2017 season has begun :)

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phaetn
Patron 2018
Patron 2018
Posts: 575
Joined: Thu Jan 02, 2014 7:42 pm
Your car is a: 1974 Fiat Spider 1800
Location: Ottawa, ON Canada

2017 season has begun :)

Postby phaetn » Sat Apr 08, 2017 9:29 pm

Had the Spider on the road once or twice last week but now, after a bunch of days of rain, the roads are good and clear. It's time to start using the Fiat for my daily commute again! I started it up last weekend:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/1974_fiat ... 3728328052

At the very end of last driving season (sometime in November) I under-steered into and climbed up a curb. I totally wrecked the front rim and shredded the tire, plus bent the rear rim. Most upsetting to me was that my daughter was in the car and I had frightened her. After testing steering and brakes I quickly scooted the car home (just a few blocks) and tucked it into the garage, listening to the tire deflate. My wife was in a particularly bad way at the time health-wise so I didn't have the time or energy to worry about the car: I just put on a spare and stored it for the season, leaving with dealing with damage to the spring. Now here we are. :)

As the season approached I bought a set of four leftover rims from the previous owner of the car (who had also had a spare parts car); I also got two bins of spare bits and bobs (arm rests, chrome bumpers, dash bits, etc.). I spray painted the best rim to match the others and had a new tire installed; meanwhile I pulled the still good tire off the bent rim and used it on what had been my painted spare and now have a quite rusty spare.

Here's a vid showing the corner and damage:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/1974_fiat ... 3764319972


What worried me most was other possible damage. The alignment was off (no suprise!) plus the steering wheel angle. More troubling was a slight bow in the front quarter panel where it meets the door (new as I had just had the exterior of the car painted) and the engine hood sat differently. Something had happened there... I was most concerned about the control arm or crossmember (both of which can be easily fixed) but especially about the unibody alignment along the main beam. I was wondering even if I would have to write off the car as I didn't want to have to pay the huge bucks to bring it to a frame straightener at our local Porsche dealership.

I had it up on a hoist early last week. Good news is that it passes muster. I'll keep an eye on it, but so far so good. Nothing bent in the steering linkages, the control arms is still solidly affixed to the crossmember, and the crossmember is good on the frame. I'll have to look more carefully at the shock tower next. If I'm lucky it will just be an alignment issue.

When up on the hoist we noticed the stainless downtube was scraped and a bit crushed on one side -- luckily I missed the oil pan!! Now THAT would have been a disaster! I wonder if this force of the curb on the downtube then put enough compression force through the stainless header and into the block, then yanking on the mounts and if this could have put the pressure on the front quarter panel through the beam. I dunno.

Anyhow, I'm just glad to so far I don't either have to write off the car or order piles and piles of parts that I had already just replaced last year. :)

Cheers,
phaetn
1974 CS1
32/36 DFEV; CompuTronix ign.
9.8:1 c/r; 40/80 intake cam w/ Isky springs
Vicks' SS header & adj. cam pulleys
A/R's progressive coils, Koni Yellow dampers
205/50-15s on CD-66 style rims
Momo wheel, Corbeau seats w/ 5 pt belt
pics and HD vids

AriK
Patron 2018
Patron 2018
Posts: 1148
Joined: Sat Apr 02, 2011 7:58 pm
Your car is a: 1979 Fiat Spider
Location: Montreal Canada

Re: 2017 season has begun :)

Postby AriK » Sun Apr 09, 2017 1:07 pm

When our cars run well it's music to my ears.
Especially if there's a possibility of a long roadtrip on the horizon. :)

narfire
Posts: 3959
Joined: Sat Dec 27, 2008 2:14 am
Your car is a: 1980 124 spider
Location: Naramata B.C.

Re: 2017 season has begun :)

Postby narfire » Tue Apr 11, 2017 11:28 am

Lucky your weather is good enough to get the car out. This "sunny Okanagan" has been nothing but rain, day of sun then a couple more days of rain, a tease day of warm sun then repeat. Been like this since October. Climate change sure sucks. Car is still in the sea-can.... -2 C this am to boot.
80 FI spider
72 work in progress
2017 Golf R ( APR Stg. 1)
2018 F350 crew long box

DieselSpider
Posts: 2130
Joined: Wed Dec 24, 2014 10:21 pm
Your car is a: 1978 124 Spider with Isuzu Turbo Diesel

Re: 2017 season has begun :)

Postby DieselSpider » Fri Apr 14, 2017 4:49 am

Our 2017 Top Down/Riding Season started a minute after 11:59 PM of December 31, 2016. Already had some close to 90 degree F days.


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