Inferno Red 74 Duster!
What a great summer I had once it finally got started. It was June before I got on the road after my suspension upgrades, but boy, what a difference that made. Even though I have yet to upgrade the tires to match the suspension, it makes for an all-around better driving experience!
I had to replace my transmission after I lost first gear. This is when I did something really dumb. I installed a junk yard A-998 from an 88 Dodge truck that leaks really bad from the shifter/throttle pressure linkage shaft, and took a lot of fooling around to get it to shift right. The leak is what kept me from taking it to my local track to see what it would do in the ¼ mile. I don’t expect it to be a track hero but I just want to know.
Through all this, I did get over 1700 miles of cruising this summer. Certain aspects of my life has been kinda shitty lately, but when I hit the highway in my Duster, it all seems to melt away for a while! 70 MPH at 3000 rpm is so sweet! I did attend 2 local cruises this year and had a good time just hanging out and talking cars. I don’t see myself doing a lot of that though because I’d rather be driving it! It looks like the car season is done here for 2017, but Maybe I’ll get out one more time if the roads dry up after the first snowfall yesterday. It’s only supposed to be -3c this weekend, and I got a heater!
So for this winter, I hope to address a couple things that came up this year that I know will make next year even better. First off, is the gauges. I was running a speedometer app on my phone because I didn’t even have a speedo cable in the car. My factory fuel and heat gauges work, but I bypassed the amp meter so it’s not doing me any good. I do have a full complement of gauges (oil, volts and temp) down low by my left knee that are a pain to see, and they almost block the E-brake handle too. I couldn’t put them on the right side because I didn’t want them to block the A/C vents. These wil all go into a gauge insert I modified with a solid back pan. It is red in the picture, but I don’t think it will stay that way. Probably just paint it black to match the rest of the dash. I decided not to integrate the tach into the dash panel because I like the look of the tach on the dash pad and it makes it way easier to lay the gauges out with 1 less 3 3/8” gauge to fit in there.
Another winter project will be to rebuild and install the A-500 OD transmission that I picked up a few weeks ago. This will allow me to go to lower gearing when I swap in my 8 ¾. When I bought the car, the trans tunnel was already clearance for the OD so I’ll just have to fab a trans cross member and shorten the driveshaft. I am digging around figuring out how I’ll control the OD and LU. I’ve found several good options.
I have almost all the parts for my 8 ¾ upgrade but time with be the determining factor in whether I get that done or not. I don’t want to have to get the driveshaft shortened twice either so I may have to do the diff and transmission at the same time after all.
I need to finish the underhood portion of the AC system. I never got around to getting the hoses crimped up so the system could be charged. I have all the parts, just could not coordinate myself to get it done. I have a separate thread started on this that will detail how I did this. I used compressor and brackets from an 80s Dodge truck with a new condensor etc so R-134 can be used.
I want to spend some time cleaning up the wiring under the hood. I want to find a relay/fuse box (hopefully from the JY) to house my headlight relays, ignition relays and transmission control relays. The wiring under there really bugs me because I am an electrician and my wiring needs to be nice and neat.
I need to seal up the leaks around my windshield so I can get my windshield trim reinstalled. I also want to be able to go through the drive through car wash once in a while without washing myself at the same time! Also, with longer trips planned for next year, I need to be able to handle driving it in the rain sometimes.
Other than that, I want to do a few interior touch ups. I want to recover the front seats to match the original rear seat. I want to replace the carpet because it is an ill-fitting brown carpet that came with the car when I bought it. The carpet was too thick and stiff to fit nice to the contours of the floorboards and it’s just something that really bugs me.
A million other things could be done if time permits, but the main goal is to be ready to hit the streets when the weather allows it next spring. I am so thankful to have this project to keep me sane in this f’d up life I am living!
Cley
What a great summer I had once it finally got started. It was June before I got on the road after my suspension upgrades, but boy, what a difference that made. Even though I have yet to upgrade the tires to match the suspension, it makes for an all-around better driving experience!
I had to replace my transmission after I lost first gear. This is when I did something really dumb. I installed a junk yard A-998 from an 88 Dodge truck that leaks really bad from the shifter/throttle pressure linkage shaft, and took a lot of fooling around to get it to shift right. The leak is what kept me from taking it to my local track to see what it would do in the ¼ mile. I don’t expect it to be a track hero but I just want to know.
Through all this, I did get over 1700 miles of cruising this summer. Certain aspects of my life has been kinda shitty lately, but when I hit the highway in my Duster, it all seems to melt away for a while! 70 MPH at 3000 rpm is so sweet! I did attend 2 local cruises this year and had a good time just hanging out and talking cars. I don’t see myself doing a lot of that though because I’d rather be driving it! It looks like the car season is done here for 2017, but Maybe I’ll get out one more time if the roads dry up after the first snowfall yesterday. It’s only supposed to be -3c this weekend, and I got a heater!
So for this winter, I hope to address a couple things that came up this year that I know will make next year even better. First off, is the gauges. I was running a speedometer app on my phone because I didn’t even have a speedo cable in the car. My factory fuel and heat gauges work, but I bypassed the amp meter so it’s not doing me any good. I do have a full complement of gauges (oil, volts and temp) down low by my left knee that are a pain to see, and they almost block the E-brake handle too. I couldn’t put them on the right side because I didn’t want them to block the A/C vents. These wil all go into a gauge insert I modified with a solid back pan. It is red in the picture, but I don’t think it will stay that way. Probably just paint it black to match the rest of the dash. I decided not to integrate the tach into the dash panel because I like the look of the tach on the dash pad and it makes it way easier to lay the gauges out with 1 less 3 3/8” gauge to fit in there.
Another winter project will be to rebuild and install the A-500 OD transmission that I picked up a few weeks ago. This will allow me to go to lower gearing when I swap in my 8 ¾. When I bought the car, the trans tunnel was already clearance for the OD so I’ll just have to fab a trans cross member and shorten the driveshaft. I am digging around figuring out how I’ll control the OD and LU. I’ve found several good options.
I have almost all the parts for my 8 ¾ upgrade but time with be the determining factor in whether I get that done or not. I don’t want to have to get the driveshaft shortened twice either so I may have to do the diff and transmission at the same time after all.
I need to finish the underhood portion of the AC system. I never got around to getting the hoses crimped up so the system could be charged. I have all the parts, just could not coordinate myself to get it done. I have a separate thread started on this that will detail how I did this. I used compressor and brackets from an 80s Dodge truck with a new condensor etc so R-134 can be used.
I want to spend some time cleaning up the wiring under the hood. I want to find a relay/fuse box (hopefully from the JY) to house my headlight relays, ignition relays and transmission control relays. The wiring under there really bugs me because I am an electrician and my wiring needs to be nice and neat.
I need to seal up the leaks around my windshield so I can get my windshield trim reinstalled. I also want to be able to go through the drive through car wash once in a while without washing myself at the same time! Also, with longer trips planned for next year, I need to be able to handle driving it in the rain sometimes.
Other than that, I want to do a few interior touch ups. I want to recover the front seats to match the original rear seat. I want to replace the carpet because it is an ill-fitting brown carpet that came with the car when I bought it. The carpet was too thick and stiff to fit nice to the contours of the floorboards and it’s just something that really bugs me.
A million other things could be done if time permits, but the main goal is to be ready to hit the streets when the weather allows it next spring. I am so thankful to have this project to keep me sane in this f’d up life I am living!
Cley
