New owner of a freebie '79 Spider

okartguy · Post by **okartguy** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 11:13 pm

A neighbor has foisted his neglected '79 Spider on me. It's really in pretty good shape; it's an Oklahoma car from new, has no rust and 76k original miles.

Apparently the car struck an obstacle some time in 2001, which damaged the oil pan and caused a large leak. The engine was shut off before much oil was lost, and has only been started once (briefly) since. So, I'm going tinker around with it and see if I can't get it back on the road. I've already priced a used oil pan via the 'net at $70 shipped. Is this a good deal, or should I keep searching?

I crawled around under the car this afternoon and din't see any other damage to speak of, and in fact it's pretty clean all over. No dents or dings to speak of in the sheetmetal, and a nice set of original steelies with all four centers. Unfortunately it's been repainted burgundy over the original light blue metallic, and the years have not been kind to the repaint. The seats are nice, but the carpet and top have seen better days. It's also badly in need of an exhaust system.

So anyway, I figure I can't go too wrong given what I have in the car at this point! My plan is to get it up and running, and then go from there as far as restoration/upgrades are concerned. Looking forward to it!

ventura ace · Post by **ventura ace** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 12:21 am

Okartguy,
If the oil pan was whacked hard enough, there could be other damage inside. Before removing anything, you may want to put enough oil in it to run the engine and verify whether or not you are getting good oil pressure. This will help you determine whether or not the oil pump and pick up were damaged from the blow to the oil pan.

It is somewhat of a challenge to replace the oil pan without pulling the engine out, but it can be done. The trick is to lift the engine high enough to remove the oil pan over the cross member, but before you can pull the pan out, you will likely have to reach inside the pan and loosen the bolts on the oil pump and drop it down into the pan. Take a close look at the oil pump for damage (even if you had good oil pressure when you ran the car), especially the lower part of it that hangs down inside the pan.

Good luck! If you take your time and study a manual as you go, you should do fine.

A

mbouse · Post by **mbouse** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 12:40 pm

if the engine is to be salvaged, the existing pan needs to be fixed or replaced. period. that cannot be done on the engine.

in my experience, the motor mounts have to be loosened, the x-member has to be dropped and the engine lifted a few inches with a cherry picker before the oil pan could be removed.

once you get that far, it probably would be a great idea just to replace the oil pump rather than doing an inspection and hoping that every thing was caught. new pan gasket and new oil.

yer good to go. yeah, and the proper curse words for this job are LASAGNA, Minestrone, Patchouli, Ravioli, Rigatoni - - in that order. any american curse words will only lead to busted knuckles, oil in the eye, and a dead dog/family pet (don't ask).

okartguy · Post by **okartguy** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 12:47 pm

Thanks for the advice guys... And yeah, I figured if I need to lift the motor to replace the pan, I'm gonna go ahead and replace the oil pump as well. Just makes sense. Further bulletins as events warrant!

Mark_vaughn · Post by **Mark_vaughn** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 8:06 pm

Mike,

Does the crossmember have to be dropped to remove the oil pan? The PO of my car had them spot welded to the frame for what ever reason. Makes it hard to move!!

Thanks for the help.

Mark_vaughn · Post by **Mark_vaughn** » Fri Sep 29, 2006 9:29 am

After a few hours on the ground under the car, I had the oil pan loose, motor mounts off, enging lifted as much as possible, and no way of removing the oil pan. I think the crossmember would have to be removed as well. It seems like the pump gets caught on a baffle inside the pan. I tried to figure out how to remove the pump, but could barely get my fingers in the space to find the bolts.

I decided my car doesnt have sludge in it after all and bolted everything back up.

okartguy · Post by **okartguy** » Fri Sep 29, 2006 10:35 am

Well, I'd love to hear a definite solution for the pan removal, since I have no choice on this car! Surely you don't have to pull the engine completely out of the car?!? And in past experience, the pump/pickup tube usually slides out of the baffle by pushing or pulling the oil pan in one direction or another. Yikes... you've got me worried now!

mbouse · Post by **mbouse** » Fri Sep 29, 2006 12:40 pm

well, my book (and personal experience) says that the x-member has to be dropped cuz you can only lift the engine so far before you need to disconnect it from the tranny.

there is not enough room between the pan and the x-member otherwise.

if you can find another way, let me know.

So Cal Mark · Post by **So Cal Mark** » Sat Sep 30, 2006 11:58 am

you can get the pan off by letting it drop as far as possible, then unbolting the oil pump and letting it fall into the pan. It's a little tricky, but nothing the average contortionist can't accomplish. Of course, if the pump is broken off, the whole mess comes out easily. It's a little trickier getting everything put back together