1. 1 & ¼ Shotgun Shell Belt in Big & Tall sizes from yourtack.com
http://www.yourtack.com/shotgun-shell-belt.html
2. Satin lined duffle coat in classic Chestnut Big & Tall from Schott, NYC
http://www.schottnyc.com/products/lifestyle/military/satin-lined-duffle-coat.htm
3. “Gentlemen’s” front pocket wallet form Over Under
http://overunderclothing.com/Product_9.html
A neat little collage I made...this is every Italian car I ever owned!
1. Orange 1972 Fiat 124 Sport - "Orangina" (Still miss this one)
2. Red 1979 Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce - "El Bitcho" (Still have the steering wheel)
3. Blue 1979 Fiat Spider 2000 "The Benzina-mobile" (Gas leak!)
4. Burgundy 1974 Fiat 124 Sport - "Bella" (The one my Dad helped get running)
5. Blue 1983 Pininfarina Spider - "Azzie" (Good riddance)
6. Red 1969 Fiat 124 Sport - "The Red Baroness" (The one that got away)
7. Burgundy 1974 Fiat 124 Sport - "The Beast" (Current)
8. White 1978.5 Fiat 131 Wagon - "The Great White Wagon" (Currently non-functional)
This Dude is in Australia. Definite hipster with the Buddy Holly Glasses & double flap wool hat. However, much more than most, he actually walks the walk.
He hunts, fishes, and grows most of his own food. Lives in an reclaimed schoolhouse. Drives a 20 year old Jeep, and listens to his music on vinyl.
A lot of what he writes is almost instructional, makes me think I could actually grow an edible thing or two.
Maybe...
Currently, my Spider has the style of sidemarkers shown on the red car. In order to make it look like the green car, I’ll have to remove the old lights, blank out the rectangular hole, smooth it out (bondo), prime & paint it, then drill holes for the new lights.
This will be done, along with all the other body work, when I take the car in for a full paint job.
I’ve been searching for a ‘decent’ set of these early-style side markers for … years …
This week I got lucky, and when a set popped up on one of the Fiat message boards, I jumped quickly; they should arrive next week.
"1971 Fiat spyder, has been in storage for 30 years, all original paint, interior, new roof, 6 speed transmission conversion, new exhaust, fresh engine rebuild, new brakes and lines, gas line, filters. Selling it for my grandfather which is the second owner. Cool little car, can drive it the way it is, or paint it and have interior cleaned up and have a extremly nice little car. Have new tail lights and rear bumpers, dont have time to put them on, they are in the truck 4000 OBO possible delivery can be arranged at buyers expense"
At first, this Fiat doesn't seem too bad, does it? All original paint, been in storage for 30 years...sounds like a dream!
Cool color, too.
...but what does "6 speed transmission conversion mean"? I have never, ever heard of another type of transmission fitting a Fiat Spider, other than odd conversions from 131's or even a Lada - but all those are 5 speed, and 'in the family', so to speak. a 6 speed conversion is either a god-awful hack job, or an outright lie.
Now, let's address the 'original paint' claim. Look at the engine bay picture. Above the passenger side shock mount. The paint doesn't match, and it looks to have overspray on the wires. Trying to hide rust coming through from the shock tower on the underside, I'll bet!
While we're in the engine bay...no heat shield for the battery compartment, and no charcoal canister. The engine seems to have a great deal of 1800-style smog equipment. Incomplete air cleaner tube to the exhaust side (didn't '71 only have a single tube snorkel?), there is no evidence of the engine bay lights, and the oil dipstick is available up by the top of the timing belt cover? Wrong, wrong, wrong, and WRONG!
Looks to me like the 'fresh engine rebuild' they claim in the ad is nothing more than an 1800 swapped for the original, and very desirable 1608 engine. Without receipts, we don't know if the engine was truly rebuilt, or did they just paint it & replace gaskets?
Looking at the dash picture, the fasten seatbelts light is incorrect for a '71. This is a later style, in '71 that should be a round yellow warning light when the key is left in the ignition.
Looking at the exterior pictures, all taken from a distance far away enough that you can't spot any dings or rust bubbles, a few things jump out at me. First - why are the rocker panels underneath the doors painted rustoleum rattle-can black? To me, this screams out the need to check for rust. Other notes, the correct front license plate holder is long gone, the hubcaps are not anything Fiat, and the passenger side tail light seems to be crunched. They claim that new ones are included with the sale, but as the '71/'72 style tail lights are more rare than hen's teeth, I'll guess they were never installed as they are the incorrect style tail lights.
