68 Spider Restoration

[fiathead]

This is chassis number AS0005741 and there is no data plate in the door jamb area. There is no evidence of one having been there.

[fiathead]

Tim, I'm in the midst of restoring a 68 Spider as well. Chassis no. AS0006106. This has been a looooong term project but I have every intention to Git-r-done. I just thought that you and I could provide "encouragement" to each other one way or another in our efforts. I continuously look for and accumulate spare parts for these cars. I have most of what I need to complete the body work and have fabricated the middle layer of the rocker "assembly". I also have made templates of the patch panels needed to cap off the front and rear ends of the rocker assembly.

I'm happy to share some pictures and information with you if it will help in getting one of these early cars back on the road safely.

Keith

That's a great idea Keith. I've been accumulating spares for the early Spiders as well and may be able to help with stuff you have not been able to find for your project. Any info you have regarding sill repair would be very much appreciated. I'll post photos of the project as it goes and hopefully we will see two 68s back on the road again.

[KeithVZ]

This is chassis number AS0005741 and there is no data plate in the door jamb area. There is no evidence of one having been there.

I must second that! My 68 has no identifying information in the door jamb area. The chassis number appears twice at the right rear of the engine bay just above the heater hose connections. Once stamped into the metal cross brace and once on the metal identification placard screwed to that same cross brace just beneath the first stamp.

Speaking of metal placards, the Emissions/Tune-up placard (riveted on cross member in front of radiator) on my car is faded beyond my desire. I was thinking about having reproductions made of this part. I've seen other repros and stickers but they are for the 1600 and 1800 series cars.

Keith

[fiathead]

The second Vin placard is missing on my 68, but it is there on my 69. The radiator support data plate is in good condition on my 69, but very bad on my 68.

[fiathead]

I've been exploring the firewall area on this car and it looks like someone either tried to, or had run a larger engine in this car. The sides of the transmission tunnel have been hammered out a couple of inches. The passenger side was really hammered out over an area the size of a volley ball. The drivers side is more like a softball sized area, but it encroaches on the gas pedal to the point where I don't know if you could drive the car without your foot being against the tunnel. Once carpeting and insulation are installed, it would probably run against the pedal. Up front, the radiator support has been hammered down in the back to make room for a larger radiator. None of this work was done with any level of skill. It's all pretty crude.

The deeper I dig into this car, the more likely it is that I'll part it out instead of trying to restore it. Still though, I won't decide for sure until I've gone through it completely and developed a list of what it would take to bring it back to life. I did see a '78 up in Wisconsin that could make a good chassis donor but I don't know what I'd have when I was done if I went that route.

[fiathead]

I started to inspect the passenger side today and have found that the drivers side was the good side of the car. I really don't know why this car does not fold into itself when I open the doors.

[KeithVZ]

Tim,
At least you keep a sense of humor about the project. I was hopeful to be encouraging but now I'm wondering about condolences . I have to admit that my project got to be bigger than I first hoped too but I got too deep (or too dumb) to quit. If you decide to part the car, I'd be more than happy to provide a part transplant service

Keith

[fiathead]

I don't know how I could approach a project like this without a sense of humor. Oddly, I am still optimistic about the results. Csaba has a set of sill sections that are exactly what this car needs. Add a set of shock towers, every exterior patch panel known to man and about 200 lbs of sheet steel and this little car will be solid again. At that point I only have to buy an interior, suspension, brakes, and rebuild the engine.

[Weelan]

... At that point I only have to buy an interior, suspension, brakes, and rebuild the engine.

Oh, that's all? hahaha that's like, the whole car hahaha. Sounds really fun though. I need to learn how to weld. And rebuild an engine.

[fiathead]

... At that point I only have to buy an interior, suspension, brakes, and rebuild the engine.

Oh, that's all? hahaha that's like, the whole car hahaha. Sounds really fun though. I need to learn how to weld. And rebuild an engine.

No, it's not the whole car. The headlight trim rings are pretty nice on this car. One of the door handles may not need replaced too, so it's definitely not the whole car.

[Weelan]

Woah!! That's a great car then! haha. As long as you have fun that's what counts. plus, bringing a spider back on the road is a great thing.

[fiathead]

I cannot imagine why anyone would start a restoration project if they where not having fun doing it. I wanted this project for the restoration work more than the end result. Sure, I have a clear mental image of what it can be like when done, but the goal for me is the journey, not the destination.

This project will test and extend some skills I've either never developed well or have let get a bit dusty. I passed welding tests back in the 80s when getting my aircraft mechanics license, but then did little welding after that. I used to be quite good at sheet metal fabrication, but let those skills go cold when I went from a sheet metal repairman on aircraft, through inspection, engineering and then into the IT field. I really enjoyed sheet metal fabrication and want to get back into it with this project. The big difference between then and now is that back in the day, I had over a million dollars in tools available if needed, where as now I'm down to a pair of tin snips and a hammer. Well, maybe a bit more than that, but not much.

The biggest investment in this project for the first year or so will be in tooling. I'll never approach the shop I used to work out of, but I'm guessing I won't need a million dollar hydro press to do what I need to do. Sure would be nice to have one around, but that just isn't going to happen so I need to dust off the old school fab methods I was taught 30 years ago.

I'll admit that there are days when I look at the project and see a world of heartache if it goes badly, but there are also days when I think I need to stop looking at the whole project and focus on one job at a time. I'll do a thorough inspection and write up everything I find so I know what I have before dropping another dollar on the project. But, once that is done and if I determine I want to move forward, it will be one small project after another. To look at the whole thing can be overwhelming. Even if I decide to part the car out, I'll use the chassis to practice fabrication and welding skills on for a while first.

I'm thinking that there is little that can go wrong in the garage (as long as I'm working safely) that cannot be fixed by a good martini afterwords. My biggest fear in this project is the wife discovering how much I'm planning on spending on tooling. That could be a life changing event!

[RRoller123]

Yes, it is all about the journey. Good luck and have fun!

[RRoller123]

Yes, it is all about the journey. Good luck and have fun!

[fiathead]

Today was a pretty good day for the Spider. I think I've found my new favorite tool of the day in a pressure blaster. I picked up a Harbor Freight 20lb pressure blaster to go with the soda blaster I bought last week. The soda blaster is a lot of fun and even did a nice job degreasing the transmission. But, the pressure blaster let me see clean metal under the sills. I've been looking at nothing but rust since bringing the Spider home and now I'm seeing a bit of shiny metal under there. I can weld what I see. I think my job over the next couple of weeks will be to disassemble and then do some form of cleaning to see what is there.

At worst, once all the rust is gone, I have a few parts remaining. At best, there will be a restorable little car under all of that ugliness.