‘63 Spyder Convertible

[Beers]

I rebuilt the steering box, didn’t get a chance to test it much and play with the pitman adjuster screw, but figured with all of the new components the box is now the weak link on a previously worn out steering system and would deteriorate even more.

Picked up the rebuild kit from Clark’s, the races looked good so ordered the one without them. Always nice to clean up a crud covered piece and make it look good and perform to specs again. Surfaces weren’t perfect but overall good shape and serviceable with no pitting or heavy marking.

[Beers]

Suspension and steering and box all in now. For the steering box, I tried this lube. I know a lot of people will mix together grease and STP for example, but this 00 stuff seems a really nice overall consistency. Comes out thick like molasses or honey in the cold, thick but still will flow a little. Anyone have long-term use experience with this?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0018 ... UTF8&psc=1

[Beers]

Wondered why the turn indicator felt so loose, a PO had went with the rare “pot metal random rivet flex option” on the directional ring. And it sure did flex lol

Replaced it with the Clark’s one, works great now.

Also rebuilt the master cylinder, wanted to keep the original screw top vs. the rebuilt clip style

Honed up totally fine with a small two blade brake hone.

Also, something to note on the steering box rebuild the kit from Clark’s. The pitman shaft bushing (the longer one, not the cover bushing) needed to be reamed once in place to fit the shaft, the brake hone made quick work of it.

[Beers]

The piston was solid with crud, doubt this master had ever been touched.

I bought a new line set to replace the corroded front lines, so just used this previous line to bench bleed the rebuild.

Fresh master installed. The entire trunk was painted with gray primer, I imagine over some surface rust (trunk is solid otherwise). Eventually I’ll redo the trunk but wanted to spray the splatter paint behind it since it was out and can just wrap over it later.

[Beers]

Pulled out the rear axles to see how the bearings felt. Nice and smooth, no roughness or any grinding. Looks like the grease is still really wet just from the bits that were outside the seal. I used a needle on the grease gun to try and add a little more grease under the seal and it would push out the old grease pretty quick and that looked good so I’m thinking both bearings are at least in grease and serviceable. I’ll put some miles on this once I get the car up and running well and keep an eye on these to see if they still feel good. U-joints also looked in good shape.

Should I assume Bower bearing in the last photo (drivers side, with the blue seal) is a replacement?

[Beers]

Finished up the front end alignment. I hadn’t done an alignment myself before other than setting toe in with string, but got the alignment book by Fred Johnson that Clark’s sells. It’s a good read, and walks you through making the alignment tools so gave it a shot. Here’s the tools, it is surprisingly easy to do.

Also, tried to rebuild the power top pump. It’s pretty straight forward but this one was very corroded, and no matter how much I cleaned it up I couldn’t get even get the armature to move. Ended up getting a new pump motor. The original line was cracked at one of the fittings so had to replace it.

Both original cylinders still worked, but one has a little seepage at the top so it may be on borrowed time. The power top now works again, but the frame is out of alignment so it binds at a couple spots both going up and coming down. Will sort that out when I replace the top (going back to the original white).

Bled the new pump and lines, and since the cylinders were long empty used transmission fluid instead of the original brake fluid.

[Beers]

As I move to cleaning up the rear underbody and rebuilding the rear suspension, I’m also thinking about swapping out the ‘64 transaxle for a ‘63 trans/diff as part of the restoration (to make the whole power train match the car, since I still have the original block). Will also return the car to the original 3.55 ratio from the current 3.27 in the 64 rear end.

While it’s still in the car, is there any way to tell if a bellhousing (and the internals like the flywheel/pressure plate) is an early ‘60-63 style or the later ‘64-69 style?

This may be a dumb question, but won’t either style of bellhousing/pressure plate/flywheel work with the other style as long as the input shaft matches the trans and diff?

[joelsplace]

The bell housing is dependent on the crankshaft, nothing to do with the clutch.
The clutch package difference is in the flywheel, pressure plate, throw out bearing and pivot ball.

[Beers]

Thanks Joel. So as long as all the matching components are used in the clutch pack, no problem swapping in a 63 differential for the 64. Certainly need to make sure I don’t forget to swap over the pivot ball to match the pack.

And I can either leave in the 64 4 speed as is, or swap in 62-63 4 speed as long as I use the right input shaft and seal, right?

[joelsplace]

Yes the input shaft and seal follow the transmission. The 63 and earlier are 12 spline and the 64-65 are 14 spline with a larger diameter at the seal.

[Beers]

Perfect, thanks Joel.

[Victorialynn2]

Could you please post a pic of the rear area where the exhaust is? I want to compare the cutout area to my ‘63. Thanks.

[Beers]

How about these? Unfortunately there is some damage to the body in this area so may not be much help

[Beers]

And one from the inside

[Beers]

Time to rebuild the rear suspension so out everything comes.

Also, the #3 cylinder only had about 30 psi of compression vs. 110-125 on the other five, so will address that while the engine is out. A leakdown test indicates a bad exhaust valve. This is the original YR turbo block, but the heads are ‘61 and ‘62 80hp heads so I’ll put my time/money into a fresh set of 62/63 turbo heads.

I’m assuming this is a factory 3-spd Spyder since it didn’t have the body tag code for a 4-spd. But instead of a cut crossmember to allow the longer 4spd trans I found a factory 4spd crossmember. It certainly could have been swapped out when the ‘64 trans and diff were added, but it had the ‘63 style trans mounts. I’ve taken apart my share of old cars, this crossmember and the attached ‘63 control arms really looked like they had never been off the car since new.

One thought is the four speed crossmember came on the car from the factory - it was an early Sept. ‘62 build so part of the 1963 model year production run before the model year was available at the dealer (I believe in late Sept). I suppose this could have been a leftover since ‘62 Spyders only came with a four speed, and I understand the move to make the base 3spd available in a Spyder for the ‘63 model year was an Aug/Sept ‘62 decision. I’ll have to dig into the tunnel to see if I find evidence of the 3spd backup light switch, the car has the 4spd harness out to the trans currently installed.

A couple questions for the forum, could some one post a photo of an installed 3spd backup light switch in the tunnel by the clutch tube?

And did the ‘62 Spyder body tag specifically note the 4spd, or was it just part of Spyder option so no need?

[Beers]

Looking under the trunk lid, the glue marks on the drivers side are likely from a posi warning decal, right? Looks factory, and can’t think of what else would be there.