Hi Daniel. I was a Service Advisor./ Mechanic at Fait "Authorized Parts And Service Center," between 1985-94. FYI Back then, New Aftermarket Master Cylinders sometimes required disassembly , clean and lubing, before they made pressure. The rear brakes have a suspension height activated proportioning valve, which can negate rear brake fluid pressure, when it fails. Front suspension / engine mount crossmember can crack ,mostly in the front, where the lower A Arms attach. Thoroughly clean and inspect said crossmember. Timing belt replacement was due , every 24,000 miles. I'm looking forward to following your project SpYder !
This engine, the Lampredi Twin Cam, has a storied history in motorsport. It holds the record for most WRC Championships powering Fiats and Lancias, 10 trophies between 1977 - 1992. And for 36 years, from '66 to '02, they powered vehicles from Fiat, Lancia, Alfa Romeo and Morgan. And in many applications they were turbocharged and supercharged (Volumex). These are good engines. I'm looking forward to seeing it run with the turbo.
Wow! Mr. & Mrs. Wizard are truly a pair of stand up people! They don't just want another employee. They want to see their employees be successful. I subscribed and can't wait to see this build start to finish. I predict a great outcome! 👍
I made a comment on the Wizard's channel. I know all about these cars, had a 1974. I still have an Autobooks Service Manual, hard bound cover encased in plastic. The 1980-82 models had a Bosch L-Jetronic fuel injection & there was a factory turbo model. Most of these rusted out because when they were shipped as deck cargo from Italy, & then undercoated in the US, all the salt spray was trapped beneath the undercoating. They never washed the underside down before applying the undercoating. The double overhead cam (DOHC) version of the engine was the first mass manufactured DOHC to use reinforced-rubber timing belts. The cover was metal, not plastic.
I had a '74 coupe. Great engine, terrible car. The locks froze in the winter and even if I could get in, the engine would not turn over because the battery was in the trunk and the cables were insufficiently large to handle the current required. I sold it before it could rust out.
Only the 1438cc had the aluminum timing belt cover. By 1970 the 1608 was available, and the ones after that (1592, 1756,) had an orange plastic timing belt cover with the timing marks molded into the bottom by the main pulley. The metal didn't return until the 1995cc Spider 2000.
I made a similar comment on wizard's channel. I built a 74 and a 79 back in the 90s. Exceptionally fun cars that were often used in road/rally racing because of their outstanding handling.
I owned and wrenched on 3 of my own fiat spiders (78, 80, and 84). In 1978, it was 1800, by 1980, they upgraded it to 2000, and by 1984 i had a rare turbo 2000 with AC. The cars were easy to work on but parts became more difficult to source when fuat pulled out of the USA especially for the special hardpipe fir the turbo which i had to repair with fiberglass as it was unattainable and needed to work with the factory special exhaust manifold. If memory serves me, all the 2000s had fuel injection. That car some love and attention could be brought back to a looker along with all the performance enhancements. I remember being able to smoke mustangs at the time especially with superior handling on the twisties. I did have a custom monza exhaust with helped it breathe and a 5 speed manual which was standard in the 2000 models and pinafarina variants that were imported after fiat left. I'll be following your progress as it brings back great memories of my old cars, breaking down and doing emergency roadside repairs to get it working enough to get home and fixing right. If you do get it going and drive it around, keep a toolkit and service manual in the trunk. Anyway, fond memories.
I put 800,000 miles on a Volvo 240 turbo wagon. A parts guy at Volvo said I have a cheap turbo upgrade for you and sold it to me cheap soon after that the bearing went out on the old one. He helped me keep that car out of the junkyard. It always turned heads. I loved it.
Car Wizard & Mrs Wizard are really kind and generous people! I’m looking forward to seeing your progress with this car. It’ll be very interesting to learn more about tuning and watching you bring it back to life. Keep up the great work, Daniel!
This is a fantastic little sports car. Here in the UK, they go for £15k upwards of £30k for immaculate condition. If you're able to restore it inside and out, new disc brakes, new suspension, tires and wheels, new soft top, new seats, mats, dashboard etc, get rid of the rust, paint/colour match where necessary and you'll have a very desirable vintage sports car.
Vick's in Texas. You also have Midwest Bayliss. They will have all the parts you need for the stuff you are just repairing. Additionally, they have some sweet 15" rims, and a spring kit that brings the ride height back down to the design specifications. We did either bumper height requirements, or head light height requirements as a law and Fiat just made it look like a startled cat instead of changing the design. I'd also recommend the big brake kit for the front. (of course that will only work is you go with the 15" rims.)
This a great idea; a no-worries way to learn, and if it works out okay, then it may be a neat one to continue restoring too! "Turbo" - I believe there was a Gobot named Turbo (a 1980s Transformers rip off, heh) - this is already much cooler. And that was super nice of Mrs. Wizard too with the camera stuff.
