It is fun getting the hands dirty when it is a hobby car! It is common for the spacer at the bottom mounting point of the timing belt cover to be missing, and when that bolt is then tightened down, it pulls the cover into the belt, causing it to rub and eventually create a big problem. Might want to check that.

So the tear down continues. We have stripped the interior seats, carpet and insulation, roll bar, and dash.


Exterior tear down includes bumpers, (still have the bumper shock by the gas tank to pull), rusted out rocker panels, side lights, antenna, and most of the emblems.





Will be working on the rear bumper shock today. Guess I am going to try to jack the tank up and slide it out so I can get the bolt out. I just hope I have enough slack in the lines. I really don't want to disconnect it all yet.

We are getting closer to starting the body work which is always an adventure. This is going to be very interesting since I have not done any body work in over 25 years, and my experience back then was very limited. My thinking is any body work and sanding we can do is work I don't have to pay someone else to do.

The only lights that are left are he tag lights.



We actually were able to remove the last of the rear bumper shocks by jacking the gas tank up and sliding it over to remove the bolt. I was so happy we didn't have to disconnect any fuel lines to get it out.

You did not have to even disconnect the large filler hose? Lucky guy!

We were able to angle the tank and had just enough slack to slide it over. Big relief because there is still gas in the tank and I didn't want to drain it.

We have spent the last few weeks doing a little sanding and working to remove the tar from the floor pans.



Still a bit to go on the floors but steady progress.



Still need to decide on a color, but I think I have a few months before I have to make that decision.

What sanding setup are you using? Removing the old paint is the next step I need to take in my restoration . It looks good, keep up the progress!

Isn't it a problem to sand it to bare metal? Every time I painted a car the painter never wanted to do that, not sure why.

Due to the body work that is needed I am having to take it back to bare metal. The front fenders have quite a bit of work that needs to be done. From my experience if the primer is done properly taking it back to bare metal gives you the best results and with the rust that is common on these cars it is usually the way to go.

We are using 80 grit sandpaper on a Dewalt random orbital sander for the large areas, and sanding blocks with a little elbor grease for the hard to get areas.

I am looking for some ideas for paint scheme. I was originally thinking red with a stripe down the center of the hood and trunk lid.
However I am having second thoughts and am wanting some input. If you had a blank slate and could do whatever you wanted what would you paint it?

Just to let you know I am planning on using Marks fiberglass dash and plan on painting the dash to match the car.

You could always get vinyl for the stripe. then you can take it off if you change your mind.

Yeah, racing stripes. I had them on my Sunbeam Alpine back in the day.

I'm a bit of a "purist". Racing stripes on a Spider IMHO look a bit contrived. Spiders are never going to be a GT 350 or Cobra so why try and want to look like one. Keep it simple. Pick a nice solid colour - preferably an original and stay true to the car's roots.

Are you going to remove the engine and paint the engine bay?

i think a a dark grey with metalflake looks real good
with black interior
silver on the rollbar