James Nazarian wrote:
> One of my friends is looking for a Fiat 124. Does anyone have any
> experience with them? He is looking for answers to the basic questions
> people ask when buying their first vintage car. What are the trouble points
> to look for? Rust, mechanicals, etc. How hard are parts to come by? Who
> sells them?
>
> His mom had one when she was younger and she is quite a car nut. My friend
> is looking for a car to restore to give her. He is a knowledgeable car
> person, but this will be his first vintage auto.
Fiats of that vintage are usually total rust buckets. I don't know
what sad excuse for steel they used back then, but it's really rare to
find a 124 or 850 that isn't a wreck underneath, unless it's from
Arizona. I greatly regret this fact, since I was nuts about the wee
850 Spyders, owned five of them through the years and liked to work on
them and drive them. The last two I bought were not worth the effort,
since the underside was really bad, once I got to check them properly.
Sold them at a loss, for parts. That was ten years ago.
The thing I hated about 124's, even when they were fairly new and not
yet rusted, was that you had to buy interposers (called "shims"), at
12 bucks a shot back then, just to adjust the valves. I never did get
comfortable with that. I'm guessing they will be a lot more money now,
if you can even find them.
When I worked for the dealership, the previous mechanics had opened
all of the little paper bags and the "shims" were all in a box,
hundreds of them, starting to rust. I took them home one weekend and
miked them all and put them in new envelopes I got from a coin shop
and marked the thickness on the envelope. After that, I never found
myself wanting a 124. The 850 engine was a sweet little thing, and the
valves adjusted with a feeler gauge, a wrench and a screwdriver.
-Rock http://www.rocky-frisco.com
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