Some background: I bought my first (and second) Spiders this year. Before I owned them I had never worked on a car before. Part of the reason for buying them was to learn. Part of the reason for having two was so that one would always be on the road while I "learned" on the other! The 74 needed brakes - a job I completed this summer (replaced everything from the rotors out - rubber lines, calipers, pads, and springs. Embolden by my success I decided to get completely over my head and have started restoring my 74. I expect that this will be a slow and error laden process, but thought I would document some of it here.

I started a couple of weeks ago and have stripped the interior. The drivers side floor has some rust holes, which I'm going to have the body shop fix when I get it painted.



After pulling the interior I started on pulling the engine. The valve seals are leaking badly and the engine leaks oil in several places (and perhaps the transmission is as well). Also the car was almost undrivable due to a very touchy clutch.

I spent a day slowly disconnecting and labeling everything. Then I had my friend Todd come over (a long time Chevy/Ford wrencher) and we pulled the engine.



I'm going to take the head off and get it rebuilt. While being rebuilt I'm planning to replace seals and gaskets on both the engine and transmission to hopefully stop the oil leaks. I'll also be changing the clutch.

Right now I'm doing a lot of sanding and repainting small things from the interior (heater controls, ash trays, etc).

You can expect slow and erratic updates to match my slow and erratic progress!

I would not take the car any more apart, or it may never go back together

Did you do a compression or leak-down test on the engine? If the bottom end is tired, this would be the time to rebuild it.
It's called project creep

Hi Csaba,

I didn't do a compression test, probably should have - and just took the head off today and took it to be rebuilt.

I wouldn't say the project is creeping - it's running full speed!

The great thing about vacation is that you can make lots of progress on the car.

Chipped out all the rubberized coating on the interior floor - thanks to JimmyCakes for pointing out the Harbor Frieght tool he used - I got it and it worked great! Still a little more work to get the floors clean, but found a couple of rust holes and have a good idea of the condition.



Also pulled the head off and sent it out for rebuild. Here it is just before getting loaded into the car.



Also took the seats and consoles to the upholstery shop for new coverings. They should be back by late January.

Finally - a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. The first finished item on the restoration list (well almost finished - I still need a cotter pin that's on order).

Before:


And after:

Nice job on the heater control levers. Wonder if the rubber ends would clean up.

Lee and others would tell you 74 is the best year spider. But the best year is the one you love

Thanks. I tried to clean them up, but was largely unsucessful. I'm debating getting new ones but they are 6.50 each.

When I get it all together I'm sure it will bug me enough to spend the money!

Nice work man! Give more infos when You can, it is nice to folow good progress.

Csaba's reply about rebuilding a tired bottom to the engine has got me thinking. What would I do to refurbish the bottom end? Is that just new rings, new rings and pistons, new bearings? The engine is out and getting disassembled, so there is no better time than now to do what needs to be done.

The tops of the pistons are covered in black grime, and the guy doing my head is unconvinced that the valve seals leaking is the source of the crud he saw on the valves and plugs. I'm already planning to replace a number of seals and gaskets because there is a serious amount of oil that has leaked all over the engine (and underside of the car).

Thoughts on what I should be doing?

Kinda have to ask oneself what am I prepared to spend. I personally don't believe a set of con-rod and crank bearings are too expensive and thrust washers(2).... change there is good. Clean pistons, hone cylinders and change piston rings. The previous, one can do themselves with a manual and tools including torque wrench.
Think about shaving the flywheel of a few pounds while it is getting re surfaced for the clutch. I thought a full gasket kit has all the replacement seals as well. If you can, check the flatness of the block, I'd be thinking it would likely be ok though. I'd like to think a freshen would give you a chance to do the work yourself and honestly it is not difficult, just ask questions and have a or a couple of manuals handy. Fridge complete with instalation fluid sometimes is an attractant for nearby fiat gear heads.
Have fun
Chris

Did it smoke before?? Did it run OK? Did it knock?
If it didn't smoke, ran ok and didn't knock, it is likely a reasonable motor. So now it depends on what you want. If you want project creep, rebuild it. If you do rebuild it, #1, you need a ridge reamer, and you need to buy a decent book on engine overhaul.
If you wish to run it the way it is, it will likely work fine for a long time.
My 72 puffs a bit of smoke when starting, I have other things to worry about.
Keith

mine puffs smoke also when shes cold started
its a valve seal

Thanks for the input. It smoked a lot when first started and smoked a little while running. I was told that was due to leaking valve seals - so I pulled the head and it is off getting rebuilt. However the shop rebuilding the head told me they thought it was unlikely that all the gunk on the valves was just due to leaky valve seals.

I'll do more research and reading, but it's sounding like it's a good opportunity to at least change rings and bearings.

I'd also be interested in thoughts on getting rid of the carbon deposits on top of the pistons. Not a great picture, but you can see they are very crusted. A wooden stick doesn't even dent the deposit.

I wouldn't worry about the carbon build-up. However, I would examine the area around #1, it looks like a coolant leak in that area sometime in the past. While your head is at the machine shop, they will undoubtedly check it for flatness, and remove a few thousandths if necessary. That plus a quality head gasket should solve that problem. Don't lose the two locating pins between the head and block, and absolutely don't lose them down an oil galley!

Very true about "project creep" How much money do you plan on investing on this project? For example, if you're doing a show-car paint job, you should go for a completely fresh engine, too. It does not appear that your pan is dented, a common occurrence, which involves a broken oil pickup and usually spun bearings. The bottom end of these engines is very sturdy, with five main bearings and a lot of oil, so if the car's never been run without oil pressure or some other Stupid Previous Owner tricks, you should be good to go on your budget rebuild. Rings are cheap, and so is a PlasticGauge to check the mains, but only if you are nervous.

If it were mine, I would install new rings and bearings. Bring each piston up to TDC and wipe off the carbon with brake cleaner or carb cleaner. Be a shame to put a newly reworked head on that mess.

My seats are back from the upholsterer. The picture doesn't do them justice - I'm pretty happy with them.

He also painted the center console to match the color of the leather on the seats.





Too bad they're going to sit for a while waiting for me to do the rest of the car!

I've also decided to take the block to someone who knows what they are doing, so I spent a few hours building a transportation stand that will let me move the engine. It's basically a trapezoid that fits around the oil pan - lip of the pan on the trapezoid. It's mounted to a piece of plywood with handles so it can be lifted, and a couple of assemblies to bolt the engine mounts to. I forgot to take a picture, but will try to do that soon.