n00blet here looking at a 79 Spider

[VanFanel]

Hi all,

I have stumbled on a gorgeous 79' Spider for $750 with a slight problem - here's what the description on the ad states:

The car begins to stall out at speeds over 40mph. This problem is intermittent and appears to happen more often in colder weather. This is why the price is reduced. I don't care to fix the car, so I'm making it a deal for the next owner.

To my understanding, this specific Fiat does not have a carburetor which leads me to believe that the problem mentioned above is either a fuel problem (mainly fuel pump), spark (coil?) or transmission (ABANDON SHIP FOR ME)...

Can someone give me an idea of what else this could be? I am trying to check the car out this coming Thursday/Friday.

Thanks!

[So Cal Mark]

that model does have a carb and it very well could be a fuel problem. Fuel starvation usually shows up in 3rd and 4th gear, so it could be a weak pump, or cracked fuel hoses between the tank and pump. I'd also take a look at the pickup assy in the distributor. The wires in there get brittle and crack, and can short out when the vacuum advance begins to operate

[VanFanel]

Oh, so it may have a carb?

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/car/568578496.html

That is the specific one I am looking at. I was going through some spec sheets and all I saw was 1.8 EFI motor...

[So Cal Mark]

79 models had a 2.0 and a carburetor. In 80, Calif cars had FI and federal cars still had carbs. In 81 they all had FI

[VanFanel]

Huh... that is mighty interesting. Judging from the pix though - you think this is a good idea? My dad originally had a Russian made Fiat 124 (Zhiguli 13 / VAZ-2101) followed by a Fiat Uno S60 so I am not a stranger to Fiat... shenanigans

[So Cal Mark]

I don't see anything in the CL ad that mentions FI. The car looks pretty decent for the price. I'd check it out. The fact it just passed a smog check in Calif is encouraging

[VanFanel]

Excellent

I am gonna try my best to get a hold of the seller and snag it if possible... this would be an excellent weekend cruiser.

[mbouse]

if it is a '79, stock...then it has a carb. Mark is correct.

based on what i saw, $750 is a decent price. new pump, new hoses, new dizzy and new carb will run $500 (worst case)...more than likely, we could walk you through some simple solutions that cost less than 1/3 of that, and you'd be driving a reliable car in no time.

there are lots of cosmetic things that need done..... but, that is later.

[azygoustoyou]

Hi. I had a car one time that was having problems running between 30 and 4o mph. It turned out that one of the spark plugs was cracked slightly and was the problem. I'm not sure if thats what is wrong with that one but it sure would be a cheap fix if that was the problem. Good luck with it. I just got a 78 124 for 1200. Sure wish I could have got mine for 700.