Thanatos340
Well-Known Member
Just wanted to say Hello and introduce myself. Lots of reading and catching up for me to do as I move forward with a project I have let sit for way too long.
Here is my story.
I was born into a Mopar Family. My Father was a true Mopar fanatic that loved A Bodies and Small Blocks. The last project we worked on together was my 76 Duster. The plan was to build a nice cruiser that we bracket race occasionally. We spent months getting everything together to build up a 69 340 Engine that he had found. We finally got everything together and finished the engine. Took it to the local strip on a Friday night for test and tune for the first outing. Had the typical problems getting her dialed in just right. Made a few passes trying to get the timing and such right on the new motor. The car ran OK but was throwing belts on every pass and never quite reaching its potential. We finally hung it up for the night with the plan to make some adjustments and come back the following week. My Father passed away the next morning from a heart attack and that never happened.
That was 12 years ago. I parked the car in a dirt floor shop behind my house and it sat there untouched for all that time. I just couldn't bring myself to work on it. A couple months ago was the 12th anniversary of my fathers passing I decided enough was enough and it was way past time to get off my *** and finish this car.
I knocked off the years of dirt and dust (I had stupidly left the windows down for all that time making the inside almost as bad as the outside). The tires were flat and dry rotted but surprisingly held air when I pumped em back up. Put in a fresh battery and held my breath to see if she would turn over. She did. After a huge sigh of relief I cleaned and drained the fuel system, replaced the fuel Pump and tried again. She fired right up and rumbled back to life.
I have spent the weeks since getting her back to road ready condition. Replaced the tires and rims, rebuilt the brake system for all 4 wheels, realigned the alternator (found what was causing the belt problem 12 years ago and fixed it), Gutted the interior, replaced the head liner, replaced the carpet and got her tagged and registered.
I got a LONG way to go but now at least I am going. Below is a picture of the car today (I really wish I had taken some before pictures a few weeks ago).
Here is my story.
I was born into a Mopar Family. My Father was a true Mopar fanatic that loved A Bodies and Small Blocks. The last project we worked on together was my 76 Duster. The plan was to build a nice cruiser that we bracket race occasionally. We spent months getting everything together to build up a 69 340 Engine that he had found. We finally got everything together and finished the engine. Took it to the local strip on a Friday night for test and tune for the first outing. Had the typical problems getting her dialed in just right. Made a few passes trying to get the timing and such right on the new motor. The car ran OK but was throwing belts on every pass and never quite reaching its potential. We finally hung it up for the night with the plan to make some adjustments and come back the following week. My Father passed away the next morning from a heart attack and that never happened.
That was 12 years ago. I parked the car in a dirt floor shop behind my house and it sat there untouched for all that time. I just couldn't bring myself to work on it. A couple months ago was the 12th anniversary of my fathers passing I decided enough was enough and it was way past time to get off my *** and finish this car.
I knocked off the years of dirt and dust (I had stupidly left the windows down for all that time making the inside almost as bad as the outside). The tires were flat and dry rotted but surprisingly held air when I pumped em back up. Put in a fresh battery and held my breath to see if she would turn over. She did. After a huge sigh of relief I cleaned and drained the fuel system, replaced the fuel Pump and tried again. She fired right up and rumbled back to life.
I have spent the weeks since getting her back to road ready condition. Replaced the tires and rims, rebuilt the brake system for all 4 wheels, realigned the alternator (found what was causing the belt problem 12 years ago and fixed it), Gutted the interior, replaced the head liner, replaced the carpet and got her tagged and registered.
I got a LONG way to go but now at least I am going. Below is a picture of the car today (I really wish I had taken some before pictures a few weeks ago).
