1979 spider 2000 restoration

[MrJD]

finished the inletting on the center console piece. I rather like it.

trying to decide if I want to leave the rim around the piece black or paint it silver

[MrJD]

Almost done with teaching this semester, so about ready to get back on the spider

plans: Finish the minor bit of work left on the floor welding. Then coat the floors top and bottom and re-install the interior/make new carpet. Still trying to decide if I am going to take the center upper and lower consoles to a trimmer and have them re-covered in fresh vinyl.

Finish the fuel system and intake/carb assembly.

My compression test kit came in, so I will be getting on that and reporting back by next week. I need new fuel lines ... going to see if they stock fuel line at autozone and just be done with it. My fuel tank should be clear of fumes by now, so I am going to clean the whole exterior and re-coat it. Should I worry about trying to clean the inside of the tank at all? It looked great from the openings i could see.

Going to make new trunk pans to cover the tank and spare soon also.


Then... its body work. I have basically decided not to paint the car anytime soon, so I am just going to prime it where I work and possibly spray over with my paint color's rattle can variant. After summer I will go through and have the car completely re-sprayed properly. Will probably do wheels and tires at that point also.


I have basically decided to do a new starter and alternator from autozone also. Two nice changes to make the car more reliable for about $100 total. If I end up having compression issues, I am going to get another head rebuilt and change the head and radiator at the same time.

SO MUCH to do...

[RRoller123]

Like that clock idea!

[MrJD]

Finished welding up my floors tonight. Also hit the top surface hard with a brass brush in prep for coating. Hopefully by this time next week I will be done with the main parts of th e floor. Then I can get the body work on the back end done... Allowing me to reinstall the freshly redone fuel tank with all new lines.

I think next winter I am going to do a complete rebuild on the rear end... Its leaking and needs bearings. I think the hard lines for the brakes are corroded through also...

Will try and post pictures tomorrow.

[MrJD]

First coat on the floors





also re-coated and cleaned my tank


Comment: Don't use the coating I used on the floors. As you can see it didn't go very far. Further, it makes a HUGE cloud of waste paint like nothing you have ever seen. So thick that if you hold down the nozzle more than 10 seconds, you cannot even see what you are painting! Never seen spraypaint do that... What a shame. I think that was a $20 can,,,

My sweet brake lines... i'm going to let them ride till next summer i think.



My leaking diff, also going to ride till next summer


Been leaking a long time before I got it I'd think. Look at the lines of where the gear oil has seeped into the rubber undercoat.

[AriK]

My diff leaks at that spot when i store the car. When the car is active it dries up. The seal is not old.

[redcars]

Your diff leak is most not likely to be the seal, but leaking past the splines on the pinion shaft a little RTV in the right place will fix this. It has been a while since I fixed mine so it would be best for you to do search on it how too do it. If you only replace the seal you will most likely still have the leak. Fixing this along with the seal is both cheap and easy.

[MrJD]

can someone comment on keeping or removing the rear brake compensator? Also, has anyone used the autoricambi replacement metal brake lines? The hard lines, not the flex lines.

[FiatBen]

Just now found this particular thread, and am immensely enjoying following your progress as well as learning a lot and taking courage about tackling the floors on my own '79.

I REALLY like the clock moved to the center of the center panel. I think I will definitely be stealing this idea. Looking forward to seeing the documentation on rebuilding the door cards.

Hang in there, one day it will all fall in place and, like childbirth, you'll forget the pains.

[redcars]

There are strong opinions to both sides of this. I have mine removed and am very happy with the way it works and I have baked very hard in down pouring rain. If you have lowered your car, changed springs, add or removed weight, then your brake compensator is not working as it was designed to. That is unless you change the linkage the correct amount to accommodate the changes you made and then it is still most likely not working as designed. The better the traction the less you need rear brakes and the poorer the traction the more rear brakes you need. That is why it does not give you problems in the wet. With a lowered car and stiffer spring I don't think you can get enough rear brakes to get in trouble in any condition.

[MrJD]

FLOORS ARE DONE! Well, basically anyway, lol. Still going to go in and hit some areas with seam sealer and then re-coat over it once it is hard. BUT, They're done! Once this top coat is hard, I am going to start laying down insulation, and then carpet... though the carpet cannot stay, as I'd hate to mess it up doing all the other things that need doing.

top


bottom


Doing it thick means (wait for it) 4 solid cans of Rustoleum truck bedcoating (1 can top, one can bottom on both sides of the car). 2 full cans of primer went on before that. And I am still going to hit the underside with rubberized undercoating.

Also, what should I do about this? Obviously I will coat it inside and out, but should I cut stuff out? Just leave it and be done with it? I dunno....

[juvius]

Floors look good. I'm glad you got the hard part done.

Those rockers look awesome compared to 5 out of 7 cars I've had. If it were mine, I want to see what's going on behind the holes. Depends on how deep you want to get into it. At least cut out the rust and patch it. Your doing too much good work to let that stuff go..

[SoFlaFiat]

+1 don't stop now!
That said, I know you want it on the road this summer and the rocker panels are removable so theoretically you could pop them off next winter and do the repair right when you have more time.
Keep up the great work!!

[MrJD]

Here is the problem though... The inner rocker panels are compartmentalized. You can't simply cut them off and weld in new metal. As you have said, the inner rockers are covered... so I might cut access panels into each compartment of the inner rocker so I can kill the rust... and then either bolt in(removable for cleaning and inspection) or weld over some "boxing"to strengthen the area. Since it will be covered, it doesn't have to be pretty.

My plan of attack moving forward:
The "back seat" area is more or less fine, but I need to remove the top so i can inspect it properly... never done this. Going to be interesting. Once it is out, I will coat the backseat area in cheap anti-rust paint just for good measure. It'd probably be fine without, but since the car is apart, who cares?

2nd, I am going to do the door seals. You can kinda see what I am talking about here


There are some holes here and there that need to be addressed. Its a few hours of work.

So backseat, door seals, THEN finish rockers. Once the rockers are done... I can get on the bodywork... I am sure there are more things hiding in it... Not sure what I am going to do with it presently. Might make a quick and dirty job of it and then REALLY do it next winter and have the car painted.

Still need to order $200 worth of pedals and shifter

Still need to order $250 worth of new top

Still need to re-card the drivers door

Still need to change the carb, manifold, starter, alternator, brake fluid reservoir, and coolant overflow tank. Going to re-spray the underhood area during this process... might get a new aluminum radiator ($250) to install at the same time.


SO MUCH left... and I bet what I have stated is only about half in reality. I know I am going to get the interior READY to go in with quickness... so what radio did you guys use?

I am thinking about just getting a modern style radio and being done with it...

[azruss]

That inner rocker piece is structural, so a would weld a double plate over the holes. If you are planning on putting the radio in the traditional spot, length of the radio can be a problem.