The Great Pumpkin - '71 Duster
Made some more progress on the "Super Stock style" rear seat/trunk firewall area. Prior to moving forward though there was a little internal debate about putting the rear seat back in. The roll bar rear bars are the seat saver type since they go through the package tray. I did actually have the seat back there for a while but the more I thought about, the less it made sense. No one is climbing over the main hoop cross bar to get back there so if it never gets used, it's dead weight. Not to mention I cut out the floor brackets and seat back hooks. Say-o-nara.
Did some trimming on the trunk divider to get it to sit more flush against the seat back structure. It's pretty snug now but it's taken a lot of back and forth to get it to this point. You can see on the bottom edge of it where I bent a flange so it can be fastened to the platform below it. The flange was difficult to form since I only have a pitiful 30" HF brake. I cobbled something up in my vise to accommodate the longer piece. Essentially it worked but one side slipped during the bend so I had to knock it into shape with a hammer and dolly.
Once it's in place for good I'll probably get a piece of Masonite or ABS plastic cut into the same shape as the firewall and cover it with the factory-correct coachman grain vinyl for a finished look.
Since the last post, the decision was made to go ahead with the rear seat platform. As stated previously, it's made from traffic sign aluminum which is .080" thick 5052. I wanted it a little thicker so I could put stuff back there if needed and not worry about .040" caving in or getting all dented up. Next step is a simple frame to hold it up and keep it solid. The 2x4s the platform is resting on seem to be a good height. The platform will eventually get covered with carpet.
I used a contour gauge for the wheel well cutouts. The contour was transferred to cardboard to check fitment then the shape was traced on to the aluminum. Worked pretty good!
Like a lot of the side projects on this car, the rear seat area project is taking a long time. There's a lot of trial and error with fitment. Now that the other pieces are closer to where I want them I may end up-re-doing the package tray area. I'm happy with how it's turning out overall though. It's not a mess or anything and it all fits nicely.
More to come.
Made some more progress on the "Super Stock style" rear seat/trunk firewall area. Prior to moving forward though there was a little internal debate about putting the rear seat back in. The roll bar rear bars are the seat saver type since they go through the package tray. I did actually have the seat back there for a while but the more I thought about, the less it made sense. No one is climbing over the main hoop cross bar to get back there so if it never gets used, it's dead weight. Not to mention I cut out the floor brackets and seat back hooks. Say-o-nara.
Did some trimming on the trunk divider to get it to sit more flush against the seat back structure. It's pretty snug now but it's taken a lot of back and forth to get it to this point. You can see on the bottom edge of it where I bent a flange so it can be fastened to the platform below it. The flange was difficult to form since I only have a pitiful 30" HF brake. I cobbled something up in my vise to accommodate the longer piece. Essentially it worked but one side slipped during the bend so I had to knock it into shape with a hammer and dolly.
Once it's in place for good I'll probably get a piece of Masonite or ABS plastic cut into the same shape as the firewall and cover it with the factory-correct coachman grain vinyl for a finished look.
Since the last post, the decision was made to go ahead with the rear seat platform. As stated previously, it's made from traffic sign aluminum which is .080" thick 5052. I wanted it a little thicker so I could put stuff back there if needed and not worry about .040" caving in or getting all dented up. Next step is a simple frame to hold it up and keep it solid. The 2x4s the platform is resting on seem to be a good height. The platform will eventually get covered with carpet.
I used a contour gauge for the wheel well cutouts. The contour was transferred to cardboard to check fitment then the shape was traced on to the aluminum. Worked pretty good!
Like a lot of the side projects on this car, the rear seat area project is taking a long time. There's a lot of trial and error with fitment. Now that the other pieces are closer to where I want them I may end up-re-doing the package tray area. I'm happy with how it's turning out overall though. It's not a mess or anything and it all fits nicely.
More to come.
