The Great Pumpkin - '71 Duster
Man, talk about a struggle. In advance of the wiring and engine compartment fit up, I decided to tackle rebuilding the column. The outer jacket was all beat up and scratched, the shaft was collapsed and I could feel it moving in and out when I drove which was unnerving. The plan was to scuff and repaint it and swap out the shaft for one of my other ones. I've done this job enough times where I could probably do it in my sleep but this time around I must have actually been asleep. No lie, it was one disaster after another.
First of all, my Tuff wheel grip somehow got a chunk taken out of it. I'm pissed about it too because this was one of the more accurate repros that Dale's 'Cuda Shop sold many years ago. Naturally, its no longer available.
Luckily (?) this piece of foam broke off relatively cleanly so hopefully it can be glued back together.
Even if it can be done cleanly though, there is still a small chunk missing. Not sure what I'm going to do with it.
The Tuff wheel adapter is actually pretty heavy and I wouldn't mind ditching it. However, I'm not a big fan of the larger diameter/thin grip standard wheel. The larger wheel would work better with the 16:1 steering box though. That may be the impetus to get the lighter 20:1 box.
Continued below.
Man, talk about a struggle. In advance of the wiring and engine compartment fit up, I decided to tackle rebuilding the column. The outer jacket was all beat up and scratched, the shaft was collapsed and I could feel it moving in and out when I drove which was unnerving. The plan was to scuff and repaint it and swap out the shaft for one of my other ones. I've done this job enough times where I could probably do it in my sleep but this time around I must have actually been asleep. No lie, it was one disaster after another.
First of all, my Tuff wheel grip somehow got a chunk taken out of it. I'm pissed about it too because this was one of the more accurate repros that Dale's 'Cuda Shop sold many years ago. Naturally, its no longer available.
Luckily (?) this piece of foam broke off relatively cleanly so hopefully it can be glued back together.
Even if it can be done cleanly though, there is still a small chunk missing. Not sure what I'm going to do with it.
The Tuff wheel adapter is actually pretty heavy and I wouldn't mind ditching it. However, I'm not a big fan of the larger diameter/thin grip standard wheel. The larger wheel would work better with the 16:1 steering box though. That may be the impetus to get the lighter 20:1 box.
Continued below.