Great project car. Got me to subscribe. The second car I ever restored was a 124 Spider. I got to where I could adjust the points in about 3 minutes on the side of the road.
Nice to see this. Always watch the Wizard's channel but, as someone who's had a few 124 hardtop coupes back in the day, this sparked my interest to watch your channel. They were a fun car and advanced for their time in many ways. They weren't built for longevity but people were hesitant to scrap them. Look forward to the videos!
I own a 79 124.... A couple things to be warned of: distributor timing is set on cylinder 4, not cylinder 1. And its very possible to get the funky 3 way thermostat oriented wrong.
I really like the idea of this project - Jokingly I commented on Wizard's channel that this was probably not the Italian Sports Car you had on your wish list - but I bet you can work some serious magic with it. Also glad Mrs. Wizard donated a camera and that you will be uploading a bit more often. Thanks for sharing this project with us.
The 124 Spider had to be 'raised' to meet US headlight standards, so if you lower it to Italian spec, it will look a whole lot better (and handle better). And put on euro-spec bumpers.
My first car was a 1977 Fiat 128 coupe (UK right hand drive) when i was 19 in 1990, now i have got 2 Fiats on my drive, both 169 model Panda's. Old Fiats work best when the valves are bouncing at max RPM, hence the well known Italian tune. Look forward to this Daniel 😊
A buddy of mine had one of these way back in the 70s....very balanced, nice looking, easy convertible top. Looking forward to see how this project goes.
I enjoyed this video and when you appear on the Car Wizard. He and his wife seem like lovely supportive people and it is great that you are part of the team. All the very best on your journey with this and other cars.
I am looking forward to this project. I have a 1979 model and have had it for 42 years now. I would love to spruce it up like you are about to do. I think the body design is one of the most stylish of the mid 1960’s and with lower springs and European bumpers can look cool.
Turdbo!! 🤣🤣🤣 PERFECT!! This should be a fun series! Very cool of Mrs. Wiz to hook you up with a goPro. I just ordered my first, and those puppies aren't cheap.💯 So cool of Mr. and Mrs. to pay if forward!
Not a bad pick for this project. The engines in these cars are robust. The five speed transmissions are strong for the size and shift beautifully. The four wheel disk brakes also make these cars good performers. These cars would out perform most sports cars in this price range easily.
Great goal. I am interested about the progress. One thought: Why not first modding the engine? With such a boost in power, on this OLD engine, you risk a blowup. Then you invested into brakes, driveshaft etc. for nothing. And which could be a hassle to even find parts to begin with. Only after engine passed the milestone, I would proceed with the rest of the car. I get it that you can't vtest drive the engine in that car, but then delay its test drive.
Just came over from Wizard's channel and am looking forward to seeing what you do with this Fiat. I commented at Wizard's video, and might repeat some things here. The 124 Spyder is a fun car with great handling and plenty of zip. In my opinion, the earlier ones like this 1976 with the 1800cc engine were the best. One thing to check is if there is a catalytic converter on it. In 1976 Fiat put those only on cars that would be sold in California. The rest of the country got cars without any cat. You already know about the flex disc in the drive shaft... good. I think EFI is a great idea! It will really liven up that car. Not that the 1800 carburated is bad... juat that EFI is even better. Later carbureted 124s with more emission controls lost performance even with a modestly larger engine, until Fiat finally got around to fuel injection. I have to say, I'm a little concerned about turbo charging that engine. I seem to recall a fair number of 124s breaking crankshafts and am not sure the engine is up to handling boost. I guess we'll see! There are probably some 124 Spyder fan clubs on the Internet... Facebook, UA-cam, etc. Maybe some owners can give you sone tips. Maybe some of them have even turbo charged their cars! I bet there are kits to revuild and recover the seats. Along with those, a new convertible top and dash pad woukd be nice. Maybe a new steering wheel (I think I saw it was cracked). Oh, and I seem to recall the outer rockers just bolt on, so those rusty ones would be relatively easy to replace, if available (and there aren't more problems hidden under them). Again, I'm looking forward to seeing your work on this car!
Nice car choice! The engine in it is knda fanous and it was designed by Aurelio Lampredi. He was also the man that designed aero engines for Piaggio and car engines for Isota Fraschini and Ferrari!
Very cool. This car is well worth restoring, they are fun to drive. Most Italian cars from the 70s are total rust buckets, very few have survived. If you keep it original (to the extent possible) it might be worth more to a possible collector.
In the US, these were a handful. Not that many cared to take these on back in the day. You know....the usual "Fix It Again Tony" or "Found In Auto Towyard". Turdbo seems very appropriate.
Great score and project. The Lampredi designed engine is very tough and should easily handle boost. If you're going to rebuild the engine, I recommend balancing the rotating and reciprocating components very precisely. Fiat did a good job there but I'm sure those specs could be better nowadays. The cylinder head is good for a street car but could stand some bowl work and opening up the ports a little. There's plenty of info for tuning these engines out there. Looks like fun!
