The 2012 Club Photo

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.

Return To Duty

The Great White Wagon returned to daily commuter service today.
I still need to button-up all the column & trim panels, and it needs other various odds & ends sorted...but it's back in the game!

Successful Saturday Test Drive

100 miles on the odometer, and nothing more serious than a flickering 'Brake' light. After 9 months of inactivity, adding a touch of brake fluid seemed like a small price to pay...

How to get rid of that gasoline stench

Wipe up as much of the gas as possible. Scrub area with citrus based cleanser. Pat dry. Soak area with white vinegar. Scrub it around. Let it soak in. Once dry to the touch, sprinkle baking powder. Air out.

Ironically, one Fiat helped fix another

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?

Blast from the Past

While poking around on the Supercar Saturday site, I ran across a neat old Fiat Spider.
It took me a moment to realize...it was my old car...

Good for the soul

Black Butte Porter from the Deschutes brewery in Oregon, it's not. BBP is half the reason I want to drive The Wagon to the Oregon Fiat Event, so I can bring several cases back! (Maybe next year)
With all that being said - Oscar's oatmeal chocolate was absolutely outstanding. Paired with marinated pork chops cooked on the grill - a wonderful evening that was good for the soul.

I need to go to Stanford

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

'71 Coupe in Cali

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.

...like I need another hole in my head...!

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.

It'd be a deal....if I were within 500 miles of it

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…

Sometimes it's just easier to dream

 

 

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…

 

Meanwhile, in my own garage...

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.

 

 

Great White Buffalo...

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.

Preventative measures

 

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 3^rd 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!

 

Deal of the Day

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.

 

 

1969 California Spider

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.

 

1968 "AS" series 124 Spider

This particular '68 Spider may or may not have any number of features that owners of late Spiders might find odd, or even confusing.

 

1968 saw a number of changes throughout the entire production year, and these early cars did not get the helpful door tags that our later cars have, showing the month and year of manufacture. The month of manufacture can tell us if it was early or late in the year, which can help explain a lot of oddities.

 

This car originally had no electric radiator fan, it had a clutch-style fan on the water pump. The windshield washer has no electric pump either, there is a foot operated pump on the left side of the driver's floor, where an old American car would have had a high beam switch. The headlight switch is only two positions, with the steering stalk having an 'extra' position. (Not sure if it had the relay setup to turn headlights off when the car was turned off.) The front seat back reclining knobs were mounted inboard, and had chrome inserts. There were also chrome accents on the defroster fan switch, and the interior rearview mirror.

 

Of course, the gauges were different too, flat-faced, with chrome bezels. Very early cars had chrome on the steering wheel, too. The seats are different, much more 'bucket' shaped, and they had a 'cleaner' look with no head rests. The seatbelts were retractorless chrome 'aircraft' lever-style, with spiffy Fiat logos on them. The engine bay has lights that work on the same marker light circuit that operates the trunk light. The marker lights are round, "bee hive" style lights, and the front grill has only a few horizontal stainless bars. The front Fiat badge was on the smooth (no bump) hood, though a few inches higher than the '74 & later cars. This car also had manual choke & throttle controls.

 

The tail lights are different, too - much smaller, with no integrated reverse lights. To comply with US standards, they added a single reverse light under the driver's side rear bumper - it was actually a Ferrari turn signal, just with a clear lens! Even the rocker panels are a bit different, the stainless trim was not attached to the door sill, it was purely a decorative strip that wasn't integrated like our later cars.

 

The little 1438 motor had a block mounted distributor, and all of our later cars still have that mounting spot, though it's plugged. It's odd to see the exhaust cam box with it's clean (no distributor mount) look. The battery was up front, which gave a great deal more space in the trunk than our later cars had. However, all our later cars still had vestiges of that original battery box in the inner fender!

 

Some of these "AS" series features persisted into the beginning of the "BS" series in 1970, but few were still there by late '73 when production began on the "CS" series.

 

I saw this car on Fiatspider.com, and after posting it on our Chicagoland FLU site, my friend Iowa Mike bought it.  It has some rust, but it’s not structural.

 

 

Tenacious Tuesday