Pro and con of 1979 Fiat Spider?

[wachuko]

Folks,

What the subject line says... Pro and con of 1979 Fiat Spider?

I just found a guy that is selling one... almost next door... some 2 miles from me.

I was told that the 80-on cars had fuel injection and a longer stroke motor, so they're more torquey, but feel heavy compared to the earlier years. And to not buy a 79, as they had the worst carb/head/block combination. Very poor HP due to the smog regs.

That if I wanted the best experience to consider one of the pre-74 cars, as the 1800 motor had the best head/intake combination, and you can do dual Dell'Orto carbs or Webers for that great sound.

Anyway... comments from owners of '79 cars?

[NebraskaSpider]

I own a carbed 1980. They made them for the first half of year or so then switched to the fuel injection. It is true that the cars did come factory with highly restricted emission laden intakes but I have since switched mine over to the higher flowing manifold and put a Weber 32/36 DFEV on and found this to help tremendously with the feel of the car. They also came with large tube bumpers that Ive heard weigh a lot and have performance gains if removed but I still have mine on and the car handles well enough for me. I am considering removing them soon to see how much they weight. Though I'm sure there are plenty of others that prefer other years, I'm happy with my '80

[So Cal Mark]

the only drawback to the 79 is the carb/intake and emission equipment. Fuel mileage generally is not worse; the carb was smaller than any other year. The 79 motor is the same as the 80 except for the carb instead of FI. If it's a good car, go for it and change the carb.

[mbouse]

yeah.... total agreement with what has been posted.

if you can get around the emissions equipment, the 79-80 carb'd spiders have LOADS of room for minor modifications that make HUGE impacts on performance. Great for the guy that likes to tinker.

if you can't get around the emissions, they are still a spider, with a two litre engine. put a little spit and polish on 'er and flip it for a minor profit when the economy picks up.

i prefer my modified '80 over my wife's near stock '78 ANY-DAY-ANY-WHERE-ANY-HOW.... and for performance, so does my wife.

[rlux4]

My first Spider was a 79. A California 79 at that, which due to smog laws here, was the worst year for performance. But I had never driven another Spider, so I didn't know that, consequently I loved that car.
So, if you can't modify it because of state inspections, go ahead and get it, then just don't drive any other Spider!
Ron

[wachuko]

Thank you all for your comments.

I do like to tinker with the cars. Imho it is the best therapy in the world. Having my father-in-law living with us also gives me the time to spend time with him doing stuff he also loves.



The only thing I can't do is paint... Remind me to tell you about this funny story of how I should have let a professional paint the bumper in one of my cars... it is about not sealing the canister correctly on the spray gun and the canister falling on my leg and floor... how the paint still did not match, how I learned what fish eyes are, what smeared paint on a new bumper piece looks like...how hot paint gets in your skin as it dries and how long it takes to get it removed from your legs.. and how I had to pay twice for the work since the painter had to remove all the mess I did... it is funny as hell... my wife is still laughing (just like the time that silver spray paint fell on the floor and burst on my new shoes... my work shoes now...)



So yeah, I enjoy working in the cars. Also, sites like these are great for car nuts like me. The sharing of information and availability of folks willing to help is what encourages me to tackle tasks that I would otherwise not even try. In the short time I have been here I can see that there is a great community of folks willing to help each other keeping their beauties on the road.

I hope to be able to contribute and pay back with documenting the changes or maintenance to my car. For now I am reading a lot, downloading a lot of photos of engine work, mods, cars, parts, shop manual, owner's manual, well... anything I can find on the web on these cars.

The idea of getting a car that I can install a dual carburetor setup really thrills me. Not only does that changes or improves the sound of the car, visually is also more to my liking.

Right now I just want to find a solid car within my budget. If this '79 turns out to be the one, great. Now I know that these are not cars to avoid they just need a few mods to be like the others.

[Foster48x]

Wrenchin' in a white golf shirt and boat shoes! Gotta love it!

[pooldoctorstl]

Not just any golf shirt, but a HILFIGER shirt and POLO shorts? I guess thats what you wear when you work on what looks like a 911. I wear Wal Mart stuff with my Fiat.

[mbouse]

gasp

what happened to that car? it has an ugly growth protruding from the wheel well. the poor thing tell me there is a surgery for that

[wachuko]

gasp

what happened to that car? it has an ugly growth protruding from the wheel well. the poor thing tell me there is a surgery for that

That mole was dully removed and burnt.

Come on guys, you too have old clothes that are promoted to be used when working in the the garage . I got from work, changed into working clothes and headed to the garage... I did forget to change the dress socks

[mbouse]

for a couple of years, my wife kept saying... those are "good" jeans, don't wear them in the garage... until i noticed she was saying that about every pair of jeans i owned.

now, i have NO good jeans, but plenty of "good" slacks... for now.

[spidernut]

Going back to the original question (no offense...the threads were entertaining!), I like my 79. It is easy to work on. The fuel injected motor was more powerful, but much harder to work on. I agree that the biggest drawback is the intake and carb. They are designed for reduced emissions. Since the ADHA carb was only in 79 and 80, emission parts are hard to come by...even though I've not had to replace or repair a single one in the 7 years I have had my car. If you swapped out the intake and carb, I'm sure you'd be very happy with the car. Other than the carb, I really don't see any differences between my 79 and 81.

[Warren]

You will also need to swapout the seatbacks to the later designs which have more reinforcement. The 1979 and 1980's were weak and will be cracked if you partially remove seat cover. Seat back is noticeably bent and could have been caused by raising top by pulling up while sitting in driver seat. Should be some discussion elsewhere.

Better check those crossmember/bolts as also discussed elsewhere.

[mbouse]

can't say i agree with that one warren. and i have had at least two sets of 1980 seats apart. i saw no significant change in structure to warrent that comment.

[rlux4]

Mike, my 79 and 82 both have had the cracked sheet metal at the bottom of the seat back that caused what is called the "Gangsta Lean". I don't know what year they did away with the insert panel on the back of the seats, but when they did, they made the seats different (cheaper). The 82 came that way, but I did it to the 79 in exactly the way Warren says.
Ron