68 Spider rear axle conversion?

[fiathead]

I am considering buying a 1968 124 Spider that is currently disassembled. I have had several spiders over the years and am very comfortable with the restoration work with one exception. The current owner is not sure if the original drive shaft is available. I know the early Spiders had a torque tube style drive shaft setup that is different than the later cars. I do not know if this presents a huge problem though. If the car is missing the original drive shaft, can a later style rear end be swapped in or are they hugely different? I'm hoping that the suspension pick up points will be the same as on my 69 Spider and that it will just take bolting in new parts. But, having said that, I don't know if the early cars had a panhard rod and even if they did, do the bolt to the same location as on the later cars.

Any early Spider owners out there that have dealt with this?

Thanks,
Tim

[vandor]

They had a panhard rod, but because of the torque tube they did not have the upper trailing arms, and therefore there are no mounting points on the body. I suppose you can measure your other Spider and see where you need to reinforce the boxsection and drill holes for the upper trailing arms, if it comes to that.
FWIW, I think I have at least the rear section of a '68 driveshaft, may have the front too.

[fiathead]

They had a panhard rod, but because of the torque tube they did not have the upper trailing arms, and therefore there are no mounting points on the body. I suppose you can measure your other Spider and see where you need to reinforce the boxsection and drill holes for the upper trailing arms, if it comes to that.
FWIW, I think I have at least the rear section of a '68 driveshaft, may have the front too.

Thanks Csaba. After getting more info on this car, I've decided to pass on it. It looks like it has major rust issues in the shock tower areas and while anything can be fixed given adequate skill and money, I'm just not looking for that type of a project.

Tim