Restoring my '74 124 Spider

[prodigalson]

Ultimately, I plan for this to be a restoration log, but first wanted to check with you guys to come up with a sensible plan of attack. I'd like to go over every single part on the car. I'm not sure if that's feasible or even advisable, but it's what I'd like to do. I love working on cars, and I enjoy bringing cars back to their original condition, and I enjoy improving them if at all possible. That being said, every where I look, I see areas that need attention and honestly, I'm not sure where to start. It runs decent, though the valvetrain sounds a bit noisy, the carb probably needs a rebuild, the wiring looks a mess, the wheels are totally shot, it's rusty everywhere, the interior is profoundly dismal, and the shifter is sloppy. <sigh>

I have printed out the factory service manual and have ordered "Maintaining the Italian Roadster" both courtesy of Brad Artigue.

I plan to pull the motor out of the parts car (ostensibly the same year), rebuild it and swap it in the good car. Will clean up and attend to the rust and wiring mess in the engine bay when the motor is out. I did notice some areas where the rust has resulted in perforation, I'll take some pictures and post them for advice.

Feedback and comments are welcome!







Here's the parts car:

[chrisg]

Unless you're planning on it being a car show or race in a few months, I'd say make sure it's safe, functional & not deteriorating in condition & drive it through the summer. you'll learn a lot about it & that may be as much from driving it & finding out what you may like or not like as it is from making repairs. One could argue that doing that way would be inefficient...just blow it up into a million labeled,boxed parts & rebuild it all perfectly. I see people do that with these cars all the time when they don't actually know them, know their feel, know their nuances, etc....I'd say getting to know the car & THEN doing that would be a more rewarding experience & lend a better product.

One note on the '74. While it's a nice year...last of small bumpers/inboard front indicators, 34DMSA carb, single plan manifold, electric fuel pump, etc...it also has much silliness in the wiring that ultimately will likely be modified (usually arrives to the loving Fiat owner hacked, not "modified") such as the seatbelt relay, dual points relay/switch/points, maybe the fuel pump/ign relay (though in theory the way it's done on the '74s is nice...a modern inertia switch is fine too) & I guess it originally had the smog pump & associated plumbing which was dubious when new.

Have fun!

[prodigalson]

Chris, thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it!

That's a good suggestion, driving it to acquire a better understanding of the car before tearing it to a million pieces and rebuilding it. As you mentioned, at this point it’s important to determine whether it’s drivable or not.

At the moment the coolant reservoir nipple is broken off the radiator neck. The timing belt looks like it is getting oil on it (not sure how long it takes to compromise the belt), the shifter is very sloppy. I can see why people dive right in and take the car apart immediately, as it’s sort of nerve wracking figuring out (and guessing) what stuff needs to be sorted right away.

I was surprised when I discovered that it had a 34DMSA carb, single plane manifold and a 4-2-1 exhaust manifold. That’s a good start! Didn’t know that it had an electric fuel pump or anything about the seatbelt relay. I’ve heard about the dual points and that it’s unnecessary, but plan to convert it to electronic ignition so that shouldn’t be an issue.

There are some many wiring “modifications”. There are wires criss-crossing the interior, the engine bay, the dash, etc…I think it’s going to take a while just to sort that out!

I started removing emissions stuff last night. Pulled the smog pump and the device on the passenger side fender and a bunch of hoses.

[chrisg]

likely have one or many leaking seals on the front of the engine. Timing belts are cheap (compared to blocks, pistons, heads, valves, machine work) so replace it immediately (interval is 30K miles or whenever you buy the car at least) even if you will do it again in a few hundred miles. Hopefully fresh oil won't gush out to kill your belt that quickly, right?

it's said being a Fiat enthusiast is to be a mechanic, a carburetor tuner, a welder, etc...you can add a brazer of copper pipe to radiators to that list...that's actually a nice thing about copper radiators.

brakes & front suspension would be key on the 'safe to drive' thing. Hopefully the front end is intact enough to get a feel for the rest of the car. Oh yeah, checking the center carrier bearing is probably a very good idea & the shifter slopiness is probably some fairly straight-forward repair parts.

It's quite possible the laundry list is so vast that my theory of enjoying/learning first is not viable. Often it's not if one values safety & sanity. that said, it's a better recipe if at all possible.

[jlw35]

Prodigalson,

Where are you located? It helps to have help.
I've had my '75 for 4 years, just now getting it ready to be on the road again. Long journey, be aware of "mission creep".

Jeff

[prodigalson]

I'm in southeast Michigan. Scope creep, eh? I can see how that could happen.

[prodigalson]

I decided to start with the interior. I spent some time working on it today. I removed the center console, both seats, the back seat and finally the convertible top. Intermittently, I spent time removing the tar substance from the floor plan and driveshaft tunnel.





Apparently, the foam in the back seat was holding water on the passenger side and rusted the pan along the frame rail:


Also, the PO broke a seat bolt when removing the seat (I'm not sure how I'll get it out):



Found a couple of holes next to the drivers seat bracket:




Inside the driver's side quarter panel looked surprising good:


The passenger side inner quarterpanel didn't fare as well:


The inside of the doors looks good too:



Cowl seems to be fine also, though unsurprisingly the wiper linkage was seized up.


Overall, I'm pleased with the general condition of the interior, from the reading I've been doing here and elsewhere, I was prepared for much worse!

At the moment I plan to treat the metal with an aluminum based moisture cured urethane. I painted a rusty shovel with it a few years ago and was impressed at how it lasted. Will probably use two coats of Rust Bullet, then top coat with black Rustoleum.

Any suggestions how to fix that broken off seat bolt? How about the holes near the seat bracket? How about the back seat rust?

[prodigalson]

I've identified the perforations in the floor pan. If they're not structural, do I need to weld in new metal? If new metal is not necessary, do I also need to cut out the old metal or can I treat the rust and then apply a bonded patch over the rusty hole?

I think these are non-structural:







These appear to be structural:


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