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Sunday, June 17, 2007

As yet, she remains unnamed


Token Shot
Originally uploaded by The Put-Man.

This car is AWESOME!

Sure, there are a ton of little things that need to be addressed, but this car goes STRONGLY through the powerband....man, I have no idea if the speedo is correct (why only 80mph???) but it seems to hit 80 in 4th at about 4k on the tach - and continues to BURY the speedo w/ little effort.

At those speeds, the car still feels VERY solid and sure of itself. If you are driving along "gently" at about 80 and stomp on the gas, the car does have a few pauses & hiccups, as if it's unsure it's really allowed to do that. The brakes are solid and sure, with no pulling to one side or another. Taking a highway exit ramp at about 70 (eyes were on the road, not the speedo), I barely got even a squeak from the tires. I was, of course, heeled over like a sailboat in the America's Cup, but the damn car stuck to the road!

The fuel injection gives the engine a nice whirring noise that's not entirely unpleasant. The exhaust, nice & burbully at idle, seems to get quieter the faster I go. I want to HEAR it! How do we make it LOUDER? What about the Vick's vintage racing style trumpet muffler? (Wouldn't the neighbors be pleased?) There is definitely an oil leak somewhere around the dizzy, keeping the fresh scent of burnt oil around...seems to be a good mosquito repellant, bit pisses me off anyway. The engine, once REALLY warm, has the strong sound of a bearing race...not sure if it's the alternator or the water pump, but one of them is unhappy.

I have a brand-new-in-the-box water pump for Bella I was going to return to IAP. I'm not sure, but it looks like it may fit this car? That of course means the fault will be the alternator...which would make sense, since it's way more expensive!

In the enormous stack of paperwork Tony gave me...I unearthed the original owner's manual! It was inside the back pocket of a large receipts notebook, and I don't think Tony ever found it, because it explains the bizarro lighting switches, heater controls, and the odd fact that the car has to be ON for the trunk lid release to work!

The driver's seat makes me crazy - the tweaking is bad enough, but compared to Bella, I feel like I need to push back about 4 inches, and am sitting on a seat cushion 4 inches thicker. In the older cars, the top of the seat cushion was the same height as the door sills, maybe even a tad lower. I had to reach my elbow UP to rest it on the door! Certainly not the case with the newer car. And the lack of wing-windows...stifling.

Yeah, I'm not keeping this car original! Wheeee!

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Guess what I bought?


Had To Stretch
Originally uploaded by The Put-Man.

Yeah....I did it.

Bought me a 1983 Pinninfarina Spider.

Way the hell out in Michigan. From a nice guy named Tony who bought it about 4 years ago in Philadelphia from the car's second owner. It has 97, 000 miles, and a non-stock paint color. The car is complete, pretty, and feels very solid when driving. Lot's of things to fix / replace / clean / change / tune / tweak. More on that later...for tonight...I'll focus on the fact that I have a 25 year old classic that drives like THE WIND!

Thursday, June 14, 2007

The Contenders


Contenders
Originally uploaded by The Put-Man.

Have I been Spider Hunting? Indeed I have...

These are the two leading contenders:

The pretty blue one is an '83 Fuel Injected 2000 cc Spider. It came with air conditioning, a CD player, has the more modern center console, tail lights, bumpers, rims, and even has the cool side mirrors that are mounted on the wing-windows. A very 80's design, a very cool car, very powerful engine, and I can get it CHEAP (2k), and it will require very little work (money) to get it "great". An instant "driver". However, it's not the earlier vintage model I love, and it has the stupid safety bumpers I hate. It'd be a great car...but it's not my "dream" model Spider.

The ugly two-tone Spider is a '72 single carb 1600 cc - the exact model of my very first-ever Spider. THIS is the classic design I love! DAMN the idiot who did the crappy paint job! It's been in storage a while, brakes don't work, runs roughly. It's more expensive - $3300 - and it'll need work right away to be a "driver". But in the long run, it'd be a better ownership experience - it's the one I really want.

Besides, the ownership experience of these cars is all about it being a hobby. If I wanted a bland car you just got in, turned the key and drove to point "B" with good gas mileage...well, then...I'd buy a Honda.

However, as of yet, I have not actually SEEN either one of these cars. The ugly '72 is in a garage somewhere in downtown Chicago, and I "might" get to see it tonight. Owned by a young couple, it was in HER family for a long time, they don't know much about it, and they are moving to Boise to buy and run a new business. The Husband is selling it - and he hasn't had 30 free minutes in 2 weeks to show it to me. Supposedly he flies in tonight, will call me, and we can get together. I'm taking a fist full of cash, just in case. I could care less about the paint & brakes - the car is complete...so as long as there is no rust, it's MINE. I'll hand him $2500 and ask, "Deal?"

I have an appointment Saturday around noon to see the '83. As it's my second choice, and 2.5 hours away, I only made this appointment as a back-up should the car tonight not work out. The '83 may not be my dream car, but if I'm not immediately buying another Spider, it's too good a deal to pass up.

I, of course, will keep you posted.

Friday, June 08, 2007

One week, and recovering


...what are you gonna do?
Originally uploaded by The Put-Man.

A week ago, I was all wrapped up with preparations to get my '74 Spider (Bella) out to Mike Slayton's shop for the club's tech day. This was a big deal for me, not only was it my first club event, not only was I coming from west of Chicago, but I'd spent all spring working on my car with much emailed support and advice from many of you in the club. I'd never been to an event, never met any of you, yet everyone helped wherever they could. And I got her back on the road! For the first time in four years, for the first time since I moved from Virginia...it was so good to hear her "voice", and get her out on some country roads where she could really clear her throat. And now she was going to meet everyone...

