Spyder restoration - long time coming

[peteracs]

Peter, re. the plastic part that fits in the door, i've seen these with a steel roller perhaps from later cars?

I think that,if a roller could be turned, making a fresh unit may be feasable.

Thoughts from a while back.

Hi Nigel

Would be interesting to see it, though that sounds more expensive than the plastic one, so maybe earlier (would be Series 1 if so as my car is very early S2).

I reassembled and fitted the ones I ‘modified’ above and they work very nicely thank you, so another job ticked off. Long way still to go, but still enjoying it after all this time, even if some jobs present significant frustration.

Peter

[peteracs]

As I was working on the doors, I thought I would address the plastic covers for the two large holes in the doors which give access to the winder and opening mechanism. I had kept one set of the originals which were not in the best of states, but used them to make up 2 sets of new ones. I used some heavy gauge black PVC which is used in damp coursing that I happened to have and cut out the shapes. One is pretty symmetrical, the larger is not, but is simply a mirror image for either door. After cutting them out the tricky bit is how they attach at the bottom which is via some tabs which appear to be ‘welded’ on the originals. I used a strip of the PVC for these tabs and slit the covers in the same place as original tab and using glue attached the tabs which should be good enough to keep water away from the doorcards which is the covers main job in life. My gluing skills are not too hot, but it did get the job done  as can be seen in the photo below. The green covers are the originals, the black the new ones (one side).

[peteracs]

As the covers need to be stuck in place, I am not quite at the point I can install them yet. The last job I need to do is to install the door rearward lights which are located just below the lock. As mine is an early S2 it still has the actual light, not a simple reflector that the later cars do. The circuit is enabled via the door switch. I have not seen many of these lights come up for sale and of the two I had in the car, one was badly stuck together, so took me ages to separate and then clean it. The other was much more accommodating and was simply a case of strip and then clean all the under seal gunk out of it. Photo of the lights are below.

There is one other large hole in the door and that is the hole for the speaker, which I had no intention of using. However the original cover was a simple PVC sheet over the hole which did not seem to be well thought out as it would allow water to collect at the lower edge. As it happened I bought a bunch of spares many years ago now in which came 2 off Wipac speaker pods, new with seals and they with some chopping about fit the holes perfectly and give a decent seal. Not a perfect solution, but good enough and does give me the option of speakers if I so desire. Photo of one of them installed below. I may still have some more cutting to do along the bottom edge as not offered up the door card or lower trim to it yet.

Last job is one I have looked forward to for a very long time. Back in 2010/11 I went through all the seals for the door, bonnet, boot etc and decided what could be reused and what needed replacing. I then visited Woolies and bought what I needed from their range. Not exact matches, but they looked close enough to do the job. I finally managed to start using them today and installed the boot seal which appears to fit perfectly, full result. Must now finish off the trim in the boot now as just need to glue the side covers on.

[Nigel]

Peter, re. the plastic part that fits in the door, i've seen these with a steel roller perhaps from later cars?

I think that,if a roller could be turned, making a fresh unit may be feasable.

Thoughts from a while back.

Hi Nigel

Would be interesting to see it, though that sounds more expensive than the plastic one, so maybe earlier (would be Series 1 if so as my car is very early S2).

I reassembled and fitted the ones I ‘modified’ above and they work very nicely thank you, so another job ticked off. Long way still to go, but still enjoying it after all this time, even if some jobs present significant frustration.

Peter

Upon a rummage, I found this. I was mistaken in that the roller is nylon, but the cage is very steel!

[peteracs]

Hi Nigel

Definitely not seen one of those and may be cheaper to produce than the ones I have hence for later cars? I assume the was some form of cover plate?

Peter

[Nigel]

Hi Nigel

Definitely not seen one of those and may be cheaper to produce than the ones I have hence for later cars? I assume the was some form of cover plate?

Peter

I don't recall about a cover plate but quite possible. This is in a box of bits I brought
back from South Africa in 06. No part number or any other markings.I'm now wondering
whether this was an SA reproduction part.

[peteracs]

Have been doing various jobs on the car, a few still halfway through, like rekeying the locks. Still have the glovebox one to sort out, but my one and only key broke during it, so have ordered a couple from John Richard Security Products, hopefully here this coming week.

