New Member in Oregon

[tartan18]

Howdy, I recently bought a 1975 Fiat 124 Spider to be what I call a rolling restoration project. Recently retired I wanted to repeat what I have done twice before -- restoring a 1959 MGA when I was in my twenties and then a 1979 264GL Volvo when I was in my forties ... Now I am in my sixties. I have always loved the design of the Fiat 124 and now I am the proud owner of this classic Italian sports car.





Since these photos were taken I have replaced the convertible top and started on a long list of repairs to make the car drivable. My biggest challenge is to locate and repair a major oil leak -- seems to be coming from both valve covers.

For the past week or so I have been reading posts to this forum and I am very impressed with the knowledge and the willingness to share. Do let me know if you are located anywhere close to Corvallis -- It would be great to have someone near by to talk to and share Fiat stories.

[Estaban]

It's a pretty car. Glad to see you on the forums.

[2ndwind]

Welcome. Are you going to refurbish or restore? I prefer refurbishing a decent condition car. Some prefer the strip-down restoration.

[tartan18]

My idea is to refurbish/renew and update the car -- not a museum style restoration. I am especially wanting some performance upgrades and I have already upgraded the alternator to a new 95amp output unit because I am a Amateur Radio operator (call sign is WH7RG) and I will be installing a VHF radio in the car -- just a little something "else" to make it a bit more fun to drive.

The major challenge at the moment is to get down to northern California and pick up my tools that I left in a storage unit several years ago when I had to temporarily move back to Hawaii to care for my 92 year old mother. I can't do much else in terms of working on my Fiat until I have access to my collection of tools.

[baltobernie]

Hello and Welcome. Lots of helpful folks here; I could not have restored my car without their help.

Isn't 1975 MY the threshold for emissions testing in your state? If so, it will be difficult to achieve any sort of performance improvement at all.

[tartan18]

Emissions testing (compliance) in Oregon only impacts those who live in Portland and Medford and ONLY if the car is newer than 20 years.

[WBPDX]

That car was on Craigslist forever! I am glad it finally sold.

[tartan18]

Yep, it was on Craigslist for many months. I think a lot of folks were nervous about the front suspension/frame. It looks ugly down there but I had it checked out by a frame/alignment shop and while the welds around the cross member and A-arms look bad, they are solid and the alignment is good. I am looking forward to having this car to tinker on so that I can learn enough to be a basic Fiat mechanic.

Thanks for making me feel so welcome on this forum. This is a major reason I decided to go with a Fiat 124 Spider -- all the support that is available.

[woodyredhead]

Hello TARTAN18 We have a 1978 spider we just bought here in central Oregon in a little town of metolius near madras if i can be of any help or just someone to talk fiat then feel free to drop me a line john

[tartan18]

Hey John,

Yep, I know the Metolius. I spent many a happy weekend fly fishing on that river. I used to live in Pendleton (now in Corvallis). Glad to have another Oregonian on this forum. You will discover for yourself the vast knowledge base represented here which is grounded on the love of these Italian cars.

I always have questions as I am learning how to both restore and then maintain my Spider (a 1975 that I bought locally). When I get my project road worthy I might head east and visit you. I will give you plenty of advance notice. My Spider is presently on jack stands -- waiting on my cylinder head getting overhauled at a local machine shop.

Jim ...