Looking for a Local Shop

Joe F

Hi Miles, Lo Maintenance
My 1980 Spider needs more help than I can give.
I have a retirement home in the Villages Florida (near Ocala) and I bought this Spider a few years ago. I have done all I could with limited space and resources to make it a daily driver. It runs good now, but I've been fighting oil leaks since day one.
Anyone know of a shop I can use that would be capable of tracking down these leaks? I visited a few "European Repair" shops locally, but I did not feel they knew the car.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
 
im near the villages if the car is in fla. Ill help

The car is in Florida, at the Villages. Thanks for the offer, do you have a shop? I cannot do this in my garage. I have a feeling this is going to be a partial teardown with at least replacing the oil pan gasket and the cam seals. It could be even worse...I would hate to burden someone with a long term project.
 
This is a very kind offer. Have a look at his thread for updating his Spider and Lancia and you will be smart to make a beeline for his garage...

Better than any mechanic you will find in FL, by far.
 
I am a high school auto shop teacher now, Owned a Fiat / Lancia repair business for about 20 years. While I do not have a shop at home I do have full use of the schools facilities. All my tools are at the schools shop. At the moment I am currently 3/4 of the way through football season. I also Coach football. Once that is over I will have plenty of time. When a car, such as yours is in the shop I do all the work and use it for instructional purposes. I do not let the kids work on other peoples cars, except teachers. All I ask is that you provide all the parts, I will provide all labor free of charge. If you like what you get, a small donation can be made to the schools autoshop. But is not mandatory.
 
I heartily accept your offer. I am glad my car can be used to aid the education of future auto enthusiasts. My car is in no way a trophy contender, I have repaired and modified it to be a daily fun drive. I am a retired mechanical engineer and have been wrenching Fiats (mostly X-1/9's) since 1972. I have no issues with my car being worked on by anyone, just as long as they have a true love for cars.
I wish you luck with your football season and look forward to communicating with you at seasons end. I posted a personal message to you with my email or you can reply to this message.
Thanks again.
 
I am a high school auto shop teacher now, Owned a Fiat / Lancia repair business for about 20 years. While I do not have a shop at home I do have full use of the schools facilities. All my tools are at the schools shop. At the moment I am currently 3/4 of the way through football season. I also Coach football. Once that is over I will have plenty of time. When a car, such as yours is in the shop I do all the work and use it for instructional purposes. I do not let the kids work on other peoples cars, except teachers. All I ask is that you provide all the parts, I will provide all labor free of charge. If you like what you get, a small donation can be made to the schools autoshop. But is not mandatory.

I'm ready when you are...
Thanks
 
I just happened upon this thread. Very cool support for the Fiat community Beek. Having reviewed your build thread, I'd gladly have your crew work on any of my cars anytime. Thanks from all of us for helping a fellow member in need.

One of my prior patients (when I was still practicing) was a auto shop instructor at a local community college. Great guy with a fantastic program for the kids. We always communicated about cars and his program. Any time one of my vehicles needed something that might be a good teaching opportunity (fitting into his current curriculum) I'd take it over to the school and let the kids wrench on it (with his guidance). Always got better service than any high-end dealer ever offered.
 
Original plan of attack was to remove the engine and reseal. It is just plain easy to work on it out of the car. It takes as much time to pull the oil pan in chassis as it does to remove the whole engine!

Once out i took it apart. Why not have a full gasket set and more oil on the outside than on the inside. upon further investigation the bores have slight wear and bearings look good. We discussed the options and it was decided to bore the block and install 9.8-1 pistons and do a valve job. I will discuss aftermarket cams and pulleys tuesday when he gets the parts order.

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the coolant passages in the head have eroded but not too far. This head will eventually need to be replaced, but not for some time
 
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