I always loved the looks of the Fiat 124 and 128. I've never had the pleasure of driving one, but they looked and sounded like they'd be fun. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do --- and it will be great to have one of these back on the road!
Something about sound: High frequencies don't wrap around your head so the microphone will barely pick up your consonants. Your voice will sound more crisp when you place the microphone closer to the front of your face.
I had a ‘72 124 Sport Coupe. It was a fantastic around town and great in those curvy mountain roads. Driveshaft carrier and rubber coupling was an issue. Another was the distributor cap, like the one in your car. The hood would hit it and crack it. This was n the late ‘70s and the Fiat market had died in the US and parts were difficult to find. Quick fix on the distributor cap was my girlfriend’s nail polish. I kept a bottle in that car from then on. Fun car! Have a great time with it.
As long as parts are available, that looks like it's an extremely easy car to work on. A 1.8L engine sounds big for this size of car, but that engine is... tiny. I love the idea of just polishing up the body as-is, too. It looks to be in pretty good shape on the surface, and that would give it an authentic patina. I know the plan isn't to turn this into a show car, but this could definitely be the basis of a nice "restomod" project car if you don't grenade it!
Totally worth it for the experience of upgrading an old car to the 21st century level engine tech. Maybe pass it on to someone once you've fixed up the running gear to a person who has affection for this model & year, and wants it to be pretty again. It's really a classic at this point. I'd love to see it passed around to body workers, upholstery/cushion restorers, someone who can restore the convertible roof, and see this Spider come back from the abyss. I can see this being a multi-channel restoration. I look forward to any updates.
Go for it Daniel San. Did you know that the Fiat's engine was designed by Aurelio Lampredi. He designed Ferrari engines before moving to Fiat. He designed the Fiat SOHC AND SOHC engines in the late 60s and 70s.
The Wizards are just lovely people. They can see the potential in you and that's why they are helping you. You are an awesome guy, and this project is brilliant. I can't wait to see the project progressing. Stuff like this is vastly more interesting than a whole channel of supercars or new cars. I love this little Fiat - the name Turdbo is hilarious but also endearing to this little Italian. It's getting It's passion and fire back!
This is a fantastic car choice to experiment with turbo and EFI. The Fiat DOHC four banger was built as a very strong motor and you have tons of room. If you need parts, nearly 200K were made. We look forward to this content!
Great car to learn on, Daniel! Especially wiring; Magnetica Marrelli, FIAT's tame subsidiary, provided that and many of the gim whizzles they are attached to. Occasionally you may find a wire or two that aren't the same color end to end! It definitely put me in mind of British Leyland's odyssey with Lucas. Also look for water related chassis problems- FIAT's corrosion proofing was low on the 124 priorities list. Btw, the front engine cover being left off would be an indication of someone not thinking about why it needed to be there- a twig between the belt and either cam can cause it to jump two or three teeth and this is an interference type engine. Then there is the effect of oil on rubber. The block is solid cast iron and has heritage in the same line built for the 124 Sedans. Note to myself after pulling three or so of those; just take the radiator out! There is no room to do that as described in FIAT's factory material. This sounds like an awesome project- both cars!
Enjoy your evening with all your family around you,Daniel-San Take care,Daniel-San 👍 SHARP-WITTED,Daniel-San From Nick Ayivor from London England UK 🇬🇧 ⏰️ 21:40pm Good Evening
If you're going to turbocharge the engine you could put a spacer on the bottom of the intake manifold to drop the compression ratio to allow room for more boost (this move might even spare you a blown headgasket from running too much boost on the OE pistons). This will be an interesting project! Thank you! Don't waste money getting a Fiat OE turbocharger. They're likely to be either unobtainium or hideously expensive, and not very reliable. The Mitsubishi Diamond Star enthusiast community (first and second generation Mitsubishi Eclipse/Plymouth Laser/Eagle Talon) would likely be an excellent source of parts for this turbo EFI conversion. Very reliable parts, affordable, and a lot more modern than the OE equipment for that Fiat. Best of all, the Diamond Star cars had a very similar four cylinder displacement and configuration (EFI and turbocharged).
I had a orange '72 that I paid 300 dollars for. It was amazing and I drove the wheels off of it from Atlanta to the top of Mount Evans in Colorado @14k feet for it's biggest effort. What an awesome little car.
Hi there my namesake, I believe in you just like the Wizzards. Way to go! I will keep coming back for sure, just like I don't miss one of the Wizzards videos.
