fiat spider

Talked to IAP today regarding wheel bolts and radiators. Sounds like I just have to bite the bullet and buy a new radiator. Mine's leaking due to corrosion and if it's corroded in a small spot it's corroded in others but just not leaking yet. And the guy I talked to gave me a new option for mounting my vintage wheels...buy lenghts of bolt and cut to size for a conversion to lugs. Which would be cheaper and probably faster than waiting for bolts.

Did some research into what I need to buy to get this into a respectable ride. I want to go with dual carbs and a pair of 40IDF's, manifold, full kit is just around $1k. So I'm budgeting for that as well.

There's another guy that's restoring his fiat and documenting it on the web. He started his journal about the same time I did and he's done. I like his method better. Acquire car, disassemble car, rebuild motor, replace bad parts, buy performance parts, reassemble. I've recently realized that I've been treating this project as if it was a broken down honda...when in reality, this is a project car that needs new parts to be road worthy. I must admit I've brought it a pretty good way with elbow grease and determination, but getting the parts and dedicating a few hours a night to working on it would get me a LOT further. I've also realized I don't like spending my time restoring old ass parts or jury-rigging it to 'just work'. It already 'just works', just not very well. I want this to be a flame spitting beast, not a weakling that's barely road-worthy.

But, I'm trying to buy a house. I am gonna buy a few things to get it road worth and keep the momentum and buy the expensive stuff after I get moved in and my finances stable.

Also realized it's been a whole year since I started writing this all down. (And nearly 2 since I bought the car). I've come pretty far...but not far enough. More to come soon!

Rewrote the To-Buy list as a cgi. Much easier to maintain.