What Are You Doing To/With Your Car Today?

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Finally got to put tires on my custom Wheel Vintiques 15x5 wheels today.

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Almost finished putting the interior back together. Put the new shifter in for the final time, and put the steering wheel back in after giving it 4 coats of satin varathane. Also put a panel under the dash for my new Speedhut guages. ( the "guages" in the picture are fake, but that's the style I'm going with :))

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I was going to clean it for a show tomorrow but with a forecast of a couple days rain with possible severe it will probably stay like this.
Yote
 
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Our $200 van had a bad tire. Figured I'd put some tires to use that we're collecting dust.
 
Got a rear end, its a 7-1/4.better than nothing. had to go back for the shock mounts. Cleaned them up and painted. First parts and first thing i did for the Barracuda. Made a decision on rear diff, metalcast paint. Dont want black, they all black. Saw red one once, didnt like it.
 
FINALLY got the Duster gauge cluster put back in and started the car for the first time since the first of June!! Nearly missed the whole dang driving season!! Next thing I need to do is drop the gas tank and get the new float installed so I stop running out of gas all the time. Lol
 
Radiator update;

Stuff;
Griffin 22.5" x 19" x 2.68" radiator, model 8-70038-LS
B&M 11" x 11" x 1.5" stacked plate ATF cooler, model 70274
(2x) 180* 1/2" male NPT, male -6AN adapter for ATF cooler in/out
B&M transmission cooler mounting kit, p/n 80278
(2x) 90* 1/4"male NPT, -6AN male adapters for radiator ATF in/out
Fragola PTFE 24" 90*, 180* -6AN female ends
I could have gone with a 12" hose, but I was not certain, and it's better to have too much hose than too little...

The hoses that will run from the 727 to the radiator, and back from the ATF cooler to the 727 are from the same company, and will be encased in reflectorized fiberglass (because I couldn't get asbestos) where they will be anywhere near the exhaust. The ends of the hose are -6AN, adapters are 1/4 or 1/8 I can't remember offhand what size the inlet/outlet is on the trans. I also installed a T junction at the 727 fluid out point for a temp sensor since I don't have the capacity to weld a bung in the ATF pan to watch the temps and I do not want to put the temp sensor as part of the drain. I'd want that sensor wire out of the way and not being fiddled with.. The temps will probably read spikier, but I will know the high temps of the coolant at least.

Got the ATF cooler located on the radiator, pulled it out, wiggled a couple of cooling fins to the side and re-installed the radiator.
Mounted the ATF cooler to the radiator.
After it was all in the car, I noticed that the new radiator is too deep to use my fixed blade fan, so off I went and dug out an old flex fan, will be running with that once the car is back on the road.

Tomorrow, figure out how close the fan will be to the radiator, and see if it needs any shims it to get it to within a half inch or so. I have no shroud at this time, but I am not concerned about temps, as we're coming into fall, and this radiator is nicely huge. Like I mentioned in a previous post, I expect to get the shroud and fan setup that Griffin makes for this radiator, probably with some of my tax returns in the spring.

Still need to order an overflow tank, as soon as midnight rolls around and the direct deposit goes through.

I was way too greasy to use my phone to take pictures during the wrenching, and five year olds take very out of focus pictures, if you can even get them to get the picture of what you want, instead of bugs in the tomato plants, or a stick or something.

Check out that battery tray in pics 3 and 4! Looking forwards to relocating it to the trunk.

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Finished the test-fit of my new Radiator and Overflow tank. Almost finished monkeying with the car, getting ready to drop in the new 408/727. Tail is waggin'

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Toured over the cars with my good friend the body shop owner.
He didnt say much, did like the Barracuda though. Going to get him to come back when i get it into my shop with better lighting.
Gave me a nos 79 volare fender,said i could sell it/trade it or whatever.
 
FINALLY got the tach wired in and got the instrument cluster and column back in and got the car running again Thursday. I washed the car off and drove it 35 miles to a cruise in Thursday night.
Today I put about 40 more miles on the car. I need to fix a few electrical things and the tach won't go over 2100 rpm but the car runs good!!

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FINALLY got the tach wired in and got the instrument cluster and column back in and got the car running again Thursday. I washed the car off and drove it 35 miles to a cruise in Thursday night.
Today I put about 40 more miles on the car. I need to fix a few electrical things and the tach won't go over 2100 rpm but the car runs good!!

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Like the patina!
Thats a lot of character.
 
Yesterday I sorted out an intermittent problem I was having with the turn signals and brake lights not working. Turns out I had a bad connection where the TS switch plugs into the loom. Cleaned everything and put it back together. Voila! everything works now. Gonna give the car a quick rinse this morning and drive to a little car show at a local BBQ that has live music. Should be fun.
 
Raise it in!

That bay looks too sweet don't want to scratch that! Drop the K and do it right!

Trust me, I thought looong and hard over going that route. The cost of the hardware (cradle / frame brackets) was a deterrent, and my own welding skills are worthy of my lawn mower but not the Duster. Access to a hoist would have been a game changer.

Lots of worthy helpers have stepped up so my headers and the rest of it should be in good hands.

Keep your eyes on this thread!
 
I VOM'd the vacuum switch valve that controls the climate control for the Lexus SC400. I see it getting battery voltage (it must vary the ground as I couldnt get the ~14V to change) but you would think a servo would have a winding that would OHM out and not give me an open?..yeah, FSM says it should click with batt voltage applied..no dice ;-( no wonder I have no heat.
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Trust me, I thought looong and hard over going that route. The cost of the hardware (cradle / frame brackets) was a deterrent, and my own welding skills are worthy of my lawn mower but not the Duster. Access to a hoist would have been a game changer.

Lots of worthy helpers have stepped up so my headers and the rest of it should be in good hands.

Keep your eyes on this thread!

Good deal BOL.

I always watch. You may be thinking to hard though about the under trick. I love a nice scratch free bay.
 
Good deal BOL.

I always watch. You may be thinking to hard though about the under trick. I love a nice scratch free bay.

No lift hoist needed. My wife and I did ours in the garage with a cheap engine hoist in 30 minutes with the hood on and complete suspension on the K. Was so easy!
 
No lift hoist needed. My wife and I did ours in the garage with a cheap engine hoist in 30 minutes with the hood on and complete suspension on the K. Was so easy!
I've done this TWICE by. My. Self. Lol
As far as the cradle, no need for anything fancy or expensive, I went to harbor freight and got one of their heavy duty cradle/dolly thingys and it worked good to roll the k-member and everything around. I had a chain hoist from the rafters hooked to the front bumper to raise the car, then I used an engine hoist to lift the k-frame into place.
 
I finally ventilated my 2 scoops hood! Sweatin' bullets with the hole saw, but it went better/easier than I thought it would. I claim victory!
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Washed both drivers, recharged the 92 SC400's leaking AC with propane (yeah, that's right!) and am modding the MS2 for EDIS on the test bench.
 
Well, if it is 90 degrees and 65 percent humidity again like it was yesterday... probably open garage door, look at car, close garage door and go back in the house! I was out it until 3:30 yesterday and not feeling that great this morning.
 
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