70 duster: updating, and a no-dough pro-touring makeover
a while has passed with not a lot of work on the duster.
i got the drivers side back together, my strut rods FINALLY adjusted (stay away from the American muscle pieces. they are absolute crap. half the threads disappeared (sheared off the strut rod) while i was adjusting them. the front nuts did take a torque setting on them, so I'm just going to keep an eye on them. as a side note, the previous alignment guy that took 6 hours and charged me 200 bucks for an alignment that was nowhere near correct and actually caused the tire to contact the fender never tightened the strut rods back up after he adjusted them. may explain some of the evil steering/braking/handling characteristics of this car)
also, i worked with my brake sliders some. i noticed some odd wear on my pads, as the inboard pad is worn down about half way, while the outboard still had machining marks on them. came to figure out that when i POR15'd my calipers and caliper adapters, i never cleaned them back up where they were supposed to slide. the grease cant help a friction fit. so i took out my zizz wheel with an SOS pad and scrubbed them shiny. fresh grease and they should be good to go.
heres pics of one side done:
i still have to st my T-bar preload when i get it back on the ground. also have to trim my wheel studs some more. they're bottoming out in the lug nuts. then i can finalize the alignment and hook the sway bar back up.
while I'm waiting on my hogshead, i started working on my air dam again. its an 80's S10 piece made from 2 spares i had. took the good one, cut it in half. sectioned in a piece of the bad one to lengthen the whole unit to fit my car better. 6 3/4 inches worth of splice. took my harbor freight plastic welder and wended it back together. still have to do the front side, then ill check it for fit. if i still like it, ill do my bodywork, smooth it, and spray it semigloss black. may add brake cooling ducts too.
lastly i FINALLY got my splash shields installed.
add 7 dollars of screws and washers, as i lost the originals. or used them on something.
i pick up my rear end from the re-builder tomorrow. that's gonna hurt......
Michael
a while has passed with not a lot of work on the duster.
i got the drivers side back together, my strut rods FINALLY adjusted (stay away from the American muscle pieces. they are absolute crap. half the threads disappeared (sheared off the strut rod) while i was adjusting them. the front nuts did take a torque setting on them, so I'm just going to keep an eye on them. as a side note, the previous alignment guy that took 6 hours and charged me 200 bucks for an alignment that was nowhere near correct and actually caused the tire to contact the fender never tightened the strut rods back up after he adjusted them. may explain some of the evil steering/braking/handling characteristics of this car)
also, i worked with my brake sliders some. i noticed some odd wear on my pads, as the inboard pad is worn down about half way, while the outboard still had machining marks on them. came to figure out that when i POR15'd my calipers and caliper adapters, i never cleaned them back up where they were supposed to slide. the grease cant help a friction fit. so i took out my zizz wheel with an SOS pad and scrubbed them shiny. fresh grease and they should be good to go.
heres pics of one side done:
i still have to st my T-bar preload when i get it back on the ground. also have to trim my wheel studs some more. they're bottoming out in the lug nuts. then i can finalize the alignment and hook the sway bar back up.
while I'm waiting on my hogshead, i started working on my air dam again. its an 80's S10 piece made from 2 spares i had. took the good one, cut it in half. sectioned in a piece of the bad one to lengthen the whole unit to fit my car better. 6 3/4 inches worth of splice. took my harbor freight plastic welder and wended it back together. still have to do the front side, then ill check it for fit. if i still like it, ill do my bodywork, smooth it, and spray it semigloss black. may add brake cooling ducts too.
lastly i FINALLY got my splash shields installed.
add 7 dollars of screws and washers, as i lost the originals. or used them on something.
i pick up my rear end from the re-builder tomorrow. that's gonna hurt......
Michael