Fiat 124 Spider, a project car with an accent

[Rupert]

Sounds like my El Camino.

And that went smoothly, right?

[Eye of the Tiger]

Yeah... There's no certainty in moving, but I won't be here forever, and I don't want a project car and a garage full of parts when I leave.

I dunno; I think it's drive it and see time. I might decide I don't like driving it, anyway.

This type of dilemma is exactly what I want to avoid in life. I am setting myself up with enough job skills so, once I buy a house, I will never have to move from it. I want to get a place between Columbia and Charlotte, or Columbia and Spartanburg, or Columbia and Augusta, or Columbia and Charleston, giving myself two cities about an hour away to make sure I can always has jerb. Anyway, my garage will never have to get cleaned out. I will have forever project cars.

[ChrisV]

You can do floorboards without doing any of the rest of the car. No need to try and make it more of a project than you absolutely have to. The whole "as long as" mentality needs to stop (I'm guilty of it at times, too).

Hell, on mine, I got it into primer and drive it that way for a year. Just do the flooboards, bolt the seats back in and drive it.

[ChrisV]

Check with Bruce at Bruce's Parts Bin 856-582-7770 on good used floor pan sections. Personally, I'd use this as an excuse to fit Miata seats in it. 

[Cookie Monster]

Now that you already have it I don't see why you should sell it.

Don't half ass the floor boards but do a good job on it and then drive it around. I don't see why you'd have to fix all the bodywork issues if you're going to fix the floorboards.

[Soup DeVille]

Yeah, most likely. I'll have to get a Haynes book or something on how to fit them.

If you want to get a book, one on general bodywork skills wil help you out more. The Haynes manual will probably go something like 'remove interior; remove floorboards, weld ne floorboards back in.

The biggest thing about fitting floorboards is that you don't tweak the whole car when doing so; pay attenion to your door gaps when fitting theing together.

[Rupert]

Yeah, I meant like a Haynes bodywork manual. Actually, I might already have one...

[Rupert]

The bad news is that I don't think I can get floor pans with the seat mounting brackets already on, and they don't make the seat mounting brackets anymore.

The good news is that my buddy with a welder also has a more skilled brother, and it sounds like I could get some help from the both of them.

Hopefully, I can get the alternator in and working tomorrow, so then I can drive it around for a little while. Floor pans would be a good project for all the time I have off in December.

[Rupert]

Check with Bruce at Bruce's Parts Bin 856-582-7770 on good used floor pan sections. Personally, I'd use this as an excuse to fit Miata seats in it.  

Good advice on the used floor pans. Probably way cheaper.

I'm thinking about the Miata seats. Chances of getting good local Miata seats are slim, though, and shipping's a bitch. If I have to end up fabricating mounts for the seats, though, I'll try to leave some room for furture Miata seats. The seats in there are a bit busted, anyway.

I did get the coolant leak fixed yesterday (hopefully-- haven't run the car yet to test), and all else it needs to drive is the alternator.

[Soup DeVille]

Good advice on the used floor pans. Probably way cheaper.

I'm thinking about the Miata seats. Chances of getting good local Miata seats are slim, though, and shipping's a bitch. If I have to end up fabricating mounts for the seats, though, I'll try to leave some room for furture Miata seats. The seats in there are a bit busted, anyway.

I did get the coolant leak fixed yesterday (hopefully-- haven't run the car yet to test), and all else it needs to drive is the alternator.

I don't know. Seems to me a lot of Spec-Miata racing guys probably swap out their seats first thing.

[Rupert]

Yeah, for sure, but I live in Boise, where I would be surprised to find even a single Spec Miata racer, and I'm five hours from the next nearest city.

[hotrodalex]

What are the seat mounting brackets? The things attached to the bottom of the seat or are they a part of the floor?

[ChrisV]

Yeah, for sure, but I live in Boise, where I would be surprised to find even a single Spec Miata racer, and I'm five hours from the next nearest city.

If you find some online, you can have them shipped by greyhound to Boise pretty cheaply and easily (you'd have to pick tehm up at the bus terminal, but that's not hard). I've done it a few times.

I should go take a look at the local salvage yards. Seats are only $40 each and they often have Miatas in there.

