MuuMuu101's 68 Dart, A Learning Process...
Alrighty. Well I've been working on the Dart all day. My friend came over in the morning to help me out. The first thing we did was finish up the wheel cylinders. He taught me how to work with them so with the proper tools I should technically be able to work on any drum brake set. Then we went to replacing the steering coupler and shaft. We basically removed and took apart the column. As it was out my friend asked me, "You want to paint it?" I looked at it and said, "Well if it's out, I might as well. At least I'll have one nice looking thing on the car." So off to Home Depot we went. Got some sand paper, steel wool, primer, and black paint. Then we went back to my place, prepped everything, and he showed me how to spray on the primer (I've never been good with paint). After that he had to leave to a friends so I finished the job spraying 2-3 coats of paint. Overall, I'm really happy with the turnout (except for a couple spots where the paint pealed because it was lying on the cardboard, which I just touched up). Anyways, here are the pics I always provide...
It's a little more roomy in the car. While the column was out we took out the brake pedal assembly and we're going to fix it in the shop probably sometime this week.
Old vs. New Coupler and Shaft. Kind of a scary thought looking at the welds. Some of the welds cracked and others didn't even look like they would hold at all. I bet you I could break it easily with a hammer. Bye bye steering... Crash!... Injured/dead.
Disassembly of the steering column:
Parts laying out waiting to be painted:
In primer:
After a coat or two of paint:
Plan for the car is to be driving, safely within the next month. At this point, our schedule is up in the air between both our works and baja, but there should be a couple more updates coming up within the next week or two. I would like to get the car back on the road for old times sake.
As far as brake stuff goes, the column is going to stay out till we get the MC installed. I decided to go manual steering with the new MC and an adjustable pushrod I already have in stock. We're basically going to take out the old, cut rivets on the brake pedal assembly and weld those in. We're also going to cut out the firewall and replace it with some new sheet metal. Going to go with the 2 Grade 8 bolts to hold the MC in. I already have new brake lines on hold as well.
Alrighty. Well I've been working on the Dart all day. My friend came over in the morning to help me out. The first thing we did was finish up the wheel cylinders. He taught me how to work with them so with the proper tools I should technically be able to work on any drum brake set. Then we went to replacing the steering coupler and shaft. We basically removed and took apart the column. As it was out my friend asked me, "You want to paint it?" I looked at it and said, "Well if it's out, I might as well. At least I'll have one nice looking thing on the car." So off to Home Depot we went. Got some sand paper, steel wool, primer, and black paint. Then we went back to my place, prepped everything, and he showed me how to spray on the primer (I've never been good with paint). After that he had to leave to a friends so I finished the job spraying 2-3 coats of paint. Overall, I'm really happy with the turnout (except for a couple spots where the paint pealed because it was lying on the cardboard, which I just touched up). Anyways, here are the pics I always provide...
It's a little more roomy in the car. While the column was out we took out the brake pedal assembly and we're going to fix it in the shop probably sometime this week.
Old vs. New Coupler and Shaft. Kind of a scary thought looking at the welds. Some of the welds cracked and others didn't even look like they would hold at all. I bet you I could break it easily with a hammer. Bye bye steering... Crash!... Injured/dead.
Disassembly of the steering column:
Parts laying out waiting to be painted:
In primer:
After a coat or two of paint:
Plan for the car is to be driving, safely within the next month. At this point, our schedule is up in the air between both our works and baja, but there should be a couple more updates coming up within the next week or two. I would like to get the car back on the road for old times sake.
As far as brake stuff goes, the column is going to stay out till we get the MC installed. I decided to go manual steering with the new MC and an adjustable pushrod I already have in stock. We're basically going to take out the old, cut rivets on the brake pedal assembly and weld those in. We're also going to cut out the firewall and replace it with some new sheet metal. Going to go with the 2 Grade 8 bolts to hold the MC in. I already have new brake lines on hold as well.
