A 1974 Duster - My 2nd one, 41 years later!

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Tires look great, how long did they say it would take to make the wheels?
 
Thanks Sireland, I think they look cool too! Yes, Wheels Vintiques estimated 4-5 weeks to make the wheels. The Doc Diff SureGrip arrives tomorrow...so ALL 3rd member components will be here in the shop tomorrow. I will have a local pro shop set up the 3rd member. While waiting on wheels and 3rd member I will be rebuilding the A-833. Lots to do but I'll keep plugging.
 
I think I'm going to go with that color on my Duster whenever I get the time and money. It's looking really good so far.
 
Alex5280 said:
I'll probably drive out to your place Dave when it is convenient for you, don't think I'll be at the swap meet.

Tires arrived. Waiting on the wheels to arrive.

IMG_2786 by Alexl5280, on Flickr

IMG_2781 by Alexl5280, on Flickr
Click to expand...


no.........your going to the swap meet, way easier to pick up that shaft, we need to give jaws the "business". lol..............i'm goin'............and so are you.
higgs
 

Today was a good day. Started out with a phone call from Mike at MRL Performance. I wanted to talk to him about LA blocks and lifters and manifolds, heads and horsepower. Really a great conversation with Mike! Then a little later my Doc Diff Suregrip arrived, thanks Cass! So that made the collection of all the 3rd member parts complete. A quick call over the Mark Williams Inc. Enterprises (they are just 15 min up the road). They said bring all the parts over, they will set up the 3rd member for me, So off to MW I went. They said come pick it up on Monday Feb 1st. Cool! Another thing done. Then it was onto working on the A-833.
Ain't Skeered:

IMG_2792 by Alexl5280, on Flickr
 
Well it is a Duster:glasses7: tough getting that dust out of the cluster gears.:D
 
^ Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain...Objects in the picture are not as they appear! LOL!

Anyway...A lil' "Yeah you were right" to DusterDaddy and Mr. Sireland, from some previous posts in this thread. First, I would recommend as DD commented when I first took the quarter panel off: Leave the piece that returns into your door jam...this way your gap is correct. Cut the old quarter panel off a few inches behind the jam. And, yes I got ahead of myself painting the door jam before finishing the quarter panel welding, as Sire mentioned. Lessons learned. No biggie, carry on.

So, the gap along the door edge just wasn't right with the new quarter panel. It fit everywhere else very well but I just couldn't get the gap correct. as you can see in the first pic:

IMG_2808 by Alexl5280, on Flickr

So, I made some measurements where the "pinch" started and made a plan of what needed to happen. Pen line on blue tape is body line.

IMG_2809 by Alexl5280, on Flickr

IMG_2810 by Alexl5280, on Flickr

Grinded on the small piece until it fit flush:
IMG_2813 by Alexl5280, on Flickr

IMG_2814 by Alexl5280, on Flickr

IMG_2815 by Alexl5280, on Flickr

IMG_2816 by Alexl5280, on Flickr

IMG_2817 by Alexl5280, on Flickr

Gap fixed:

IMG_2818 by Alexl5280, on Flickr
 
Alex, drain plugs not really needed, just loosen the nuts, rock the third member up, and the oil dumps out pretty quick.
 
You are probably right Dave, its not necessary to do this...But honestly it took me less than 10 mins to do.. So it's done, I have a drain plug. 3rd member to go on in the morning, stab axels and bolt them in.
 
Two steps forward...4 steps back. Word of the wise...Check the housing studs before installing the 3rd member and change them out if they are bad while the housing is out of the car. I learned the hard way...3 of the housing studs had badly galled threads (I bought the 8 3/4 housing from someone on CL and did not realize this) , making it impossible to secure the 3rd member. So, 3rd member will be coming back out and I will change out all 10 studs, just ordered a set from Doc Diff and a new gasket. I'll remove it tomorrow and wait for the new housing stud kit to arrive.

IMG_2823 by Alexl5280, on Flickr
 
Alex5280 said:
Two steps forward...4 steps back. Word of the wise...Check the housing studs before installing the 3rd member and change them out if they are bad while the housing is out of the car. I learned the hard way...3 of the housing studs had badly galled threads (I bought the 8 3/4 housing from someone on CL and did not realize this) , making it impossible to secure the 3rd member. So, 3rd member will be coming back out and I will change out all 10 studs, just ordered a set from Doc Diff and a new gasket. I'll remove it tomorrow and wait for the new housing stud kit to arrive.

IMG_2823 by Alexl5280, on Flickr
Click to expand...

I have a tap and dye kit you can use, I bring it over.
higgs
 
Brian, I have a tap & die set....you can't get the tool on there with the 3rd member in place. I already ordered a new set of studs from Doc Diff. Just gonna swap them out. But come on over my turn to buy beers...we can talk Mope!
 
Alex5280 said:
Brian, I have a tap & die set....you can't get the tool on there with the 3rd member in place. I already ordered a new set of studs from Doc Diff. Just gonna swap them out. But come on over my turn to buy beers...we can talk Mope!
Click to expand...

I appreciate the heads up. I just got a 8.75, and while cleaning it up I knocked out all the studs. I'll be sure to chase all the threads before slapping them back in...
 
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