How much $$$ will I wind up spending? Is it worth it?

[Klayfish]

No, not how much will I spend on the whole car. I'm sure the answer to that is "You don't want to know"....

I'm refering to my learning "cadaver" Spider that I'm using to teach myself how to work on cars. Since I got 2 Spiders in the deal, I put the cleaner, more rust free car in the garage. The other one is outside and that's the one I'm practicing on. Last weekend was my first weekend ever working on a car. Did very basics...changed battery and plugs, cranked engine by hand. Even got it to fire up on a bit of fuel down the carb.

The front of the engine is apart on this car...radiator is out, timing cover is off, v belt is off. Obviously, since I started the car, the timing belt is on (and I made sure it was all lined up before I turned the motor). I wanted to get some practice this weekend by putting on the v belt and changing the timing belt. I have the new belts at home. But in reading other threads on timing belt changes, I read a lot about changing various seals and gaskets, etc...

I know this is purely my judgment call, but I wanted some input. Knowing that this car may or may not ever hit the road again, how far should I go and how much would I spend? My feeling overall with the car is that if in my learning experiences, it becomes drivable, terrific. But the body is fairly rusty, and my plan at this point is after playing around with this one for a while, I'll turn my attention to the one in the garage to really try to make that a streetable car. So if this were your practice only car, what would you do in my spot? How much will it cost in parts? Don't mind spending a few bucks if it'll net me some good learning experience, but don't want to pour a fortune into it.

[narfire]

Personally I'd put any loot into the car that has the best chance of becoming your main car/driver. Practice on and get the car in the garage up and running. Do you have a manual or two? As you get going on your driver,you can rob the other car of any parts you need and if you need new parts then the $$$ will go into the driver. Even though the parts are relativily inexpensive, they do add up. I can't see the reason to do it twice thats all.
Have fun, did you post pics?
Chris

[Estaban]

I would go only as far as getting to a stable running level (ie: able to run up to full running temp and not overheat) If it rolls then maybe as far as driving around the yard but not the money of putting it on the street (legally) Then switch your attention to the other car. The car that is worth getting street legal.

But that's MHO

[Klayfish]

I'm kind of starting to think the same thing. Both cars were part of a package deal, including several boxes of parts. Since I've never done anything more than oil changes before, I thought I'd be smart and use the more rusty one as my test subject. But the more I think about it, the more I wonder if I'm just better off working on the car that I hope to actually drive someday, and use the rusty one as a parts car (or just sell it outright). My thought process was that if I messed up something on the rusty car, it wouldn't be such a big deal. Now that I'm looking at buying hoses, gaskets, etc...for it, I'm second guessing that and wondering if I should just invest the money into the garaged car. Ahh, the problems of having two Spiders....

Yes, I've got a few manuals. I have a Haynes and an older Chiltons. I've heard mixed reviews on reprints of the factory service manual, so I don't have one yet. Thinking maybe I should. I'm also pulling lots of info from this forum and Mirafiori.

I posted some pics in the introduction section of this forum, but here are links to the albums for each car.

Rusty red...
http://s1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa4 ... %20Spider/

Garaged orange...
http://s1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa424/Klayfish/

[majicwrench]

Rusty Red doesn't look all that bad...
But yeah, I would hate to see you put money and time into it compared to the orange one. I have three spiders, all three could probably run and drive with some serious work, but I focus on keeping my 72 on the road.
Might be enough parts in the boxes to get Red running and moving....radiator, couple of hoses etc. I know my wife would be happier if my parts cars moved under their own power...
Keith

[grittracing]

Also once you get the "driver" up and running good. than you good take a good long look at what you could take cosmeticly to get one good car and than any parts you dont have and or need you can part the other car out to make up some $$$ so your not investing alot but make sure all is good before you start selling,from bumber to bumber. like tie rods , spindles , exhaust, trans goes threw all the gears smoothly. brakes are working heater core doesnt leak heater fan works , wipers work, all the light work radio, ect ect.ect main thing is that is drives and moves. you may want to keep the carb and head for your self have them redone in the future and ready to bolt on altenator and starters are also a thing to have a spare laying around

[azruss]

Time is as much as a cost as actual dollars. with your cars, spend the time and money on numero uno. on your current "lets make it run" segment, i wouldnt do anything with this motor. get it to run with the current set-up, so you can get the feel of it all. not worth the time and effort to put in a radiator, hoses, etc. It wont get you driving it down the street, but dont waste the time on the parts car. with that said, it is worthwhile taking the timing belt off this car and reinstalling it. it can be a tricky process for a newbie and worth not tanking a new belt learning. as far as the alt belt, it might be worth doing it once on the bad car because the radiator is out and you can see what you are doing.
on the timing belt. loosen the bolt on the tensioner bearing and force the bearing to the left as far as possible. this will require a big screwdriver. while the bearing is "loose", tighten the bolt so you lock it in the loose position. now you should be able to remove the belt with ease. (make sure the motor is at TDC before you do any of this, and set the e-brake and put the car in gear to keep from rotating the crank shaft. ) when reinstalling the belt, start at the crankshaft and go ccw keeping tension on the belt as you go around each pulley. once you have it tight on the right, pull the left side up to fit the aux shaft and slip over the tensioner. if it looks good, release the tensioner so it tightens the belt and then tighten it again. now, take the motor out of gear and rotate it by hand and couple of times and realign to tdc. now check to make sure all you cam index marks are in the right location. It takes a little practice to get this technique down. there will be times when the tooths dont line up, just adjust pulley to best fit. the v-belt is very simple. just need to push the alternator in as close to the block as possible to get the belt on. then put the belt on. I use a large screwdriver to lever the alternator out and put tension on the belt. doesnt take much force here. should be able to push on the middle of the belt between the alternator and the waterpump and move it a 1/2". Any tighter than that will burn bearings. most of these kinds of things you will struggle with without hurting anything mechanical. might as well learn it on the keeper so you dont have to do again for a while.

[Klayfish]

OK, I'm with you guys. You're right, both my free time and money are few and valuable. Probably better to focus them on the car that could actually see the road again first. Either way, I'm having fun. I may do as both azruss and majic suggested with the red one, since it won't cost much $$$. I may need a few radiator hoses if I do put it together, but that's about it. I see the points you're making about focusing on the orange car.