Maybe it’s not worth it to restore it money wise, but satisfaction wise for sure it will be. Been able of see the result of upgrading the angina and also doing a quick restoration must be priceless
Hey Daniel... great to see you starting your own channel! Working with the Car Wizard and Mrs. Wizard has got to be a pretty good gig-- they are very genuine and admirable folks. I wouldn't mind having them for neighbors! Looking forward to future installments on this car... I had a 1973 Fiat 124 Spider with the 1600cc double overhead cam engine. Lots of fun to drive... not so much to repair (back in the pre-home computer with internet days). I let my sister borrow the car once, and she called me later that day to let me know that the car had overheated and she freaked out and tried to drive the car to her friend's house. "The needle went all the way into the red!" she told me. Turns out the crankshaft nut(!) had backed off so that the crank pulley wasn't turning the belt! I had to order a new crank nut and washer, and was lucky to successfully use a thread file to repair the threads on the end of the crankshaft. The engine still ran after that, but not quite as well, and then the synchros/lock-in gears went out on second and fourth gears. I sold the car to a friend of mine for a pittance...
As a fellow Car Wizzard follower for years and a Owner of a 70's Fiat 124 Spider.. I am pretty excitted for this. Also i took a pretty rusty example and restored it myself. they are amazing cars and are totally worth it if you restore it.. one of the best Drivers cars i have driven.. cant wait to see what you do with her. i may follow suit.
If it's the original master brake cylinder, I would replace it regardless. I had an old master brake cylinder give out on me once, and... Let's just say that 65 mph with front brakes only is a very interesting experience.
I love this car. Barring replacing/refurbing the steering wheel, and all the mechanicals being brought up to a decent standard, she is absolutely gorgeous as a ratty sports car.
Look for the dual caberator kit, really helps power. I loved my fiat and would love to buy another one. I bet there is a local fiat club that might make a good guest! .
Daniel, please show us the complete build. With your knowledge will I am convinced you will do a brilliant job. As for Mrs Wizard giving you a Go Pro because she and Dave think so highly of You. Dave in Guernsey, Channel Islands.
It sure is worth restoring, the fact that the underside was all oily actually means it doesn’t need a lot of welding etc. My brother had the 124 square body salon. Earlier than that but for its day it was a quick little car.
I had alot of Fiats in the 70's and 80's, the cars are not that fast, but they are fun to drive. The compression ratio is kind of high to turbo it in 1976, I rebuilt mine 1 time and you can shave the head to get more compression, but you may have to change the pistons to lower its compression because mine was 11 to 1 in the late 70's, to high to turbo.
Damn, at the end of the video, I was hoping you'd fall through the trunk! LOL. I like this whole idea. I had great fun as a 17-18-year-old with my Fiat 850 Spyder. I also had the '65 Mustang I bought the day after I turned 16 and kept for 20 years. Had to as the Fiat and numerous other crap fun cars only ran 1/2 the time.
In my Fantasy build this car would end up looking like a 80's style Lancia 037. Except for the engine being in the front. Electronic ignition, fuel injection, turbo and upgraded clutch along with top of the line brakes and steering. Paint it in the Martini Racing colors with some nice wheels and a nice interior.
Mr and Ms Wizard seem to be truly nice people.
Hi Daniel. I was a Service Advisor./ Mechanic at Fait "Authorized Parts And Service Center," between 1985-94. FYI Back then, New Aftermarket Master Cylinders sometimes required disassembly , clean and lubing, before they made pressure. The rear brakes have a suspension height activated proportioning valve, which can negate rear brake fluid pressure, when it fails. Front suspension / engine mount crossmember can crack ,mostly in the front, where the lower A Arms attach. Thoroughly clean and inspect said crossmember. Timing belt replacement was due , every 24,000 miles. I'm looking forward to following your project SpYder !
This engine, the Lampredi Twin Cam, has a storied history in motorsport. It holds the record for most WRC Championships powering Fiats and Lancias, 10 trophies between 1977 - 1992. And for 36 years, from '66 to '02, they powered vehicles from Fiat, Lancia, Alfa Romeo and Morgan. And in many applications they were turbocharged and supercharged (Volumex). These are good engines. I'm looking forward to seeing it run with the turbo.
Wow! Mr. & Mrs. Wizard are truly a pair of stand up people! They don't just want another employee. They want to see their employees be successful.
I subscribed and can't wait to see this build start to finish. I predict a great outcome! 👍
Great MENTORS GOR THE NEXT GEN....NOBODY BEATS THE WIZS
@4:28 Is that Citroën XM in the background?
Yes Mr and Mrs Wizard seem to be great people!
Totally cheering you on Daniel-son, thx Mrs. Wizard for the camera too! You guys are awesome 👏🏼. Really rooting for this to be a banger.
This project is going to get really interesting. I just know it's going to be a blast!
Wow Wizard and Mrs Wizard are being very kind to you. Helping you improve UA-cam production
I made a comment on the Wizard's channel. I know all about these cars, had a 1974. I still have an Autobooks Service Manual, hard bound cover encased in plastic. The 1980-82 models had a Bosch L-Jetronic fuel injection & there was a factory turbo model. Most of these rusted out because when they were shipped as deck cargo from Italy, & then undercoated in the US, all the salt spray was trapped beneath the undercoating. They never washed the underside down before applying the undercoating. The double overhead cam (DOHC) version of the engine was the first mass manufactured DOHC to use reinforced-rubber timing belts. The cover was metal, not plastic.
