Guess I'm going to have to get a Classic Motorsports subscription now...

So I was putting this off until I had done enough to warrant a "build thread," but there honestly hasn't been much I've needed to do so far, so...

My new toy, a 1975 Fiat 124 Spider. 65,000 miles, one owner, originally a California car. Posted for sale on one of the worst Craiglist ads I have ever seen (content wise, grammar was alright), it turned out to be a little gem, and well below market price. Having had 4 get sold out from under me already (damn you, beautiful spring), I moved quickly, offering to make a deposit to hold it till I got there and looked at it. Wasn't required. Apparently shortly after being listed, it had stopped running. Hmmm, well, worth a look anyway. Upon inspection, it was immediately clear the fuel pump was shot. Negotiate the price down, purchase.

Get it home, spend $50 for a new fuel pump, throw a filter inline just because, and it started right up.

Well, that takes care of current mechanical issues, what's next? Oh yeah, the horrible cosmetic add-ons! The only one I've taken care of so far is the side molding. Some people like it, but I think it does funny things to the proportions of the car. Plus it came off really easy.

To finish the job, and to removed another thing I hate (pinstripe), I have one of those 3M erasers in the mail. Then, I need to decide how best to attack the faded paint, and do something about those awful wheels. Silver Rota RBs, please.

Oh I also can't stand the luggage rack, but that's a loooong way off to get rid of.

That is an awesome car!!!! Those wheels are horrible though. I would be surprised if there are Rotas offered in 4x98 though.

93EXCivic wrote: That is an awesome car!!!! Those wheels are horrible though. I would be surprised if there are Rotas offered in 4x98 though.

They do, suck it.

Osterkraut wrote:

93EXCivic wrote: That is an awesome car!!!! Those wheels are horrible though. I would be surprised if there are Rotas offered in 4x98 though.

They do, suck it.

No, no, no, no.

All the cool kids have wheels re-drilled.

Osterkraut wrote:

93EXCivic wrote: That is an awesome car!!!! Those wheels are horrible though. I would be surprised if there are Rotas offered in 4x98 though.

They do, suck it.

I don't see them on their website.

In reply to 93EXCivic:

Allison's Automotive has them made for him. 15x7, +15mm.

CM Rocks. Seriously. GRM attitude with some dough to spend--what most of us would do if we won the lottery.

RE The Wheels: Buddy of mine in college had an `80 with the 2ltr..had some pretty badass alloys on it. IIRC, it was even this color.

Nice score!

Looks good man! That's a nice little roadster.

Can't wait to see that pinstripe gone, it doesn't complement the car at all.

As an alternative to getting rid of the luggage rack altogether, how about painting/powdercoating/plasti-dipping it black? I think it'd be a kind of cool "vintage-y" accessory if it weren't so shiny and in your face.

Personally, I would get a black top and maybe blackout all the chrome trim, too, but that's just a matter of taste. The door handles, bumpers, headlight trim, and things like that are fine, but I tend to feel like the chrome around the windows never looks good unless it's showroom perfect, and it's really obvious when it doesn't line up 100% when it contrasts with the car so much.

Nice. Have some fun with the top down!

Nice purchase. And yeah, the Classic Motorsports crew isn't so bad.

The pinstripes and body side moldings were dealer add-ons. The wheelcovers and luggage rack (made by Amco) were North America market accessories either port installed or put on by the dealer. The luggage racks are actually decently built and useful and aren't looked down on in the Fiat world. The wheelcovers...I never liked them when the cars were new. I like this progression.

To be honest, blacking out the chrome makes the car look ghetto and pretty much says to the world "I was too cheap to rechrome the bumpers".

Can you covert a later-model car like that to the slim bumper style of the earlier cars? Or rather, is that a done thing in the Fiat world?

Nice buy. I quite dig the luggage rack.

But they look soooo goood if you just ditch the bumpers. Just an opinion. Awesome score. I always thought that was a gorgeous design.

First off, WELCOME TO THE CLUB (fiat)! It's pretty fun over here, and that looks like a nice score, if it's got minimal/no rust you just did 90% of the work.

