Fiat Spider 2000, 1980

[tima01864]

Thank You, I understand much more now about owatrol. Waxoyl, For inside channels and rocker panels. This is a mainly European product. Not much feedback on the lasting protection. I own a decent Spider and looking to find a good product to keep it well.

[DieselSpider]

I have been having good success with Skyco Ospho which is an Phosphoric Acid and Dichromate solution that turns the rust into Iron Phosphate. Water cleanup, penetrates seams and folds plus is a great metal prep for painting.

Been around in Marine use for over 70 years.

http://ospho.com/directions.htm

[basso]

I have been having good success with Skyco Ospho which is an Phosphoric Acid and Dichromate solution that turns the rust into Iron Phosphate. Water cleanup, penetrates seams and folds plus is a great metal prep for painting.

Been around in Marine use for over 70 years.

http://ospho.com/directions.htm

Cool, never heared of, i used Phosphoric Acid to clean my Fuel Tank, before using the por fuel Tank kit. But Phosphoric Acid only works on the surface of rust, or?

Basso

[DieselSpider]

I have been having good success with Skyco Ospho which is an Phosphoric Acid and Dichromate solution that turns the rust into Iron Phosphate. Water cleanup, penetrates seams and folds plus is a great metal prep for painting.

Been around in Marine use for over 70 years.

http://ospho.com/directions.htm

Cool, never heared of, i used Phosphoric Acid to clean my Fuel Tank, before using the por fuel Tank kit. But Phosphoric Acid only works on the surface of rust, or?

Basso

It penetrates rust within reason and is even used on new metal to promote better paint adhesion. Some are shocked when they see new steel turn black indicating it had already started to rust.

[basso]

"Some are shocked when they see new steel turn black",
that is the same surface of a method that is named "Brünieren" in German, google says that "to brown metal" the right wording is, but im not sure, my whole spider is pepetrated like this before is was ktl coated

Basso

[basso]

OMG its been a while since i last worte about my restautoration - shame on me!!

The headlights are in place,


the engine bay gets fuller and fuller....




and did i mentined that i overhault the complete cylinderhead? That was interesting actually the engine looks like that:


I think next to the body work the engine was one of the most timeconsuming things i´ve ever done...

Basso

[basso]

Neat little detail,
i wrote before that i own a 3d Printer... guess what, i had to print an radiator grill badge for my Spider...

there is only one animal, that fits to the colour sheme of my Spider... an lion:
My cars colour is champanger beige metallic, has brown door-uppers and instrument panel, an tan carpet...

But the lation name fits better: Limited Edition Original, LEO!!!


It was fun to bulid it and makes my spider unique ( and looks good )

Basso

[ster1]

the fusebox.
Id like to add a few more fuses for seatheating, windowmodules etc. and was in need to have more fuses in the box ( i dont like to add them on the relayboard). So i decide to switch all the fuses to be small modern fuses.

There are sets of minifuse mountings (correct word?) wich can be sticked together. This is what i did.

i mounted the fuseblock in to the old fusebox - it works great.

And here is a photo of the main cable harness beeing build.


Basso

I know this is an old thread, and I don’t know if you are still around. But if you remember what fuse block you used, I would like to add the same to mine. Real nice work on your Spider by the way. Thank you.

[EstelleMona]

Hi everyone..I am trying to help my dad who loves his 1980 fiat spider 2000. The car runs great, but every once and awhile ,there is electric issues involving the wipers, headlights and the oil pressure light does not illuminate on turn on ignition.
I not sure where to begin. My Dad is 91 and is still driving and passes a road test every year with perfect score and being his daughter and living close by I have become his "assistant". I would like for him to be able to take his "MiaBella" Italian for "my beautiful ".
I have tried to find out information and suggestions as to where to start. The strange thing is that these issues do not happen every time.
I would greatly appreciate any suggestions but ask you make it simple because I am the one who will under the dash looking. I bought the Fiat Spider Service Manual...but doesn't help for troubleshooting.
Does anyone think it is a short or a ground issue...

[basso]

Hi EstelleMona,
of course id like to help you Have You downloaded the electrical plans for the Spider?

If not, here is a link:
https://www.schiminsky.de/fileadmin/pix ... 9_1980.pdf

Theorie:
All You now have to do is mark all lines that lead from the battery to the not working Elements ( i always use a red marker for it ). Than route all mass ( negative) lines to all not working elements ( i use a black marker for it) . Now You know where You have to check the plugs and all of the cables. Its easy

My guess: it is an cable or an plug that is not tight connected or corroded.
A short circuit will burn the fuse and will not work from that on till You renew the fuse. ( does not match to your descripion )

Praxis: With knowing every infected plug you will be albe to check and find the error... mark every plug and cable you have checked.

Hope it helps
Basso

[davidbruce]

HI EstelleMona, intermittent electrical issues can be frustrating. Even for experienced mechanics. It's been said many times that most faults come from bad grounds. On your Fiat there are 3 ground pods. 1 on each inner fender just rear of the headlights and 1 under the dash just right of the steering column. These are round metal discs with a multitude of black wires attached. I would start by going to the autoparts store and buy a small tube of dielectric grease. Grasp the wires by the metal connector and pull them off one at a time. Clean the contact area with fine sandpaper or an emery board, coat with a small amount of the grease, replace the wire and move to the next one until they are all done. Always pull on the connector as the wires can break at the connection and now you have more work. I like to do them 1 at a time because if you pull them all off one can drop down out of sight and create more headaches. The grease helps to stop the corrosion that can create a bad ground. This may or may not solve your problems but is a good practice on a 40+ year old Fiat and an easy place to start. I like to think of it as the "low hanging fruit" method of electrical troubleshooting. Hope this helps and good for you for taking this on.

[basso]

Sorry for not uploading my results for a long time...
my engine is in its place and connetected - but when trying to run the engine nothings happend - it took a long time to find the error : i overhaulted the egnition lock and did not solder the wired to it - one of them had no contact an now everything should work - i'll test it nex weekend... Here is m engie bay...

[basso]

Rear Axle


i was finally able to bend the cunifer- ( dont know the correct word in english) pipes for the rear brakes

[18Fiatsandcounting]

i was finally able to bend the cunifer- ( dont know the correct word in english) pipes for the rear brakes

Very nice! Cunifer is simply the trademark for an alloy based on copper (elemental symbol Cu), nickel (Ni) and iron (Fe). So, CuNiFe, with an "r" added at the end to make it look like a real word.

-Bryan