The totally average 76 Spider restoration

[KLC356]

I am about to embark on a totally average restoration. Some of the posts in this area are from people with amazing skills and patience.
I have neither of these. But I have fun tinkering with cars and my goal is to have something to drive and learn a ton of stuff along the way.

So here I go. Starting in December 2018 with purchase and looking to have something that will pass inspection by August 2019. Not perfect or even close. But something I can drive and refine over the coming years.

[joelittel]

I love it and look forward to reading your updates.

[KLC356]

Step 1
Get this car started. It has been sitting for 8 years and previous owner said it did start.
Purchased new battery and cranked. Would not start or even pop. The fuel tank with old gas was disconnected and I poured some fresh gas into carb. I think I have a spark problem. Friend coming by this weekend to assist. So once I know it can be started I will clean up engine.

In the meantime I will restore gas tank. I am soooo tempted to buy new tank - but I prefer to restore as much as I can. I will count my time as “free” and only expense will be what I need to buy. So if it takes 8 hours of my time - so be it.

Here is start. Someone painted car red and over sprayed in trunk.



So I dumped bad gas and removed. Then I used zip strip to remove coats of paint.


Then used scotch brite drill attachment to clean up.


Next I am coating with POR 15 on exterior.

On the inside I am going to experiment. I have a gallon of white vinegar from BJs Warehouse Club (like sam’s club or Costco) for $3.
I also got muriatic acid from Lowe’s that is liquidating so I paid $3 for gallon.
Between the two of these I will see which one works better. I plan on getting POR 15 fuel tank restoration kit to complete.


Also has anyone cracked one of these electric fuel pumps open to restore?
(Before)


After first cleaning


I am afraid of opening without understanding how to lubricate and clean. Any insight appreciated.

More to come.

[DieselSpider]

My 78 Diesel Franken Spider is a daily driver which will eventually be an average resto too however I have had trouble doing anything that would lay up the car for more than a day or so since its so enjoyable to drive. Getting it drive-able first can be a double edged sword since you may end up wanting to drive it whenever possible which where I live (Tampa Florida Area) can be just about every day.

I finally got around to welding in patch panels to take care of some rust blisters this week and I am glad I waited since now Harbor Freight has switched from Chinese No-Name flux welding wire to Italian INE flux wire under their HF Vulcan line of products and the difference is like night and day plus I got it on sale with a coupon for $11.25 per 2lb spool. Welding sheet metal is so much easier now with the new wire and even the $90 90 Amp Chicago Electric Wire Feed Welder (some may counter that you need to use a gas shielded MIG welder for this however if you have to weld outdoors wind negates the benefit of MIG even if you crank up the gas flow to high levels wasting Argon). Any enclosed area I open up for patching gets treated with Ospo and Weldable Galvanize before I close it up. A small sheet metal brake is very handy too. If you weld be sure to stock up on guide tips for your welder as stitching with flux wire you can end up going through 2 or 3 tips for every 2 lbs of 030 wire.

Give the local parts houses a shot when you can and you might be surprised at how many parts are available from the likes of OReilly and Advanced Auto Parts such as ignition/tuneup supplies, alternators, starters, clutches, brakes, etc.

Enjoy the project and hopefully you'll get her done much sooner than July 2019.

[royn]

This looks like a great Project car ! Thanks for starting a new thread and i wish you the best of luck ! This forum is great and you will find a lot of help and support.

[KLC356]

At decision point if I should continue to restore fuel tank or purchase.

Before I invest in $70 POR 15 restoration kit I wanted to see if I could do a low cost pre-clean with $3 jug of white vinegar.

This is results of overnight soak in 1 gallon of vinegar after soapy water wash.



So I am encouraged. I also found a $3 jug of muriatic acid. So I will try that soak next to see if it will remove more.

[tima01864]

If you decide on POR15 protect the threads on all studs and tapped holes.

[KLC356]

Thanks for tip. I did not cover treads with POR but will still do slight clean up around base with dremel. Plan on roughing up and paint with normal paint and paint bottom with rubberized undercarriage paint.

[KLC356]

Last test before purchase of POR kit. Cleaned out with muriatic acid. I think it is a success and feel confident the POR process will work with tank.

[KLC356]

Last post for today. Found the problem with starting the car and of course it was simple.

So to recap. I tried to start by pouring some gas into carb. Just want to hear is pop to life before I start to replace engine stuff.

Could not get it to start. Found it had a spark on coil and could not figure why it would not start. A friend came by and figured it out. Carburetor flap is varnished closed so guessing it was a fuel problem. Took off carb and put some small amount of gas in manifold. Nothing. Then we checked spark plugs wires that were brand new and installed by prior owner. They were not connecting to the metal contacts- so we reinstalled old ones and....



So now to rebuild carburetor and replace hoses. But a great weekend of progress.

[basso]

Hi KLC356,
thank you for sharing your project!! I think it wil l be verry interesting

You asked for information about parts, they are not really easy to get.
( My Spider is an fuel injection and many parts are different so i cant help You here).

But when i wanded to disassemble parts i do two things:
First check the aviability ( if Your part is so rare or expensive, that a lost will turn Your Spider into a wreck ) – leave it as it is*.
Second to get informations: Most of the parts have an farbication number and the manufacturers info. And while every manuafcturer loves people who care about their old products most of them will send you explosion drawings of the product wich helps a lot to dissasemble them.

I won't last long and you are an googlecrack to find partlists and informations about your elektro-mechanical patients

My Alternator is from BOSCH and i kindly asked them to send me informations about it. An Explosion Darwing was send to me including all partnumbers. I was then able to buy new ball bearings and a new slip ring.

Some times you'll find a thread in wich someone already has done all the work and You'll only need follow him ( i have done this several times during my restauration). The Fiat Parts are also used in Lancia, Lada, Ferrari, Seat, etc....
Bosch Parts are used for Mercedes, BMW, Ford etc. If You are in need of Informations i can help you with all Stuff that is also used in an Fuel Injection Spider...

* i dont think that there are Spider parts wicht cant be found exept special parts like the brown interieur for the limited editions etc...

Im looking forward to read about your restauration !!
Basso

[KLC356]

Rear seat question.

I had seats out when I got the car. I am reupholstering them now. There are 2 tabs on rail. I am not sure what the connection point is in the car. Is it just to slide under top backrest? My old upholstery has slots cut in to accommodate them but new one does not have slots. I don’t want to cut into my new seat cover.
Can someone explain how they dealt with this.

[Frog2Spider]

Two things.
To answer your question, the upholstery will slide under the retainer and hog ring to the same rail that the retainers are attached to. From what I see, from the picture, no cutting should be necessary.
Also, you should fit a piece of burlap or carpet over the springs, under the foam. Likely not as big a deal with the rear seat, but very important for the fronts. This will prevent the springs from ‘cutting’ into the foam.
Hope this helps,
Dave

[KLC356]

It is a deceptive photo. There are 2 rails, one is tucked under foam at the front edge. So I feel i cannot pull to second visible rail without cutting slits. So I may be convincing myself to cut. If someone else has done it differently I would love to hear.
Great point on burlap but for this it really is a decorative seat or storage. No seat belts.

[KLC356]

Made the cut. Looks like the right move. Thanks focodave for tip