This is gonna be a nice one! What headers are those?
1972 Duster, 340/4, black on black (the endgame)
- Thread starter WymanV
- Start date
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WymanV
..you said "member"...
TTI shorties. It didn't come with any exhaust so I figured if I was going to pay a hefty chunk of change for exhaust I'll skip on the collector (over)priced OEM 340 manifolds and pay for the HP bump instead.
WymanV
..you said "member"...
So let's restore some door panels.
On my trip to Oregon a couple years ago to strip a brother 72 340/4 speed TX9 Duster for suspension parts one of the bit pieces I grabbed were the trashed door panels that were rotting away in the back seat. They were indeed trashed but they were black and they were the same deluxe panels that were original to my car. So I took those as well with the thought I may be able to do something with them.
Turns out there was...
Way back in the day (remember-this project is closing up on 40 years) I made door panels for this car from a piece of corrugated plastic packing material I picked up on an odd job I had. And being the 1980s I had no reservations about covering the panels with fake fur-you may also remember I was building the car I wanted in high school and that was the cat's *** back in the day. However, fast forward 20 years or so and that zebra stripe got to be a bit much. Door panels, package shelf, headliner and dash pad was an awful lot of cheesy so I decided it had to go. The headliner was first of course-that cardboard one gave way to a black cloth one. Then the dash, which still has to be restored but it was a solid (tan) pad underneath and quite salvageable. Next would be stripping the fur off the plastic door panels I made with the idea of stripping the vinyl off the deteriorated chipboard/pressboard the originals were made from and gluing it to the plastic.
I started with the back seat panels because I just resumed work on the doors and they're not ready for panels yet, but here are the ones I picked up as "cores":
Not in the best of shape but I really have nothing to lose by trying but a little time. Here are the backsides of the ones I made showing the plastic cores I made for them:
Since the back seat area is coming together I started with the right side rear panel:
Not good, not terrible. They're drying out around the edges but hitting it with the heat gun softened the vinyl up quick and it peeled off the core pretty easily:
I warmed it up with the heat gun to ease out some of the wrinkles in the vinyl and glued it to the plastic core with some spray adhesive. Then I flipped it and glued the edges down and around with the same glue I used on the headliner:
A little more caressing with the heat gun and a bath in Purple Power later and ta-da, one rebuilt interior panel:
Not perfect and hardly show quality but it'll do the job and save me a pretty good chunk of change I can spend on buying aftermarket panels later if I wish.
Now the left side was a bit dicey:
Yeah, it shrank back a lot. I started by clamping the top edge down to the work table and started massaging and stretching the vinyl out with the heat gun:
With that improvement I pulled the vinyl off the old core and glued the back of the top edge to the new one. Then I clamped that down to the bench and started stretching it to fit:
Stapling it down helped it hold it's form while it cooled and while I went a little far on the back edge I doubt it'll stand out once the seat is in and it actually managed to stretch out quite a bit once it was heated up:
On my trip to Oregon a couple years ago to strip a brother 72 340/4 speed TX9 Duster for suspension parts one of the bit pieces I grabbed were the trashed door panels that were rotting away in the back seat. They were indeed trashed but they were black and they were the same deluxe panels that were original to my car. So I took those as well with the thought I may be able to do something with them.
Turns out there was...
Way back in the day (remember-this project is closing up on 40 years) I made door panels for this car from a piece of corrugated plastic packing material I picked up on an odd job I had. And being the 1980s I had no reservations about covering the panels with fake fur-you may also remember I was building the car I wanted in high school and that was the cat's *** back in the day. However, fast forward 20 years or so and that zebra stripe got to be a bit much. Door panels, package shelf, headliner and dash pad was an awful lot of cheesy so I decided it had to go. The headliner was first of course-that cardboard one gave way to a black cloth one. Then the dash, which still has to be restored but it was a solid (tan) pad underneath and quite salvageable. Next would be stripping the fur off the plastic door panels I made with the idea of stripping the vinyl off the deteriorated chipboard/pressboard the originals were made from and gluing it to the plastic.
