New baby; 2086 lbs; delivered Monday at 3:01pm

Dades

All the way from Ottawa...

I'd like to say the baby's healthy but she's with the car doctor at the moment who's probably still shaking his head and tut-tutting. The car's rolling, but has a bad case of the splutters. And like any new-born - leaking at all ends... Hopefully nothing a tune up won't sort out.



I have very real suspicions the dock workers in Canada did a "Ferris Bueller" with the car before finally pushing her into the container. :mad:

Shipping and customs was an experience. (The Revenue told me porkies before it arrived).

Anway... now where's the sun?!

quarryman

very nice!

....what is it?

Dades

quarryman wrote:

....what is it?

Tis a 1972 Fiat 124 Spider (BS1).
Didn't think that'd be too tough a guess for this crowd
CHEERS!

Alfasudcrazy

Congrats - its nice - except for those alloys - the originals were nice on those cars.
Would love to know the logistics of sourcing / transporting this car back to here if you can / have time to
Are there any VRT issues with importing a classic from outside the EU?

This is what they look like from the front

AlienGav

Let's talk Dollars!

How much did it all work out at, in the end? :eek:

On a more upbeat note

She's a beaut, and i wish you every success with your new baby!

Congrats

PaulK_CCI

The Atheist wrote:

I have very real suspicions the dock workers in Canada did a "Ferris Bueller" with the car before finally pushing her into the container. :mad:

Shipping and customs was an experience. (The Revenue told me porkies before it arrived).

Those are exactly the reasons why I refuse to deal directly with cars from the States or Canada. You have NO Control over the car, the transport to the docks, the shipping, and there are extra costs on importing a car from outside the EU. C&E charge duties over the value of the car PLUS the transport PLUS any storage/handling costs abroad !!!

I source my cars from renowned specialist in holland/france, so I know exactly what I'm going to get, and transport is easier to control. Also, there is actually a HUGE amount of good cars on offer, that you'd hardly need to go through the hassle in trying to source it in the States or thereabouts.

I'd be very interested to find out what the total cost was on your Fiat 124 Atheist, as I'm sure I would have been able to save you a lot grief and hassle by getting you one from holland or france for roughly a similar amount of money in the end.

camarobill

good on ya,best of look with the new arival if it was easy,sure everybody would be at it

ds20prefecture

Ha!

Dades

Thanks for the comps, guys.

Drove her home from my mechanic this morning - €100 to get her back on her feet. Boy was I a happy camper.

Most of the surprise costs were shipping ones - you think you've paid the lot to get the car onto a boat and then you get hit for another €750 in misc fees on the Dublin end.

Customs originally gave me an incorrect TARIC code to check the rate of duties - leading me to believe that the rate was 0%. The VAT section told me the VAT would be on the declared cost of the car only, whereas they in fact charged it on the cost plus the inflated shipping costs.

Okay I'll cut to the chase. The car was just over €3,000 to buy (vendor spent CAN$800 on a service - timing belt etc - have receipts). That together with shipping, tax payable on *cough* an imaginative valuation (two can play at their game) - the total cost came just under €6,000.

PaulK_CCI, I appreciate you could have made the whole process easier but I would have missed out on a very educational experience. This has been my project since my Audi died on me before Christmas and on the whole it's been entertaining. I've also made friends on the various online Fiat communities, who have helped me all the way.

That, and to be fair, that last 124 Spider I saw on your site was waaay out of my price range. But If you know somebody who could fine tune a pair of weber DCOEs though I'd appreciate it.

Would I do it again? Yes. Would I recommend it? Only if you're prepared for a leap of faith and to make the project a labour of love.

v-deniso

Depending on where you live and what you are willing to spend I would contact ...

McNAMARA'S CARBURETTOR & INJECTION CENTRE --20 B & C Nottingham st, Dublin 3 (01) 8553555 .

They did work on Carburettors for my XK120 and although they are quite expensive my car runs well now.

Unfortunatly I think they are the only ones in Dublin who do that kind of work.

