1977 CS1 imported to UK from California

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So Cal Mark
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Your car is a: Fiat
Location: upland, ca.

Re: 1977 CS1 imported to UK from California

Postby So Cal Mark » Tue Jun 07, 2016 1:05 am

the turbine wheels were not oem on any Spider, those are aftermarket wheels. That style was very popular in the 70s and it's possible that some dealers installed them on the cars when new, but they weren't from Fiat.
BTW, your car is quite stunning!
Mark Allison
allisonsautomotive.com Fiat and Alfa Romeo parts and service. Performance parts our specialty!
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pgilling
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Your car is a: 1977 124 Spider Project
Location: Lincolnshire, UK

Re: 1977 CS1 imported to UK from California

Postby pgilling » Thu Jun 09, 2016 4:11 pm

Many thanks for clarifying that Mark, interesting to know.
And thanks of your kind words!
Redline run before new 131 gearbox was installed: https://youtu.be/80nEhsJbH2w

Wanting
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Your car is a: 1972 BS1 Euro Spider
Location: Midlands, England

Re: 1977 CS1 imported to UK from California

Postby Wanting » Fri Jul 08, 2016 2:39 pm

Just looking back through your restoration and I know it was 2 years ago but how much did it cost to have your seats upholstered?

I contacted a local company and about fell off my chair when he told me the price.

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pgilling
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Your car is a: 1977 124 Spider Project
Location: Lincolnshire, UK

Re: 1977 CS1 imported to UK from California

Postby pgilling » Fri Jul 08, 2016 2:43 pm

Hi, I went to a local upholstery company who do vehicle seats too. The seats aren't leather but vinyl, and I think in total it cost around £600 which I thought was pretty reasonable. Leather would've cost around 3 times as much.

PG
Redline run before new 131 gearbox was installed: https://youtu.be/80nEhsJbH2w

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pgilling
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Your car is a: 1977 124 Spider Project
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Re: 1977 CS1 imported to UK from California

Postby pgilling » Fri Jul 08, 2016 2:43 pm

Hi, I went to a local upholstery company who do vehicle seats too. The seats aren't leather but vinyl, and I think in total it cost around £600 which I thought was pretty reasonable. Leather would've cost around 3 times as much.

PG
Redline run before new 131 gearbox was installed: https://youtu.be/80nEhsJbH2w

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RRoller123
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Re: 1977 CS1 imported to UK from California

Postby RRoller123 » Fri Jul 08, 2016 3:45 pm

Was that 45 kg weight for the pair? 600 L-pounds sounds about right, I paid $900 US (which until recently was about the same) for an upholsterer to do mine from scratch.

Pete
'80 FI Spider 2000
'74 and '79 X1/9 (past)
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pgilling
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Re: 1977 CS1 imported to UK from California

Postby pgilling » Fri Jul 08, 2016 3:50 pm

I must be missing something, I don't know what you mean, why are you talking about weights? 'Two nations separated by the same language'!
Redline run before new 131 gearbox was installed: https://youtu.be/80nEhsJbH2w

Wanting
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Your car is a: 1972 BS1 Euro Spider
Location: Midlands, England

Re: 1977 CS1 imported to UK from California

Postby Wanting » Fri Jul 08, 2016 5:43 pm

The company I contacted wanted £1300.
I could buy vinyl covers from the states that's round £460 to my door. I'll phone round a few more places yet.

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RRoller123
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Re: 1977 CS1 imported to UK from California

Postby RRoller123 » Sat Jul 09, 2016 7:55 am

"I weighed the old bumpers and they were about 45 kg"

Just want to confirm that is for the pair? We never seem to get an accurate weight here on the forum to assist in the decision to replace the Federal bumper system with the older one. Would like to know the NET weight reduction to see if it is worth it.

Pete
'80 FI Spider 2000
'74 and '79 X1/9 (past)
'75 BMW R75/6
2011 Chevy Malibu (daily driver)
2010 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Ext Cab 4WD/STD BED
2002 Edgewater 175CC 80HP 4-Stroke Yamaha
2003 Jaguar XK8
2003 Jaguar XKR
2021 Jayco 22RB
2019 Bianchi Torino Bicycle

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Nanonevol
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Re: 1977 CS1 imported to UK from California

Postby Nanonevol » Sat Jul 09, 2016 10:34 am

I'd like to know what the bumpers weigh as well but I know I'll leave mine on. Yesterday I ran out of gas on a highway off ramp (I know, stupid but, er, my gauge doesn't work) and a State Trooper pushed me out of the way, bumper to bumper. Glad it was there.
1977 Fiat Spider
1985 Jaguar XJ6
1967 Triumph Bonneville (hard-tail chopper)
1966 BSA Lightning

AriK
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Re: 1977 CS1 imported to UK from California

Postby AriK » Sat Jul 09, 2016 10:38 am

Nice cop! Where I'm at cops ticket you for running out of gas and they'll just sit their with their roof top arrow and wait for their exclusive tow trucks with exorbitant prices to tow you.

