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Michael's Museum
A digitized visit to the vast
and half-vast collections of Michael N. Marcus
"The only difference
between men and boys is the price of our toys."
"Whoever dies with the most toys,
wins."
"It's never
too late to have a happy childhood." |
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spider-body.htm updated
18 JULY 04 |
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◄The 5-1/2 x 14" alloy wheels are made by
Cromodora, originally for Lancia. I was able to fit black Fiat caps in the
centers of the rear wheels, but they won't fit into the front wheels, so
I painted the front hubs black, as a temporary solution. The front and rear Fiat emblems, and Pininfarina side emblems
were faded, so I got replacements from Fun
Imported Auto & Toys. Tires are nearly-new Yokohama A378s in P215/60
size, and seem OK -- my
first non-Michelins in many years. I replaced the stock headlights with
new Cibie halogens. I installed Marchal fog lights on my
'74 Fiat, but Spiderman won't get any. If the weather is foggy, he stays
locked up. In the photo,
the upholstery color of the two seats looks very different. In real
life, they looked much closer; but both seats now have new vinyl, and I
also have new inner door panels, all from Bayless. A front license plate would definitely look ugly, so it
stays in the trunk. So far, the cops don't seem to care.
The car has apparently
been repainted once by a previous owner. Color is
original: Fiat #191 "red."
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◄The
car came with the Autopower roll bar. I added the "124
SPIDER" lettering. The little black pimple just forward of trunk seam is an antenna for XM
satellite radio receiver. The car came with a ratty black top boot,
which I replaced with beige from Bayless. The black convertible top
works OK, but looks lousy. It's almost never used, but it will probably
be replaced with beige, too. I replaced the rusty front bumper, and a
replacement for the rear will go on soon. eBay makes it easy to find
anything.
 If
the weather isn't beautiful, Spiderman stays in the garage. The only
time I've driven it with the top up, is when I brought it home from the
dealer in the rain. Since this photo was taken, I removed the sun
visors.
 JOURNAL
ENTRY 4/24/04:
Perfect
weather for a day at the beach (Silver Sands State Park in Milford CT).
The sign at the left says "No Bicycles," but it doesn't say anything
about Fiats. People in the background are looking at the beautiful car,
not Long Island Sound or Charles Island. |
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◄Rear-end
photo shows long-awaited "ITSA 78" vanity
plate, to answer the most common question. The "2000" badge on right
corner was made for a 2-liter Lancia. My car
originally had an "1800" badge, for its smaller
1.8-liter engine; but both the engine and badge
were removed when the car belonged to someone
else. Before I installed the "2000" badge, I
used the "I for Italy" sticker shown in photo
above. |
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◄I
"enhanced" the roll bar with some custom lettering I
ordered online from SignSpecialist.com. Excellent
quality, reasonable price, fast delivery. |
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◄
I got a new windshield from Bayless, and a
not-quite-new windshield frame from Fun Imported Auto &
Toys. Both were installed at Carl Massafra's
Auto Body in Milford CT. Carl's company also did the
upholstery. |
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