000 with a lot of rust that does not start.
-Andrewus.

Be advised that a lot of rust on a unibody car can be a bad combination. You will need to inspect the front shock towers very closely. They are rust prone and if not repaired or replaced can cause front end collapse. They are welded to the frame so replace or repair is a major welding job.

You will want to open the gas tank to see if there is any rust in the tank. If there is rust or corrosion you will need to have the tank relined or buy a new one along with replacing the sending unit. Replace the fuel filter too.

[wikkid]

Post some pix of this rusty Spider. You'll get better feedback.

[theProdikalSon]

Thanks for the feedback.

It is a little difficult to get pictures of the wheel wells, but I checked and there is only a little rust under one of the rear wells. The front seems fine.




I bought a new battery, but I am too scared to crank. I don't want it to blow up lol..

I tried to check the gas tank, but that turned into a little project. I took a channel lock to it only to realize there is a key for it. I tried the key but it would not turn so i ripped the cap off only to be met by more unmovable steel... People must have been stealing gas left and right ...



So I will order a new gas cap, but I have no way to get the cap that is on there off short of drilling a hole in the cap. Anyone know of any safe methods of opening a gas tank that has not been opened for 5 months?

[2ndwind]

Andrew,
Where are you? Maybe one of us can spend a little time with you and your new girl.

Steve

[theProdikalSon]

Steve,

I truly appreciate the gesture, but my and the lady are all the way in NYC. I was planning on going to a njfiat meeting as it is the closed club that I know of near me, but was still worried about towing the lady home with a Uhaul truck.

In 1995 there was this movie called space jam where cartoon characters took basketball players talent through some kinda mind meld.. I will just read up on fiats and engines. I am a patient guy and I am aiming to have it on the road by the spring. I just hope to learn from other peoples experiences/mistakes.

-Andrew

[seabeelt]

Andrew, I fyou are doing the tow thing, go for the full car trailer, not the tow dolly. Only a couple extra bucks and you dont have to worry about tires, transmission and the like. I just brought one home from New Hampshire to Rhode Island. Good luck with the car. There is plenty of support here.

[CajunMike]

Looks like you have a problem there with the gas cap. When we were speaking of "looking into the gas tank" we were speaking of opening the trunk, lifting the carpet and board and accessing the fuel tank by removing the housing on top. You can then look into it with a flashlight and see how clean the fuel is and what condition the sending unit and filter are in.

Just making sure we are on the same page here.

[theProdikalSon]

go for the full car trailer

Thanks I did go for the full one from Uhaul. Funny thing was I forgot the damn keys at home so I had to carry the car on my back onto the platform.. It was an ordeal, but it is finally in my backyard..

I never drove standard shift before but what is funny is that the car will only roll easily when the clutch is depressed.. I thought I could just roll it while the shifter is in not in gear.

we were speaking of opening the trunk, lifting the carpet and board and accessing the fuel tank by removing the housing on top. You can then look into it with a flashlight and see how clean the fuel is and what condition the sending unit and filter are in.

Mike thanks for clarifying I was wondering the whole time how I would see down that little hole

I will try this when I get home from work. I am hoping that it is all ok.. I am slightly tempted to try and sell it as a parts car and buy one in better condition.. I will post pictures later of the gas tank.

Any thoughts on how to open the gas cap? Its tighter than a virgin!

Thanks,
Andrew

[theProdikalSon]

So I went on my adventure for the morning and got my first look inside the gas tank of a car.. One small step for Andrew.. Giant step for my Fiat...






I am not sure if this is rust or not, but there seems to be some brown spots on the inside. I am wondering if i can just clean that out with some sort of acid or something. I am not sure where the filters and sending stuff are though. I am assuming the thing on the cap what gives the reading to the gas gage.
Is there a way I can get a better look inside?

When I was 8 I had an obsession with RC cars. I took them apart put them back together put new wheels on. There was this mustang one that I had that used regular batteries, and on one costco trip with my mother I put some rechargable batteries in my pocket for my toy car. The costco police caught me and made me promise to get As in school..

I guess I realized back then the importance of batteries .. I need a new battery for the car but was shocked that they cost 100+! (first time shopping for a car battery)

So I am just going to attach jumper cables and try to fire it up.. If anything I will buy other parts that I need to get it running before the battery.

From all the experienced people out there, do you think I should try to start it, or are there any preparations I should do to the engine being that it wasn't running for the past 5 months?

Thanks everyone,
Andrew

[wikkid]

Andrew, don't waste time trying to jump the car. Just take out the old battery and go get a new one. Walmart has yellow ones that will be about $80. I just bought a new one at a Napa parts store for $65. Bring your old battery for 2 reasons: they will give you a few dollars back for trading/core charge, and you will be sure to get the right size battery to be sure it fits into the battery area of the trunk. Also, on the off chance that the old battery is not dead, you can get a free bench test at many auto parts stores, and get it recharged if it still has life.

You may have to have a battery charger on hand even with a new battery, if you will be doing a lot of cranking without the car starting. Even a new battery will get worn down by this heavy work pretty quickly.

Be sure to remove the negative cable from the new battery once it is installed prior to working on the car, so you won't get fried when you do any wiring work.

[theProdikalSon]

I went to auto zone and the battery is just too big and heavy to walk out of there unnoticed... so I left with my money and empty handed with plans on making a car battery out of double AA batteries in series.

I connected the car with jumper cables. I used a Jedi Mind trick and BAMMM the car started. I dont know how to drive Stick so of course the first thing I did was stall the car! My dad came out and did the fatherly thing and got it rolling around in the backyard!!

I am pretty happy that it at least it starts. Next on the list of things to do is a compression test as I read in the manual.

Here Is a video of it rolling around. I think there is some misfiring..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/56127568@N08/5196357941/