Supposedly there is a new top, exhaust, brakes, and fuel lines. We don't know how extensive or nice any of these things are. For instance, is the new top vinyl or canvass? Professionally installed? Did the brake job include new calipers & rotors, or just pads? New flexible brake lines? New MC? Was the exhaust just a new rear section, or was it replaced all the way back from the downpipe? New fuel lines? Which ones? Just the rubber ones in the engine bay? What about the steel ones that sat for 30 years? What about the numerous original rubber hoses in the trunk that everyone forgets?
Oh, so many things to wonder about!
Now - perhaps this is a fairly solid car that someone has done a decent mechanical refresh in order to return it to service. I can respect that. However, the ad states that it's all original, and was stored for 30 years - and what we can see from these pictures paints a very different picture. It's too bad, it could be a really neat car, but $4,000 just seems WAY too much for a car with this many questions around it.
Firestone got the Spider’s alignment MUCH better, if not quite perfect. In order to correctly set the caster & camber, we need new control arms & ball joints, and there is no need to perform that labor twice.
Since the previous front tires were showing dangerous wear (steel belts were showing!), I decided to swap the Wagon’s Panasports onto the Spider.
That was a CRAP LOAD of work, and while the Panasports don’t look ‘bad’ on the Spider, the BiTurbos look dorky on The Wagon.
Oh well, at least I didn’t have to buy two new tires yesterday…
When I bought my Spider in 2008, part of the reason it'd been off the road since
1977 was due to an off-road excursion while verifying a rally course. The car
took damage to the passenger side driving light, headlight bucket, hood hinge,
and the oil pan. Limping it home, it blew a head gasket, which was what
ultimately sidelined the car for 31 years.
It also partially collapsed the right front shock tower.
In 2009 & 2010, I rebuilt (almost) everything, and got the car back on the road.
That was when we discovered the shock tower damage. It wasn't 'too bad', but
the alignment couldn't quite be brought back into spec - the tire still leaned a
bit. I was told I needed to have it fixed (pushed back out) while the engine
was removed.
To tide me over, Giovanni at Autosprint had 'compensated' as best he could, but I still ground off the previous set of 13" tires.
Then, last spring I blew out the used engine I'd installed, so I had the
all-too-rare opportunity to have the shock tower properly fixed. Last fall I
got my engine back & installed, and foolishly, I did not run straight to an
alignment shop when I put on my brand new set of 14" rubber.
6,000 miles later, both front tires are wearing horrifically on the inside
edges. The passenger side is already down to the belts!
However, the local Streamwood Firestone shop says they can do a correct
alignment on my Spider.
Do I trust them? Why have I always heard it's so hard to do on these old cars
'with shims'? What does that mean?
I truly hope they can bring it into spec, but I'm a little skeptical.
Do I trust them? Or do I take it back to Autosprint for Giovanni to fix?
I've wanted to demonstrate this for a long time.
These are my two front bedroom windows, which face directly North. For most of the year, the front of my house gets no direct sunlight at all - but for a few weeks each year at this time, I get this lovely early & late day sunshine in my room.
It's a nice treat.
The day my Mom found Clyde. This was a few weeks before she gave him to me (4 ½ years ago), I had never seen this this picture until just recently!
Since … (when was it?) … early 2010 when I’d had some good success with Atkins, I began ‘remaking’ my image a bit. Since then, I have continued to refine it a bit. Summer of 2012 finds me tweaking things again…
1. You’ve seen the new haircut & clean shaven look. I’m pleased. (See picture, above)
I like the low-maintenance aspect of the goatee and not shaving the rest; only trimming it down twice a week. However, too many people enjoyed pointing out all the grey.
The ‘new’ haircut is still the classic look I’ve had each summer, but with a touch more length on the sides & back so that I don’t look like I just re-enlisted. The ‘long’ cut I try to do each winter just hasn’t succeeded. (By the time it gets long enough to ‘style’, it’s time to remove it all) This current version pleases me, although in hot weather when I’m active, it still feels like it retains too much heat.
2. The clothes & ‘style’
I have maintained the classic monogrammed dress shirts & trousers, mainly worn during the cold weather months.