[Rupert]

That's a good idea. If you find some good seats (no tears, etc.) for that cheap, I'd be all over it, even with a higher shipping cost. That's cheap! eBay was looking like $300 for both.

[Rupert]

What are the seat mounting brackets? The things attached to the bottom of the seat or are they a part of the floor?

Part of the floor. I haven't looked super closely, but it looks like basically square tubing welded to the floor, and the seats mount to that.

The good part about having to fabricate new brackets (basically just finding and cutting the right square tubing?) is that I could make them for Miata seats, and I could see if I could customize them for extra leg room.

[ChrisV]

What are the seat mounting brackets? The things attached to the bottom of the seat or are they a part of the floor?

This is what the Fiat floor looks like where the seats mount:



To fabricate mounts for the Miata seats, you only have to make a plate like this:

[Rupert]

And from what I gather, the square tube-ish parts can't be found new anymore. Used would be a lot easier.

[Secret Chimp]

Wait wait... so the things the seats mount to are raised above the actual floor pans? Is it jsut the seat mount metal that's rusted through or is the actual main pan rusted too? If it's just the raised areas for the seats that's way easier to fix than the actual whole pan being rotted through.

[Rupert]

Oh, it's everything. Where the mount is welded to the pan is rusted away in parts. There are also holes in the pans under the seats.

[Secret Chimp]

If you want to go real ghetto fix, why not just cut out the rusty parts and weld in repair plates. Unless there's like a foot plus of rust in any direction it'd be serviceable, I'd think.

[Rupert]

That's not out of the question, but it probably isn't too much more work to do it right. I'll probably decide when/if I get it all apart to look at it in detail.

[shp4man]

This is what the Fiat floor looks like where the seats mount:



To fabricate mounts for the Miata seats, you only have to make a plate like this:

Impressive "how to" pics. 

[Soup DeVille]

If you want to go real ghetto fix, why not just cut out the rusty parts and weld in repair plates. Unless there's like a foot plus of rust in any direction it'd be serviceable, I'd think.

Your ghettoism needs work.

A Real ghetto fix would be to cut the stop sign at the end of the street into the proper shape and then use caulk and sheet metal screws.

[Madman]

Your ghettoism needs work.

A Real ghetto fix would be to cut the stop sign at the end of the street into the proper shape and then use caulk and sheet metal screws.

And I thought I was being ghetto with my plywood suggestion.  Stolen stop sign, screws and caulk?  Now THAT'S ghetto! 

[Rupert]

Alright, new problem. I put the alternator in with much struggle (fucking bolts too long to clear the radiator...), but the spinny part where the belt goes on is 1 cm to far back from the rest of the spinny belt things (goddammit, I know the name for those, really I do). I can't figure out how and/or if there's supposed to be an adjustment, but the mount can only mount in one place, and the alternator can only mount to the mount in one way. It's supposed to be the correct alternator. Any ideas?

[hotrodalex]

Pulley? And your picture isn't showing up.

Is the crankshaft pulley in the right spot?

Your ghettoism needs work.

A Real ghetto fix would be to cut the stop sign at the end of the street into the proper shape and then use caulk and sheet metal screws.

My car had a couple of beer cans tacked to the floor.

[Soup DeVille]

Alright, new problem. I put the alternator in with much struggle (fucking bolts too long to clear the radiator...), but the spinny part where the belt goes on is 1 cm to far back from the rest of the spinny belt things (goddammit, I know the name for those, really I do). I can't figure out how and/or if there's supposed to be an adjustment, but the mount can only mount in one place, and the alternator can only mount to the mount in one way. It's supposed to be the correct alternator. Any ideas?

I can't see the pic, but its not uncommon for the alernator to need to be shimmed one way or another, and sometimes it is possible to adjust the pulleyin or out along the shaft.

[Rupert]

I can't see a way the alternator could ever move from its current front-back position, and it seems like the pulley (yes, pulley) doesn't have enough room on its shaft to come out the centimeter it needs to.

[Rupert]

Pulley? And your picture isn't showing up.

Is the crankshaft pulley in the right spot?

My car had a couple of beer cans tacked to the floor.

Yes! Christ, brains are weird.

The crankshaft pulley is in line with the water pump pulley. It does have a further forward position, and it looks like it has a further back position too, but the timing marks get in the way.

[Rupert]

Also, I think I fixed the image...