Supposedly , they only painted one side of the body steel, and used bad russian steel .
I had a '74 coupe. Great engine, terrible car. The locks froze in the winter and even if I could get in, the engine would not turn over because the battery was in the trunk and the cables were insufficiently large to handle the current required. I sold it before it could rust out.
Only the 1438cc had the aluminum timing belt cover. By 1970 the 1608 was available, and the ones after that (1592, 1756,) had an orange plastic timing belt cover with the timing marks molded into the bottom by the main pulley. The metal didn't return until the 1995cc Spider 2000.
I made a similar comment on wizard's channel. I built a 74 and a 79 back in the 90s. Exceptionally fun cars that were often used in road/rally racing because of their outstanding handling.
@@1101nzthe Russian steel is a myth, No27 spoke about this on his channel.
I owned and wrenched on 3 of my own fiat spiders (78, 80, and 84). In 1978, it was 1800, by 1980, they upgraded it to 2000, and by 1984 i had a rare turbo 2000 with AC. The cars were easy to work on but parts became more difficult to source when fuat pulled out of the USA especially for the special hardpipe fir the turbo which i had to repair with fiberglass as it was unattainable and needed to work with the factory special exhaust manifold. If memory serves me, all the 2000s had fuel injection. That car some love and attention could be brought back to a looker along with all the performance enhancements. I remember being able to smoke mustangs at the time especially with superior handling on the twisties. I did have a custom monza exhaust with helped it breathe and a 5 speed manual which was standard in the 2000 models and pinafarina variants that were imported after fiat left. I'll be following your progress as it brings back great memories of my old cars, breaking down and doing emergency roadside repairs to get it working enough to get home and fixing right. If you do get it going and drive it around, keep a toolkit and service manual in the trunk. Anyway, fond memories.
I put 800,000 miles on a Volvo 240 turbo wagon. A parts guy at Volvo said I have a cheap turbo upgrade for you and sold it to me cheap soon after that the bearing went out on the old one. He helped me keep that car out of the junkyard. It always turned heads. I loved it.
@@katherynscleaning5807being a huge Volvo fan, I love this
Car Wizard & Mrs Wizard are really kind and generous people! I’m looking forward to seeing your progress with this car. It’ll be very interesting to learn more about tuning and watching you bring it back to life. Keep up the great work, Daniel!
This is a fantastic little sports car. Here in the UK, they go for £15k upwards of £30k for immaculate condition. If you're able to restore it inside and out, new disc brakes, new suspension, tires and wheels, new soft top, new seats, mats, dashboard etc, get rid of the rust, paint/colour match where necessary and you'll have a very desirable vintage sports car.
Mr and Mrs Wizard are truly good people.
I can’t wait to see the fruits of your hard work Daniel.
I have to root for a fellow Florida boy! 😉👍🏼
The wizards are very cool. And I’m subscribing I want to see this old car come back to life!
Instresting project, nice car Mr. Wizard have picked for you. You will fall in love with the Spider, these are fun cars to work on and drive 😁
Vick's in Texas. You also have Midwest Bayliss. They will have all the parts you need for the stuff you are just repairing. Additionally, they have some sweet 15" rims, and a spring kit that brings the ride height back down to the design specifications. We did either bumper height requirements, or head light height requirements as a law and Fiat just made it look like a startled cat instead of changing the design. I'd also recommend the big brake kit for the front. (of course that will only work is you go with the 15" rims.)
That paint would come back with a good cut and buff. Would be cool to see this rig show up at the grassrootsmotorsports challenge
This a great idea; a no-worries way to learn, and if it works out okay, then it may be a neat one to continue restoring too! "Turbo" - I believe there was a Gobot named Turbo (a 1980s Transformers rip off, heh) - this is already much cooler. And that was super nice of Mrs. Wizard too with the camera stuff.
Three Cheers for Mr. and Mrs. Wizard! Well done.
You're a natural in front of the camera! Looks like a fun project and I'm looking forward to the adventure!
Great project car. Got me to subscribe. The second car I ever restored was a 124 Spider. I got to where I could adjust the points in about 3 minutes on the side of the road.
Nice to see this. Always watch the Wizard's channel but, as someone who's had a few 124 hardtop coupes back in the day, this sparked my interest to watch your channel. They were a fun car and advanced for their time in many ways. They weren't built for longevity but people were hesitant to scrap them. Look forward to the videos!
I own a 79 124.... A couple things to be warned of: distributor timing is set on cylinder 4, not cylinder 1. And its very possible to get the funky 3 way thermostat oriented wrong.
Is that a Citroen XM in the background? If so, wow. That's adventurous, and you may end up loving how it drives.
I really like the idea of this project - Jokingly I commented on Wizard's channel that this was probably not the Italian Sports Car you had on your wish list - but I bet you can work some serious magic with it. Also glad Mrs. Wizard donated a camera and that you will be uploading a bit more often. Thanks for sharing this project with us.