For summer, I have recently switched things up with some new khakis & polo style shirts. Khakis have been tough for me – too many at The Fat Boy Store are too … fragile. They don’t wear well, are constructed poorly, and they are just too damn expensive. I found that I could buy (online only) Dickies brand workpants in the classic khaki style – VERY durable, and just $25 / pair! On top of that, I found Carhartt brand polo shirts – again, they are VERY durable (stain resistant, too!), and were just $20 / each. I’m thrilled.
The main dress shoes continue to be the two pairs of Ecco lace-ups (one brown, one black). These have lasted AMAZINGLY well (the black pair from early 2010 still looks new with no perceptable wear). They also work best with the heel pads for my Plantar Fasciitis. (sigh) I’m not 100% happy with the slight new-funky-hip look to them, but as I said two years ago, they are a great compromise.
Accessories – I have thinned & revised the watch collection, added some GREAT new frames for the glasses (See picture, above), gotten shirts in “hip-new” colors (See picture, above), and in general – it’s going VERY well. I need to address the belt situation, and reading glasses for the bedroom, but these are minor issues.
Style Blogs – This may sound the most ‘metro’ of anything I’ve done so far – but reading these has helped me distill what I truly like & value.
3. Health & Fitness
This area has suffered the most. I’m very disappointed in myself, and this summer I’m attempting to re-commit.
I’m interested in purchasing a Health Monitoring System:
Body Media
http://www.crankyfitness.com/2011/11/jillian-michaels-bodymedia-fit-armband.html
Leading contender
Only device which wakes you up according to sleep patterns
Not wireless
Food tracking only via photos sent in (WTF?)
http://www.tuaw.com/2012/03/23/fitbit-ultra-a-six-month-followup-review/
Easy to forget / lose
No bluetooth
http://www.digitaltrends.com/watch-reviews/nike-fuelband-review/
No sleep analysis
No ‘intake’ measurement (food)
Memorial Day – 2007 & 2012
The first picture is ‘Bella”, my ’74 Spider I bought in ’99, that my Dad helped me get running in his front yard the summer before he died. Within a month of this picture being taken, the car was declared structurally unsound due to rust, and she became a pile of used parts to be sold on the internet.
The second car is “The Beast”, my ’74 Spider I found in 2008. I purchased the car from the original owner, it hadn’t been touched since 1977. After several years of rebuilding every mechanical system on the car, I once again have a ’74 in my favorite color combo – but this time with the perfect ‘built’ engine, and other modifications. I love it, but dang if I don’t still miss the old one…
It's sad how the thoughtless comments of two people can (almost) ruin an otherwise lovely day.
Some people think they are smart-ass-funny, witty, snide or even snarky in a "hip" way.
I may laugh it off when you make fun of my being fat - but that does not condone it, nor mean that I accept it when you say, "Oh, don't worry about it buddy, we're in the same boat". We're not. I'm not as unhappily negative as you - nor do I want to stoop to your level.
Yelling "Slow down, Tubby" from your dirty minivan (which was going 5mph under the speed limit) was really only pointing out how unhappy you are with your own life. Maybe that kid who wasn't seatbelted in was distracting you, maybe you're sad you're bald (please, tell us again how shaving your head is a 'statement'), or maybe you're just a playground bully who never quite grew up.
Either way, you should pay attention. That license plate frame says "MARINES" for a reason. That title wasn't given - it was earned. I may be older, fatter, and a little slower, but I'll bet you wouldn't say what you did if we were both stopped at a red light. Go on your way, Dude.
You might sting my feelings for a short time, but you'll always be a squidgy little man.
The last time I had a few minutes to work on the wagon, I had figured out how to get the starter to kick over, but I had a fuel delivery issue that popped up out of nowhere. Last Thursday, for whatever reason, the fuel lines seemed clear, and the car started just fine! I checked the trans fluid, (overfilled it), and it was idling so well, Idecided to go for a test drive! It was GREAT to have her under her own power for the first time since the return trip from FFO in July of '11. The test drive was going so darn well, I decided to chance it, and drive the car on back roads the 4 miles home.
When I got home, I paused in the driveway to get out & punch in the code for the garage door. When I got back to the car, I saw a puddle. I pulled into the garage & shut 'er down. I quickly had another puddle, and I didn't have to get too close to smell GASOLINE!
