Dutch 2.4 Spider

[Scalino]

Hello everyone, I just registered and thought I should introduce myself! My name is Tim and I live in Holland, where quite a few Dino's live. I don't actually own a Dino, but I am fortunate enough to be able to drive one very often as my father owns a 2.4 Spider .
The car is definitely what you call a driver, it has had some less than perfect body work done to it in the past and it was changed from the original black to red. When bought about ten years ago (thank god, nowhere near affordable anymore...) it had 2.0 bumpers, a small aftermarket steering wheel and a botched frame centre console (the part with the radio etc.), among other things. The first two are now the correct items, again fortunately both acquired soon after purchase. The last part we are hoping to fix soon, we are working on getting the wood made as we have a good replacement frame.
Someday we will restore it (and do as much as possible ourselves) and return it to the original colour, but as it's going to need a lot of body work done to it $$$ , that probably won't happen too soon. Meanwhile we'll fettle with it every know and then, but above all drive it
I'm sure this forum will continue to be of great help and maybe I can even help some else every now en then...

I know this is not-done on a car forum, but I haven't actually got a decent picture of the Dino, sorry

Edit: I've found a picture somewhere

[alh]

Welcome

[HugoHarris]

Welcome Tim! I am sure you will find this community invaluable for keeping your Dino on the road. I have received some great advice from the likes of Adrian and Tobi and other regulars here. Please post some pictures when you have time, we need a bit more life around here from those who actually drive their cars! I am one of the guilty parties - my car is off the road for two years now, undergoing a full rotisserie restoration with Mark Devaney in the UK. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel now and I'll hopefully be posting some triumphant photos of the finished car soon. I also plan to create a restoration blog complete with gory pictures of what happens to Italian steel when no rust protection is applied to the hidden areas behind the shiny paint!!! Hugo.

[Scalino]

Thanks guys, the forum has already been invaluable!

Hugo I'm sure yours will look brilliant with Mark Devaney doing the work. I look forward to your blog! Or maybe not, as that will most likely lurk beneath the surface on this one as well, quite possibly worse

Here are some more pictures I found just before my father bought it in Switzerland (the car is originally from Italy). Note the wrong bumpers and steering wheel. The hideous difference between the wood in de centre console and the original dash can be seen in one of the pictures, the frame of the centre console has also been ruined . Also note the black frames around the light and horn switches (if you can see it, technology has come a long way in the last ten years), somebody painted the original chrome ones black. Soon the centre console should look stock (and nice!) again, with a complete frame, new wood, one new switch, radio delete plate (?) and chrome-ish switch frames.









A couple of pictures I took yesterday;




I thought I would buy some nice new frames for the incorrect black switches, haven't I learned my lesson...? Off course those aren't for sale, those are a different shape. I think those being sold are correct for coupes and off course the 124 etc., but not a for spider (at least the 2.4). So I slowly stripped of the black paint, but that didn't reveal what I hoped;



So I tried wrapping it in a chrome foil, which actually turned out pretty decently. Until I can find a company here in the Netherlands who can re-chrome them, this looks quite a bit better:



The other one is better (on the right), but not too presentable:

We need a bit more life around here from those who actually drive their cars!.

Well, this presents a problem... Since a few days the car will drown (we think) itself after about 7 kilometers every time like clockwork, which I find really strange. After a few minutes it fires right up no problem. We've had this exact problem last year and it was fixed then, after a lot of drama. 'Specialists' (idiots) working on the car charging insane amounts of money. When they fix one problem, they make two new ones... It was eventually solved my another company and a dyno session. However we noticed a few days ago that that guy is an idiot as well. He had to mount an adapter for the rev counter (123 ignition, not the best choice Adrian, I know, but I didn't make the decision) - which doesn't actually work, new one is on the way from dinoparts - , he decided the chassisnumber/type-plate would be a great place, so he drilled a hole straight through it To be fair the plate was far from brilliant, they didn't mask anything of when they resprayed the engine bay, but still come on.
Anyway we think the problem is in the carburators, which we will probably take a part, refurbish and see if that solves the problem. Or someone here knows what the problem is right away.

[Stefan2000]

Nice story!
I really like this kind of driver cars, always had most fun with my driver cars. After restoration they lost there smell and soul and it makes me more scared to drive them. As long as the engine (especially a Dino engine) is good, and the drivetrain you'll have a blast no matter what condition it is in optically or in terms of originality.
I hope you still have your original distributor (and that the housing is not modified for the 123 ignition).
What part of Holland do you live?

[Scalino]

For anyone thinking they are missing half of most of the pictures, you are right. I think the standard size flickr links to is too big, I'll see if I can fix it tomorrow on my computer, on the tablet I'm unable to.

Nice story!
I really like this kind of driver cars, always had most fun with my driver cars. After restoration they lost there smell and soul and it makes me more scared to drive them. As long as the engine (especially a Dino engine) is good, and the drivetrain you'll have a blast no matter what condition it is in optically or in terms of originality.
I hope you still have your original distributor (and that the housing is not modified for the 123 ignition).
What part of Holland do you live?

Very true, although the driver part of a driver has been an issue more often than not on this one... But you are right, when it's reliable it is great to drive and you don't have to be scared make a scratch etc. Don't worry we won't be tearing it apart any time soon!

The Dinoplex is still in place, just disconnected. The old distributor is on the shelf, the 123 was build into a new housing. So the engine bay looks nearly stock, I'll take a picture and post it when I can.

I live just above Hilversum (quite a few Fiat Dinos around here), are you in the neighbourhood? Do you go to any meetings of the Dutch Dino registry?

[rossnzwpi]

Welcome! I'm not sure what the original chrome on the plastic switches would have been but you can possibly have them vacuum metalized - like this: http://www.lucentt.co.nz/painting-on-plastic . This requires quite a big facility - not the sort of thing a small business would have. Failing that you can spray them with a fairly bright "chrome" paint.

[Scalino]

Welcome! I'm not sure what the original chrome on the plastic switches would have been but you can possibly have them vacuum metalized - like this: http://www.lucentt.co.nz/painting-on-plastic . This requires quite a big facility - not the sort of thing a small business would have. Failing that you can spray them with a fairly bright "chrome" paint.

Thank you! I've contacted two companies so far (there are some more, but not a lot) in Holland who chrome plastics. One replied they wouldn't chrome them because they are too fragile. I'm waiting for the other one to respond.

Painting it is an option, but I had the chrome foil laying around. I expect the paint would give a similar finish to the foil, in that it would look better, but not original.

I'll post it here if I manage to get the re-chromed (for a decent price, which I expect could be problematic).

[Stefan2000]

I live just above Hilversum (quite a few Fiat Dinos around here), are you in the neighbourhood? Do you go to any meetings of the Dutch Dino registry?

Not visiting much meetings to be honest but I do drive it quite regularly. But I live just South of Rotterdam so in a global perspective not that far from your place.

[HugoHarris]

Hi Tim, I am interested in the work you are doing to restore your centre console. Where are you sourcing new wood from, and how well does the grain and colour match the dash? Pictures of the finished job and details of work would be gratefully appreciated.

Stefan, I am with you on the subject of driver cars. I had no option but to address some serious rot in my car, and one thing led to another. When you do have to do invasive work in the sills, floor pans, wheel arches, then it makes sense to do the whole thing properly which means full strip down, bare metal, new paint, etc. My commitment to this community is that I will drive my shiny car when it comes out of rehab!!