Though this is Ron's fourth MOFLO he has only brought a car twice. For one reason or another he has always ridden with another person from Norman. We are glad to see his '79 in such good condition. Ron has been a driving force in the "Roamin Chariots" club. He serves as the "Contact Man" and also publishes the RC newsletter which is also on the internet here.

Ron has had a number of articles published in the "Ricambi", the newsletter of the FLU group. The articles include how to do back-yard dent repair and also an article on a clever way to construct a plexiglass windbreak that can be easily mounted between the seats and make traveling in the spider much more comfortable. for some details, see the pitcure below.

Ron sent along this information about his car and MOFLO:

My interest in Fiat began in 1972 with an 850 sedan that was driven in Canadian snows until the rust killed it. It was not until 1997 that I found myself in Oklahoma where the moderate climate allowed me to find another Fiat as a commuter car. I had always admired the 850 Spider but ended with a 124 "big block" 2 liter and this was a good choice given the high interstate speeds and long distances to Roamin' Chariot meets. This car was purchased in Ada, Oklahoma and has been maintained as a daily driver that is used about 5,000 miles per year. It is an older restoration with many 1978 trim and interior parts. The main effort was to change all the rubber parts and brakes and has since been trouble free. . It was also crunched in a parking lot since MOFLO '02 and was since repaired. I made this a hobby car and budgeted $100/month for parts/labor and purchase. This summer the costs reached $5000 over 70 months of ownership, so I am well under budget.

The new speedometer reads 20,000 miles but about another 100,000 miles is a good guess on the frame. In 2002 I replaced the carburetor with a 34 DMSA and early type manifold to find that 20 horsepower lost in the original emissions setupThe future holds a new used transmission to fix a popping first gear and to refresh the rest of the driveline at the same time.