Where are all the hidden grease fittings

Maintenance advice to keep your Spider in shape.
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aevansgatech
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Your car is a: 1982 Spider 2000

Where are all the hidden grease fittings

Postby aevansgatech » Tue May 03, 2016 9:41 am

Hey guys,

In an attempt to get the fluids/lubrication all up to date, I figured I'd get out the grease gun and go to town. I only found a few fittings, though, and one interesting difference.

First, here's what I greased:
1. Left CV joint
2. Drifeshaft/guibo union?

The right control arm assembly was changed at some point to a newer design and does not have a grease fitting. Instead it has a "cap" held on by 3 bolts which are non-removeable. Are the new ones "sealed for life" or is there another way to keep it greased up?

Finally, what other points should I look for that probably haven't seen fresh grease in a long time!
1979 Spider 2000 (gone)
1984 Pininfarina Azzurra (for sale)
1982 Spider 2000 (here to stay)

AriK
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Your car is a: 1979 Fiat Spider
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Re: Where are all the hidden grease fittings

Postby AriK » Thu May 05, 2016 7:42 pm

CV joint?
Are you talking about your 500 or did you create a weird conversion to your 79?

The only zerks are on the u joints and another one is on the tailshaft behind the flex disk, or guibo. None to be found on the tie rods ball joint nor control arms. However you can find yourself getting busy with other grease point areas:
Dielectric grease can be added on every electrical connection such as tail-light sockets, multi-wire connectors, ignition cables, ground points and fusebox.
Brake sliders can be lubricated with synthetic brake lube.
Wheel bearing grease for the spindle and bearings.
Lithium grease for dizzy springs.
Periodic lubrication of door hinges, hand brake cable and clutch cable ball ends with anything spray that you can inject into there. Same thing for wiper arm linkages if you're patient enough to remove the cowl without scratching the paint.

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4uall
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Your car is a: 1980 Fiat Pininfarina Spider 2000 F.I.
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Re: Where are all the hidden grease fittings

Postby 4uall » Thu May 05, 2016 9:42 pm

Jay

Fiona
1980 FI 2000 Spider
ITZEBTZE

https://goo.gl/photos/eNKaX7hrXhBu9fmp6

FINN (FN-2187)
2014 Jeep Wrangler Sport
MYTHERPY

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lglade
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Location: Mukilteo, WA

Re: Where are all the hidden grease fittings

Postby lglade » Thu May 05, 2016 9:47 pm

I believe that the original poster was referring to his left ball joint, and yes some of these had grease zerks. My original ball joints had zerks, but they've since been replaced with sealed units. Other than those, my only other zerk (that I know about anyway) is at the yoke by the giubo/flex disk.,
Lloyd Glade- Mukilteo, WA
1984 Pininfarina Spider Azzurra
1962 Fiat 500D - wife's car
2015 Subaru Outback
2017 Ford Focus RS

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4uall
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Your car is a: 1980 Fiat Pininfarina Spider 2000 F.I.
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Re: Where are all the hidden grease fittings

Postby 4uall » Fri May 06, 2016 8:00 am

Old one

Image



New ones

Image

Image
Jay

Fiona
1980 FI 2000 Spider
ITZEBTZE

https://goo.gl/photos/eNKaX7hrXhBu9fmp6

FINN (FN-2187)
2014 Jeep Wrangler Sport
MYTHERPY

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aevansgatech
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Your car is a: 1982 Spider 2000

Re: Where are all the hidden grease fittings

Postby aevansgatech » Fri May 06, 2016 9:09 am

Yep, ball joints sorry. So I have one new one (sealed) and one old one with a fitting.

Sounds like the other one I found was the tailshaft/flex disk area.

Thanks guys
1979 Spider 2000 (gone)
1984 Pininfarina Azzurra (for sale)
1982 Spider 2000 (here to stay)

AriK
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Re: Where are all the hidden grease fittings

Postby AriK » Fri May 06, 2016 9:26 am

Wow Jay! That first pic might be worth something at the National Museum along with Archie Bunker's chair. Most evidence of Fiat's original ball joints is all but a memory after 35 years.
Jokes aside most (but evidently not all) greaseable ball joints and suspension parts for domestic applications have gone the way of the dinosaur. We refer to that as cheapness on the assembly line but in retrospect the technology has somewhat improved in their manufacture. A modern joint that is sealed for life relies on polymer plastic technology, a more efficient design than was available decades ago when it was metal on metal. An injection molded polymer socket is married to a polished steel ball which produces a low friction assembly which can last for tens of thousands of miles. (For heavy vehicles it's a different story however).
The design's tight tolerances supposedly don't allow space for a zerk but they do claim that today's joints are better manufactured than yesterday's.
Most people used to overfill their ball joints to the point where the rubber diaphragm would expand and then ooze out grease which would eventually allow contaminants and water to compromise the joint, much of the time early in its life. The sealed unit, well...

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aevansgatech
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Re: Where are all the hidden grease fittings

Postby aevansgatech » Fri Aug 18, 2017 9:15 am

So I'm revisiting my old thread, but this time with a new perspective.

The '79 I had did have one old style lower ball joint and one was replaced with the new sealed style. Now, I'm attempting to find a front end groan in my low mileage '82 Spider with two original ball joints and I'm thinking it may be coming from the ball joints.

Is there a special type of grease or recommendation of how much to squirt in there for the greasable ball joints?
1979 Spider 2000 (gone)
1984 Pininfarina Azzurra (for sale)
1982 Spider 2000 (here to stay)

DieselSpider
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Your car is a: 1978 124 Spider with Isuzu Turbo Diesel

Re: Where are all the hidden grease fittings

Postby DieselSpider » Sat Aug 19, 2017 12:37 am

Try to match whats already in there as the various grease formulations are not always compatible and some tend to react badly together. As for the lack of a grease fitting that is not a 100% show or grease stopper as you can just use a grease needle on your gun and add grease within reason through the rubber boots.

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RRoller123
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Re: Where are all the hidden grease fittings

Postby RRoller123 » Sat Aug 19, 2017 5:48 am

A front end groan in mine turned out to be a loose shock mount at the top. Might be worth checking those. I was just loose enough that the rubber slid around a little depending upon load, or lack of load more accurately.
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