Almost everyday I find myself checking the listings of Fiats for sale. Sometimes the cars find me, and sometimes I find them. I find rare cars, unusual cars, cars in VERY sad condition, over-restored cars, cars I recognize form message boards, cars I know from previous owners, even some cars I know from previous for sale ads. Each one I can appreciate in different ways; I can imagine owning it, driving it, what I’d do to fix it up & make it perfect.
Meanwhile, I have two Fiats of my own, each with serious needs & to-do lists that are too long to keep to track of.
The Spider needs it’s first real engine-tune, post-rebuild. She’s VERY overdue for an oil change – which is just stupid. The cams need to be properly indexed, the carbs need the slightly bigger 34mm chokes installed, along with larger main jets. I need to document all the jets for my build-book. I have the hot coil to install, and I need to order the magnacore wires. The alignment needs serious post-shock-tower-repair adjustment. I have coolant leaks on the intake & exhaust side, most likely nothing more than the gasket on the heater pipe & intake manifold. I have oil seeping around the oil block, and I’m overdue to send off to Miller’s Mule for my custom block. I need to fix or remove the driving lights. I need to spot-paint & repair rust issues…all over. Seats need some re-stitching, top needs installation…
You get the idea.
I have a similar list for the wagon that includes some shocking rust repair & sourcing wheel well liners from Vermont. It’s an astounding amount of work, and it’s exhausting to simply catalog it all. In the meantime, we have great spring weather for driving the Spider, and before my to-do list gets any longer, it’s easier & more fun to look at other Fiats…
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