1979 Fiat 124 Spider

Runs, needs work. What do I need to know? Is it worth $2k?

Rust would be the primary concern.

Rust, top condition. Those would be my checks

Be prepared for it to be a heartbreaker for your wallet.

I owned a descendant of the 124 rebadged as a "Lada" anyhoo, my complaints were:

-the steering felt like it was set in cement.

-When you went from part to full throttle the car hesitated (more than usual) I was told, "this is exactly what these cars do..." by someone very familiar with Ladas. but the Weber DGV shares the same footprint

-4X98 wheel bolt pattern

-gas tank in trunk of car, and mine would fumigate the whole stinking car when full

-I believe the shock towers must be prone to cracking because when I sold it, this was the first thing everyone checked. (and yes, one was cracked)

-Low top speed, I once wound the speedometer past 90mph and the motor was screaming! I didn't have a tach, but I could also tell you that I didn't think it was wise to push the pedal any further.

the good side: 2,0L twin cam swap! I hear they're relatively straight forward also, it was a really really reliable car and extremely simple to work on.

Thanks for the input! I think I'm going to stick to the projects I already have. I'm guessing a car that "runs, needs work" would probably need a fair bit of "work".

Always had a fondness for the little roadsters though. And perhaps more so for the little 124 Coupes, but you never see them anymore.

Rust is the concern. Not really comparable to a Lada despite the lineage, since the Russkies altered a lot to suit their needs (including replacing the generally reliable Fiat engine). '79 is not a great year; lots of emissions crap and a very restrictive intake manifold.

not to mention aluminum rear drum brakes (in place of Fiat's rear discs)

edit: I'm just now noticing you specified "spider"... please disregard everything I said

If it's un-rusty, has a good top, runs (but probably leaks everywhere) then I'd say it's about a $1k car. Be prepared to have to restore the interior, get new tires, rebuild the brakes, change all the fluids, diff, trans, brakes, be ready to rebuild the head or at the very least tear it down and replace every seal in it, be ready to redo half of the electrics, or at the very least clean every contact one at a time, and once you've done all that, you'll probably have to repair some rust that's formed while you work

IIRC 79 is one of the slowest variants and least desireable, it has the big bumpers (heavy), smog equipment on a carb (hurts the 1.8L performance), so you get the worst of both worlds. Early chrome bumper cars are desirable from an aesthetic and rev-happy 1.6L, as are later 2.0L fuel injected cars for drive ability given better torque. Certain things like a pristine interior, no rust, good top, and runs though could elevate the value of the car, do you have any pics?

Raze wrote: If it's un-rusty, has a good top, runs (but probably leaks everywhere) then I'd say it's about a $1k car. Be prepared to have to restore the interior, get new tires, rebuild the brakes, change all the fluids, diff, trans, brakes, be ready to rebuild the head or at the very least tear it down and replace every seal in it, be ready to redo half of the electrics, or at the very least clean every contact one at a time, and once you've done all that, you'll probably have to repair some rust that's formed while you work IIRC 79 is one of the slowest variants and least desireable, it has the big bumpers (heavy), smog equipment on a carb (hurts the 1.8L performance), so you get the worst of both worlds. Early chrome bumper cars are desirable from an aesthetic and rev-happy 1.6L, as are later 2.0L fuel injected cars for drive ability given better torque. Certain things like a pristine interior, no rust, good top, and runs though could elevate the value of the car, do you have any pics?

Since I'm not gonna buy it, here's a link to the ad. Pics are of the fuzzy cell-phone type.

Linky!

I bought an '81 for $100 and drove it home, needing a top and rust repair. Sold it for $2500 after it was done. Fiat buyers are cheap bastards.

http://home.comcast.net/~cvetters3/fiat_spider.htm

In reply to Chris_V:

Hey, that's nice. Is it possible to buy new repair panels like that rear quarter?

wow

Those Miata seats in there? Nice job

And don't forget, our August issue has a buyer guide on the Fiat Spider.

1988RedT2 wrote: In reply to Chris_V: Hey, that's nice. Is it possible to buy new repair panels like that rear quarter?

Parts car. Invaluable.

And yeah, miata seats. $100 from a local GRMer. So much better (including the working headrest speakers for top down listening)

79 and the early 80 are the worst years to buy. 2 litre engine may sound good.. but it was so emissions choked it only eeked out 80hp when new. It had ten million hard plastic vacuume lines that will crack and snap if you look at them wrong.

By the time 1979 (and 78) rolled around.. the original 124 rear axle casings were gone.. so they made the weaker axle from the Brava/131 fit. with only 80hp.. it was good enough for the job.. but once Fuel injection arrived in late 81.. you coule put a hurting on it easily.

While it did have the big bumpers.. it was also the first year for the Ferrari 400 doorhandles (pricey!), the larger tail lights that used the left rear as the main ground for the entire car (bad ground here makes EVERYTHING run wonky) and the largest "boobs" on the hood that any of the 124s had

If you can get a later injected 81+, I would recommend that.. or back track to early 78 and before