Previous owner handywork stories

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Mopar92

Mopar92

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I take the duster to discount tire today to get new 14" tires. I just snagged this clean and unmolested 73 Duster last month. It has American racing 10 hole sbp wheels installed 10+ years ago. The fender is damaged from a wheel coming off 10+ years ago. The PO's story or thought was somebody tried to steal the wheels, as both fronts were loose. Well, Discount came out in the lobby and said we can't put the wheels back on the car sir. I went out and looked. My car is a drum brake car. The PO had spent who knows how many hours grinding the wheel to fit down in the recessed area where the lug/register is. A wheel spacer would have probably been the answer. He had some thick flat washers on it plus grinding the wheel. Now it makes sense. Nobody was trying to steal the wheels, they simply came loose because they weren't sitting flush against the drum. Now Discount won't install the wheel back on. They have me searching for sbp wheels to fit right. Then the guy tells me that I can't upgrade to disc brakes on the car because they didn't come factory until the 80's. Normally I have good experience with them.
 
Dusters didnt get discs until the 80's huh? Lol yeah those were good years for the duster lol.

My previous owners hackjobs included discovering my quarter panels were actual home heater duct work, shaped and riveted over the original quarters.

Also had someone install the wrong steering wheel adapter and mess up the horn button...so it put a slow draw on the battery....they just unplugged the horn underhood...awesome. lol
 
Some PO took my /6 Barracuda and converted it to a 318, 727, 8 3/4, 3:55 and disk brakes.....I wanna thank him!


:blob:
 
Get it hauled back home & put discs on it then go out & get the right wheels for it. I rarely rely on any shops anymore. Most will try to sell you what THEY want or simply don't have experience with older cars. I'm surprised they even knew what a Plymouth was.........
 
Mopar92 said:
I take the duster to discount tire today to get new 14" tires. I just snagged this clean and unmolested 73 Duster last month.... Then the guy tells me that I can't upgrade to disc brakes on the car because they didn't come factory until the 80's. Normally I have good experience with them.
Click to expand...

FNG at Discount, right? That would be a small bolt pattern wheel with drum brakes, BBP with disks.

When I was restoring the modor, I left a PO surprise for the next guy. Discovered at the last minute that the floor board on the passenger side was rotten. Already had pan for driver's side. Didn't want to install carpet, take it out again when a new pan might arrive. Made a command decision to use what ever I had to do the job. Stayed in two more years when I sold the car. Never a leak. Told first buyer about it. Second time I sold the car, I had forgotten about it. (Bought car once. Sold the same car twice...long story.)
 

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when I bought ginger the heater didn't work
I didn't think nothing of it, but just added it to "the list"

when I went to pull the 225 to make rook for a 360 I disconnected the heater hoses and found an allen head bolt, shoved up the heater hose
I'm guessing she has a leaking heater core and this was the POs way of fixing the leak


oh, and someone replaced a rear tail light socket and decided to install a quick connect on it
and by quick connect I mean a 4 wire trailer connecter
 
bought my '66 Barracuda, knew that it was a 3-on-the-tree changed to 4-speed. Didn't like the shifter stick (was a B-body console) when we went to change it out I leaned on the "hump" and found out - there was no hump - right carpet, 2 holes cut in the tunnel, rods between carpet and tunnel!

it gets worse!

tracked down a hump, new boot, trim rings, sent it out to the body shop, next day I get a call - PO had put in new front floor pans - and just pop-riveted then in :(

just slightly over budget, now I'm PO'd ;)
 
I looked at a 65 Comet Caliente 289/210 Merc K code motor "lightweight" drag car. Under the carpet was marine grade plywood, and 2 lawnchairs were pipe strapped to that! Them are some lightweight seats!!! I had a buddy that put deadbolts on his VW doors to protect his competition sound system...
 
I could write a book on the work done to this little Valiant convertible I used to have! I had dozens of pics on my old camera, but let's just say there was no area in that car that hadn't been touched, torched, ground down, puttied over, fastened together with wood screws, bondo, baling twine, and speaker wire!! Amazingly, the little car ran straight, the top went up and down, and I sold it for $200 more than I paid for it!!!
 
I had a Warlock I bought cheap once that had the main positive cable attached to a lag bolt. It appears any hot wire the needed was added to the lag bolt. When they were done, the whole nine yards was wrapped in black tape!! How that thing never shorted out and burned up is beyond me!!!!
 
I have seen 1/4 panels that at least 1/2 of them was cloth and glass. No steel at all. Guess it made the car faster.
 