This specific engine was on his wish list because he is a car guy! And he knows...
The 124 Spider had to be 'raised' to meet US headlight standards, so if you lower it to Italian spec, it will look a whole lot better (and handle better). And put on euro-spec bumpers.
My first car was a 1977 Fiat 128 coupe (UK right hand drive) when i was 19 in 1990, now i have got 2 Fiats on my drive, both 169 model Panda's. Old Fiats work best when the valves are bouncing at max RPM, hence the well known Italian tune. Look forward to this Daniel 😊
A buddy of mine had one of these way back in the 70s....very balanced, nice looking, easy convertible top. Looking forward to see how this project goes.
I enjoyed this video and when you appear on the Car Wizard. He and his wife seem like lovely supportive people and it is great that you are part of the team. All the very best on your journey with this and other cars.
I am looking forward to this project. I have a 1979 model and have had it for 42 years now. I would love to spruce it up like you are about to do. I think the body design is one of the most stylish of the mid 1960’s and with lower springs and European bumpers can look cool.
Good luck!!
I wish u great success on the projects!!!
You are getting better with your videos keep it up. I would like to see a lot more of this project.
Turdbo!! 🤣🤣🤣 PERFECT!! This should be a fun series! Very cool of Mrs. Wiz to hook you up with a goPro. I just ordered my first, and those puppies aren't cheap.💯 So cool of Mr. and Mrs. to pay if forward!
Great project Daniel ,
also your on screen persona has become very natural and enjoyable to watch . Have fun with this one , from New Zealand
The interior is shot, but the body is straight, its in much better shape than MANY of Tyler's hoopties!🤣
Not a bad pick for this project. The engines in these cars are robust. The five speed transmissions are strong for the size and shift beautifully. The four wheel disk brakes also make these cars good performers. These cars would out perform most sports cars in this price range easily.
Great goal. I am interested about the progress. One thought: Why not first modding the engine? With such a boost in power, on this OLD engine, you risk a blowup. Then you invested into brakes, driveshaft etc. for nothing. And which could be a hassle to even find parts to begin with. Only after engine passed the milestone, I would proceed with the rest of the car. I get it that you can't vtest drive the engine in that car, but then delay its test drive.
Just came over from Wizard's channel and am looking forward to seeing what you do with this Fiat.
I commented at Wizard's video, and might repeat some things here.
The 124 Spyder is a fun car with great handling and plenty of zip. In my opinion, the earlier ones like this 1976 with the 1800cc engine were the best.
One thing to check is if there is a catalytic converter on it. In 1976 Fiat put those only on cars that would be sold in California. The rest of the country got cars without any cat.
You already know about the flex disc in the drive shaft... good.
I think EFI is a great idea! It will really liven up that car. Not that the 1800 carburated is bad... juat that EFI is even better. Later carbureted 124s with more emission controls lost performance even with a modestly larger engine, until Fiat finally got around to fuel injection.
I have to say, I'm a little concerned about turbo charging that engine. I seem to recall a fair number of 124s breaking crankshafts and am not sure the engine is up to handling boost. I guess we'll see! There are probably some 124 Spyder fan clubs on the Internet... Facebook, UA-cam, etc. Maybe some owners can give you sone tips. Maybe some of them have even turbo charged their cars!
I bet there are kits to revuild and recover the seats. Along with those, a new convertible top and dash pad woukd be nice. Maybe a new steering wheel (I think I saw it was cracked).
Oh, and I seem to recall the outer rockers just bolt on, so those rusty ones would be relatively easy to replace, if available (and there aren't more problems hidden under them).
Again, I'm looking forward to seeing your work on this car!
First episode I’ve watched. I watch other car guys like you and yours is definitely one of the best on UA-cam
Cool that the Wizards are supporting you. People helping people is what makes the world go round. Make them proud!
Nice car choice! The engine in it is knda fanous and it was designed by Aurelio Lampredi. He was also the man that designed aero engines for Piaggio and car engines for Isota Fraschini and Ferrari!
Very cool. This car is well worth restoring, they are fun to drive. Most Italian cars from the 70s are total rust buckets, very few have survived. If you keep it original (to the extent possible) it might be worth more to a possible collector.
Glad that wizard treats you well
Maybe finally he realizes a good mechanic its worth gold
Turdbo 😂
Great cars once repaired properly. I've owned and restored MANY. I was also the founder and president of the local Fiat Club for many years
I had a 1979 124 spider in the mid 80s. It was a great little car . Looking forward to see what you will do with this one !
Thanks for the video Daniel-san and good luck with the build. Can't wait to see it unfold!
In the US, these were a handful. Not that many cared to take these on back in the day. You know....the usual "Fix It Again Tony" or "Found In Auto Towyard". Turdbo seems very appropriate.
This is going to be fun to follow.
Definitely caught my interest ✌️
Really excited for this project!
