My late mid-life crisis 77 Spider

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Nanonevol
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Your car is a: 1977 Fiat 124 Spider
Location: Medway, Massachusetts

Re: My late mid-life crisis 77 Spider

Postby Nanonevol » Sat May 23, 2015 7:33 pm

I hope it doesn't come to that. That would be another first for me. Know anyone with real strong arms?
1977 Fiat Spider
1985 Jaguar XJ6
1967 Triumph Bonneville (hard-tail chopper)
1966 BSA Lightning

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RRoller123
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Your car is a: 1980 FI SPIDER 2000
Location: SAGAMORE BEACH, MA USA

Re: My late mid-life crisis 77 Spider

Postby RRoller123 » Sun May 24, 2015 5:34 am

I sold my engine crane a little too soon. But they are pretty inexpensive down at HF in Attleberry.
'80 FI Spider 2000
'74 and '79 X1/9 (past)
'75 BMW R75/6
2011 Chevy Malibu (daily driver)
2010 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Ext Cab 4WD/STD BED
2002 Edgewater 175CC 80HP 4-Stroke Yamaha
2003 Jaguar XK8
2003 Jaguar XKR
2021 Jayco 22RB
2019 Bianchi Torino Bicycle

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Nanonevol
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Your car is a: 1977 Fiat 124 Spider
Location: Medway, Massachusetts

Re: My late mid-life crisis 77 Spider

Postby Nanonevol » Sun May 24, 2015 6:38 am

Haven't given up trying to crack that bolt yet. I love HF. I go to the one in Worcester. I've developed a tool fetish and am tempted to buy some kind of engine lift. My New England thrift side says to park it under a tree limb and rig up a winch.
1977 Fiat Spider
1985 Jaguar XJ6
1967 Triumph Bonneville (hard-tail chopper)
1966 BSA Lightning

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RRoller123
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Your car is a: 1980 FI SPIDER 2000
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Re: My late mid-life crisis 77 Spider

Postby RRoller123 » Sun May 24, 2015 7:12 am

That is good but you can't roll the tree back too easily.
'80 FI Spider 2000
'74 and '79 X1/9 (past)
'75 BMW R75/6
2011 Chevy Malibu (daily driver)
2010 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Ext Cab 4WD/STD BED
2002 Edgewater 175CC 80HP 4-Stroke Yamaha
2003 Jaguar XK8
2003 Jaguar XKR
2021 Jayco 22RB
2019 Bianchi Torino Bicycle

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Nanonevol
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Your car is a: 1977 Fiat 124 Spider
Location: Medway, Massachusetts

Re: My late mid-life crisis 77 Spider

Postby Nanonevol » Sun May 24, 2015 6:28 pm

Just had to man up and give this a yank. You have to believe it will crack off.
Image
Not surprised the transmission isn't just falling off the car. I'm using the shake, shimmy and pull method. I have a HF transmission jack under it. Should the motor have a jack supporting it too? Any tips on separating this trans from the car?
Last edited by Nanonevol on Tue Sep 19, 2017 11:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
1977 Fiat Spider
1985 Jaguar XJ6
1967 Triumph Bonneville (hard-tail chopper)
1966 BSA Lightning

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RRoller123
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Your car is a: 1980 FI SPIDER 2000
Location: SAGAMORE BEACH, MA USA

Re: My late mid-life crisis 77 Spider

Postby RRoller123 » Sun May 24, 2015 7:41 pm

Motor mounts in place?

It looks like the wrong bolt was used, not anything to do with the threads, thus the washers to fool it into thinking it is a short bolt.
'80 FI Spider 2000
'74 and '79 X1/9 (past)
'75 BMW R75/6
2011 Chevy Malibu (daily driver)
2010 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Ext Cab 4WD/STD BED
2002 Edgewater 175CC 80HP 4-Stroke Yamaha
2003 Jaguar XK8
2003 Jaguar XKR
2021 Jayco 22RB
2019 Bianchi Torino Bicycle

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Nanonevol
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Posts: 828
Joined: Thu Nov 13, 2014 9:17 am
Your car is a: 1977 Fiat 124 Spider
Location: Medway, Massachusetts

Re: My late mid-life crisis 77 Spider

Postby Nanonevol » Sun May 24, 2015 8:09 pm

Exactly right. I think maybe they didn't use enough washers and that's why the block cracked.
1977 Fiat Spider
1985 Jaguar XJ6
1967 Triumph Bonneville (hard-tail chopper)
1966 BSA Lightning

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RRoller123
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Your car is a: 1980 FI SPIDER 2000
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Re: My late mid-life crisis 77 Spider

Postby RRoller123 » Mon May 25, 2015 6:26 am

The crack looks on the outside of the thread channel and doesn't leak any oil?
'80 FI Spider 2000
'74 and '79 X1/9 (past)
'75 BMW R75/6
2011 Chevy Malibu (daily driver)
2010 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Ext Cab 4WD/STD BED
2002 Edgewater 175CC 80HP 4-Stroke Yamaha
2003 Jaguar XK8
2003 Jaguar XKR
2021 Jayco 22RB
2019 Bianchi Torino Bicycle

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Nanonevol
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Your car is a: 1977 Fiat 124 Spider
Location: Medway, Massachusetts