After everything I did (brown wire fix, replacing the starter relay, replacing the ignition relay, re-adjusting the 'seat' of the wiring loom on the top of the fuse box, replacing the overheated fuse for the ignition circuit, and replacing a perfectly good fuel pump), the last darn problem was rotted fuel lines. This explained my fuel delivery issues. The steel fuel lines run inside the passenger compartment, right along the driver's side door sill. At the forward edge of the driver's door, the fuel lines turn upwards to go into the engine bay through the firewall. At that upward bend on the floor, all three lines were severely rusted - but only right there. I decided to cut out the bad sections and 'patch' with regular fuel line. Not a permanent fix, but it’d get me past this leaky issue.
I remembered a gassy smell in the inside of the car last summer, so the lines have been on the verge of collapse for a long time. I'm sure that when I applied an electric fuel pump to help prime the system, it caused the return line to 'give', which caused this 'interesting situation' on the wagon's 4 mile ride home. The floor of my garage caught whatever was in the return line, and while not much real volume - the inside of my house was poisonous in short order!
Clyde was NOT pleased. Nor were the neighbors.
I pulled out the under-carpet insulation, which was SOAKED, and patched the lines. At that point I wiped out under the carpet with simple green (trying to fight the stench!), and I sopped up what was under the car, and then cleaned that with simple green also. The gasoline soaked insulation & rags are double-bagged in some old plastic Target bags, temporarily stashed in my grill on the patio.
What DOES one do with gasoline soaked rags?
You know, other than creating a big char mark in the yard?
The Revs Program at Stanford and Department of Art & Art History
Presents
s
Used Cars (Robert Zemeckis, 1980)
Driven: A Car Culture Film Series
May 3, 2012 | 7:30 p.m. | Cubberley Auditorium
About Used Cars
Kurt Russell stars as Rudy Russo, used car salesman and aspiring politician in Robert Zemeckis’ satire of the American Dream, “Used Cars.” All the familiar clichés of Rudy’s profession – including false advertising, vehicular tampering, and high pressure sales – are featured in a film that deconstructs the profit motive, shining a cutting comedic light on the automobile as pure commodity.
Free and open to the public | http://art.stanford.edu
Sponsored by
The Revs Program at Stanford was founded to inspire a new trans-disciplinary field connecting the past, present, and future of the automobile, and fosters an intellectual community bridging the humanities and fine arts, social sciences, design, science and engineering, and professions. For more information, visit http://revs.stanford.edu
From the seller: Hello, selling my 124BC Sport Coupe, it runs well and drives fine. The main issues are the usual rusty 70's Fiat 124 coupe issues, bottom edge of back glass, corner of front glass, rocker panel front corner, trunk lid..I have a non-rusty replacement trunk lid as well as a good lower rear glass sheetmetal area that was intended to be grafted in. The car has an 1800 engine block and the original 1608 head. It got a light rebuild of piston rings, seals, bearings, timing belt, tensioner etc..It alslo has a later Bosch alternator. Gearbox works well. The interior is ok in general, usable, a 6 or 7 out of 10. The Cromodora wheels are NOT included, I have the original steel wheels/ hubcaps that will be on the car, with good tires on them. I bought it in Orinda a few years ago and resurrected it, from the original owners son. I have the window sticker for it too, having been sold new in Oakland. These are super rare cars nowadays, hard to find a survivor. Currently non-opped, it's in Mountain View. $1000 or best offer!
I’ve always wanted a coupe, though I’ve never driven one. My very first Spider had a 1608 engine, and I loved it. This car seems fairly rusty, for a California car, I’d certainly want to check the undersides. However, it’s a complete car, nice interior, early bumpers, and it runs & drives, for $1,000! I think it’s good to keep that in mind when I’m waiting to hear a number on Giovanni’s coupe.
Saturday, 4/21, we had our club “tech day” at Autosprint, which was as fun & lovely as it always is. However, when I got there, Josephine said something about Giovanni having “something to show me”, which always makes me nervous!
He made me close my eyes, and took me back to his rear outside area, and showed me this car. He was very excited, knowing I loved unusal Fiats, and he’d heard me say that I’ve always wanted a 124 coupe.
This one found him.
It was a 1975, the last year they were made. In storage for 18 years with just 66,000 miles on it. ZERO rust! Very solid, very straight, a pretty darn complete! It has the huge ugly Federal bumpers, and some holes in the hood from a misguided air scoop installation, but this car could be VERY pretty, very quickly.
…and it’s already running! It had dual carbs, and some very cool looking headers. It fires right up, and idles very, very smoothly.
I love the cream color, and in the two really awful cell phone pictures, it looks mostly complete.
Bend, Oregon is the high desert, so in theory, it should be rust-free.