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pgilling
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Your car is a: 1977 124 Spider Project
Location: Lincolnshire, UK

Re: 1977 CS1 imported to UK from California

Postby pgilling » Sat Jul 09, 2016 1:18 pm

RRoller123 wrote:"I weighed the old bumpers and they were about 45 kg"

Just want to confirm that is for the pair? We never seem to get an accurate weight here on the forum to assist in the decision to replace the Federal bumper system with the older one. Would like to know the NET weight reduction to see if it is worth it.

Pete

Hello Pete,

I've done a search on Guy Croft's excellent blog and found that in this thread the 2 bumpers weighed 35kg (18.8g and 16.5kg) not including the brackets http://www.guy-croft.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2141

Unfortunately, I didn't get round to weighing the new classic bumpers but they are considerably lighter. Certainly a lot less than half the weight. I appreciate there is less crash protection but to be honest, that is down to you. All I know is that my car looks so much more attractive and it's a lot lighter (less polar moment too!). To make up for the reduced crash protection I do have upgraded brakes and inertia real seat belts. Also, earlier in my thread you'll see I've installed a bracket for a towing eye.
Redline run before new 131 gearbox was installed: https://youtu.be/80nEhsJbH2w

Wanting
Posts: 32
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Your car is a: 1972 BS1 Euro Spider
Location: Midlands, England

Re: 1977 CS1 imported to UK from California

Postby Wanting » Tue Jul 12, 2016 8:27 am

Did I read somewhere that you were getting over heating issues?

Have you managed to sort it now?

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RRoller123
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Re: 1977 CS1 imported to UK from California

Postby RRoller123 » Wed Jul 13, 2016 6:46 am

Thanks, so about 100 pounds weight for the pair. Roughly 4% of the total car's weight. Not insignificant!

Pete
'80 FI Spider 2000
'74 and '79 X1/9 (past)
'75 BMW R75/6
2011 Chevy Malibu (daily driver)
2010 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Ext Cab 4WD/STD BED
2002 Edgewater 175CC 80HP 4-Stroke Yamaha
2003 Jaguar XK8
2003 Jaguar XKR
2021 Jayco 22RB
2019 Bianchi Torino Bicycle

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pgilling
Posts: 110
Joined: Tue Mar 19, 2013 2:53 pm
Your car is a: 1977 124 Spider Project
Location: Lincolnshire, UK

Re: 1977 CS1 imported to UK from California

Postby pgilling » Wed Jul 13, 2016 11:26 am

Wanting wrote:Did I read somewhere that you were getting over heating issues?

Have you managed to sort it now?

Hi,

yes I did report on a saga of overheating earlier in this thread, but it was a combination of large amounts of heat being generated by the long primary pipes, an airlock in the small heater hose from the top of the head, and a poor quality fan. These issues were largely resolved by getting the exhaust manifold Zircotec coated, clearing the airlock (basic oversight) and fitting a powerful Spal cooling fan.

Because the GC engine is designed for performance over economy, GC fits a 75 deg C thermostat which are only available on internal 'stats so that is what is fitted. Also, I fitted a high quality Racetech temperature gauge that has a much longer dial 'throw', consequently any slight temperature increases are more apparent. On a warm day (yes we do get them occasionally) in traffic the temperature rises to around 90 C / 195 F which is still too high for a HC engine.

I recently discovered that the bottom of the radiator is cool when the top is hot, so obviously I'm losing cooling efficiency. I spoke to the knowledgeable guys at Radtec in the UK explaining the problem and they said it was either caused by an airlock or a faulty pump. Well it is highly unlikely to be the pump as it is a new engine. I have fitted air bleeds to the top of my hoses so I felt an airlock was also unlikely. However, they assured my that it was possible for an airlock to remain in the bottom of a radiator! He asked if I had squeezed the bottom hose when filling the radiator. I did, it was only a slight squeeze. Apparently the water can remain in the bottom of the rad (seemingly against the laws of physics!) unless 'shocked' to move by heavily squeezing the pipes or pressure filling. He also strongly suggested filling up with deionised or distilled water as this 'sticks' to metal better due to the lower surface tension. This reduces the chance of cavities forming and enables greater thermal transfer. One final point was not to put too much antifreeze in the system, no more than 15% for summer use. This is because the thermal efficiency of water is far below that of water.

I shall try these steps soon and hopefully the engine's cooling capacity will greatly increase. I'll post the results.

Phil
Redline run before new 131 gearbox was installed: https://youtu.be/80nEhsJbH2w


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