One job which I have completed after being at a standstill for a couple of weeks is the front to back brake line. I took the decision to renew all the brake lines and this is the last one I needed. I have a Sykes Pickavant flaring tool which I inherited from my father, so must be well over 30 years old. I have however had issues with the pipe not being held firmly and giving duff flares. It is also a pain to make the flare on the car, so as I only needed one more flare, I bought a cheap EBay tool kit thinking it would do the job (see first photo). If I had read more I would not have wasted my time, this does not work on Copper-Nickel pipe, just Copper which is no use. So I bought the tool in the second photo following glowing reports. This does the job no problem and is real easy to use on the car. Plenty of folk sell them, I bought via Ebay. So in theory I now have all the brakes renewed/refurbished, just need to get the rear wheels on the floor, tighten the rear brake adjuster and try bleeding the brakes. I fully expect some of the flares I have made will need some attention, but that is all part of the game.....

[peteracs]

Slight divert to sort the exhaust. I have decided to leave the standard manifold on the engine for now as I did not relish taking it off, and so assembled the down pipe I had bought a long time ago which incorporates twin flexi sections (see photo). I also bought a used stainless exhaust system from a guy who was parting out his Coupe. This was all welded up apart from the back box, and included an intermediate box, a length of stainless tube to a small flexi section which was finally welded to an original steel down pipe. I took the grinder to it and separated the intermediate box from the pipe extension from the flexi/down pipe. The new stainless down pipe with the twin flexis now mates with the extension pipe, which in et urn mates with the intermediate box all via standard/removable bolt on brackets and exhaust paste is already on the shelf. I also received the new two intermediate box hangers from a guy in Italy and the brackets for the rear exhaust are all painted and ready for the exhaust.

I also dug out the heat shield for the top of the down pipe and gave all the parts a clean and treated them to some heat tolerant paint. Not sure how effective it will be, but they certainly look better than the rusty lot of parts I started with (see second photo)!

[peteracs]

I have also started biting the bullet on a job I have been putting off for a while, that is the headlining. The original headlining was well past its best and the trimmer who recovered the chairs etc, supplied me with the material and also sewed together the pieces for the main section which is above your head and down either side near the rear hood. He also supplied some thin foam which has a material mesh backing to put under the headlining material. I have used this foam across the top of the windscreen, but I though it was too thin for the rest of the places where headlining was required. I therefore bought some thicker foam and so far so good. As expected it is taking a long time to get things all installed. My basic idea is to stick the foam to the metal surfaces and then trim to suit. Then attach the headlining using small cutoffs of U shaped trim along the lengths. Some sections require the edge of the headlining to be glued to the edges of the metal. This is for the rubber seals which are for the targa top and the rear hood as they do not provide a strong ‘clip’ effect unlike the trim around the windscreen, door etc. I will post some photos a little later!

[peteracs]

Headlining still underway, a bit like painting the Forth road bridge for me as a definite amateur. Not particularly a job I would relish doing again, however it is not coming out too bad in my eyes, others may disagree of course!

In between times have been doing a bunch of small jobs, which mainly include cleaning old grease/crap off parts and putting on some paint where needed to protect from rust. One job I realised I had not even thought of was to clean and check the seat runners. These were pretty caked in grease and fluff, one seat had all 4 rollers, the other only two. There were 7 correct bolts and one self tapper..!  So the hole will will need to be re-tapped. All the fun of the fair. Photo of cleaned up parts ready to go back on. Also dug out all the fixing washers and plates for the seats, these were also pretty grim, so more cleaning and a coat of paint to help protect them. I was considering using stainless bolts to fasten the seats to the floor of the car, but did wonder if the tensile strength of them was significantly different to normal steel bolts, any comments?

[peteracs]

I also got the Cif out to the seat belt straps which were pretty mucky, they came up a treat, as did the plastic covers for the mounts and the cleaned and painted the brackets for mounting the main inertia reel.

Lastly I removed the latches from the Targa top and gave them a clean and a tidy up lick of paint, just to the main visible surface as doing the rest would be way too difficult. Hoping to be screwing the retaining brackets, sun visors and mirror onto the roof of the car very soon now I have progressed on the headlining.