I don't know what the underneath looks like, but the body looks pretty good. This will be a very interesting project !
Great score and project. The Lampredi designed engine is very tough and should easily handle boost. If you're going to rebuild the engine, I recommend balancing the rotating and reciprocating components very precisely. Fiat did a good job there but I'm sure those specs could be better nowadays. The cylinder head is good for a street car but could stand some bowl work and opening up the ports a little. There's plenty of info for tuning these engines out there. Looks like fun!
I always loved the looks of the Fiat 124 and 128. I've never had the pleasure of driving one, but they looked and sounded like they'd be fun. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do --- and it will be great to have one of these back on the road!
Something about sound: High frequencies don't wrap around your head so the microphone will barely pick up your consonants. Your voice will sound more crisp when you place the microphone closer to the front of your face.
I had a ‘72 124 Sport Coupe. It was a fantastic around town and great in those curvy mountain roads. Driveshaft carrier and rubber coupling was an issue. Another was the distributor cap, like the one in your car. The hood would hit it and crack it. This was n the late ‘70s and the Fiat market had died in the US and parts were difficult to find. Quick fix on the distributor cap was my girlfriend’s nail polish. I kept a bottle in that car from then on. Fun car! Have a great time with it.
As long as parts are available, that looks like it's an extremely easy car to work on. A 1.8L engine sounds big for this size of car, but that engine is... tiny. I love the idea of just polishing up the body as-is, too. It looks to be in pretty good shape on the surface, and that would give it an authentic patina. I know the plan isn't to turn this into a show car, but this could definitely be the basis of a nice "restomod" project car if you don't grenade it!
Hell yah!!! You get the gentlemens NOD
“Roached out” as Wizard says. 😊
Danielson! This is awesome. I had a ‘78 Spider. I loved it. Do as much as you can on it. Can’t wait to see more.
Totally worth it for the experience of upgrading an old car to the 21st century level engine tech. Maybe pass it on to someone once you've fixed up the running gear to a person who has affection for this model & year, and wants it to be pretty again. It's really a classic at this point. I'd love to see it passed around to body workers, upholstery/cushion restorers, someone who can restore the convertible roof, and see this Spider come back from the abyss. I can see this being a multi-channel restoration. I look forward to any updates.
Nice! Go for it! It will be way cooler to see it brought up to a performance level
Thanks for sharing this with all of us!
🙏❤️😎🤙
Go for it Daniel San. Did you know that the Fiat's engine was designed by Aurelio Lampredi. He designed Ferrari engines before moving to Fiat. He designed the Fiat SOHC AND SOHC engines in the late 60s and 70s.
The Wizards are just lovely people. They can see the potential in you and that's why they are helping you. You are an awesome guy, and this project is brilliant. I can't wait to see the project progressing. Stuff like this is vastly more interesting than a whole channel of supercars or new cars. I love this little Fiat - the name Turdbo is hilarious but also endearing to this little Italian. It's getting It's passion and fire back!
Thx Mrs Wizard!
Bro ! If there’s anyone that can do this , it’s definitely you . Wax on , wax off !
This is a fantastic car choice to experiment with turbo and EFI. The Fiat DOHC four banger was built as a very strong motor and you have tons of room. If you need parts, nearly 200K were made. We look forward to this content!
Great car to learn on, Daniel! Especially wiring; Magnetica Marrelli, FIAT's tame subsidiary, provided that and many of the gim whizzles they are attached to. Occasionally you may find a wire or two that aren't the same color end to end! It definitely put me in mind of British Leyland's odyssey with Lucas. Also look for water related chassis problems- FIAT's corrosion proofing was low on the 124 priorities list. Btw, the front engine cover being left off would be an indication of someone not thinking about why it needed to be there- a twig between the belt and either cam can cause it to jump two or three teeth and this is an interference type engine. Then there is the effect of oil on rubber. The block is solid cast iron and has heritage in the same line built for the 124 Sedans. Note to myself after pulling three or so of those; just take the radiator out! There is no room to do that as described in FIAT's factory material. This sounds like an awesome project- both cars!
Good on you for striving to learn and better yourself! 👍
Enjoy your evening with all your family around you,Daniel-San
Take care,Daniel-San
👍
SHARP-WITTED,Daniel-San
From Nick Ayivor from London England UK 🇬🇧 ⏰️ 21:40pm Good Evening
Looking forward to seeing this new project can’t wait to see that paint clean up !!!
Keep up the good work! Great video!
The wizard sent my . GREAT LITTLE CAR im looking forward to seeing your progress
If you're going to turbocharge the engine you could put a spacer on the bottom of the intake manifold to drop the compression ratio to allow room for more boost (this move might even spare you a blown headgasket from running too much boost on the OE pistons). This will be an interesting project! Thank you!
