Lift points for the 850 Sport Spider

khnitz

khnitz

True Classic
If everything works out, I will be adding a 2-post lift to my shop/hobby garage later this month. The immediate use for it will be to store my 850 up and out of the way while I make room in the shop to fit my truck&plow in preparation for the eventual Winter snowfalls. I'll be sure to stretch and hang a tarp underneath the Fiat, to keep items underneath it from getting lubed ;)

To that end - what are the recommended lift points for the 850 Sport Spider. Are the ones shown in this image correct?
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From the 1972 manual, it makes mention of central front and rear points for jacking up each end of the car individually, but no mention of 4-point lifting locations
kVNYZ08.jpg


Thanks!
 
johnph said:
It is nice to see an 850 with the proper cooling shrouds in place!
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That was an image I grabbed off of a barnfinds or bringatrailer post, but it's a good reference for what should really be in place under there :)
 
I don't trust old Fiats and you don't know if you have hidden rust damage, unless you know for sure your car is pretty solid. Personally, I would never use the jack point under the bumper, front or rear. I would use the trailing arm brackets at the rear. They're heavy steel and solidly attached to the cross-rail which is heavier gauge steel. Most of the weight is going to be at those points due to the overhanging engine/transaxle weight.

Not sure about the front. I only have a coupe to look at. Not sure if the spiders have a similar reinforced jacking point at the forward end of the rockers like coupes do.
 

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Thanks for the advice, Gil.

I do have a rust-free example with ~31k miles on the odometer, so my lift points should be OK. I like your recommendation of the trailing arm brackets for the rear.
 
The front trunk crossmember that sits directly above the factory jacking point shown is often rusty (or rusted out). I always put my floor jack under the center plate of the leafspring to lift the front of the car (all models).

For the rear, I usually put the floor jack under the trailing arm mounting plate as Gil noted, lift the car & put a jack stand under the square-tube bracket that's meant to be used with the factory crank-style jack.

In both cases, I do use a short piece of wood 2x4 between the jack & the lift point, as shown in the factory manual pics you posted.
 
I would have skipped the lift, you have a really nice self propelled lift. I use my fork lift when working on my 600, just put a safety 4 X 4 under the ram incase of a hose failure. For wheel and body work I have also used my motorcycle lift.
Jay
 
Hackerjay said:
I would have skipped the lift, you have a really nice self propelled lift.
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Unfortunately, that's not mine. That was at the shop where I picked up the lift. They are a tire & repair shop that does a lot of work on heavy trucks, so I guess they need that articulating loader to move trucks that won't move on their own :)
 
Years ago, my cousin decided to build a garage. Around the same time, a local gas station was being razed for new construction. He got the hydraulic lift out of there for almost nothing and installed it while the garage was being built. It required a deep hole for the big cylinder and a cut away in the second story floor to accommodate tall vehicles (he had quite a few military vehicles). Worked very nicely.
 
Well, it took a little while, but I finally finished installing the lift. It hoisted the 850 nicely :)

Lift in use_1.jpg

Lift in use_2.jpg


I do need to get actual vehicle/wheel dollies. The small HF moving dollies worked OK for a while (they're good for a quick move), but with the car sitting on them long-term, the wood deforms and they don't roll so well at that point.
 
Great, you lifted it in the right orientation. Be careful putting the short legs on the front, the rear bias of the CG makes it sketchy...
 
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