I started with the back seat panels because I just resumed work on the doors and they're not ready for panels yet, but here are the ones I picked up as "cores":
Not in the best of shape but I really have nothing to lose by trying but a little time. Here are the backsides of the ones I made showing the plastic cores I made for them:
Since the back seat area is coming together I started with the right side rear panel:
Not good, not terrible. They're drying out around the edges but hitting it with the heat gun softened the vinyl up quick and it peeled off the core pretty easily:
I warmed it up with the heat gun to ease out some of the wrinkles in the vinyl and glued it to the plastic core with some spray adhesive. Then I flipped it and glued the edges down and around with the same glue I used on the headliner:
A little more caressing with the heat gun and a bath in Purple Power later and ta-da, one rebuilt interior panel:
Not perfect and hardly show quality but it'll do the job and save me a pretty good chunk of change I can spend on buying aftermarket panels later if I wish.
Now the left side was a bit dicey:
Yeah, it shrank back a lot. I started by clamping the top edge down to the work table and started massaging and stretching the vinyl out with the heat gun:
With that improvement I pulled the vinyl off the old core and glued the back of the top edge to the new one. Then I clamped that down to the bench and started stretching it to fit:
Stapling it down helped it hold it's form while it cooled and while I went a little far on the back edge I doubt it'll stand out once the seat is in and it actually managed to stretch out quite a bit once it was heated up:
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WymanV
..you said "member"...
It'll do. Again, not show worthy but functional and cheap. I suspect the remaining wrinkles will work out over time. Black on black means it'll get plenty hot in there in the summer.
(and in my best David Lee Roth impression) Uh oh-
Oh yes he did! This is the good stuff. This is the plush stuff. This is the stuff you put your hand on and it just sucks your hand in. This is the stuff your mom was conceived on
Seriously, I wasn't going to get away without some touch of the 1970s in this car. And I had a pretty sizeable piece left over from reconditioning a bass case a few years ago so I burned it up:
And you can see that right side panel in there too.
moparker
Well-Known Member
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Looks good to me!
WymanV
..you said "member"...
So here's the wrap-up on all this. Panels are in. The metal panels got painted and buffed a few weeks ago and they're in. Sill plates and kick panels are in and the carpet has had it's final trim:
And the dash is assembled. Had a false alarm with it as it's been together before but after I put the horns in the hi beams stopped working. Tore it all apart to find the crossed wire and I did-under the bolt that held a horn in
And everything works except the horns, of course but it's getting a wood steering wheel so I'll deal with that when the time comes. And happily enough my modified ashtray worked out pretty well. And even the 3 speed wiper motor and fluid pump work:
Of course there's a dashpad to deal with but that's $1300 I don't want to spend right now. Going to IPMS NATS next weekend in Madison and that'll be a costly adventure in itself.
Also added a third brake light while I was at it, because there are a whole bunch of kids out there today who never lived in a world before the third brake light and I really don't need one of them slamming into that tail light panel...again...:
And way up in front of the shop above the steering wheel you can just see the left door sitting on a sawhorse, getting prepped for repaint
And the dash is assembled. Had a false alarm with it as it's been together before but after I put the horns in the hi beams stopped working. Tore it all apart to find the crossed wire and I did-under the bolt that held a horn in
And everything works except the horns, of course but it's getting a wood steering wheel so I'll deal with that when the time comes. And happily enough my modified ashtray worked out pretty well. And even the 3 speed wiper motor and fluid pump work:Of course there's a dashpad to deal with but that's $1300 I don't want to spend right now. Going to IPMS NATS next weekend in Madison and that'll be a costly adventure in itself.
Also added a third brake light while I was at it, because there are a whole bunch of kids out there today who never lived in a world before the third brake light and I really don't need one of them slamming into that tail light panel...again...:
And way up in front of the shop above the steering wheel you can just see the left door sitting on a sawhorse, getting prepped for repaint
DionR
Well-Known Member
So here's the wrap-up on all this. Panels are in. The metal panels got painted and buffed a few weeks ago and they're in. Sill plates and kick panels are in and the carpet has had it's final trim:
View attachment 1716276192
And the dash is assembled. Had a false alarm with it as it's been together before but after I put the horns in the hi beams stopped working. Tore it all apart to find the crossed wire and I did-under the bolt that held a horn in
View attachment 1716276194
Of course there's a dashpad to deal with but that's $1300 I don't want to spend right now. Going to IPMS NATS next weekend in Madison and that'll be a costly adventure in itself.
