FIAT newb

hey folks, im new to the forum, and new to fiats, but certainly not new to cars. but as i appear to be heading down a new path i thought id come to you guys for advice.

im going to look at a 1980 fiat spider but im hoping you guys can give me a little info on the car so im not going in blindly. ie, details on engine size, type of fuel distribution, etc.

as well as a list of common problems, or things to look for when purchasing a spider. any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance, cheers

http://www.mirafiori.com/faq/content/buyspid.html

Here is a good place to begin and browse around the home site for more info etc.

Rust is the biggest issue. 1980 can be fuel injected or carburated. I have had mine for 45,000 miles over 9 years.

Good luck

Ron

Introduction to the Fiat Spider

This will explain the model differences. With these cars it's 90% about the rust. Most everything else isn't a big deal. Have a look at it and report back.

thanks guys. from what ive been made to understand this car has spent its winters indoors and is apparently fairly well maintained. its currently owned by a guy who has 2 of these cars and rotates their driving duties from year to year. he feels its time to let one of them move on, i should be going to check it out sometime this weekend. ill let you guys know how it goes, thanks again for the help.

Not any more rusty than any similar car from that time. On a FIAT, one can easily see rust problems where British cars like the Triumph (body on frame), rust can be severe inside the frame where it is NOT easily visible until there is failure or the frame is completely stripped to bare metal where the horror of how serious the rust problem is revealed.