Father of a new (1970) 124 Spider owner

[Dawgme85]

My 17 year old son has managed to convince me that his cousin's Spider, which hasn't been on the road in a few years (it's been stored indoors in dry Eastern Washington) would make a good Senior Project. The story goes that his cousin bought it and had been driving it and decided that it needed a new timing belt, but didn't realize that he needed to keep the cams/crank aligned during the replacement process. As a result, when he went to start it the engine turned about 2 revolutions and just stopped. He then jacked it up, took off the tires, and let it sit on blocks until my son found it while doing some work for his uncle over the summer.

I've looked the car over and decided that it could, indeed, be an appropriate project for my son to tackle (with some guidance from me). Beyond the almost certain need to go through the head it also needs a top and interior and lots of elbow grease to clean the mouse den out of the trunk and bring the finish back to life. Otherwise it looks to be pretty straight, relatively rust-free, and complete.

The car is still in the shed (200 miles away) so I haven't been able to spend much time checking it out apart from the one visit where I saw it for the first time. My original main concern was finding parts to bring it back to life, but it appears that there are still parts available for it, so that's a good start.

I'm also glad to have found this forum, as I'm sure we'll have questions aplenty in the coming weeks and months as this project unfolds. So consider this a hearty hello from a new owner...

[narfire]

Welcome. You and your son will have a blast sorting these cars out. They are "old school" no computer plug-ins here.
Yes parts are available,check Craigslist Spokane and Seattle,usually someone is parting out a car or two if used parts will work for you.
Have fun,feel free to post pics.
(1970 spider was my first car in 1975)

[mbouse]

welcome to the site... we stand at the ready to answer any and all of your questions as you seek to perfect your new Spider.

note that i PROMISE that some of the answers we give will also be correct.

[Gunsmith]

You should go ahead and purchase your second Spider now. There is no way after restoring your sons new dream you won't want one for yourself.

[rlux4]

Hello, and welcome to the forum. You will want to stay connected her at the site, there are a lot of experienced and knowledgeable people here to give you guys a hand info-wise if you need it.
Post some pics of the car when you get her hauled home.
Ron