Rusted Out 1970 850 Spider Fix-Up

No sign of the carb yet, so let us do some work on the dash. The passenger side kinda looks like garbage.

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Comes off pretty easy. The speaker looks ok, but it started shredding when I touched it. It is croaked.View attachment 32322

Here is the radio. Pretty nice little unit. Reversible polarity so it will work on positive ground cars. Faceplate is kinda pitted, which is a bummer. Since I repair vintage electronics for my job, it should not be too tough to get it working. Or maybe I can find some cool VW Sapphire radio...I have a bunch of them.
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Cardboard junk! I have some wood left over from the interior to make this panel from. Should be fun!View attachment 32324
Some years ago there was a CAD design floating around the interwebs that you could use to replicate this panel (and the instruments side too). Maybe someone can confirm I'm not imaging this?
 
Some years ago there was a CAD design floating around the interwebs that you could use to replicate this panel (and the instruments side too). Maybe someone can confirm I'm not imaging this?
I am sure there is, it was likely on the Yahoo group, I know a few people have a download of all the files from that site before Yahoo trashed everything.
 
Some years ago there was a CAD design floating around the interwebs that you could use to replicate this panel (and the instruments side too). Maybe someone can confirm I'm not imaging this?

You might consider contacting Jim McKenzie as I believe he pulled everything off the servers so hopefully he has the files. If you do get them, please post them in a separate thread so they can be found by people searching.
 
Let’s fix a radio! It is stone dead, except for the light comes on. See that round thing on the top? That is where you set the polarity.
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we will need a schematic, so we go to the sams photofacts website, and look up our radio model. It looks like it is in SAMS AR-94 (AR stands for auto radio). I do a lot of auto radio work, and I bought most of these from a retired repairman, so I have this manual. Time for a visit to the warehouse!
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Here are the insides. First thing we need to do is see if it the radio section or the amplifier section. Amplifier section is easy to test. On a low voltage set like this, just touch your finger to the volume control. If it makes a loud hum, then the amp is probably working. Don’t try this on a set that plugs into a wall. You might regret it.

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Nothing when I touch the volume control. At least we have a ballpark in which to start.
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The Photofacts are very helpful, as they show the voltages you will need to be testing.

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Ok, so I was able to use my signal tracer to verify the receiving portion of the radio was working. I also tested the voltages leading into the transistors in the amplifier section and they were all correct. So basically the signal was not getting from the radio to the amp. Let’s look at the electrolytic capacitors. They like to dry out and short/open. Sure enough!


Swapped out the duds, and just like that...a radio again!

Cleaned up the faceplate as best i
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All done!

This was a very abbreviated version of the hours I spent on this, but it gives you some idea of how this works. Thanks for reading!
 
Time to wrap this dashboard up. And I do mean “board”.

Here is the rough cut of the luan board I used. Since this is probably the crummiest wood on the planet, I am simply going to cover it in vinyl.


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And here is a trial fit. I still need to find a speaker. Unfortunately, the “Torino” emblem is pretty roached, but it will do for now.
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Not perfect, but much better!
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Thieves in Oakland CA. tore up the (pressboard) original in my 850 stealing the cassette stereo; it was only ever wrapped in duct tape after that.
The joke was on them, it would have eaten their tapes just like it had mine! At least they didn't cut their way into the unlocked convertible.
 
Mail from Spain takes a long time. A real loongg time. Especially when after a month or two it gets sent back as being “dangerous merchandise”? So now the seller is waiting for it to get back to him so he can figure out a way to reship it. Got fed up with waiting, so I took the old carb off again, cleaned it out again, and THIS time the pokey wire must have cleaned out whatever was clogging it!


Amazing. Not the video being sideways, but the car is idling and accelerating perfectly. Time to take it for a drive later when it cools down.
 
Ok, so I hope into the car for a test drive, close the door and we are..close the door, close the door...why won’t the door latch? I will tell you why...because the hinge pins are so loose and floppy the door is hanging too low! Curses.
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So here is one of them. I am going to investigate the hinges in the junkyard 850 first before I work on these. I guess the inserts are nylon? And they are flat gone on these hinges. They must have self destructed recently, as the door used to close! Grrrr...
 
So I checked, and no new hinges available. There is a fellow on eBay who will rebuild yours for $105 each, and it looks like excellent work. However, Mr. Cheap here likes to do it himself! Off to Ace Hardware! I bought some nylon bushings and some door pins for six bucks. Let’s rebuild a hinge!
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First thing I did (not pictured) is to cut through the old pin between the two hinge pieces. There is a lot of slop one the nylon is gone, and a cut off wheel fits in nicely. I did not want to try and pound out the entire pin at once, as that is a lot of stress on the aluminum hinge. I just pounded out the two end pieces s easily after.

Ok, so the bushings are a little too wide. Let’s simply heat up the hinge and push them in!
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Ow! Hot! But not hot enough to melt nylon. So plan b...grind down the bushings.
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First rate action photography!

Here is the wonderfully machined bushing.
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And here it is installed. I took off a little too much on the top. Leave some sticking out to fill in the gap! Be sure to turn it over and put another bushing in!

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First test fit. The hinge pin was too tight in the nylon, so I drove it out and reamed them a little.
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Now we are looking good! The pin is just not quite snug on the door portion of the hinge, so I expoxied it in good and snug. For my purposes, this should last a long time,and easy to do again if necessary.
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All painted and ready to go back on! I hope this is helpful, at least as a guide on “what not to do”.
 
Tomorrow is the day! Door is on and closing, car is running well. Going down in the morning to get it tagged, and put some gas in it and we are off! If it does well around the ‘hood, then maybe a quick polish and try to make it to the car show in the evening. Maybe.

In other news, I went to hook up the radio tonight, and the antenna cable has no guts in it. No center wire. How did this car get so broken?
 
A little late to the party but here are the bushings and screws for the hinge repair using stock hinge pins. This quantity will do two cars. I bought this stuff from McMaster-Carr

15448T2Multipurpose Flanged Sleeve Bearing for 8 mm Shaft Diameter and 11 mm Housing ID16
Each
1603.32
Each
53.12
293395A407316 Stainless Steel Hex Drive Flat Head Screw, 90 Degree Countersink, M8 x 1.25mm Thread, 25mm Long, Packs of 102
Packs
208.38
Per Pack
16.76
 
A little late to the party but here are the bushings and screws for the hinge repair using stock hinge pins. This quantity will do two cars. I bought this stuff from McMaster-Carr

15448T2Multipurpose Flanged Sleeve Bearing for 8 mm Shaft Diameter and 11 mm Housing ID16
Each
1603.32
Each
53.12
293395A407316 Stainless Steel Hex Drive Flat Head Screw, 90 Degree Countersink, M8 x 1.25mm Thread, 25mm Long, Packs of 102
Packs
208.38
Per Pack
16.76
Most excellent info. Now the next guy trying to put one of these together has the scoop.
 
Took it for a nice drive tonight. Puttered through the ‘hood, and got up on the 35 mph road and hit it. Sounds like it always does then “whump”...turbocharged. Running great! Parked it and walked back to look. This was in the middle of the street.
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That, my friends, is a mega mouse nest. The exhaust note changed considerably after that was expunged, and for the better!

Seems to be running well. I am very surprised how tight it feels through dips and over bumps. I really expected it to crash and bang. It is still running too hot..or at least the new radiator cap is allowing it to gurgle and spew. Another cap in order?
 
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