Too bad that I’d triple the cost of the car just getting it home…
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…
The Wagon has not moved under her own power since the epic return from Freak Out last July.
That story:
http://www.meetup.com/chicagolandfiatandlancia/messages/boards/thread/14835641/0#51626721
Last August I got my Spider back from the body shop, and the pieces of it’s motor. I was hell-bent to get The Beast re-assembled, and it was all too easy to just let the poor wagon sit.
So, she sat.
The Beast has been running well (knock on wood), and although I have a to-do list on that car as long as my arm, I’m very pleased with it. It’s time to begin using this car as my ‘special-fun-driver’, and not continue with this bad habit of racking up useless miles driving it to the office.
The Wagon needs to become functional again.
I spent a little time troubleshooting, and came up with no definitive answers, though I did get a bit of faith back.
I pulled the cover off the top of the auto-trans-shifter, found the plug with the two red wires, and jumped them together.
Nothing...
Then, while holding the key in the start position with my left hand, I put both legs out the driver's door and leaned WAAAAY over into the passenger footwell so I could punch the damn fusebox.
...and...the starter clicked!
So then, in this awkward position, I held the key in the start position, and wiggled the starter relay in the fuse box. When the relay would be shifted WAY UPWARDS, the relay would click, and the starter would spin.
...and then, after just two tries, the damn car started!
I let it warm up, and I checked all the lights/wipers/fan motor - everything was totally normal. Even the gas gauge & engine temp gauge worked properly! Lots of smoke off the exhaust manifold, which burned off fairly quickly. I did NOT attempt driving the car, as I still have very little faith on getting it restarted on a reliable basis. (And a disturbingly huge auto-trans fluid stain under the car)
I'm still not sure if the auto-trans interlock had anything to do with this, but eliminating it certainly simplifies the circuit. I know I need some new relays for the fuse box (all four look like original equipment that's been deep fried), but as far as having to wiggle the strter relay & push it around...I'm not sure what to do to fix that.
One thought I have...is to disconnect and go directly from the blue wire on the ignition switch to a new relay I'd install under the hood that would use (like the headlight relays) the blue wire as a signal, to switch directly to the solenoid from a newly run power line directly from the battery's positive terminal.
The good news is that The Great White Wagon seems at first glance to be just as mechanically reliable as ever. The electrical issues seem (in retrospect) to have been relatively minor. I was worried that I'd melted a good portion of the wiring harness, and it seems I just needed the brown wire fix to help NOT fry the original relays in the panel!
A few days later, I tried the same trick, to no avail.
I’m worried the venting of the engine’s oil breather directly onto the starter may have affected the solenoid. However, I need to stop guessing, and use my multimeter. Is my ignition switch consistent? Is voltage at the solenoid consistent?
I may disconnect the blue wire on the ignition switch (which feeds the absurd auto-interlock circuit & the suspect starter relay in the fuse panel), and run it as switched voltage directly to a new relay under the hood that would be wired directly to the battery & the solenoid.
We’ll see how it goes. The Wagon needs to re-earn her title of ‘Great White’…and she needs to become my classic-daily-driver.
I tried to buy this car twice.
It’s an early ’72, with a smooth hood, the ’71 style engine bay lights, a nicely ‘warmed up’ 2000cc motor, a lovely Nardi steering wheel, a Veglia volt gauge, later ‘Turbo’ style rims, a lovely black interior, and while I don’t care for the white paint, it’s got the ‘period correct’ Fiat side decal. It’s a great, lovely car.
The first time it was up for sale was 2008, and the owner decided to keep it. I then went off & found my current ’74 project-spider. He granted me ‘first right of refusal’, which in July of 2011, he forgot, and he sold it for LESS than he’d offered it the first time. I always wondered if the current owner wanted to flip it – he’s offering it on the cusp of spring, and it’ll be interesting to see what it sells for.
The silver Spider was a beautiful machine with low original miles, that’d had early bumpers & turn signals cut-in correctly, with other lovely modifications. It was a rare & lovely car in wonderful condition – ruined by a distracted teenager in a SUV. The Spider was rear-ended while stopped at a stoplight, crushed into the SUV in front of him.
An LED 3rd brake light doesn’t guarantee this won’t happen. A roll bar won’t protect me in all situations. Modern 3 point seatbelts won’t always help. Am I glad to have these things anyway?
You bet your ass!