Dades

Thanks v-deniso,

McNamaras were the crowd my mechanic recommended (I'm in Dublin).
He said they were pricey too - yikes.

I'm new to carb tuning, so any BALLPARK idea what might I be looking at to get a couple of webers purring?

ds20prefecture

v-deniso wrote:

McNAMARA'S CARBURETTOR & INJECTION CENTRE --20 B & C Nottingham st, Dublin 3 (01) 8553555 .
They did work on Carburettors for my XK120 and although they are quite expensive my car runs well now.

Hi Atheist - congrats on the new arrival, she's a beauty.

I've heard good and bad reports about McNamara's - mostly good.

You should be able to source new gaskets, jets and floats for your carb on the web fairly cheaply. Do you have a service manual for your car? If so, you'll need the various jet sizes out of that, a bit of research on the web should do the job.

Are you sure it's the carb that's at fault for the spluttering? Spray a little carb cleaner around the body of (but not in) each carb while idling. Does the note of the engine change? If so, you're probably sucking air through one of the gaskets/mounts. If a carb base is warped, you'll need to have it machined down.

Might I suggest you drive the bejaysus out of it for a while? If she's been sitting for a bit, a few hundred miles can really loosen things up for you. It made a massive difference to my DS, which had lain up for a while before I bought it.

Also, did you or your mechanic check the fuel supply? Make sure that you've no leaks and that the fuel inlets to the carbs are secure. It might be worthwhile fitting one of those clear plastic filters in line with the fuel pump - that way you can see if you're sucking rust out of the fuel tank, which will cause your symptoms. I assume your mechanic changed the plugs and set the timing?

Do you have a decent sized fire extinguisher in the car?

What makes you think the dock workers interfered with the car?

ds20prefecture

The Atheist wrote:

Thanks v-deniso,

McNamaras were the crowd my mechanic recommended (I'm in Dublin).
He said they were pricey too - yikes.

I'm new to carb tuning, so any BALLPARK idea what might I be looking at to get a couple of webers purring?

My friend payed them 300 (if memory serves) to refurb the single Weber DCE in his DS. They made a bags of it, leaving out one of the jets when they returned it!! It is a weird carb, though, one specifically for the DS.

Conversely, I know 3 other people who have had great success with McNamaras.

There's a place in the UK you can post your carbs off to. They charge about £180 so €300 in Dublin seems on the money.

ds20prefecture

The Atheist wrote:

Thanks v-deniso,

McNamaras were the crowd my mechanic recommended (I'm in Dublin).
He said they were pricey too - yikes.

One other thought - do you know anyone else with a spider? They'll be well used to tweaking them and should be able to help you with it, or know someone who specialises in them. Failing that, any competent mechanic should be able to tell whether it's the carbs, the timing, the fuel or the spark. (maybe you've already eliminated all these, if so sorry for teaching granny to suck eggs!)

Rough running can be any number of things. I'd get used to the car first before spending much money!

Dades

Thanks DS.

I have the manual etc. (there's nothing on the web I haven't bought) though the carbs aren't the stock twins. There's been some mods over the years.

She's driving okay and I think the other mech issues you mentioned have been looked at. I am happy to take your advice though in that I intend to drive the bejesus out of her this weekend! (Or at least until the AA get another call).

ds20prefecture wrote:

What makes you think the dock workers interfered with the car?

Car was filthy inside and out as well as a flat rear tyre. I have pics of her leaving the vendor on a flatbed and she looked clean and healthy.

One other thought - do you know anyone else with a spider? They'll be well used to tweaking them and should be able to help you with it, or know someone who specialises in them. Failing that, any competent mechanic should be able to tell whether it's the carbs, the timing, the fuel or the spark. (maybe you've already eliminated all these, if so sorry for teaching granny to suck eggs!)

Rough running can be any number of things. I'd get used to the car first before spending much money!

That exactly what I'm going to do. I've never seen a spider in Ireland, but my bro had an old MG for years and his mechanic is more familiar with such things. I'll let him give her a look over, but there won't be money spent unless it's required!