[WestonE]

Hi Peter

We are doing the same jobs on slightly different schedules! Use Plated bolts for the seat fixings not stainless as this is an area where a failure will hurt!. These will say 8.8 on the head. I have the headling joy to come once I finish the never ending soundproofing!

Eric

[peteracs]

Hi Eric

Soundproofing and Spider do not seem to go together. I have some to install over what the bodywork guys did, but doubt it will have a lot of effect, out of interest where are you installing it (everywhere?). Also are you sealing the gaps between the cabin and the boot?

Peter

[WestonE]

Hi Peter

Montecarlo experience comes into play because they are famously noisy. On mine I can now hear the stereo nicely on the move despite having a louder than standard engine! Noise is Vibration and the sources are: engine, exhaust, road. So I am using the best stick on resonance absorber Dynamat over the floor arches in the cabin and firewall. I will also add it to the doors in the sunken panel areas and to the roof in central panel spots. The boot floor has Fat Mat fitted which is cheaper but inferior. I also have to add Tiger seal spots on the boot and bonnet frames to skins and will probably add shaped dynamat triangles so they do not ring with a tap. A nice dead thunk is what you want. The Bonnet will have Mark's liner for cosmetic reasons and some sound proofing even though it has an inferior felt backing.

I am not adding lead sheet as suggested by some. Modern Manufacturers are not either!

Old images say the boots had sound proofing on the strut towers arches & inner rear wings with incredibly water holding felt on top in the corners. I will copy the factory with closed cell foam not felt! I will try to keep boot capacity and carpet fitting little changed.   

The Targa will have 4mm foam under a new acoustic cloth liner. I have various Dynamat closed cell foam with barrier skin options for over the dynamat and really wish I had kept the rotting OE Felt and tar stuff for a pattern! I will pattern it with bubble wrap because I have it.

I will put anti resonance on the panel behind the rear seats but it is lower priority.     

If a ring from a tap changes to a dead sound you are winning, but it is the dullest and slowest job ever and suited to child labour if it did not involve sharp knives and scissors!

Eric

[peteracs]

Wow, that is pretty exhaustive and I will not be going anywhere near that level. Good tip on the ting/thunk, I shall have an experiment. I too have a bonnet blanket from Mark, via Neil to fit.

On the cabin to boot are you sealing up the many open points, if so what with?

Peter

[WestonE]

Hi Peter

No I am not sealing up the panel to the boot. If I have the sound proofing right on the external surfaces it is a waste of effort IMHO.

Eric

[peteracs]

Hi Eric

Ok, I understand, will get on with the ting testing before I start on the door cards etc!

Peter

[peteracs]

As an aside today and having to stay off my feet today due to a rope burn from a dog lead on my lower leg (who would have dogs...) I decided to have a go at yet another new skill.

On these early Spiders (according to the parts book) there is a small leather strap to keep the hood latches closed. They fit onto the upper hoop of the hood frame either side of the two latches. They were only installed on the first few hundred cars on Series 2. The ones on mine were there, but in need of replacing. Essentially a piece of leather or leatherette with a stitching and a custom buckle one end and a self tapper with cup the other. I do not possess a sewing machine so it was either ask someone to do the stitching or use a sewing tool which I bought a while ago. Always nice to have a go yourself, so that was the plan. I bought a strip of black leather from Ebay and using the old piece I cut two pieces, glued them together and marked out the hole positions and then spent a few hours stitching. The photo shows the result with the old studs attached (not brilliant, but passable) the stud which goes into the frame, the old strap and the sewing needle used. This type of hand sewing needle is good for small repairs to any areas such as seats etc. And you can attach varying sizes of needle. I just have to make a second one now.....

[peteracs]

Hi Peter

Use Plated bolts for the seat fixings not stainless as this is an area where a failure will hurt!. These will say 8.8 on the head.

Eric

Hi Eric

I am guessing you mean the bolts from the runners to the seats? I will reuse the original bolts for that. I was meaning the bolts to the floor pan, which after recently reading Matt’s how to on refurbishing the runners, I realised they were the Allan headed bolts which are shown below and I have plenty of!

Here is a link to Matt’s how to

https://www.betaboyz.myzen.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=379.0

Peter

[WestonE]

Hi Peter

I am glad you found the right bolts for the seats. I received the Torneau today. Please can you PM me how much you need for the shipping.

Thank you again

Eric