Also added a third brake light while I was at it, because there are a whole bunch of kids out there today who never lived in a world before the third brake light and I really don't need one of them slamming into that tail light panel...again...:
View attachment 1716276195
And way up in front of the shop above the steering wheel you can just see the left door sitting on a sawhorse, getting prepped for repaint
Details on the third brake light?
sireland67
Well-Known Member
I just looked and Classic Industries has a dash pad forSo here's the wrap-up on all this. Panels are in. The metal panels got painted and buffed a few weeks ago and they're in. Sill plates and kick panels are in and the carpet has had it's final trim:
View attachment 1716276192
And the dash is assembled. Had a false alarm with it as it's been together before but after I put the horns in the hi beams stopped working. Tore it all apart to find the crossed wire and I did-under the bolt that held a horn in
View attachment 1716276194
Of course there's a dashpad to deal with but that's $1300 I don't want to spend right now. Going to IPMS NATS next weekend in Madison and that'll be a costly adventure in itself.
Also added a third brake light while I was at it, because there are a whole bunch of kids out there today who never lived in a world before the third brake light and I really don't need one of them slamming into that tail light panel...again...:
View attachment 1716276195
And way up in front of the shop above the steering wheel you can just see the left door sitting on a sawhorse, getting prepped for repaint
$329
https://www.classicindustries.com/product/all-years/plymouth/all-models/parts/ma1094100.html
hcallaway
Well-Known Member
Labor of love!! Great job.
WymanV
..you said "member"...
It's something I picked up for the bike when I was working on it but it didn't fit-ended up using an LED strip on that. I had to make a bracket for this one as the one it came with was too short but it works and doesn't look too out of place. Packing for a trip but when I get back I'll get more pics.
Ooh-I can do that. I've been talking to Just Dashes about restoring the one I have but for the money I'll do this instead just as soon as I get back. Thanks for sharing
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Great work!
WymanV
..you said "member"...
Haven't posted an update here for a while, not for lack of work on it but because recent progress wasn't really photoworthy but enough stuff has come to fruition to justify a thread bump.
Front seats are recovered and installed (temporarily). This car started life with a front bench which I didn't care for so quite a few years ago I scored a pair of bucket seats that were alleged to be out of a '72 Charger, but were more likely out of a Challenger based on research. And those who have dealt with bucket seats for a '72 already know, there are some compatibility issues there. The '72 had the seat back springs embedded in the foam and new foam was in order as the original was never going to work with Duster vinyl. So after quite a few rounds of Trial & Error I finally got something that works. And no, no medallions. Never liked them and I wasn't about to go through the trouble and expense to do something I don't want anyway. Also replaced the factory seat belts with 3 point belts from Seat Belts Plus. And I'm not sure this is the end of it. With the seat all the way back the belt itself when applied has maybe a foot of slack in it-it's almost all the way out of the spool. I'm planning on doing some more digging and see if I can find some longer ones. I like the idea but they could be a foot or two longer. Still waiting for the vinyl for the back seat but in the meantime I can get the back belts in and everything else set up.
Brakes are in. Took way too long because so many vendors sent me the wrong parts and because the USPS can no longer be relied upon to deliver mail in a timely fashion. But it's done and the pedal is nice and solid. Could use a bit more adjustment on the pads and the parking brake cable still needs to be tightened up but the car stops when I want it to. It's actually a job I hemmed and hawed on because I knew having pads in there was going to make it harder to push the car around, but now that they're done all the engine compartment stuff is done and it's ready for a motor.
Got the fuel filler neck in. Had to go to a wedding back in Wisconsin a couple months ago so while I was there I stopped at Vans in Waupun, someplace I haven't been in ages (so long ago they had a pair of 340s they were trying to sell for $100 ea. and guess how many times I've kicked myself over that one...) and picked up the filler neck, one of two necessary trim pieces for the grill (out of stock on the other one) and carriage bolts for the back bumper. Now of course I have that flip-top gas cap mounted for real
Also probably worth mentioning the left door is repainted. Still have to buff it out but it's not going on until the interior work is done. Meanwhile, repainting the right one will fill any time voids that come up while waiting for parts.
The dash pad showed up last week (thanks for the tip sireland67) and I also scored a 150MPH speedometer for it-the correct one for '70-71 Duster Rallye dash. It's in desperate need of reconditioning and I still have some research to do finding someone to do it but once that's done the dash can be torn down again, the pad installed and the new speedometer into the cluster. And I got the mounts on the back bumper and would've put that on tonight but the bolts I have are few and quite crusty. I'll make the trip to the hardware store next weekend for new ones and get that bolted up.
