74 Spider resto

**gigem75** · #1 (**permalink**) 10-27-2009, 03:13 PM

Well I guess I am officially certifiable. Around 27 years ago I had a 74 GTV and was driving on a back country road near my house when out of the corner of my eye I notice two small cars in a shed so I pull over. Turns out they were two spiders and after talking to the owner I decided he wanted to much for them and besides I had a youngun on the way and didn't have anyplace to put another Alfa. So last Sunday I'm out for a nice drive in the 77 Spider I just finished and decided to go by the place where the spiders were 27 years ago. They were gone but I did knock on the door and talked to the gentleman who answered the door. He had worked for the man who used to own the place and knew about the cars so he gave me his phone number. I called. Now I'm back home and own another Alfa. The second one is gone, he sent it to the crusher! ouch! The remaining car has been in a storage container for the last 13 years nice and dry, the car has one little rust spot in the passenger side foot well, other than that it's all there, straight and never been wrecked. I made him an offer and he didn't take it, we were only 200 apart but he did mention he had a spare motor that was stored in another place. You all would have cried, there was an alfa crankshaft covered in rust!!! I almost shot him, anyway there is a good block, head, basically a good clean motor except for the rusted crank, even had new bearing shells but they are shot, the spica is also shot but then underneath there is an intake manifold with two webers on it. I went up a hundred and he came down a hundred. I'll pick the car up Thursday. So here we go again!!!!

**daveydog** · #2 (**permalink**) 10-27-2009, 07:09 PM

Hey there gigem fer shure you're a Texan what with all the horseshoes you have for good luck! Long hair sure used to pick up the girls back in the day but now that it's all on the floor what mojo you using there man? Alfas are chick magnets and here you are picking up Alfas. What's happening, some reverse polarity or what??
I gotta start scouring the countryside in my environs, maybe i'll pick up a nice barn find. Shee it! You gonna keep going until you own a fleet? You'll still need that Berlina or Super hey

.

**gigem75** · #3 (**permalink**) 10-27-2009, 07:45 PM

I have this uncanny nack for pissing off women, they just seem to get mad at me, I can't imagine why

I've always been faithful and I'm not kidding there and at this stage of the game it's just to damn much trouble trying to please em, sparks are gonna have to fly before I take any kind of plunge into that minefield, not to mention all the good ones are taken, guess I'll have to wait until someone croaks

before I ride in that rodeo again.

**daveydog** · #4 (**permalink**) 10-28-2009, 07:25 PM

Okay, let's face the facts. All men will eventually piss off all women. It's a known fact that they are wired differently than us (as if we didn't all know this already

). Us guys meet the babes, the babes are totally into us for a while and then decide that there's a few areas that might need to be changed or obliterated forever. So most of us guys out of ignorance or sheer love(lust?) figure that the change will do us good so why not? We love them right?
Well let me tell ya that once you change the way they want you to be, then they get a wee bit bored, what with all the predictability that we subservient males project, and they get really BORED.
Okay all you guys reading this, get the facts: Don't let your female significant other tell you what to do and how to do it or in the end you're going to be left behind by these frivolous creatures. You gotta love them for what they are but never let them get in the way of your life and your ambitions.
What's that Honey? Okay guys I gotta go now. Dishes need doing heh eh heh heh...

**Super1600** · #5 (**permalink**) 10-28-2009, 09:36 PM

Way to go Gigem, you sure soon will have as Davey suggests a fleet, and he is right, that you will need soon a practical car to carry all those parts for all your sportscars, and how can you go past a Berlina or a Giulia for this purpose. Ask Andrew he knows all about collecting these models.

Now I must admit Davey man, you sure had better hope that the wifey doesn't keep too close an eye to your entries here on the BB or man you might need to provide her with a little more than Happy Hour and getting those dishes done. heh heh

I tell you what guys though, my missus seems to think that the BB must be my new mistress, given the time I spend catching up with all your projects, and information on our beloved Alfas. She doesn't get it, but whoa if I try to even suggest something similar re the amount of time she spends lookin at Fleabay for new clothing, house decoration items etc etc. Mind you, as we all know woman love to shop, and if they can't buy they also like to look. For us guys it is in and out as fast as possible of a clothing shop, thats for sure.

