Dash Fire Duster Rebuild
Ok, this post will bring us up to current. Bought all new TTI shorty headers and dual exhaust, mocked that up, new air cleaner, also mocked up, and pristine original trans shield and repop drain cover... let the murder begin...
So I say murder because everything in this post required murderous tactics. I removed the Hedman headers with a saws all for starters, that got me to mock up of headers to see what was next...
So that pristine original trans shield did not stay pristine... my oil pan has an aftermarket gasket that is flanged which was not allowing the shield to sit correctly, in fact it was shoving the shield into the flex plate. So I ended up cutting the shield down to avoid that whole area and that worked perfectly.
Finally you will see a repair I was trying to avoid and why the front suspension is still off the car. I found a big rust hole in the bottom of the driver frame rail that was too big to ignore. So Dad and I evaluated solutions and came up with a repair. Starting with 14 gauge steel and letting it cover most of the bottom of the rail and 2” up the side to add more stability in the repair. Ran it forward and aft of all rust damage determined. It was installed with a lot of tack welds to avoid burn thru risk. After that we broke out the JB Weld and filled in the gaps. Once I paint it black it will disappear in behind the tire. This is not a preferred method of a restoration, but this car is being built to drive, so this is to restore the structure.
Ok, this post will bring us up to current. Bought all new TTI shorty headers and dual exhaust, mocked that up, new air cleaner, also mocked up, and pristine original trans shield and repop drain cover... let the murder begin...
So I say murder because everything in this post required murderous tactics. I removed the Hedman headers with a saws all for starters, that got me to mock up of headers to see what was next...
So that pristine original trans shield did not stay pristine... my oil pan has an aftermarket gasket that is flanged which was not allowing the shield to sit correctly, in fact it was shoving the shield into the flex plate. So I ended up cutting the shield down to avoid that whole area and that worked perfectly.
Finally you will see a repair I was trying to avoid and why the front suspension is still off the car. I found a big rust hole in the bottom of the driver frame rail that was too big to ignore. So Dad and I evaluated solutions and came up with a repair. Starting with 14 gauge steel and letting it cover most of the bottom of the rail and 2” up the side to add more stability in the repair. Ran it forward and aft of all rust damage determined. It was installed with a lot of tack welds to avoid burn thru risk. After that we broke out the JB Weld and filled in the gaps. Once I paint it black it will disappear in behind the tire. This is not a preferred method of a restoration, but this car is being built to drive, so this is to restore the structure.
