Official Newsletter of the Midwest's Premier Car Club of Popular Italian Cars
Articles Meeting In Tulsa Csaba's Spider	Newsletters	Information: Next Meeting X-19 For Sale

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February 2001

Meeting in Tulsa

On Saturday Feb. 03, 2001 the Roamin' Chariots met at the Hideaway Pizza in Tulsa. A large group met for lunch and a chance to meet some new Italian car enthusiasts.
Who was there?

Jeanne, Ron Irene Delmer	Mike, Ron, Ben & Mrs. Johnson, Woody, Steve	Ron, Irene &Hudson, Ben
Dave, Ron, Delmer, Mike	Steve Brantinghon's X1/9 owned since new	Dave's Ferrari, Delmer's Scorpion Ron's Spider Csaba's Spider, Mike's Spider

Mostly this was a get to know lunch and there will be more of these as the club is growing and there are always new people to meet. We discussed the summer activities and centered on the Ozarks Midwest Rally. Most expressed interest in making this event a premier one and in attending. After lunch several of us went to help Ben get his white spider going since the wheel fell off the green one. The white will be a nice ride as he prepares it.

The morning was cool and cloudy so Ron put the top up after 45 minutes to keep from turning blue but Route 66 was a pleasant journey with the Scorp and Spider running well. Csaba is fighting a cooling issue and Mike's engine is munching a bit of oil and fouling plugs. All got home fine as expected.

New member Todd Roberts from Tulsa sends his handywork. He owns 2 Spiders and does fine work so his restored spider should be a treat.

The story of my 1970 Fiat 124 Spider
by Csaba Vandor

After graduating high school I've had several Fiat Spiders, but the early model car I truly wanted seemed impossible to find. The only ones I found in my price range were either wrecked, or rusted beyond repair. That changed in the spring of 1995

I first saw this car when I sold the owner a set of connecting rods for it. The story was that the car belonged to a friend of his who wrecked the engine by bending the valves and connecting rods. He accomplished this by trying to start the car by pulling it behind another one when the timing belt was broken.

I sold him the connecting rods for $50, saw the car under a cover and forgot about it. Then a few months later the owner called me, telling me that he is moving and he'd like to sell the car. I knew it was and early 'small bumper' car, but I did not know much else about it. I went and looked at it, and it did not seem to have any of the typical maladies of old Spiders: the dash was not cracked, the seats were in good condition, the top was in one piece, there was no rust in the wheelarches, and the crossmember looked good. The only problem was that the engine was apart, and needed valves, connecting rods and pistons, and the paintjob was not exactly to my taste (although it has grown on me). I bought the car for $200 and trailered it home. I did not want to spend a lot of money on rebuilding the original 1438cc engine, as even in new condition it would not have offered a lot of performance. So I bought a wrecked '79 Fiat Brava racecar (which I had built, then sold) and put its 1995cc engine in the Spider. The engine had a few modifications, among them a larger carburetor and block-mounted distributor. A set of American Racing alloy wheels, new tires and a canvas convertible top later the Spider was ready for the road! This was in the spring of 1996, and it's been my fair-weather car ever since.

That summer my friend Will helped me install a custom made roll bar, which is required for the track events that I run at Hallett Motor Racing Circuit. Although the roll bar detracts from the looks of the car, it is an essential safety device for the track. About the same time I also swapped the hood for one from a '78, as I like the 'small bumps' look and the original one had a lot of filler in it. Along the way a one inch front and a half inch rear swaybars were also installed for better handling.
In late 1997 I started to build a new engine for the car, which was going to be high-performance engine I had always dreamed of. It took the better part of 5 months to build it as I wanted to be sure that everything was done right. The block was at the machine shop three times! Finally in the summer of 1998 the engine was installed. It was a 1995cc block bored 0.4mm, had 9.8:1 compression ratio (stock is 8.1:1), aftermarket camshafts and adjustable camgears among many other refinements. At first it used a carburetor, but in 1999 I converted the car to use stock fuel injection.

This Spider has carried me to two Fiat Freak Outs, in 1998 and in 1999, both in South Carolina. It was a long drive, but it was worth it! The twisty mountain roads were a lot of fun to drive on, and I met many other Fiat Freaks I had only known through the internet.
Since then I only did small things like install a carpet set, a used Abarth steering wheel, and 'Euro' H4 headlights with relays. When the 'original' 13 inch tires wore out I bought a set of 14x6" Maserati Biturbo wheels and better performance tires. In my opinion the style of the wheels goes with the car very well, and they were a lot cheaper than similar Fiat wheels.
I think it's obvious that my Spider is a never-ending project! The only major work it needs is a paintjob, but I always find little and not so little things to tinker with. For more information on the car, and for tech tips on Spiders, visit my web page at
www.geocities.com/f124ss

Fiat 850
	Delmer and Ron went to see a Fiat 850 Spider in Purcel on Sunday Feb. 17 and saw this car. The lower frame and sills are rusty and the interior has been wet for years. The upper panels look fine and the engine hasn't run in a long time.

For Sale
X1/9 1981 FI by Rick Warren $250 in Norman
Ron and Delmer looked this car over. Good motor, trans., run well, rough paint- sun damaged, dents nothing terminal, light rust on none of the structural places ­ worst are holes in floor 2inches in size. New tires and Iron cross wheels. Interior is serviceable doors hang nicely. Brakes are tightening up but improved with use. Water tight. The fuel gauge bounces. Highly recommended.

Next events

March 25 Show in Dallas
April 22 Hallet Speedway
May 20 Taste of Addison
June 15-17 Midwest Rally in the Ozarks

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