Somebody I know wrote this article that might help you a little.
http://m.grassrootsmotorsports.com/articles/vintage-views-fiat-124-spider/
Somebody I know wrote this article that might help you a little.
http://m.grassrootsmotorsports.com/articles/vintage-views-fiat-124-spider/
Great motor and transmission looking for a place to dump the rustbucket attached to it.
Much more refined and modern than its Brit contemporaries.
Funny driving position.
Great convertible top.
Doing proper bodywork restoration is a challenge. A lot of them have already had questionable work done that wont help the cause.
None of the classics of this era were meant to last forever, and where the Brits have an advantage is that the average mortal can bring one back from the edge. The Fiat stuff not so much, and as you have seen, it would be good money after bad if you put much into it to restore.
if you are looking for a clean shell.. my 77 is going up for sale soon. I have come to the conclusion that holding onto it in hope of someday putting it on the road is a fairy tail. Not with a Turbo Saab and a Sailboat here to stay
Alan Cesar wrote: Somebody I know wrote this article that might help you a little. http://m.grassrootsmotorsports.com/articles/vintage-views-fiat-124-spider/
Pretty sure I came across that in my furious research as I was considering this car in December.
It's had the smog 'issues' fixed, upgraded to a factory 4-2-1 header, brand new Weber 32/36 on it, dual to single point conversion. Next up is getting brakes to 100%, non-boosted with some sticky calipers isn't really awe inspiring... then lowering it so it isn't a 4x4 with the bumpers off.
Big upside is the wife LOVES it. I have to say, it is a pretty nice looking car and even more so as I have more time around it.
Chris_V wrote: Here's my build:'81 124 restoration...
THAT is one nice car.
Chris_V wrote: Here's my build:
Really nice job. That color is spectacular.
What was your suspension formula for that height?
I'm about ready to start hacking springs... i'll have to hack more than most due to bumperectomy.
IIRC, 1 coil off the front and 1.5 coils off the rear.
They are great fun cars. A little heavy but you can pull a lot of power from the DOHC engines.
I wouldn't call them a little heavy.. with the battering rams removed.. they hit around 2000 pounds. That might not be MG Midget weight, but that is still pretty light.
If you are willing to remove steel to replace with 'glass. there are plenty of non-structural parts you could replace. The headlight buckets are exceptionally heavy
My racer checks in at 1926 lbs and I hoping to shed at least 26 or more ;)
There is very little plastic in the spider. If you can find some non-structural steel you can replace with plastic, you should be golden.
I assume you are running an aluminum radiator? the stock brass one is also surprisingly heavy
That would cost money ;)
unless you can find a modern radiator that will fit
There are alternative I'm told.
All in time. I've yet to actually drive a street going FIAT Spider.
Mind sharing the formula for the suspensions on the race spiders?
I'd love to lower the car and get a bit of performance out of the setup also (can't go super stiff or the wifey will be annoyed... i have a stiffly sprung other car to do the job)
Koni shocks set to full hard. Stiff springs and bushings all around. Hiem joints on all the rear links.
Interesting, bump stops cut off. Guessing the springs are stiff enough to prevent contact?
Yep. 
Looking purtier. Cut springs aren't honestly bad at all, i think its just due to the fact that the 78 had the extra tall ones for crash rules(and once my bumpers were off... car went even higher).
Could also have been the Koni Yellows added...
I always thought these two were very similar looking. Both were unavailable here of course.
Always respected these cars - raced with them and they were fast and dependable. On the street, the rot was the big issue.
A frined owned one of the rare turbos - but a whole 120 BHP out of 2 litres wasn't much to be proud of.
Yeah, the turbo was a retrofit with a real homemade piece of plumbing or two. As collectible as they are, the performance difference was truly "meh". They did all of those at the port in NJ; Fiat Italy had nothing to do with them. The cars were pulled randomly from the inventory.
Now the Volumex...that's a different story.
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