Years ago when I was young and not so smart.....I bought a 68 Sport Fury convertible in Quebec. It was a big block 4 speed car..and all I wanted was a 4 speed big block rag top so I didnt look too close. I knew it had an automatic in it at the time, it came with the 4 speed in the trunk.

What I didn't know... It was a 400 not 383, the engine had no oil pressure as soon as it warmed up, the quarters were shaped out of Bodo and the rotten front frame rails (there was huge holes in them) had sheet metal formed to cover them, brazed on and undercoated...

Chalk it up to experience. The PO's f ups gave me lots to learn from. I had the frame properly repaired, rebuilt the 400 with a mild cam and steel 383 crank to accept the 4 speed input shaft, put the 4 speed back in and then had loads of fun with it.
 
My first 72 dart had a bad habit of trying to change lanes when hitting ruts in the road.
Put it on jack stands to rebuild the front end. Noticed a shiny spot on the front left frame rail tapped it with a screwdriver and a big patch of bondo fell out exposing a big rusted out hole. No wonder things kept bending on that side.
Found the same type of repairs all over the frame rails front and back.
 

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stansblue72 said:
My first 72 dart had a bad habit of trying to change lanes when hitting ruts in the road.
Put it on jack stands to rebuild the front end. Noticed a shiny spot on the front left frame rail tapped it with a screwdriver and a big patch of bondo fell out exposing a big rusted out hole. No wonder things kept bending on that side.
Found the same type of repairs all over the frame rails front and back.
Click to expand...

traded a pretty hot gmc for my 68 form S car basket case that had just been painted. ended up repainting and found where the 'bodyman" previous owner, filled a rust hole about the size of a softball w/ putty, behind the pass side front wheel, in addition to rusty fiberglassed front floorboards. no rust in car now, no putty over 1/16' thick, if that .
 
Hey all, first post here. I'm pleased to have found this forum. I gotta say this thread has me nodding my head. My 68 Dart has had some unexpected surprises since I bought it last year. Mostly bubble gum welds here and there with some "creative" wiring. I'm going over it piece by piece and righting the wrongs.
 
chryslerfat said:
I have seen 1/4 panels that at least 1/2 of them was cloth and glass. No steel at all. Guess it made the car faster.
Click to expand...

my '66 mustang, the passenger side lower quarter panel was mudded...yep, real mud. The trunk extensions had filled with dirt so solid it was like cement- when I did the bodywork on it I found that where the quarter panel was rusted out, they sanded the dirt smooth and finished it.
Never would have known if I hadn't repainted it- it was actually the best repair I've ever found on one of my vehicles lol.
 
My fault, I bought a 1976 Firebird, looked awesome from the road, red, white interior and owner added trans am scoop. I could not stop thinking about it and the for sale sign in the window. I went to look at it in the rain I was so impatient and bought it. Upon further inspection without rain, the hood was butchered to cut out for the scoop and it had obvious bondo in the quarters. I brought it to a mechanic I knew to get th exhaust worked on. When I went to pick the car up, he told me I needed to get rid of the car, it almost fell off the lift. The unibody frame rails were gone and the floors with them. Lesson learned.
On my Duster the only thing I had found, again exhaust related. I had a TTI exhaust system put on. They couldn't get it too fit. We figured out why. The automatic transmission linkage was from a six cylinder and held on with a radiator clamp.!
 
MrJLR said:
Some PO took my /6 Barracuda and converted it to a 318, 727, 8 3/4, 3:55 and disk brakes.....I wanna thank him!


:blob:
Click to expand...

What a hack! The nerve of some people! I had to laugh at your post. Thanks I needed that.
 
You guys haven't seen the power steering coupler I found in my '68 Dart shortly after driving it on its maiden voyage. Some real engineering came up with this contraption.

 
The guy who owned my Ford truck before me took it to a local U Haul to have a receiver hitch installed. Need I say more? But I will.

The actual receiver install is good. Everything is correct and tight. The tail light harness though, was the casualty. Scotch lox everywhere. Hot wires reversed. I haven't gotten to fixin it yet. When the weather warms up, that is my first big project.

And as luck would have it, wiring and electrical is my absolute weakest point.
 
Mopar92 said:
Now Discount won't install the wheel back on. They have me searching for sbp wheels to fit right. Then the guy tells me that I can't upgrade to disc brakes on the car because they didn't come factory until the 80's. Normally I have good experience with them.
Click to expand...

You could have installed the rims, releasing them from liability, and driven it back home. Would give you some time to find the rims you wanted, at the price you wanted. They can't hold your car hostage, while they try and sell you some sbp rims.
 
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