70 duster: updating, and a no-dough pro-touring makeover
Alright, first things first. I need to get better with the budget....
I cant seem to keep track of what I spend lately. I know roughly, but need to get better about it.
Last budget: 9102.57
Money spent and made:
Sold the autometer gauges and adjustable shift light: -450
Bought a full on speedhut revolution package (they had a sale, and I'm a sucker...) 625ish
4 relay waterproof relay rack (80s GM) pull a part: 12
Electric antenna: 5.50
Experimental bilstien shocks:30
Sold 340 leaf springs: -100 and a set of sacked 4 leaf springs
LC1 wide-band 20
25 feet 6 gauge cable and terminals for alternator: 27
Rostra cruise control unit 75
That's the best I can remember....
New total: 9347.07ish
So, when we left off, I was having issues. It sorta ran, my laptop wouldn't connect properly to the ECM, the tune was wrong, and....
Well, I decided to start parting the car out while it was moved into the storage bay. I had a guy call me and ask me to build him a wiring harness. I had closed shop last year, and was no longer taking new customers. He convinced me. He also wanted a custom gauge cluster built just like mine. Now, one of the issues I had with my gauge cluster was that I found the white gauges tiring after a long drive. He didn't find the white gauges in his daily that way, and he loved the arctic white setup. So I sold him mine and ordered speedhuts. I love having warning lights, and with the small block mopar, and the EFI, there are just no extra ways without added complexity and failure points to do warning lights. Speedhuts have them built in. And they were black. And....
Anyway, I bought them, and started down the really steep part of the slippery slope.
Here they are in a quick duct tape mock-up:
And then I stuffed the thing back in the corner. And did thus:
i
In the process, I helped to design a new mopar product. Its a CNC aluminum bulkhead eliminator. Used the factory gasket, fits in the hole perfectly, and has a reinforcement plate on the outside. We actually made a run of them just like this, and if you want one, just ask. We haven't tested on anything but a-bodies yet, because That's all we own....
He also wants my leaf springs, so I sold them to him. I've been planning on building a custom pack with all the tricks I can throw at them, so this just spurred me on. Same with getting rid of the KYB shocks. To that end, I bought some used GM fitment bilstein shocks. The KYBs are up on the local craigslist, along with my big block torsion bars. That's all time for another post though.....
Anyway, the cuda left Saturday morning. Which meant than it was time for duster. But first I had to clean the shop. Which meant I had to move the duster. Spent the rest of the day trying to get it running again, culminating in letting the magic smoke out of the ECU and fouling another set of plugs. After picking tools and such up from the driveway (sort of lost my temper a bit...) I did some soul searching and talking with the wife. We decided that, as there is limited resources for the OBD1 GM ECM, and all the troubles I've had out of them in various uses over the years, and the incredible difficulty in tuning, and lack of tuners, to go megasquirt. So tomorrow, ill be ordering all the stuff for a full MS2 install.
Still didn't help the junkyard that my shop looked like. So I spent yesterday and today cleaning and reorganizing and moving the car. And helping dad replace a hot water heater in a crawlspace. That was fun....
As a point of reference, my wife and daughter got me the harbor freight wheel dollies for fathers day a few year ago. Last time I used them, I learned that the casters and ease of use left much to be desired. So before putting the duster on them, I re-greased all the bearings. They still suck. Once you adjust the direction of all 16 casters to point the direction you want to go with a 2x4 and hammer, its still a mother to push. On a clean, shiny floor. But we got it moved. And then cleaned. And cleaned. And...
I finished today by organizing all the parts that had been packed in the duster, removing the OBD1 harness and computer, and attempting to build a bi-xenon projector retrofit. Well, I built them, but I would have to cut clearance into the inner fenders for them to fit. Which makes it a no go, as it puts it directly into the path of water when in the rain. So, guess ill keep looking for reasonable priced alternatives. For now, the silver star sealed beams will stay, only with relays for added brightness.