The hardware store or auto shop, well yes that is another thing entirely and perfectly justifiable given we end up doing the rennovations, maintenance etc.

Now I have to admit I too nearly succumbed to adding another Alfa to the stable recently, from Buzzed, as he had one Alfetta GT too many, but regrettably I couldn't quite raise the readies to meet his price. Oh well I heard it went to a good home so thats cool

and as my brother suggested I could always use the $$$ I had thought of spending on getting the Alfetta GT, on one of my projects and sensibly he is correct. I had thought it might be a quicker way of getting a car for club speed events, but on reflection his advice is practical. Though of course he can talk given his collection of 70 + cars !! No kidding.

So and back to Gig's thread, we want to see photos of your new acquisition and impressions of what it is like in comparison to your other spider. I just hope you have the garage space, as the lack of this and wondering how to hide the car from the wifey was also at the back of my mind in considering the Alfetta GT.

**gigem75** · #6 (**permalink**) 10-30-2009, 07:24 PM

As promised some photos. The webers will need some major work. I got one throttle shaft free but the other one is being mean. Whoever did this had some kind of adaptor to fit them to a spica manifold which means I'm looking for a euro manifold if anyone has one???? I'm in no rush on this one and the only rust is on the right side foot well which after the other two should be a piece of cake to repair. Been disassembling the carbs so have not done a compression check yet, that's next on the list. Also anyone have any recommendations as to purschase weber parts? The throttle shafts are basically time welded to the body.

I might actually have to sell this one to make room for the Berlina

**Super1600** · #7 (**permalink**) 10-31-2009, 12:57 AM

The spider looks to be in pretty good condition Gig, though I would suggest deleting the rubber strip down the side of the car. Those poor webers look somewhat corroded, well especially the trumpets.

Looks like you will have plenty of garage time coming up soon

OntheRoad · #8 (**permalink**) 10-31-2009, 09:06 PM

For a barn/container find, that car looks pretty darn good. I remember similar door trim strips on a Ford LTD we had of about the same vintage..... looked kinda cheesy then too, and that wasn't nearly as pretty a car LOL.

I would be interested to see how those Webers come apart, and what it takes to get them operational again. Those air horns aren't cheap to replace, but on the bright side it looks like they are the rustiest part of the whole car!

RI VELOCE · #9 (**permalink**) 11-02-2009, 05:33 PM

Also anyone have any recommendations as to purschase weber parts? The throttle shafts are basically time welded to the body.

These guys have evything for Webers: http://www.webercarbsdirect.com/

**gigem75** · #10 (**permalink**) 11-02-2009, 08:21 PM

Thanks, the side strip is definitly coming off! Amazingly enough there was liquid gas in the front fuel filter, compression is really low. It's weird the 77 spider I just did sat up for less time and the fuel had turned to tar and this one still had liquid in it? go figure.
The spare tire well is solid as a rock on this car and upon close inspection there is only the one rust spot in the passenger foot well.
I got the webers apart without hurting them but the shafts and plates are shot. They should rebuild ok, the air horns brushed out ok and will work but won't look purty but they'll be covered anyway or who knows I might find a decent used set.
Thanks for the info on the weber parts!

Whatsitallabout · #11 (**permalink**) 11-06-2009, 10:14 PM

Check out my winter project, I found it in a barn and got it for $2 grand. Did I pay too much for it?

**gigem75** · #12 (**permalink**) 11-08-2009, 06:08 PM

Well I got her running, amazingly enough she fired right off even though the compression is 30, 30, 100, and 30. Who knows the rings might free up, yeah right

Been mostly working on the carbs, I spent years getting the surface on the air horns roughed up just right to help with atomoization

I'll put the radiator back in and drive it around the block a couple of times to rub the rust off the discs and free up the brakes so I can roll it around without giving myself a herina. Then the complete tear down will begin.

**daveydog** · #13 (**permalink**) 11-08-2009, 08:16 PM

Here we go again! For the third time in recent memory

.
Looks like you've got your macro skills down pat too!
With that compression you'll be able to run on Pemex regular no problemo heh heh heh...

**gigem75** · #14 (**permalink**) Yesterday, 07:32 PM

Goin slow on this one. RH floorpan done. I didn't cover the chassis rail because welding it up would destroy the POR15 and leave it bare so I just welded up to it on each side. That way I know for sure it's protected.