70 duster: updating, and a no-dough pro-touring makeover
well, another month and 600 miles (can you tell I'm really starting to enjoy driving this car?)
the weekend before the woolly worm festival, i had to go to Columbia SC and help a friend move. figured it was a nice day, and it would be a good shakedown run. (Columbia is 160 miles each way, all interstate). all things considered, it was a successful trip. the car hadn't left my state in over a decade, or really gone on any trips further than 50 miles each way since the resto. so, to put this into prospective: it was mostly untested, with a lot of used parts and "good enough" stuff.
i had some issues.
on the trip down, the wind whistle from the passengers side window about drove me nuts.
when i finally got there, one of my center caps popped off in the parking lot. just laying there by the car.
i lost left rear brake light, all exterior lighting, and charging system.
on the trip home, the axle got very, very, very noisy.
i figured out my trip odometer in the autometer speedo is not accurate. it changes anytime you turn the car off.
so, i was kinda bummed by all the problems my shakedown run revealed. left it parked for a couple of weeks while i went to the woolly worm festival, worked around the house, and went to my 10 year high school reunion.
When i diagnosed the rear axle noises, it became apparent that the wheel bearings were bad, and that the ring gear is what is making the router noises. i played with the idea of the 8.8 rear axle from the explorer. was actually starting to pull one down at pull-a-part. the truth of the matter is, i just couldn't bring myself to do it. i may have issues with my 8.75, but its the origonal axle housing to the car, and it actually has sentimental value to me.
the wheel bearings were the first thing to fix. i figured since they are the green type, if they fail i may have an axle come out of the car, with tire attached. no bueno.
after looking, and looking, and looking, i found jegs to have the cheapest price at 88.72 shipped. not bad.
spent a half day putting them in, and playing around in the ship.
the axle bearings alone reduced my noise by 60%. now all that's left is the pissed off router that appears any time its under acceleration load. gets really bad at highway speeds. so I'm saving my money to have that rebuilt.
also, i was able to find a spare from a charger. its a 17 inch donut, that clears everything perfectly. paid 28.34 from parker motors in oakboro.
to make my spare tire jack tray fit some better, I've started cutting on it. I'm hoping to get it to be a low enough profile to barely come above the trunk floor.
Ive readjusted the passengers side window, and it has reduced the whistling by 50%. also, i shimmed the weatherstripping using some double sided moulding tape i had left over from my s10. little 1/8 thick tape made an incredible difference.
i couldn't figure out how to take an interesting picture of an adjusted window, so i didn't.
the center cap issue happened because when the tape shrank when it got hot. pulled half of it right off the one side of the cap. to fix this issue, i bonded some small sections of mountain bike inner tube to the cap. took two layers to get a good fit.
I've already shortened Mary's seat belt as well. have i mentioned that the pep-boys belt is a PITA?
the car is now up for the electrical and body work. i have the front bench out, and the dash all torn apart. found a couple of my crimps had come loose on my dash lights, had a bad weatherpack terminal on my turn signal/brake light connector, and a bad headlight switch. still haven't figured out the charging system, ut I'm leaning towards a loose connection in the bulkhead connector.
next up, ill take pictures of this stuff, and finish it up.
current total is.....
1345.40
michael
well, another month and 600 miles (can you tell I'm really starting to enjoy driving this car?)
the weekend before the woolly worm festival, i had to go to Columbia SC and help a friend move. figured it was a nice day, and it would be a good shakedown run. (Columbia is 160 miles each way, all interstate). all things considered, it was a successful trip. the car hadn't left my state in over a decade, or really gone on any trips further than 50 miles each way since the resto. so, to put this into prospective: it was mostly untested, with a lot of used parts and "good enough" stuff.
i had some issues.
on the trip down, the wind whistle from the passengers side window about drove me nuts.
when i finally got there, one of my center caps popped off in the parking lot. just laying there by the car.
i lost left rear brake light, all exterior lighting, and charging system.
on the trip home, the axle got very, very, very noisy.
i figured out my trip odometer in the autometer speedo is not accurate. it changes anytime you turn the car off.
so, i was kinda bummed by all the problems my shakedown run revealed. left it parked for a couple of weeks while i went to the woolly worm festival, worked around the house, and went to my 10 year high school reunion.
When i diagnosed the rear axle noises, it became apparent that the wheel bearings were bad, and that the ring gear is what is making the router noises. i played with the idea of the 8.8 rear axle from the explorer. was actually starting to pull one down at pull-a-part. the truth of the matter is, i just couldn't bring myself to do it. i may have issues with my 8.75, but its the origonal axle housing to the car, and it actually has sentimental value to me.
the wheel bearings were the first thing to fix. i figured since they are the green type, if they fail i may have an axle come out of the car, with tire attached. no bueno.
after looking, and looking, and looking, i found jegs to have the cheapest price at 88.72 shipped. not bad.
spent a half day putting them in, and playing around in the ship.
the axle bearings alone reduced my noise by 60%. now all that's left is the pissed off router that appears any time its under acceleration load. gets really bad at highway speeds. so I'm saving my money to have that rebuilt.
also, i was able to find a spare from a charger. its a 17 inch donut, that clears everything perfectly. paid 28.34 from parker motors in oakboro.
to make my spare tire jack tray fit some better, I've started cutting on it. I'm hoping to get it to be a low enough profile to barely come above the trunk floor.
Ive readjusted the passengers side window, and it has reduced the whistling by 50%. also, i shimmed the weatherstripping using some double sided moulding tape i had left over from my s10. little 1/8 thick tape made an incredible difference.
i couldn't figure out how to take an interesting picture of an adjusted window, so i didn't.
the center cap issue happened because when the tape shrank when it got hot. pulled half of it right off the one side of the cap. to fix this issue, i bonded some small sections of mountain bike inner tube to the cap. took two layers to get a good fit.
I've already shortened Mary's seat belt as well. have i mentioned that the pep-boys belt is a PITA?
the car is now up for the electrical and body work. i have the front bench out, and the dash all torn apart. found a couple of my crimps had come loose on my dash lights, had a bad weatherpack terminal on my turn signal/brake light connector, and a bad headlight switch. still haven't figured out the charging system, ut I'm leaning towards a loose connection in the bulkhead connector.
next up, ill take pictures of this stuff, and finish it up.
current total is.....
1345.40
michael