I was traveling for business all week before Tech Day , so I'd busted my butt the previous weekend making sure Bella got all washed and waxed for her debut event. Four years of garage grime is tough to take off, and after many hours rubbing and polishing she looked better than she had in years. I wanted her to make a good first impression, and after all my headaches and frustrations getting her back on the road, it was a nice treat to just rub and polish.

Damn, she looked great!

www.flickr.com/photos/leeputmanjr/518786620/

So then, last Saturday I was up early and running around like a nervous mother as I got ready to hit the road. Check tire pressure. Check oil. Check brake fluid. Attach tow bar. Hook to back of Jeep. Make sure destination address shows up in NAV system. Paper directions in Jeep as back up. Ice in cooler for trip. Full tank of gas.

9am, ready to roll out.

The highways around here are always a tough area to tow a car. Big Trucks zoom past, the air rocks the Jeep, Bella tries to follow, and I feel like I swayed my way out of Chicago. Once we got past Gary, Indiana, I felt like I could unclench just a bit. Once we were headed north through rural Michigan, I started to anticipate. Once we were close, I got nervous. A dirt road? Really? Then, through the trees, I saw them. Yellow, red, blue, and orange...and I knew I was in the right spot!

Frankly, as I pulled in, I wasn't watching what I was doing, I was checking out the other Spiders. I couldn't wait to get inside, see what was going on. As I walked up, many nice people said hello, but my eyes were on the car up on Mike's lift, and the crowd around it. Watching him poke, prod, and wiggle things was something that I'm sure was interesting only to those of us who own these cars.

Then it was my turn.

Mike had to help me un-snap my tow bar, but he was very gracious. Why that damn thing sticks sometimes, and not others...it's beyond me. But we got off, and he asked me "Will it start?" DAMN RIGHT! Thankfully, in front of her first big crowd, Bella behaved and fired right up.

Pulling into the lift area, several club members commented on how nice she sounded, how well she idled. How good her interior looked. I couldn't have been more proud. Mike asked me tot pop the hood, and he looked around. He nagged me about not having my timing cover on, but said generally she looked great for a Spider of that vintage.

Then we went to lift her up.

There was a general good natured hubub of conversation going on that went silent, when from under my car Mike said "Uh oh". Never something you want to hear from your Doctor, or your mechanic. He spent some time adjusting the lift's support arms, and finally got the car up in the air.

...and he showed me the rust...

Bella had a hole in her floorboard that I'd known about for a long time. I'd also known about some shock tower rust, but had always assumed it could be cut out, and fixed with the welding in of new metal. What I didn't know was what Mike showed me - how the rust had gotten in under the "protective" undercoating, and the whole driver's side of the car was weakened. Crusty rust was EVERYWHERE. It had worked up under the rockers, and into the frame rail. Mike then showed me the kicker - while Bella's passenger side was the proper four inches above the right side lift support, on the driver's side she was resting on it. Structural integrity had left the building.

The shock towers were rusted worse, and even the drivetrain's main bearing was "gone". Mike told me in a frank, and straightforward way that I'd have NOT made it there if I'd driven her from Chicago. He told me that the car was dangerous, and sooner or later, there was a possibility of entirely loosing a wheel and having a horrific crash.

I felt like I couldn't breathe.

I'd known there was rust. The irony being that when I'd bought the car, I didn't want one that was good mechanically, I just wanted one rust free. She'd been in a New Jersey garage for 10 years. I think the moisture from the dirt floor did her in. A month ago, I'd had her down at Giovanni's shop in Chicago, AutoSprint. I needed his help fixing an odd fuel pump issue, and he was great. He told me about the rust, but I guess I didn't hear him well enough.

Mike asked me if I had another car. In confusion, I pointed at my Jeep. He smiled and said "No, I mean, do you have another FIAT?" Another one? Isn't it crazy enough to own ONE? No, I told him, I live in a one-car-garage townhouse. Several people's eyes went wide at this point, and still not getting it, I asked why.

"Because", he said "what you have here is a great PARTS car".

Bella? A parts car? Really?

"She's not worth fixing, and you could use these parts on a shell to make a GREAT car".

Wow. I felt like I needed to sit down. Someone asked what I'd take for her rims. Huh? Are you KIDDING me?

I needed to get her out of there. Pulling off the lift, I had to gun the engine, and she smartly squealed a bit of rubber.

Out in the parking lot, I just sat in her for a few minutes. I was shocked, but I knew it was all true. It felt too much like the time I'd taken my dog, Mr Beagle to the vet when he wasn't feeling well. I found out unexpectedly that he had kidney failure, and I had all-too-short notice that I needed to do the kind thing and have him put down.

But, put Bella down? Turn her into parts? I'd just gotten her back on the road, and she was so happy. She didn't even know she felt sick. And I had so much planned. New carbs, cams, engine mounts, new chrome and paint. Now...she was just parts.

I couldn't bear it. And knowing that I'd be towing her home just to pull her apart...it was too ugly for me. So, in a moment of grief, weakness, and bitter sadness, I sold her for her parts. The car that my Father had worked on with me the summer before he died, she was now nothing more than a rusty organ donor.

Tomorrow will mark the end of my first Fiat-free week. It feels unreal, and it has been a bit of a shock each night to see my empty garage. It looks as empty as my heart feels.

But I got a lot of emails. Support from those who understand. And I have, believe it or not, two test drives scheduled for tomorrow. Being Fiat-Free has made me twitchy, and we need to fix this.

The leading candidate:

www.flickr.com/photos/leeputmanjr/536258890/

Many Thanks to Brian & Carol who found this '72 Spider for sale on Craig's list for me. She's got a horrid two-tone paint job, some customization on her dash, and what looks to be an incorrect triangular hood badge.

I just hope she's rust free...