Don't waste money getting a Fiat OE turbocharger. They're likely to be either unobtainium or hideously expensive, and not very reliable. The Mitsubishi Diamond Star enthusiast community (first and second generation Mitsubishi Eclipse/Plymouth Laser/Eagle Talon) would likely be an excellent source of parts for this turbo EFI conversion. Very reliable parts, affordable, and a lot more modern than the OE equipment for that Fiat. Best of all, the Diamond Star cars had a very similar four cylinder displacement and configuration (EFI and turbocharged).
I think you mean a spacer from the head to the block to drop compression. Spacer on the intake manifold to head doesn’t affect compression.
Dig it! Looking forward to watching progress on the project.
Amazing how that car started right up and sounded good,even though it needs all that work.
This will be a great series! 👍 Shout out to Wizard’s support
I had a orange '72 that I paid 300 dollars for. It was amazing and I drove the wheels off of it from Atlanta to the top of Mount Evans in Colorado @14k feet for it's biggest effort. What an awesome little car.
Hi there my namesake, I believe in you just like the Wizzards. Way to go! I will keep coming back for sure, just like I don't miss one of the Wizzards videos.
Maybe it’s not worth it to restore it money wise, but satisfaction wise for sure it will be. Been able of see the result of upgrading the angina and also doing a quick restoration must be priceless
Cool build, looking forward to see it completed.
Hey Daniel... great to see you starting your own channel! Working with the Car Wizard and Mrs. Wizard has got to be a pretty good gig-- they are very genuine and admirable folks. I wouldn't mind having them for neighbors! Looking forward to future installments on this car... I had a 1973 Fiat 124 Spider with the 1600cc double overhead cam engine. Lots of fun to drive... not so much to repair (back in the pre-home computer with internet days). I let my sister borrow the car once, and she called me later that day to let me know that the car had overheated and she freaked out and tried to drive the car to her friend's house. "The needle went all the way into the red!" she told me. Turns out the crankshaft nut(!) had backed off so that the crank pulley wasn't turning the belt! I had to order a new crank nut and washer, and was lucky to successfully use a thread file to repair the threads on the end of the crankshaft. The engine still ran after that, but not quite as well, and then the synchros/lock-in gears went out on second and fourth gears. I sold the car to a friend of mine for a pittance...
Good luck with the project! I'm looking forward to see more about it!
"Turdbo" is the best name LOL!!! :-D
Wizard investing in his talent!
As a fellow Car Wizzard follower for years and a Owner of a 70's Fiat 124 Spider.. I am pretty excitted for this. Also i took a pretty rusty example and restored it myself. they are amazing cars and are totally worth it if you restore it.. one of the best Drivers cars i have driven.. cant wait to see what you do with her. i may follow suit.
Looking at the Wikipedia article on the 124 Spider, they did add Bosch fuel injection and a small turbo, so this should be interesting.
If it's the original master brake cylinder, I would replace it regardless. I had an old master brake cylinder give out on me once, and... Let's just say that 65 mph with front brakes only is a very interesting experience.
I love this car. Barring replacing/refurbing the steering wheel, and all the mechanicals being brought up to a decent standard, she is absolutely gorgeous as a ratty sports car.
Look for the dual caberator kit, really helps power. I loved my fiat and would love to buy another one. I bet there is a local fiat club that might make a good guest!
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Daniel, please show us the complete build. With your knowledge will I am convinced you will do a brilliant job. As for Mrs Wizard giving you a Go Pro because she and Dave think so highly of You. Dave in Guernsey, Channel Islands.
It sure is worth restoring, the fact that the underside was all oily actually means it doesn’t need a lot of welding etc. My brother had the 124 square body salon. Earlier than that but for its day it was a quick little car.
I had alot of Fiats in the 70's and 80's, the cars are not that fast, but they are fun to drive. The compression ratio is kind of high to turbo it in 1976, I rebuilt mine 1 time and you can shave the head to get more compression, but you may have to change the pistons to lower its compression because mine was 11 to 1 in the late 70's, to high to turbo.
YES! Glad you're going to be putting out more content and I'm super stoked to see this project!
Damn, at the end of the video, I was hoping you'd fall through the trunk! LOL. I like this whole idea. I had great fun as a 17-18-year-old with my Fiat 850 Spyder. I also had the '65 Mustang I bought the day after I turned 16 and kept for 20 years. Had to as the Fiat and numerous other crap fun cars only ran 1/2 the time.
good luck great memories of these as kid im 63
Looking forward to seeing what you do with it
Guess Jared blazed a path and planted a seed after the EFI 308. Now the wizard you enter the territory of best boss ever😂😂😂.
Wizards paying it forward. Daniel San will be to 1 million subscribers in no time
In my Fantasy build this car would end up looking like a 80's style Lancia 037. Except for the engine being in the front. Electronic ignition, fuel injection, turbo and upgraded clutch along with top of the line brakes and steering. Paint it in the Martini Racing colors with some nice wheels and a nice interior.
Also please go into detail about everything! It's one of the things I wish wizard did more of! Get to the nitty gritty!