mm0000001

hey all, i've been lurking here since last summer sometime when i first wanted a 7. and i've been visiting here pretty much on a daily basis since october when i bought a 1979 with a rebuilt 12a out of an 84 in it. it runs great but on to the main subject.



i've been watching gas prices rise since i bought it, and i really need a car that can get just a little better gas mileage for my 44 mile round trip to school and back. i found a guy that has a 78 fiat spyder convertable for sale. its got a 4 banger in it. theres a few things wrong with it (not sure what all yet except, for the fact that it had pistons) but i really like the look of the car (other than the dent in the side), i know the transmission is broke in it (well 4th gear) but that won't stop me from driving it since its a 5 speed. at least until i get it fixed.

anyway i'm thinking of converting it over to alcohol and making my own fuel for it (getting a liscense of coarse) but first i have to get it running, has anyone worked on one before? i know there are some cars that are just hard to work on in general (mini-vans come to mind) but i don't know anything about fiat's other than ferrari makes them.



questions i have:



1. do they get good gas mileage

2. are they reliable

3. can they ? <thats a must for every car... theres no tellin when ya need to let your presance --or lack of-- known.

4. how expensive are their parts?

5. and of coarse, how easy are they to work on?



i check the fluids, and it had oil on the stick, it was down just a little bit from full, probably needed about half a quart, it was full of coolant, and the break fluid was just a little low. the break pedal went down very easy... so i will be curious as to if they work. if not lets hope the handbreak does.



any other things to look for on these cars? much thanks in advance



-Adam

inanimate_object

Fix It Again Tomorrow.



Mark

mm0000001

fix what again tomorrow?

inanimate_object

It's what FIAT stands for, they are pretty bad for breaking down. Also Ferrari don't make Fiats or ever did really - they always had a close relationship and the Dino was available as both a Ferrari and a Fiat, but thats about as far as it goes apart from the fact that Fiat now own Ferrari.



Hmmm I'm not really making my point well here, but take it from me that Fiats are a load of rust filled trouble. My advice is find something else unless you have a real thing for them, they're even unreliable as far as old cars go.



Mark

Rob x-7

enzo is rolling in his grave right now

mm0000001

heh, that just goes to show EXACTLY how much i know about them. sorry mr almighty enzo dude. you guys here at nopistons really seem to know what your talking about, i'll take that into consideration alot when i tell the guy i dont want it



thanks mark and rob for the quick replies. thats exactly the kind of info i wanted to hear.... well i was hoping they were really good cars and all, but the fact that their not is just as good. money saved on a rusty hunk of junk is the same as earning money right? i guess over the past day i made a couple of hundred dollars then.... kinda... if that makes since to you guys.



you guys are king



any suggestions on cheap cars that get good gas mileage? my g/f drives a geo.. so i dont want one of those. and i hate crx's. pretty much everything else is game



thanks again



-Adam

rfreeman27

think about this. How much gas could you buy with the money from the new (well used) car?



will the purchace actually save you money? This is one thing i dont understand when people buy NEW 20k cars just so they can get better gas mileage.

Nan da yo&#33;

Fix It Again Tony!



It fits since so many Italians are named tony! Hey a tony!

DJ Rotor

The man has a point.



But if you feel you need something else, get a Miata.

mm0000001

the extra car is not just to save money on gas though, i need something else to drive while the 7 is being modded. (new exhaust, electric rad. fan, blow through turbo setup, get it ported.... ya know the deal)



i'm not taking any classes this summer. but over the summer i'd like to buy a old junker thats fairly reliable, (looks don't matter dents/cracks are more than acceptable) convert it to run on ethanol, and start distilling ethanol for it to run off of. thats going to be my summer project. and hopefully end up as a daily driver.



i spend real close to 100 bucks a month on gas (@ $1.86 per gallon) just going to school and back. according to very reliable sources, you can make ethanol for around 70 cents per gallon if you shop around for potatos/barley/wheat/whatever. if my new car gets 30 mpg and running on 70 cent ethanol it will put my new gas bill at 25 bucks a month to drive to school and back.



i'm talking about spending around 500 bucks for a car. just something that runs, and is carburated so it will be easy to convert to ethanol (does anyone know how to convert a car thats fuel injected to ethanol?). so it wouldnt take but 6 or 7 months for the car to pay for itself.



a miata would be nice, as would a 4banger rustang. any other cars come to mind?