New to me: 73 Sport Spider 850

[khnitz]

Well, I finally picked up an 850 Spider and brought it home. I have a few projects stacked up already, so it may be a while (maybe over the winter) before I get to spend some time on it, but it will be waiting in my shop.

I am the third owner. It has been sitting in garage storage since 1984, and the engine was last run in 1997. Before towing it home, I squirted some Marvel Mystery Oil into each of the cylinders through the spark plug holes.

 

[7982X]

Looks like fun. I had a friend in the Navy who bought a one new, same color, I think in 72. Enjoy! It should keep you home nights & weekends.

 

[NM850]

Looks very nice. Looks dry, even the all important drain hoses are still there.
Keep us updated.

 

[Frank L. Di Gioia]

You found a nice one!

 

[kmead]

Congrats, it does indeed look like a great place to start.

Love the color and of course love the car.

Good buy.

 

[khnitz]

I also picked up a parts-car 850 Spider last night - that one is really rough. But, I wanted to build a stash of spare parts, just in case. I'll strip it down and have the rest scrapped (unfortunately, there is no hope for the body of that one). The parts car also came with a box of NOS spares - piston rings, gasket sets, Magnetti Marelli spark plugs and some other odds and ends that I will have to identify. The seller was into Fiats in the 70's and bought what was left on the shelf (not a lot) when the Fiat dealer he regularly used closed. I may need some help identifying parts

 

[NM850]

I also picked up a parts-car 850 Spider last night - that one is really rough. But, I wanted to build a stash of spare parts, just in case. I'll strip it down and have the rest scrapped (unfortunately, there is no hope for the body of that one). The parts car also came with a box of NOS spares - piston rings, gasket sets, Magnetti Marelli spark plugs and some other odds and ends that I will have to identify. The seller was into Fiats in the 70's and bought what was left on the shelf (not a lot) when the Fiat dealer he regularly used closed. I may need some help identifying parts

We love looking at old parts. Actually like any car 850s can be made very reliable, I’ve had mine 22 years and it’s never failed me on the road. The Marelli plugs were not that great or maybe modern plugs are just better but the do look cool for display.

 

[kmead]

I bought mine in 1990, it has been a reliable car for the amount I have actually driven it. I drove it from Vermont to western Michigan in one day (822 miles) with no hiccups. It is a fundamentally simple car in all respects, I like working on it.

 

[7982X]

I also picked up a parts-car 850 Spider last night - that one is really rough. But, I wanted to build a stash of spare parts, just in case. I'll strip it down and have the rest scrapped (unfortunately, there is no hope for the body of that one). The parts car also came with a box of NOS spares - piston rings, gasket sets, Magnetti Marelli spark plugs and some other odds and ends that I will have to identify. The seller was into Fiats in the 70's and bought what was left on the shelf (not a lot) when the Fiat dealer he regularly used closed. I may need some help identifying parts

We did the same. We have parted out 4 or 5 unsalvageable X1/9s over a period of 20 years. Storing the parts has been a bit of a pain, but has paid off with dividends. We have found homes for a lot of them, even sending some to other countries (Chile, Japan, Taiwan, & Turkey), and have used many for our own car , and even one we are fixing up for someone else. We salvaged parts down to plastic clips & plugs, to wiring & bulb sockets....nearly anything you can remove. It's fun when you find you need some obscure part and you find one in your stash!

 

[khnitz]

A small update: as I get ready for the Winter (and hopefully some time to work on the 850), I'm trying to prep my shop so that I can move things around and get to stuff when I need to work on something. In that vein, I decided to try the basic small moving dollies from Harbor Freight under the wheels to help me roll the 850 around the shop - so I can move it out of the way when not working on it, and roll it into place when it's time to play. So far, they seem to work OK (and for $8 each on sale, it was worth a try). I'll likely pick up more of these to go under the wheels of my John Deere Gators to make it easier to move them around and out of the way, too.

 

[gene cooley]

A small update: as I get ready for the Winter (and hopefully some time to work on the 850), I'm trying to prep my shop so that I can move things around and get to stuff when I need to work on something. In that vein, I decided to try the basic small moving dollies from Harbor Freight under the wheels to help me roll the 850 around the shop - so I can move it out of the way when not working on it, and roll it into place when it's time to play. So far, they seem to work OK (and for $8 each on sale, it was worth a try). I'll likely pick up more of these to go under the wheels of my John Deere Gators to make it easier to move them around and out of the way, too.

We have one of these under the 600. It's centered on the rear crossmember of the subframe (near the original firewall area).
It's been there since Saturday and I don't see any sagging/cracking. It's supporting about 1100# of engine/trans/600 body.
I do have some extra 2x4s on each side of it just in case, but when I checked this morning none of them was touching the crossmember so nothing has moved. I'll keep watching it but so far it looks like a good deal for $8. Should be perfect for 600 and 850 engines.

 

[khnitz]

I used these when dismantling the 69 parts 850 I bought, too. I dropped the engine/trans/rear suspension onto one, and the front suspension/steering on to the other. They've been working well so far!

For these (18"x12"), the size works out just right to where the tires are nicely cradled in them.