1979 spider 2000 restoration

[MrJD]

I'm not terribly motivated to spend $100 on "floor pans" when I can buy the metal and do the patch work myself for about $20.

The area where the fuel lines go through the unibody is COMPELTELY gon, lol. I think what I will do is insulate them similar to what you said, weld in the metal i need to weld in, and then seal the fuel lines to the unibody with POR15. All of the interior of the car will be POR15 coated, and I plan to undercoat the whole thing with POR15's rubber undercoat. If it rusts then, I'm going to beat up POR15's CEO!

A few pics from today after work.

Windshield wipers don't work, so that is what I am looking into next. (they worked according to an inspection paper I found in 2012, so....)





My new racing seat


Old warped to hell dash cap


Original dash

[MrJD]

windshield wiper motor repaired and mechanism working!



Pulled everything apart, Hooked up the motor alone and nothing happened. So, assuming my electrics were good, I took the motor apart. I gave it the ole' starter treatment (cleaned all the gunk, sanded the points and contact areas, got it where I knew things would be coming together. Also found that there were little springs forcing the points against the rotating assembly... I WD40'd these and worked them with a screw driver till they freed up (they were stuck in place with grease).\

Put the motor back together, put it in the car, and Wham, works. Now the actual arm assembly:



I removed it from the car and found that i could barely make it move through sheer force. Crazy how locked up it was...

Sprayed all the rotating parts down with WD40 and started working it in... spray, move, spray, move, until the whole assembly was moving quite well


I figure it will take a few days to get it where it needs to be. You cannot disassemble the parts any further than what you can see above... so working lubricant into the depts of the bearings supporting this unit will take time.

[BEEK]

actually i have driven the centers out of the wiper assembly, and cleaned and lubed everything, then reassembled with no problems

[MrJD]

actually i have driven the centers out of the wiper assembly, and cleaned and lubed everything, then reassembled with no problems

Care to give more detail? It looked crimped in place and I woud hate to screw up any bearings that are in there.

Its back together and working though, which is nice.

[MrJD]

Before


After


Used a rustoleum premium flat black coat. There wasn't any un-painted metal per-se, i just wanted to make sure all the potential avenues of corrosion were blocked under there. If this stuff dries and looks/feels nice... I might do my whole engine bay in the same black.

[Ptoneill]

Just remember...POR15 is your best friend!!

Looks good

[MrJD]

The more I think about it, the more i think I will not use POR15. I can buy a gallon of good undercoating or even the stuff I used in the above image for ~$30. A gallon of POR15 is what, $150+? I've read the reviews online and most I read still have issues with POR15 cracking and rust setting back in. I'd be willing to do a little touch up if I spent $30 on it the first time. But if I am dropping what would end up being $200+ on JUST painting my floors... it better give me 50 extra horses or something.

I will, however, be using this on all of the Unibody areas I cannot access without cutting the car in half!
http://www.eastwood.com/internal-frame- ... le-qt.html

[johnsje6]

FYI, I am in central Illinois and am getting parts from a salvage yard about 50 miles away from a '73, which is sitting next to a '79. If you are desperate for a part and I can maybe snag it for you, let me know. John

[MrJD]

FYI, I am in central Illinois and am getting parts from a salvage yard about 50 miles away from a '73, which is sitting next to a '79. If you are desperate for a part and I can maybe snag it for you, let me know. John

Man, that sounds excellent! You out there often? See if the 73 has a single plane manifold. If so I'd love to put my hands on the carb and manifold! What state are the tail lights in? You should snap some pictures, lol. (wish I had a good yard around here!)

If you guys missed it, I am looking for a single plane manifold and a 32adf (or other) if you have one laying around. I don't care about condition, as i will be totally refurbing everything.

Also...

Is it considered bad form to remove the lip from the back of the car? I have seen several people do it...
I assume this lip is here so the sheet metal could be spot welded together... but it also serves as a rust intrusion area. I would like to cut the lip off, and weld the two sheets together preventing any potential corrosion.

Opinion? State of mine presently after cleaning off the quarter inch of body filler someone used on it years ago.

[Dombrockt]

FYI, Rockauto.com has replacement sheetmetal for these cars. I picked up a drivers side floor pan for $50, shipped. Not the most beautiful piece I have ever seen, but should do the job.

[MrJD]

Meh, I am going to make all my own panels. Went to lowes and got some nice 16g sheet for like... $20. Plenty enough to patch both floors. I am probably going to weld some heavy gauge plate to the suspension mounting points also just to stiffen them up a bit.

I have now cleaned all the original rubber floor coating off. Took HOURS with hammer and chisel. Then I brushed it all off with a drill and angle grinder.

floors:




Fuel lines


Going to disconnect them here and let the fuel drain from the carb and the tank at the same time.
(this is on the other side)


Sexy italian car


And what could these be? ^^

[MrJD]

Cowl completely re-done. Ready for assembly and re-installation tomorrow! (cleaned and painted water deflector and vents tonight).

[4uall]

Great work

I am a huge believer in the POR15 products

http://wwwe.fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopi ... ilit=POR15

[MrJD]

I am thinking about just using truck bedliner on the floor boards im not sure I believe por15 is worth the cost.

[RRoller123]

I cleaned up the floors on mine (which were rust free to begin with I must say) and went with the truck bed liner. Works great and costs very little. Seals it all up like King Tutankhamun's tomb. A great way to go if rust is not a huge issue.