Rusted Out 1970 850 Spider Fix-Up

Here we are in the middle of a beautiful spring! I am waiting for the insurance company to get back to me on getting the fiat covered, then it is time for some real test drives. Since the dmv is closed down, I guess I will just stick those 1970 plates on it for now.

Look what I got! I think I am going to paint it blue.
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It is time to get this thing on the road!


Give Haggerty a call for that insurance. Super inexpensive for an agreed value. One phone call and you can print your proof of insurance from your pc or save it to a smartphone.
 
Or try American Collectors. Hagerty didn’t think my 850 was worth insuring (not valuable enough). That was 20 years ago so maybe they’ve changed their tune.
 
I ended up going with State Farm antique car insurance. It is more expensive, but they are not insisting on the car being kept in a enclosed structure when not being driven. Those spaces are taken! Should have the insurance on it today.
 
Oh yeah! Now we are talking. I have a new element and a radiator cap coming from rock auto. Then I should really be in business! Still working on the rubber trim obviously.

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New air cleaner filter element in place...new radiator cap on (no more bubbling around the cap) and it idles good once it warms up. Now I just need State Farm to do their job and take my money! I wanna drive the dang thing!
 
FINALLY, the car is insured! Time to take it out on the road!


It keeps wanting to die in idle ( you can hear me clutch start it off the driveway), and one the second trip it died on the driveway and would not restart, but other than that it runs good. Pretty zippy, and it shifts well. Just needs a proper sorting out now to be a good driver. Oh, and bleed the brakes again.
 
Ok, so I decided to tackle the idle problem today (again). The old “spray carb cleaner to make it idle up” technique revealed that (no surprise), the butterfly shaft is worn and leaking. Took the carbie off and got all the linkage off.
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What a shame they did not incorporate shaft seals into these carbs. I don’t feel comfortable in my ability to drill these out and install new shafts, so I tried cheap guy method #1. I simply put a viton o-ring on there and put it back together. It seems to have mashed it enough to cover the gap, as there is very little leakage there now when I tested it.

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So, even with my most awesome fix ever, it still will not idle. Bounces around from 1100 to 1600 for a while, and then croaks. Thoughts from you experts?
 
Ok, the 30 DIC carb is living up to its name. So I ordered up one of those NOS 30 DGS carbs off of eBay. About 50 bucks cheaper than getting a kit and trying to ream out the shafts on my DIC carb. Looking forward to it getting here!
 
Ok, the 30 DIC carb is living up to its name. So I ordered up one of those NOS 30 DGS carbs off of eBay. About 50 bucks cheaper than getting a kit and trying to ream out the shafts on my DIC carb. Looking forward to it getting here!

Could you share a link to that please? Was looking around on the bay and could not find it.
 
The time has finally arrived. No, the carb is not here yet, but the final piece of outside trim is complete! Since the original inserts on the side emblems are long gone, I decided, in a moment of complete hubris, to put myself on the car. Hey, I feel like I built a fair share of it! So my daughter, who originally did my portrait a few years ago, made print outs of the portrait and clear epoxied them into the original frames. Now it is complete-ish.
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and yes I know the car needs cleaning!
 
What's your Pope name, Daniel?
Piazza the First?
Love the way the badge gives you a 'crown'.
 
No sign of the carb yet, so let us do some work on the dash. The passenger side kinda looks like garbage.

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Comes off pretty easy. The speaker looks ok, but it started shredding when I touched it. It is croaked.
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Here is the radio. Pretty nice little unit. Reversible polarity so it will work on positive ground cars. Faceplate is kinda pitted, which is a bummer. Since I repair vintage electronics for my job, it should not be too tough to get it working. Or maybe I can find some cool VW Sapphire radio...I have a bunch of them.
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Cardboard junk! I have some wood left over from the interior to make this panel from. Should be fun!
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