I have a 75 Spider that needs some love. I also have a 78 to donate to it. The reason I chose to stick with the 75 is that I live in Cali and 75 does not need smog but 78 does. I want to do some of the work myself, but not all.

Is it easy enough to remove the front quarter panels that I could do it at home?

Also, I get wet when it rains. I'm having trouble telling if it's the windshield seal or the top seal. The guy that sold me the car thought it needed a windshield gasket, but it looks like the top seal doesn't match up as good on the drivers side as it does on the passenger side so I'm not 100% convinced. Best way to check?

My goal would be to get the car to the point where I could have a pro do any light body work (sanding etc) and then paint it up because it's so damned expensive to have them do all the work for an old car like this.

The front quarter's are welded on, there are repair sections available if you can't fabricate your own.
The top seal is prone to leak, i tested mine with a garden hose after replacement, these are cheap enough to change or you can try adjusting the clips that hold the top to the windscreen frame.

Yeah my roomate told me they were welded n too. I guess I was just hoping that if I posted a message they'd magically convert over to some simple bolt-on design like on my old scout. Oh well, cutting and welding metal is beyond my skill level. I suppose I have to go browse craigslist for an out-of-work body guy. (I'll just have to remember to reword the ad or I may get the wrong kind of responses on craigslist...)

The thing is, a good body guy is never out of work, espeically if you are looking for a pro who has experience on classic cars. To fix up this kind of cars, you've got to either be able to do everything yourself, or have tons of time and fund avaiable.

reg71 wrote:Yeah my roomate told me they were welded n too. I guess I was just hoping that if I posted a message they'd magically convert over to some simple bolt-on design like on my old scout. Oh well, cutting and welding metal is beyond my skill level. I suppose I have to go browse craigslist for an out-of-work body guy. (I'll just have to remember to reword the ad or I may get the wrong kind of responses on craigslist...)

turns out my roomate already has the tools to do it and has done it before. also my cousin told me he has a good paint guy that he uses up in the south bay are for classic muscle cars so my plan at least for now is to see how hard it is to get the quarter panel off the donor car and see if I can do it with help. If it looks like I'm gonna screw it up, I'll take it to a pro. we shall see. I have been driving the hell out of that little car, though. think I'm deaf from the wind noise, though.

Well, I thought I'd update this a bit. We have so far removed the windshield and frame, the doors, the left front fender, the grill and undergrill part(dunno the name) the trim, the badges, the taillights, the roll bar, and will soon take the tires from the donor car.

Oh I forgot, we also took out the center console to freshen it up a bit.

I guess that leaves, transplanting best parts to the 75, cleanup and trim removal from it then to the painter.

We are taking pics as we go and I'll try and put up a build thread when we have something worth looking at.

Useless thread without pics