Alright, first things first. I need to get better with the budget....
I cant seem to keep track of what I spend lately. I know roughly, but need to get better about it.
Last budget: 9102.57
Money spent and made:
Sold the autometer gauges and adjustable shift light: -450
Bought a full on speedhut revolution package (they had a sale, and I'm a sucker...) 625ish
4 relay waterproof relay rack (80s GM) pull a part: 12
Electric antenna: 5.50
Experimental bilstien shocks:30
Sold 340 leaf springs: -100 and a set of sacked 4 leaf springs
LC1 wide-band 20
25 feet 6 gauge cable and terminals for alternator: 27
Rostra cruise control unit 75
That's the best I can remember....
New total: 9347.07ish
So, when we left off, I was having issues. It sorta ran, my laptop wouldn't connect properly to the ECM, the tune was wrong, and....
Well, I decided to start parting the car out while it was moved into the storage bay. I had a guy call me and ask me to build him a wiring harness. I had closed shop last year, and was no longer taking new customers. He convinced me. He also wanted a custom gauge cluster built just like mine. Now, one of the issues I had with my gauge cluster was that I found the white gauges tiring after a long drive. He didn't find the white gauges in his daily that way, and he loved the arctic white setup. So I sold him mine and ordered speedhuts. I love having warning lights, and with the small block mopar, and the EFI, there are just no extra ways without added complexity and failure points to do warning lights. Speedhuts have them built in. And they were black. And....
Anyway, I bought them, and started down the really steep part of the slippery slope.
Here they are in a quick duct tape mock-up:
And then I stuffed the thing back in the corner. And did thus:
i
In the process, I helped to design a new mopar product. Its a CNC aluminum bulkhead eliminator. Used the factory gasket, fits in the hole perfectly, and has a reinforcement plate on the outside. We actually made a run of them just like this, and if you want one, just ask. We haven't tested on anything but a-bodies yet, because That's all we own....
He also wants my leaf springs, so I sold them to him. I've been planning on building a custom pack with all the tricks I can throw at them, so this just spurred me on. Same with getting rid of the KYB shocks. To that end, I bought some used GM fitment bilstein shocks. The KYBs are up on the local craigslist, along with my big block torsion bars. That's all time for another post though.....
Anyway, the cuda left Saturday morning. Which meant than it was time for duster. But first I had to clean the shop. Which meant I had to move the duster. Spent the rest of the day trying to get it running again, culminating in letting the magic smoke out of the ECU and fouling another set of plugs. After picking tools and such up from the driveway (sort of lost my temper a bit...) I did some soul searching and talking with the wife. We decided that, as there is limited resources for the OBD1 GM ECM, and all the troubles I've had out of them in various uses over the years, and the incredible difficulty in tuning, and lack of tuners, to go megasquirt. So tomorrow, ill be ordering all the stuff for a full MS2 install.
Still didn't help the junkyard that my shop looked like. So I spent yesterday and today cleaning and reorganizing and moving the car. And helping dad replace a hot water heater in a crawlspace. That was fun....
As a point of reference, my wife and daughter got me the harbor freight wheel dollies for fathers day a few year ago. Last time I used them, I learned that the casters and ease of use left much to be desired. So before putting the duster on them, I re-greased all the bearings. They still suck. Once you adjust the direction of all 16 casters to point the direction you want to go with a 2x4 and hammer, its still a mother to push. On a clean, shiny floor. But we got it moved. And then cleaned. And cleaned. And...
I finished today by organizing all the parts that had been packed in the duster, removing the OBD1 harness and computer, and attempting to build a bi-xenon projector retrofit. Well, I built them, but I would have to cut clearance into the inner fenders for them to fit. Which makes it a no go, as it puts it directly into the path of water when in the rain. So, guess ill keep looking for reasonable priced alternatives. For now, the silver star sealed beams will stay, only with relays for added brightness.
