Convertible won't go down on my 81

Maintenance advice to keep your Spider in shape.
Post Reply
User avatar
giuliot60
Posts: 715
Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2012 9:39 pm
Your car is a: 81 Fiat Turbo removed Spider
Location: Concord, NC (Charlotte area)

Convertible won't go down on my 81

Post by giuliot60 »

Hi all.

All of a sudden my top didn't want to go down. Upon further inspection, it turned out the tab/bracket that the top cable goes through on the driver's side is preventing that side from going down, unless I push the window in first.

Here is the part indicated in green. It's right below the point where the chrome trim meets the top. Is this tab supposed to be parallel with the ground? The passenger side tab doesn't bind and it's pointing down, almost perpendicular to the ground.

Image

Should I bend it down so it matches the passenger side?
Giulio/Charlotte
1st car '75 pistachio 128 sedan
Owned a '74 Spider, '68 Firebird, a '65 GTO convertible, and a customized '74 650 Yamaha
Currently own an '81 Turbo (removed) Spider
vandor
Posts: 3996
Joined: Sat May 23, 2009 1:23 pm
Your car is a: 1971 124 Spider
Location: Texas, USA

Re: Convertible won't go down on my 81

Post by vandor »

I'm 99% sure it should be vertical. It looks weird standing horizontally like in the pic. I wonder if the top frame going up caught it and bent it up?
Csaba
'71 124 Spider, much modified
'17 124 Abarth, silver
http://italiancarclub.com/csaba/
Co-owner of the best dang Fiat parts place in town
User avatar
giuliot60
Posts: 715
Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2012 9:39 pm
Your car is a: 81 Fiat Turbo removed Spider
Location: Concord, NC (Charlotte area)

Re: Convertible won't go down on my 81

Post by giuliot60 »

vandor wrote:I'm 99% sure it should be vertical. It looks weird standing horizontally like in the pic. I wonder if the top frame going up caught it and bent it up?
Thanks Csaba. I'm also wondering if maybe the cable tension was too tight. I'll bend it back and keep an eye on it.

Giulio
Giulio/Charlotte
1st car '75 pistachio 128 sedan
Owned a '74 Spider, '68 Firebird, a '65 GTO convertible, and a customized '74 650 Yamaha
Currently own an '81 Turbo (removed) Spider
User avatar
giuliot60
Posts: 715
Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2012 9:39 pm
Your car is a: 81 Fiat Turbo removed Spider
Location: Concord, NC (Charlotte area)

Re: Convertible won't go down on my 81- UPDATE

Post by giuliot60 »

So I bent the tab down using pliers and all is well now. I will be keeping an eye on the cable/tabs to see if it starts to happen again.
Giulio/Charlotte
1st car '75 pistachio 128 sedan
Owned a '74 Spider, '68 Firebird, a '65 GTO convertible, and a customized '74 650 Yamaha
Currently own an '81 Turbo (removed) Spider
Post Reply