I've been partially restoring my 1973 Spider since I bought it in November for $2000, and it's finally ready to be back out on the road. The car has the rare (although worse than a 1608cc) 1592cc motor, 94,000 miles, and was originally painted in dark blue. I'm doing what I can to refinish parts and restore the car to original spec, while learning how to fix everything along the way.
A little list of work I've completed
- Changed the oil
- New spark plugs
- fresh valve cover gaskets
- brand new gear reduction starter
- replaced clock glass, center dash, and glovebox lock mechanism.
- new driveline flex joint (guibo)
- New upper shifter bushings, added a shift boot.
- All new ball joints and bushings, sanded all front suspension down to metal and repainted.
- new tires all around
- lots and lots of cleaning
- filed and sanded the ratchet mechanism of the handbrake to fix stripped mechanism
- new swaybar bushings
- filled and set tension on steering gearbox and idler.
- new transmission fluid, transmission pan gasket
- new differential fluid.
It's been an awesome experience, and I've gone from having a very basic knowledge of working on my car to being pretty confident in my abilities. There's countless more things which are old, crusty, worn out, and in need of replacement, so I'll be working on this car for years to come.
A big thanks to everyone on this forum who has helped me out with information, parts sourcing, and for just being friendly to a new enthusiast who still has a lot to learn.
I plan on getting the car repainted, repairing the rust on the quarter panels, and changing the throwout bearing, as well as replacing the center console, dash, and steering wheel.
It's never going to be a perfect classic, but its a perfect platform to learn on and I've fallen in love with it.
I'll attach lots of before and after photos for reference.
