My Duster Adventures
Well I’ll be dipped if it didn’t feel half ways warm this evening! Or maybe I just put it out of my mind as I was bound determined to get the engine and trans back in tonight!
I didn’t get home this evening until 7-7:30 so it was already dark. I was planning on finishing the passenger seat mods but I got an itch to see if it couldn’t get the engine and transmission back under the car. Now, this is no, let’s do it half ways type of ordeal, since I’m doing all this in a one car garage, with maybe 2-3 feet of walking room on either side of and behind the car but there’s only about 15” between the front bumper and the garage door. So it’s not like I can leave the engine hoist in front of the car with it holding either the car or engine up.
Anyway, as I was saying, it was dark when I got home so by light of the pole light and an LED work light, I pulled the steering linkage out of the drivers header, rolled the moving dolly with the engine, trans and k-member to the garage door. Now, when I say “rolled” I mean “shoved, yanked, used a floor jack, swore a little, then used the engine hoist for some assistance”. The reason for all that is at some point, between the last time I used my harbor freight moving dolly and when I set everything on it this time, the one caster bent, causing the hard plastic wheel to dig into the side and top of that caster, making where it absolutely wouldn’t roll! What a pain in the ***!! But I got it done. Rolled everything under the car, bolted the trans crossmember in, lifter the engine with the floor jack, then loosened the motor mounts and dropped the old k-member and back out the bottom.
The engines being held up by the jack, the strap is simply a backup.
I was planning to install the new k-frame but I decided I may as well evaporust the k-frame bolts and paint them while they’re out, so those are currently soaking, along with the cam bolts and header collector bolts.
I don’t think I posted a picture of these patches before. I cut these out and welded them in Monday evening. I’ve never had a battery heat sensor and the metal was thin there anyway, so I cut it out and put a solid piece in. The other patch I’m pretty dang proud of, it’s sort of a concave area and I really wasn’t sure how well it was going to turn out. I made a paper template, cut out the new piece, somewhat shaped it, the tacked the one non curve side, then hammered it a little, tacked, hammered, tack and so on until it was done and it turned out MUCH better than expected! My welding/grinder work still has some to be desired. I hit those spots with some of that epoxy appliance paint. It obviously doesn’t match the b5 but I don’t care. The engine and engine bay will get prettied up when I install my aluminum heads and another cam.
I also have my heater box hardware a shot of epoxy appliance paint. Hopefully get the box out back together and installed this week.
Tomorrow evening will be either passenger seat or front suspension or possibly (hopefully) both!
Well I’ll be dipped if it didn’t feel half ways warm this evening! Or maybe I just put it out of my mind as I was bound determined to get the engine and trans back in tonight!
I didn’t get home this evening until 7-7:30 so it was already dark. I was planning on finishing the passenger seat mods but I got an itch to see if it couldn’t get the engine and transmission back under the car. Now, this is no, let’s do it half ways type of ordeal, since I’m doing all this in a one car garage, with maybe 2-3 feet of walking room on either side of and behind the car but there’s only about 15” between the front bumper and the garage door. So it’s not like I can leave the engine hoist in front of the car with it holding either the car or engine up.
Anyway, as I was saying, it was dark when I got home so by light of the pole light and an LED work light, I pulled the steering linkage out of the drivers header, rolled the moving dolly with the engine, trans and k-member to the garage door. Now, when I say “rolled” I mean “shoved, yanked, used a floor jack, swore a little, then used the engine hoist for some assistance”. The reason for all that is at some point, between the last time I used my harbor freight moving dolly and when I set everything on it this time, the one caster bent, causing the hard plastic wheel to dig into the side and top of that caster, making where it absolutely wouldn’t roll! What a pain in the ***!! But I got it done. Rolled everything under the car, bolted the trans crossmember in, lifter the engine with the floor jack, then loosened the motor mounts and dropped the old k-member and back out the bottom.
The engines being held up by the jack, the strap is simply a backup.
I was planning to install the new k-frame but I decided I may as well evaporust the k-frame bolts and paint them while they’re out, so those are currently soaking, along with the cam bolts and header collector bolts.
I don’t think I posted a picture of these patches before. I cut these out and welded them in Monday evening. I’ve never had a battery heat sensor and the metal was thin there anyway, so I cut it out and put a solid piece in. The other patch I’m pretty dang proud of, it’s sort of a concave area and I really wasn’t sure how well it was going to turn out. I made a paper template, cut out the new piece, somewhat shaped it, the tacked the one non curve side, then hammered it a little, tacked, hammered, tack and so on until it was done and it turned out MUCH better than expected! My welding/grinder work still has some to be desired. I hit those spots with some of that epoxy appliance paint. It obviously doesn’t match the b5 but I don’t care. The engine and engine bay will get prettied up when I install my aluminum heads and another cam.
I also have my heater box hardware a shot of epoxy appliance paint. Hopefully get the box out back together and installed this week.
Tomorrow evening will be either passenger seat or front suspension or possibly (hopefully) both!