So the short list is get the seatbelts in for the back seat and get everything back there ready for the seat itself when the vinyl shows up. Get the loose ends on the dashboard wrapped up (I need the defroster hoses too). Then get the right door painted so I can get those mounted and get it out for a long overdue bath. Then the next project to start will be replacing bearings in the transmission. Since it's ready for the motor the transmission needs to be ready too.
And an aside for DionR, more pics of the third brake light. The brackets are made from a metal strip with spaced holes in it (I know there's a name for that but it escapes me) and it's just bolted down through the package shelf. The wires go through the shelf too. The ground is grounded in the trunk with the stereo ground and the hot runs back up to the dash alongside the harness on the left side and is tapped into the brake light switch on the pedal.
My uncle special ordered a new '72 Duster 340. It included a 4-speed and rallye gauge cluster. It never came. He took a stock car off the lot; AT and standard square dash. The fact that I've never seen a factory '72 340 Duster with the '70-'71 Rallye cluster, and the fact that his special order '72 Rallye cluster car never came in, I have to wonder if any were ever made. My uncle suggests it was on the option menu when he ordered his.
WymanV
..you said "member"...
For all the years I've owned this car, all the '72s I've seen and all the research I've done I have never seen nor heard of one with a factory Rallye dash. All signs have pointed to no and I accepted that as the way it is. Not that it never happened; I just haven't found one.
In fact, I don't remember ever seeing one in a '72 at all...
In fact, I don't remember ever seeing one in a '72 at all...
I like how your panels are turning out. Once it sits in the sun and gets good and hot, those small wrinkles will probably come out. We made the door panels, kick panels and rear panels in Vixen and they turned out ok.
WymanV
..you said "member"...
New year and time for an update here. The seats are redone and in:
I started with the front buckets. The upholstery showed up on a Friday and I though it would make a fine weekend project.
It took six weeks...
For a refresher I bought the seats on ebay advertised as from a '72 Charger but once I dug into it they're more likely out of a Challenger. Not only was the foam different but in order to use the correct '72 vinyl I had to get rid of the springs in the seat back. All stuff I learned the hard way, meaning as I went along. I used the PG Classics foam and the only disappointment I have with it is it's really stiff and I sit awfully high in the seat. Hopefully it'll settle down over time or I may just set a 5 gallon pail of lead ingots I have kicking around on the seat to see if that helps. The wrinkles in the left seat are disappointing too, but that would be the third time I put that cover on the frame and it's getting too worn around the edges already to work it over more. Maybe that too will settle over time, I may take a heat gun to it and see if that helps or maybe I'll just leave it as is for a conversation starter
Chicks won't see that when I'm sitting in the car anyway 
And I still have to recondition the plastic seat backs. They're black, but they're scratched up and drying out plastic so I see more priming and sanding in my future to smooth them out. It'll do away with the texture molded into the plastic but I'm not that fussy.
The upholstery for the back seat showed up Monday and it took about 3 hours.
The seat belts were another matter. With the cloth headliner I wanted to go with newer 3 point belts to do away with the hanger clips for the separate shoulder belts along with the inconvenience of that separate belt. The ones I got are nice but they could be about a foot longer. They're so short you can't really reach for anything without them holding you in place. And, they way they sit and travel the belt is on your neck instead of on your shoulder. So I did a little digging and found the seat belt loops from a 3rd gen Firebird were the answer. They're split so it's easy enough to pull the belt out for easier access to the back seat but the payoff is now the belt is even shorter. Something for later as I may contact the vendor to see if they have anything longer.
Elsewhere, the transmission is rebuilt with new bearings bushings & seals and ready to go in:
Putting the tail shaft in a A833 OD is no fun Boy Howdy I tell ya what. You have to take some of it apart to get it in and putting it back together is a balancing act with really heavy awkward parts. But it's done and it's nice and smooth.
The 340 went to the shop last Monday for the cam break-in. We're shut down for the two holiday weeks at Gibson so I was hoping to have it back, in and running before we go back but the distributor failed so I had to order another one. Still hoping to have it back before the weekend because I work nights and picking it up while working those hours could be a little tricky. So, hoping the next update here is 'motor's in'.