This car was featured a few years ago in a Top Gear ‘greatest driving road’ spoof:
http://greatestroadinca.blogspot.com/
There are extensive pictures of the car posted on EBay & Fiatspider.com – it is undoubtedly a California car with very VERY minimal rust – but it’s got an old sunbaked dash & top. He offered it for 4k on the message boards, it’ll be interesting to see what it goes for…
From the ad:
1976 Fiat 124 Spider
102,535 miles
1800cc 4-cylinder engine (1.8L)
5-speed
15" Panasport wheels
Kumho Ecsta tires
SMOG PASSED 3/24/12 (certificate is good for 90 days)
I bought this car when it had approximately 95k miles on it in February 2010. I purchased it from a friend who'd been given the car in 2004 by his grandparents who purchased new in 1976. The car was a Northern California car and garaged most of its life. The prior owner brought it to San Luis Obispo where it was also garaged. I brought it to Venice where it had covered outdoor parking. I have recently moved downtown and unfortunately this car no longer fits with my lifestyle nor am I able to drive it often enough.
The car is an excellent "driver" and can be driven daily in its current condition; there is nothing that needs to be done to it in order to drive it daily or long distances. It starts perfectly and runs smoothly. It is not a show car but it is in good shape for its age. The paint is in good condition and imperfections are noticeable up close but not from more than 10 feet away. The gauges all function properly except for the clock, and the mileage is accurate. I personally witnessed the odometer roll over from 99,999 miles to 00,000. The current mileage reading of 02,535 is actually 102,535. The original driver's seat was replaced by the prior owner. Both seats (as well as the "rear seat") are in good condition and have no large rips or tears (see photos for details). All lighting (headlights, turn signals, tail lights, brakes, reverse lights) is functional. I have safely driven the car in all weather conditions that exist in Los Angeles, as well as back and forth from San Francisco twice without any issues. The small tear in the top near the rear window has not been an issue in the rain.
The car has cosmetic and minor mechanical issues typical of a 36-year old Fiat and would certainly benefit from a full restoration. The condition of the vehicle is documented extensively in the photos and below. The car will be sold as-is, where-is, and is available for inspections and test drives in downtown LA on evenings and weekends. You are welcome to bring your mechanic with you but I do not have time to coordinate taking the car to any shops -- the car is not in perfect condition and any buyer should expect that the car will need regular maintenance above that of a new car.
Here is what I have done on the vehicle during my ownership:
- oil changes approximately every 3k miles (next is due at 105,000 miles)
- replaced exhaust gasket
- replaced valve cover gasket
- extensive brake work; new pads, rotors, calipers and stainless steel brake lines
- replaced all rubber sections of fuel lines
- replaced several vacuum hoses that were old/cracked
- replaced fuel filters, front and rear
- replaced coolant overflow tank (and complete coolant flush)
- replaced spare tire
Modifications by prior owners:
- the stock tube bumpers were removed and are not in my possession
- original driver's seat was replaced
- original wheels were replaced with 15" Panasports (original wheels are not in my possession)
The current issues on the car of which I am aware are:
- the front passenger side turn signal is missing its housing
- the lower-right section of the rear window is coming apart from the top (see photos)
- the dealer-installed 8-track deck is not currently functioning and the passenger-side speaker is missing
- fifth gear syncro is poor but functional, I try to rev-match to around 3000 rpms in order to get a smooth shift into 5th gear
- right-rear brake caliper needs to be adjusted. there is a slow leak but as long as the fluid level is maintained, the brakes are fully functional
- several other minor cosmetic issues as depicted in the photos
Again, none of the above prevent the car from being driven safely in its current condition.
From the ad:
I have a pretty clean and original spider. The motor in the car is bad but I have a good running motor ready to be put in it. I have an extra tranny, and a hole extra car that goes with the 69 car. I have rims, roll bar etc. that I will part with. If you put the time and installed the running motor in the 69 car, it would be worth around 6 grand for what I’ve been told.
This ad disappeared from Craig’s List within six hours, and I totally understand why! With almost no pictures, and very little text, it was apparent that this car was all but rust-free & complete. This would have been a deal at HALF the price, even without the other parts-car & motor.
I really considered buying this car sight unseen, and having it delivered via flatbed to KD at Wine Country Motors in Napa for rehab. He’d have it sorted out in time for me to fly out there in July, to drive with the Bay Area Fiat guys up the coast to the Oregon event. Driving it back to Chicago would have been an adventure in & of it’self, and I’d have been able to cross off two items on my Life’s T-Do list.
Ah, California … perhaps next time.
