73 spider restoration

[BEEK]

ok, ive finally done it! sold the dog, hid the cat, got another fiat.

just got it to the shop today. drove 125 miles each way this morning for a "free" spider. Free= a gift that will ultimatly test my will and my wallet. im not new to the fiat game, actually a seasoned vet! i have not restored a fiat in 8 years now, so the addiction / craving was eating at me.

i figured i would show the process and progress on this forum for those interested. the details are still to be determined as to what state of originality i am going to do. i have every displacement 124 twincam at my shop. so i have to pick one.
the engine will be a performance build, for the street. i will definatly upgrade the brakes, and most likely the suspension.
no matter what, the entire car will be gone thru. ill do a photographic series on the car from begining to end. dont know if this will inspire people or not as to what can be done.

over the next few days ill take a few more pictures. get some ideas. try and make a plan of action. there are some missing parts. hopefully people on this board will have what i am lacking. ive been wanting a small chrome bumper car for a while. now i have my wish.

[narfire]

Looking forward to the progress. Realistic time frame? year? What shape is the body in?
Is that antenna just sitting there or was it mounted there on the front cowling? funny place for an antenna eh.
I have a 72 I might tackle myself once I figure out how to use the welder I just bought.
Good luck and have fun...again

[BEEK]

time frame , hopefully less than 4 months. this depends on my free time. just bought a new house, so im having to move as well, going to build a new shop at the new house. 1500sf air conditioned

body in fair shape, rust in the rear, amazingly the front fenders are pretty much rust free, battery box and frame rail below the battery is a little rough. the rear lower pannel is rough as well as the quarter pannels. the floorboards are in remarkably good shape. a few small rust holes but other than that great! shock towers are perfect

[BEEK]

day 2: no new pictures today, removed all of the parts from the trunk and interrior. hopefully tomorrow ill get the seats out and dash removed.

[Nancy1340]

Ooooooooo Free!! That's both good and bad. LOL

Congratulations. Now get to work...

[BEEK]

day 4, didnt do much on day 3 but clean out trunk and interrior. removed motor today. assesing the inner fender damage on the pass side. rust in the battery area, collision damage in the front, not bad but pushed back the core support 3/8" on pass side. shock towers are rust free but the pass side has been bottomed out hard and there is some wrinkeling of the inner fender at the upper weld area. so now its decision time.
1. replace inner fender and core support
2. repair inner fender and replace core support
3. remove both inner fenders, fabricate frame rails, install coil over shocks and adjustable upper control arms, possably rack and pinion steering.
i would like others ideas and comments on this. my school of thought is i can repair the car and make it look as never wrecked. and its worth ?, i can fabricate the front suspension and frame section, place a completly adjustable front suspension even though ill still use a factory crossmember and lower a frames, uprights and such. and its worth ? probably the same ? but am i building it for profit? NO. so what does everyone think? pictures this evening after kids football practice. im the coach

[Raze]

Beek,

I sent you an email about pictures of the openings of your front and rear fascia. I want to put the bumpers back on my 72 but the previous owner sealed them up, welded, smoothed, painted, and truck bed coated underneath so I can't tell where they used to be. If you have any more pics I would much much appreciate it, and cool resto!

[BEEK]

day 4 pictures

[BEEK]

Beek,

I sent you an email about pictures of the openings of your front and rear fascia. I want to put the bumpers back on my 72 but the previous owner sealed them up, welded, smoothed, painted, and truck bed coated underneath so I can't tell where they used to be. If you have any more pics I would much much appreciate it, and cool resto!

i have not recieved an e-mail as of yet, but the 73 has different openings than the 72, the bumpers on a 72 mount to L type brackets, vs a pseudo bumper shock on the 73-74. your openings are a mear slit in the bodywork, lining up with the end ofthe frame rails front and rear, where the L brackets bolt to the side with (2) 8x1.25 bolts. other than this the cars are virtually identical

[Raze]

Odd, could have sworn I sent one via this forum, anyway, thanks for the info, that actually helps alot! I had heard of these shock-style bumper mounts but since the brackets on the bumpers I have are indeed Ls I was confused if I was missing something and if they were just slits or full on openings as I've seen on most pictures with bumpers off. Thanks alot!

and I'm following your resto, I love project threads.

[BEEK]

some engine modification ideas. 2X40 idf, or 40 dfi single carb. compare the throttle bore size to the 34dmsa. and 9.8-1 pistons

[BEEK]

moving almost finished, should make some progress soon. spent all my waking hours moving....aaarg hate moving

[BEEK]

spent the last 2 weeks prepairing the block and head, been grinding the inside of the block, should finish later today, then apply glyptol. the head and intake are ported, and gasket matched. hopefully ill get started on the crank, dress up the counter weights, kinda knife edge the crank. ill have some progress pictures later today.

[BEEK]

block, polished insid, then glyptol, ported head, unshrouded intake valves, the beginings of the crank work as well

[Exit98]

Hi Beek,

So is that a 1608 block?

I never heard of Glyptol before so I just looked it up. Pretty neat stuff. Somebody said Smokey Yunick pioneered its use in high performance engines. If it was good enough for him....

So how do you remove it from the bearing and gasket surfaces?

Neat project, keep the updates coming.