I started with the front buckets. The upholstery showed up on a Friday and I though it would make a fine weekend project.
It took six weeks...
For a refresher I bought the seats on ebay advertised as from a '72 Charger but once I dug into it they're more likely out of a Challenger. Not only was the foam different but in order to use the correct '72 vinyl I had to get rid of the springs in the seat back. All stuff I learned the hard way, meaning as I went along. I used the PG Classics foam and the only disappointment I have with it is it's really stiff and I sit awfully high in the seat. Hopefully it'll settle down over time or I may just set a 5 gallon pail of lead ingots I have kicking around on the seat to see if that helps. The wrinkles in the left seat are disappointing too, but that would be the third time I put that cover on the frame and it's getting too worn around the edges already to work it over more. Maybe that too will settle over time, I may take a heat gun to it and see if that helps or maybe I'll just leave it as is for a conversation starter
Chicks won't see that when I'm sitting in the car anyway And I still have to recondition the plastic seat backs. They're black, but they're scratched up and drying out plastic so I see more priming and sanding in my future to smooth them out. It'll do away with the texture molded into the plastic but I'm not that fussy.The upholstery for the back seat showed up Monday and it took about 3 hours.
The seat belts were another matter. With the cloth headliner I wanted to go with newer 3 point belts to do away with the hanger clips for the separate shoulder belts along with the inconvenience of that separate belt. The ones I got are nice but they could be about a foot longer. They're so short you can't really reach for anything without them holding you in place. And, they way they sit and travel the belt is on your neck instead of on your shoulder. So I did a little digging and found the seat belt loops from a 3rd gen Firebird were the answer. They're split so it's easy enough to pull the belt out for easier access to the back seat but the payoff is now the belt is even shorter. Something for later as I may contact the vendor to see if they have anything longer.
Elsewhere, the transmission is rebuilt with new bearings bushings & seals and ready to go in:
Putting the tail shaft in a A833 OD is no fun Boy Howdy I tell ya what. You have to take some of it apart to get it in and putting it back together is a balancing act with really heavy awkward parts. But it's done and it's nice and smooth.
The 340 went to the shop last Monday for the cam break-in. We're shut down for the two holiday weeks at Gibson so I was hoping to have it back, in and running before we go back but the distributor failed so I had to order another one. Still hoping to have it back before the weekend because I work nights and picking it up while working those hours could be a little tricky. So, hoping the next update here is 'motor's in'.
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WymanV
..you said "member"...
Not quite in yet but it's back and bolted together and all I need is oil for the transmission. Should be in Sunday night
The fella who did the cam break-in says it maintains 80psi oil pressure @ 2200 RPM, runs strong and has a nice lope.
The fella who did the cam break-in says it maintains 80psi oil pressure @ 2200 RPM, runs strong and has a nice lope.
WymanV
..you said "member"...
Motor's in:
Pretty sure that engine bay has been empty since 1984. Also been awhile since I flew solo on an engine drop but hell yeah I still got it
Sits higher than I thought it would even tho the mounts are all the way down in the frame so I'll be looking for a low profile air cleaner for it. And it's always nice to marry big pieces to the car 'cause it frees up shop space.
It'll be a while before I can fire it up but in the meantime there's plenty of body work left to do. It'll be nice to get those big pieces on there too.
Pretty sure that engine bay has been empty since 1984. Also been awhile since I flew solo on an engine drop but hell yeah I still got it
Sits higher than I thought it would even tho the mounts are all the way down in the frame so I'll be looking for a low profile air cleaner for it. And it's always nice to marry big pieces to the car 'cause it frees up shop space.It'll be a while before I can fire it up but in the meantime there's plenty of body work left to do. It'll be nice to get those big pieces on there too.
Bob67Barracuda
Well-Known Member
Just found this thread the other day. What a saga! Great work. Awesome to see. Thanks for sticking with this thread all these years.
WymanV
..you said "member"...
Not a lot of progress that shows but stuff happens anyway. The right door is primed and ready to wetsand. Radiator is in and the fan is on it's way. Transmission is pretty much wrapped up-could use a fork boot as I can't find the original and I'm waiting on the correct insert for the shifter handle as the original was stripped. All the back-up lights work (dash too). Driveshaft is in. Electrical harness is finished with the installation of battery cables and new relay. Motor turns over with the key and there's spark so that '72 electronic ignition to '71 rallye dash harness swap was a success. And of course I had to take the front kick panels out so I could get the door hinges on but they're on and waiting for doors. The side marker holes in the AMD fenders are welded up and ready for cutting the correct '72 holes (those little handling dings have been filled for some time).