Re: My late mid-life crisis 77 Spider

Postby Nanonevol » Mon May 25, 2015 7:04 am

Nope. Hasn't leaked and looks like the bolt still has plenty of solid metal to thread into. I'll find the correct bolt for reassembly without all those washers. Current issue is wobbling that trans off the block. There's about an inch or less gap. I've got a jack on the shallow, back part of the oil pan and the trans is supported. Trying not to let it hang on the shaft in any way. Wondering how long that shaft is.
1977 Fiat Spider
1985 Jaguar XJ6
1967 Triumph Bonneville (hard-tail chopper)
1966 BSA Lightning

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RRoller123
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Your car is a: 1980 FI SPIDER 2000
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Re: My late mid-life crisis 77 Spider

Postby RRoller123 » Mon May 25, 2015 11:08 am

Someone else can chime in who has done this before (not I) but I wonder if you could loosen the engine mounting bolts to allow the system to tilt a little and make it easier to remove the gearbox? Watch out supporting the oilpan anywhere, it is thin and will easily dent.
'80 FI Spider 2000
'74 and '79 X1/9 (past)
'75 BMW R75/6
2011 Chevy Malibu (daily driver)
2010 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Ext Cab 4WD/STD BED
2002 Edgewater 175CC 80HP 4-Stroke Yamaha
2003 Jaguar XK8
2003 Jaguar XKR
2021 Jayco 22RB
2019 Bianchi Torino Bicycle

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azruss
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Your car is a: 80 Fiat 2000 FI

Re: My late mid-life crisis 77 Spider

Postby azruss » Mon May 25, 2015 11:58 am

Yes, loosen the motor mounts on one end. you can jack the front of the engine up by using a piece of plywood on the front lip of the pan and jack up with a floor jack. watch the back top of the engine as it will make contact with the firewall. at this point no more jacking. This does buy you a lot of room for removal. The newer cars seem to have a longer tranny tunnel to help. Once you have 1" of separation, the tranny should fallout. make sure the alignment between the motor or tranny stay true so you aren't binding up the splines. I have also unbolted the drive shaft from the rear end and pulled it out of the guibo. It helps to have the tranny in neutral, so you can rotate the guibo to the sweet spot for removing the bolts.
That seems like a lot of oil out of the front of the diffy. My guess is your front seal is a goner. This is not a simple replacement as how tight the nut is after replacement is critical. Read up on it before you decide to do it.

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Nanonevol
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Your car is a: 1977 Fiat 124 Spider
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Re: My late mid-life crisis 77 Spider

Postby Nanonevol » Mon May 25, 2015 3:58 pm

Thanks, that was a good tip to jack the front engine. The gap was wider at the top. I must be close, no?
Passenger side
Image
Top drivers side
Image
But it wont F'in come off!
Last edited by Nanonevol on Tue Sep 19, 2017 11:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
1977 Fiat Spider
1985 Jaguar XJ6
1967 Triumph Bonneville (hard-tail chopper)
1966 BSA Lightning

User avatar
Nanonevol
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Joined: Thu Nov 13, 2014 9:17 am
Your car is a: 1977 Fiat 124 Spider
Location: Medway, Massachusetts

Re: My late mid-life crisis 77 Spider

Postby Nanonevol » Tue May 26, 2015 7:41 pm

I'm stuck. I've heard other people having trouble at this point separating the transmission from the motor but never any descriptions of what methods are used to make it happen. The inch or so I've gotten is by prying and shaking with a big screwdriver and a crowbar. I'm trying with jacks to keep the two what I think is aligned. This is a splined shaft in a splined hole I imagine. Bigger crowbar? More brute force? Any advice from experience would be greatly appreciated.
1977 Fiat Spider
1985 Jaguar XJ6
1967 Triumph Bonneville (hard-tail chopper)
1966 BSA Lightning

User avatar
RRoller123
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Posts: 8179
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Your car is a: 1980 FI SPIDER 2000
Location: SAGAMORE BEACH, MA USA

Re: My late mid-life crisis 77 Spider

Postby RRoller123 » Tue May 26, 2015 8:23 pm

Haven't done this myself, but it is probably an alignment issue?
'80 FI Spider 2000
'74 and '79 X1/9 (past)
'75 BMW R75/6
2011 Chevy Malibu (daily driver)
2010 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Ext Cab 4WD/STD BED
2002 Edgewater 175CC 80HP 4-Stroke Yamaha
2003 Jaguar XK8
2003 Jaguar XKR
2021 Jayco 22RB
2019 Bianchi Torino Bicycle

User avatar
Nanonevol
Patron 2018
Patron 2018
Posts: 828
Joined: Thu Nov 13, 2014 9:17 am
Your car is a: 1977 Fiat 124 Spider
Location: Medway, Massachusetts

Re: My late mid-life crisis 77 Spider

Postby Nanonevol » Wed May 27, 2015 11:46 am

Maybe so. How does one know? I've got the trans about an inch away from the motor. It would be way cool if someone could tell me if I'm close.
1977 Fiat Spider
1985 Jaguar XJ6
1967 Triumph Bonneville (hard-tail chopper)
1966 BSA Lightning


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