Greetings to all from Erie, PA...
I recently acquired a pair of 124 Spiders... The first (for restoration) is a 1977, with 51K on the clock,
and the second (for parts) is a 1979 2000 Spider.
I have been reading through your site, and have found some useful information, and friendly people here. I'm looking forward to this project, and look forward to input & advice. Thanks for having me along.
New Member in Erie, Pennsylvania (USA)
-
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2016 4:45 pm
- Your car is a: 1977 124 Spider
- Location: Erie, PA
-
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2016 4:45 pm
- Your car is a: 1977 124 Spider
- Location: Erie, PA
Re: New Member in Erie, Pennsylvania (USA)
I have managed to get them both to the location where I'll be working on them (neither is currently running), and have secured the '77 in its new home in the pole barn.
It most recently ran around 1 - 1 1/2 years ago, and isn't getting spark according to the PO. All that I've managed with this one so far is a bit of a light cleanup, as best as I could without water (the barn isn't plumbed).
It was a bit stale from sitting, and the interior was turning into a mold / mildew farm. The headliner in the soft top was the worst, and was harboring all kinds of biologicals, which had also begun to find their way to the seats & door cards. I worked on the entire interior with a 3-stage process, first a 1:1 94% Isopropyl & Distilled H2O spray & light agitation scrub with a horsehair brush. Wiped down w/ paper towels & discarded. The mess was pretty gnarly... Secondly, a good pass with 303 multi-surface & microfibers to remove any remaining residue. Afterwards, a pass with Mother's VLR (because I was out of 303 Aerospace) to try to "feed" the refreshed vinyl & cloth surfaces, & keep them from drying out.
All things considered, I think she cleaned up pretty nicely, and CERTAINLY smells a LOT better!
It most recently ran around 1 - 1 1/2 years ago, and isn't getting spark according to the PO. All that I've managed with this one so far is a bit of a light cleanup, as best as I could without water (the barn isn't plumbed).
It was a bit stale from sitting, and the interior was turning into a mold / mildew farm. The headliner in the soft top was the worst, and was harboring all kinds of biologicals, which had also begun to find their way to the seats & door cards. I worked on the entire interior with a 3-stage process, first a 1:1 94% Isopropyl & Distilled H2O spray & light agitation scrub with a horsehair brush. Wiped down w/ paper towels & discarded. The mess was pretty gnarly... Secondly, a good pass with 303 multi-surface & microfibers to remove any remaining residue. Afterwards, a pass with Mother's VLR (because I was out of 303 Aerospace) to try to "feed" the refreshed vinyl & cloth surfaces, & keep them from drying out.
All things considered, I think she cleaned up pretty nicely, and CERTAINLY smells a LOT better!
-
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2016 4:45 pm
- Your car is a: 1977 124 Spider
- Location: Erie, PA
Re: New Member in Erie, Pennsylvania (USA)
The '79 hasn't seen the light of day in over a decade (since it got "hurt" during transport in a previous sale). It's going to serve as a parts car, and (unfortunately) due to space constraints, is going to have to live outside, as the pole barn is big, but there are other vehicles & equipment which live there.
Once I've gone through the systems on the '77, and have her to a point where she's safely running & driving, I'll likely pull the motor from the '79 and build it. If the odometer is to be believed, there's only 15K on this one, so (in theory) the motor should be reasonably fresh, if a decade of sitting hasn't harmed it...
I took advantage of some unseasonably mild weather yesterday to begin removing bits that aren't likely to weather well (as it doesn't "seal" very well since the damage, and there's no point letting it go to seed. Here's the starting point:
After a day, most of the interior bits are in storage in the loft, carpeting & underlayment is out (and spent). The dashboard still needs to come out, so I have some research to do around here to see how it's attached. It's raining today, so even though I can't wrench, I can do my homework...
Made a fair amount of progress - and anything that I can pull now is something that I may find a use for later (or be able to help someone else out w/ parts, etc...), and at least wont get killed by weather (tarping it up is only going to do so much).
Once I've gone through the systems on the '77, and have her to a point where she's safely running & driving, I'll likely pull the motor from the '79 and build it. If the odometer is to be believed, there's only 15K on this one, so (in theory) the motor should be reasonably fresh, if a decade of sitting hasn't harmed it...
I took advantage of some unseasonably mild weather yesterday to begin removing bits that aren't likely to weather well (as it doesn't "seal" very well since the damage, and there's no point letting it go to seed. Here's the starting point:
After a day, most of the interior bits are in storage in the loft, carpeting & underlayment is out (and spent). The dashboard still needs to come out, so I have some research to do around here to see how it's attached. It's raining today, so even though I can't wrench, I can do my homework...
Made a fair amount of progress - and anything that I can pull now is something that I may find a use for later (or be able to help someone else out w/ parts, etc...), and at least wont get killed by weather (tarping it up is only going to do so much).