On the short list are heater & radiator hoses. The cam break-in burned paint off the headers so they're are at a place in Bozeman that does blasting and as soon as they're cleaned up they'll get recoated and installed with as much exhaust as I can get my hands on. Add gasoline and it should be ready to fire up in the car. A little further down the road; I found a "correct" 150MPH speedometer that needs reconditioning and since the dash pad needs to be installed anyway the dash will come apart one more time to wrap up all those loose ends. By time the dash is back together the doors should be ready to hang and then it's hood & fenders (and we've been there before...).
It'll be nice to be able to move this around under it's own power for a change. I don't think it has since 1983.
On the short list are heater & radiator hoses. The cam break-in burned paint off the headers so they're are at a place in Bozeman that does blasting and as soon as they're cleaned up they'll get recoated and installed with as much exhaust as I can get my hands on. Add gasoline and it should be ready to fire up in the car. A little further down the road; I found a "correct" 150MPH speedometer that needs reconditioning and since the dash pad needs to be installed anyway the dash will come apart one more time to wrap up all those loose ends. By time the dash is back together the doors should be ready to hang and then it's hood & fenders (and we've been there before...).
It'll be nice to be able to move this around under it's own power for a change. I don't think it has since 1983.
WymanV
..you said "member"...
So the short story of how I got this car, for those who didn't bother to read through all this: Local gearhead Bob showed up one night with this car in 1980 while I was hanging with the girlfriend and I thought it was the sexiest car I ever saw (I was 16...admittedly hadn't seen much). As time went on he married and the wife had something more than a fender bender. Since Bob couldn't get the car fixed on the quick & cheap he sold the motor to Dick and the shell to Rocky. The motor went into a '70 Dart 340 (wasn't original to the Duster anyway) which is still around with his son and Rocky put the shell in his back yard up on blocks with some intent to do something with it. In 1984 my sister (who dated him briefly) bought the shell from him for $25. My intent was to strip it for parts for a 70 Duster I wanted to fix up at the time but at the moment I was dropping this off at the scrap yard I remembered I wanted that car once and I've been dragging it all over the western US ever since with the intent of getting it done and taking it back to show everyone who was affiliated with it over the years.
Rocky died last week. 67 years old. Still settling on that but the immediate effect was to turn the heat up even hotter on getting this thing done.
Progress report: Got the headers back last week and repainted them last weekend. Got them in along with the lead pipe. Took about 15 minutes to get the headers in and about 3 hours to fit the extensions. Got all but the upper hose installed and dumped a couple gallons of coolant into it to give things a chance to flow around. No leaks. Got a couple gallons of 91 octane and dumped that in. No leaks. Wasn't sure if it was enough to prime the fuel pump so I cranked on the starter for about 10 seconds just to see. Nothing at the filter. Gave it another 5 seconds. Fuel at the filter but didn't see any in the carb. Figured on giving it another 5 seconds and after about 3 seconds of cranking the car went BLAM! BLAP-BLAP-BLAP-BANG!
Car runs. I didn't pursue it any further as open headers in a shared basement parking garage in an apartment building is so not cool but by time I get full exhaust on it the snow should be cleared out and I can fire it up for real, set the timing quick and run it out to let things warm up (and we'll take it from there).
Meanwhile, the work is done on correcting the fenders and they're in primer so it's time to dig the hood out and get on with wetsanding and prepping hood, fenders and right door for paint.
Rocky died last week. 67 years old. Still settling on that but the immediate effect was to turn the heat up even hotter on getting this thing done.
Progress report: Got the headers back last week and repainted them last weekend. Got them in along with the lead pipe. Took about 15 minutes to get the headers in and about 3 hours to fit the extensions. Got all but the upper hose installed and dumped a couple gallons of coolant into it to give things a chance to flow around. No leaks. Got a couple gallons of 91 octane and dumped that in. No leaks. Wasn't sure if it was enough to prime the fuel pump so I cranked on the starter for about 10 seconds just to see. Nothing at the filter. Gave it another 5 seconds. Fuel at the filter but didn't see any in the carb. Figured on giving it another 5 seconds and after about 3 seconds of cranking the car went BLAM! BLAP-BLAP-BLAP-BANG!