I've only been slightly bummed by a lack of Fiat love in the CM magazine. There is a British flavor and most of the time Italian means classic exotic or Alfa if they're slumming it, but it's still an awesome magazine...

In reply to Luke:

Yes you can, there are kits and/or DIY methods of varying 'correct-ness' to go back to the old style bumpers, it drops 50 lbs off the car too which is never a bad thing. And modding/resto-modding is done a TON on Fiats, because there were so many places for improvement over the years, almost no one looks down on non-original functional upgrades. The only problem is straightening out all of the previous-owner's 'good' ideas

One of the coolest things my wife has ever done was try and buy one of those for me. I was having a particularly bad time at work and was having a hard time being happy about much. There was this red fiat that had been sitting for the whole year and a half that we had lived in our house that we drove by almost every day and I checked it out every time. My wife had an afternoon off and stopped and talked to the guy. It was his uncles car and he didn't want to sell it, great plans and all that. My wife tried to buy me an old Fiat to make me happy. That's love gentlemen, that's love.
Cool car, have fun

Nice car! Some more pictures would be nice; interior?

4x98? That only 1mm at each bolt away from 4x100. I know someone (GRM name withheld) that put 4x108 on a 4x110 car and they claimed it was fine.

In reply to RossD:

'wobble bolts'

Car has what I call "no rust" for a vintage Italian motorcar.

Nothing will be blacked out, I decided early on that this will be a good-looking, mild mannered cruiser. I even rejected the idea of replacing the delaminated wooden dash with aluminium, but the wooden dash is just so classy.

I would replace the wheels, add an exhaust to hear the wonderful Italian sound and drive it. Also obviously any maintenance

very nice

Great score!

If your state is relaxed about smog standards, find the head off a '73 1592. There are no EGR passages in it. Otherwise, it's the same head. Also, look for the somewhat rare "half-round" intake manifold from an earlier 1400, a set of 40-80-80-40 cams, and an exhaust header. You will have crazy fun for cheap.

Once again, it's a lot cheaper to come out to CA (or any other non-salt state) and start with a better car then to restore a rust bucket.

Jerry From LA wrote: Great score! If your state is relaxed about smog standards, find the head off a '73 1592. There are no EGR passages in it. Otherwise, it's the same head. Also, look for the somewhat rare "half-round" intake manifold from an earlier 1400, a set of 40-80-80-40 cams, and an exhaust header. You will have crazy fun for cheap. Once again, it's a lot cheaper to come out to CA (or any other non-salt state) and start with a better car then to restore a rust bucket.

Swapping out a head is waaaaaay down the line. From my understanding I've got the "good" intake manifold already, sooner or later I'll throw on a 32/36. Desmog it while I'm in there, decide if I want aftermarket headers or the good OEM ones.

ddavidv wrote: The pinstripes and body side moldings were dealer add-ons. The wheelcovers and luggage rack (made by Amco) were North America market accessories either port installed or put on by the dealer. The luggage racks are actually decently built and useful and aren't looked down on in the Fiat world. The wheelcovers...I never liked them when the cars were new. I like this progression. To be honest, blacking out the chrome makes the car look ghetto and pretty much says to the world "I was too cheap to rechrome the bumpers".

I was only really thinking of the window trim, but I see what you mean. The door handles, bumpers, A-pillars, and all that stuff should still be chrome. It's mostly the trim along the top of the doors that worries me, it's so easy for it to not be lined up on a car like this, and so obvious when it's not.

But yeah, it's really not bad. With the top down it looks better, too. I still would personally like to see a black top on it, or at least a darker tan one, the white top just doesn't do it for me.

Osterkraut wrote: Car has what I call "no rust" for a vintage Italian motorcar. Nothing will be blacked out, I decided early on that this will be a good-looking, mild mannered cruiser. I even rejected the idea of replacing the delaminated wooden dash with aluminium, but the wooden dash is just so classy.

I would definitely keep the wood dash. Looking at pics, it seems to me like it wouldn't be too hard to make new wood pieces for it.