A few general questions re: 75 Spider

Andy · Post by **Andy** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 7:18 pm

I've found a '75 Spider that is 45 minutes away from me. I've got a few general questions before we make the purchase, and I'm hoping you all can help.

First off, a quick background on me. I've restored a '66 Chevy BelAir, a '64 Dodge Polara 500, and most recently a '68 Chevy C10 pickup truck. So, I'm fairly comfortable around cars/engines/etc.

Before we make the purchase, I'd like to find out what the aftermarket is like for these cars. Tops, engine parts (carbs, bearings, intakes, rings, pistons, etc), body parts, interior parts, tranny...is there a good aftermarket out there?

The car in question is a '75 Spider with the 1800cc engine. About 10 years ago the owners son "spun a bearing", it knocked, and they stopped driving it. It has been inside, in storage for the past 10 years. The interior is good, body is good with little rust (esp. for a Michigan car). The windshield is cracked and will need to be replaced.

If I needed to do a full rebuild on the engine...are the parts there to do it? What about hopping up the engine with some higher performance stuff?

Any replies are greatly welcomed. I'm going to look at the car on Wednesday, and will be taking pictures (and posting them here for your enjoyment).

Edit: Forgot to add...he's asking 1500 bucks for it.

Thank you!
Regards,
Andy

Hawke187 · Post by **Hawke187** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 8:14 pm

There is a large list of good suppliers out there, and "almost" every part you may ever need can be obtained.

For a short list of places to look into parts, I can list the ones I have used and can recomend:

http://www.international-auto.com/

http://www.vickauto.com/

http://www.fiatparts.com/

http://www.funimported.com/

And here is one to avoid at all costs, unless you like being ripped off for over $500 worth of parts, and I am not alone in loosing to this POS.

All these links go to the same person / web site.

AKA Caribou Imports

http://www.esportscarparts.com/

http://www.caribou.cc/

Just to prove this is not a flame or attack on an individual follow this link to the Los Angles BBB web site with his record and list ov outstanding complaints, Be advised that the outstanding ones are just the last 90 days after that they fall off the stats, at on time there was over 100+ active complaints.

LABBB:
http://www.labbb.org/BBBWeb/Forms/Busin ... D=13109541

He also operates through Ebay as " epap"

Either way a thief is a thief....

Just thought you should know....

Andy · Post by **Andy** » Wed Jul 12, 2006 6:22 pm

Thanks for the reply.

Anyone else wanna chime in? I'm thinking 1500 bucks is a little steep for a car that doesn't run, and when it does run, 2nd gear doesn't work (he shifted from 1st to 3rd for about 10 years!).

I'm hoping he'd be happy with 1100 bucks. Going to check it out tomorrow morning.

NW75spider · Post by **NW75spider** » Wed Jul 12, 2006 6:28 pm

I'm out in Washington State, and I bought a 75 with a bad engine yesterday for $250. I bought a 75 with a good engine but no interior for $600. I'm thinking if the engine and transmission are bad, it is not worth more than $500. There have been several for sale (many different model years) that were fully running and in decent to excellent condition for $1500 - $2500 around here.

Andy · Post by **Andy** » Wed Jul 12, 2006 7:17 pm

NW75spider wrote:I'm out in Washington State, and I bought a 75 with a bad engine yesterday for $250. I bought a 75 with a good engine but no interior for $600. I'm thinking if the engine and transmission are bad, it is not worth more than $500. There have been several for sale (many different model years) that were fully running and in decent to excellent condition for $1500 - $2500 around here.

Cool, thanks for the reply.

One question - are rust free cars hard to come by out there? Here a truly rust free car is worth it's weight in gold...they use salt in the winter (not that this car should have been driven in the winter...but...), and they use a LOT of it. I'm thinking since he says the body is good, that's where he's looking to recoup his money from. I'll know more tomorrow...thanks for your reply!

So Cal Mark · Post by **So Cal Mark** » Wed Jul 12, 2006 10:42 pm

lots of rust free cars here in Calif. Unless the body and interior were xlnt, I wouldn't pay $1500 either. Prices really seem to vary around the country depending on the market, but here on the west coast that car would probably only bring $500 or so.
You can spend $1500-$2500 on the engine, and $1000 or more on the tranny to get them both working properly again

NW75spider · Post by **NW75spider** » Wed Jul 12, 2006 11:56 pm

Salt pretty much is not in use in Washington State. On the west side of the state, they tend to use a chemical deicer which does not appear to harm cars.

Both of the 75's I bought have a little surface rust, and a couple of body panel rust holes, but none are all that big. Good luck on your search!