Car runs. I didn't pursue it any further as open headers in a shared basement parking garage in an apartment building is so not cool but by time I get full exhaust on it the snow should be cleared out and I can fire it up for real, set the timing quick and run it out to let things warm up (and we'll take it from there).
Meanwhile, the work is done on correcting the fenders and they're in primer so it's time to dig the hood out and get on with wetsanding and prepping hood, fenders and right door for paint.
WymanV
..you said "member"...
Not a big visible change but work goes on. Welding and filler work on the new fenders is done and they're in a final coat of 2k primer. I'll be getting some sound deadener/undercoat on the backsides when some stand space gets freed up but they're not getting painted any time soon. No hurry there as they will be the last panels to go on. They're hung on the car by 2 bolts just to have somewhere to store them.
The hood is/was in a final coat of primer. Since the pics were taken I blocked it out with 180 and plenty of issues came up that needed to be addressed. Oddly, most of the unevenness was on the windshield end. More filler work is done and it's ready for another layer of Feather Fill.
The back side of the right door is painted. I let it sit for a week, masked it off, flipped it and shot color on the outside. And it sagged It's still cold here and while my rudimentary paint booth warms up nicely with the halogen lights on I was still storing the paint in the workshop and it was rather chilly. I sanded the color down last weekend and this time the paint supplies will be in the "booth" while it warms up so that shouldn't be an issue again.
Pulled the dash apart, pulled the cluster and removed the speedometer. I'll be headed to Helena today to get it rebuilt. There's a fella up there who specializes in Mopar instruments so hopefully he'll have at it. Meanwhile it gave me a chance to get the dash pad fastened in place and hopefully I can address some clutch pedal issues (notably the missing link that connects the lockout switch).
I keep looking at it in the shop trying to make sure I don't have anything else left to do on the car and there's not much. The speedometer won't be cheap I'm sure but after that, the next big expense is exhaust. After that,... stripes?
It's gettin' so close...
The hood is/was in a final coat of primer. Since the pics were taken I blocked it out with 180 and plenty of issues came up that needed to be addressed. Oddly, most of the unevenness was on the windshield end. More filler work is done and it's ready for another layer of Feather Fill.
The back side of the right door is painted. I let it sit for a week, masked it off, flipped it and shot color on the outside. And it sagged
It's still cold here and while my rudimentary paint booth warms up nicely with the halogen lights on I was still storing the paint in the workshop and it was rather chilly. I sanded the color down last weekend and this time the paint supplies will be in the "booth" while it warms up so that shouldn't be an issue again.Pulled the dash apart, pulled the cluster and removed the speedometer. I'll be headed to Helena today to get it rebuilt. There's a fella up there who specializes in Mopar instruments so hopefully he'll have at it. Meanwhile it gave me a chance to get the dash pad fastened in place and hopefully I can address some clutch pedal issues (notably the missing link that connects the lockout switch).
I keep looking at it in the shop trying to make sure I don't have anything else left to do on the car and there's not much. The speedometer won't be cheap I'm sure but after that, the next big expense is exhaust. After that,... stripes?
It's gettin' so close...
340sFastback
Well-Known Member
Exciting to see that awesome car coming together after such a long journey
WymanV
..you said "member"...
Achievement unlocked.
The exhaust kit I got for it is likely for long tube headers which I most definitely did not want to go with. So this kit needed a lot of modifying to make it work with shorty headers. But it came with most of the bended pipes I needed to make it work and the local parts store had the rest. The mufflers that came with it are more like resonators so I went with a pair of good ol’ Hush Thrush (retromod). I still have to modify the tail pipes-they are designed to run along the rear frame and I relocated the springs *to* the rear frame so some alteration is necessary. But it’s in up through the mufflers and now that it’s not brutally loud, it’s up and running for real and moving under it’s own power, all the way outside so I can get the coolant circulating and timing set. And sitting in the parking lot out front it seems smaller than it does in the shop.
And oh boy is this thing going to be fun…
Some bugs:
Not charging. Either the old alternator I put in here is bad (likely) or there’s something up in the wiring (unlikely as the gauge reads discharge). Easy fix if it’s just the alternator and I wanted to go high output anyway.
When I was initially trying to get it running with the timing being sketchy a stream of coolant started running out of the heater box onto the transmission hump. It’s a new heater core too. Hooked up a bypass for the hoses but the heater box will have to come out again.
Oil pressure gauge accuracy is debatable. Had to replace the sending unit as the one I had was for a dash idiot light and I needed the one for a gauge. And it reads past H. The guy who did the break-in said the pressure was around 75 psi cold and I don’t know what the calibrations on the dash gauge are supposed to represent. It’s also getting a manual gauge so I’ll have a definitive reading. And to pile on, the fuel gauge reads full when I know it only has half a tank in it and the temp gauge didn’t read anything at all.
The good stuff: The clutch is pretty close for a first run. The brakes stop the car and the parking brake holds it on an incline. The throttle cable was a little tight but that’s now adjusted. The spring I have isn’t stiff enough to seat the linkage so I’ll probably find a better one. And when you romp on it, it has a nice snarl
The T type fitting for hooking up both oil pressure readers should be here sometime this week. And next weekend will be about getting the tail pipes done as there’s nothing supporting the weight of the exhaust that’s in there now. The hood is blocked out again-found a couple of low spots that’ll need attention and it’ll be ready to more primer. It’s to be expected-the hood dates back to 1970 and it was rough when I got it. Buffed out the right door a couple weeks ago and burned a bit on the inside-not terrible but I’m not leaving it like that so it’s sanded and ready to a little touch-up work. I’ve been holding off on putting the doors on while I work on the dash but the time for them is getting close.
It’s moving under it’s own power-probably the first time since 1982ish? Well enough that when it’s all together I should have no issue driving it down to the local alignment shop.
The exhaust kit I got for it is likely for long tube headers which I most definitely did not want to go with. So this kit needed a lot of modifying to make it work with shorty headers. But it came with most of the bended pipes I needed to make it work and the local parts store had the rest. The mufflers that came with it are more like resonators so I went with a pair of good ol’ Hush Thrush (retromod). I still have to modify the tail pipes-they are designed to run along the rear frame and I relocated the springs *to* the rear frame so some alteration is necessary. But it’s in up through the mufflers and now that it’s not brutally loud, it’s up and running for real and moving under it’s own power, all the way outside so I can get the coolant circulating and timing set. And sitting in the parking lot out front it seems smaller than it does in the shop.
And oh boy is this thing going to be fun…
Some bugs:
Not charging. Either the old alternator I put in here is bad (likely) or there’s something up in the wiring (unlikely as the gauge reads discharge). Easy fix if it’s just the alternator and I wanted to go high output anyway.
When I was initially trying to get it running with the timing being sketchy a stream of coolant started running out of the heater box onto the transmission hump. It’s a new heater core too. Hooked up a bypass for the hoses but the heater box will have to come out again.
Oil pressure gauge accuracy is debatable. Had to replace the sending unit as the one I had was for a dash idiot light and I needed the one for a gauge. And it reads past H. The guy who did the break-in said the pressure was around 75 psi cold and I don’t know what the calibrations on the dash gauge are supposed to represent. It’s also getting a manual gauge so I’ll have a definitive reading. And to pile on, the fuel gauge reads full when I know it only has half a tank in it and the temp gauge didn’t read anything at all.
The good stuff: The clutch is pretty close for a first run. The brakes stop the car and the parking brake holds it on an incline. The throttle cable was a little tight but that’s now adjusted. The spring I have isn’t stiff enough to seat the linkage so I’ll probably find a better one. And when you romp on it, it has a nice snarl
The T type fitting for hooking up both oil pressure readers should be here sometime this week. And next weekend will be about getting the tail pipes done as there’s nothing supporting the weight of the exhaust that’s in there now. The hood is blocked out again-found a couple of low spots that’ll need attention and it’ll be ready to more primer. It’s to be expected-the hood dates back to 1970 and it was rough when I got it. Buffed out the right door a couple weeks ago and burned a bit on the inside-not terrible but I’m not leaving it like that so it’s sanded and ready to a little touch-up work. I’ve been holding off on putting the doors on while I work on the dash but the time for them is getting close.
It’s moving under it’s own power-probably the first time since 1982ish? Well enough that when it’s all together I should have no issue driving it down to the local alignment shop.
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