70 duster: updating, and a no-dough pro-touring makeover
so, been a long time with no real updates.
and this isn't really one either.
since my last update, Ive been busier that a one armed wallpaper hanger. been working almost every night and weekend on customer cars. also got laid out for a little bit when i took a screwdriver to my left eye at my day job. and yes, i was wearing safety glasses. (picture taken a day or two later. caught both my eyelids, cut notches in them both. swelled my eye shut, and got metal shavings in it. it hurt. a lot. )
i did take a promotion at my day job, and have become a director over the mental health facility i work at. its currently temporary, but i find out next week if its permanent.
on my side job, i fix and restore other peoples cars. it helps pay the bills and get luxuries for my family. i also get to keep some of it for playing with my own junk.
Ive done a lot of work this summer so far, but ill fill you in on the interesting stuff, and even show some pictures of some of it.
1968 hemi road runner. fixed wiring gremlins and installed EZ EFI system. (lost some of the finished pictures in a computer crash. blame bill gates)
c5 vette. upgraded the shocks, sway bars, springs, and some bushings. aligned and corner weighted. also installed the corsas.
1960 corvette, rebuilt the carbs and ignition system, fine tuned the whole setup. its coming back for a brake job, wiper repair, and interior touch up.
and most recently, a 1967 GTO 400 4sp convert. re-resto work. the car is an older resto thats been driven a bunch, and neglected a little. i redid the engine bay, fixed some electrical gremlins, cleaned it up, mounted the redlines, dialed in the carb and ignition, adjusted all the linkages, painted the gas tank and exhaust, installed a new dash speaker (major PITA), etc. lots of little things that added up to almost 30 hours of work.
before:
during
after
1989 Chevy long bed. i redid the interior earlier, now i two toned it, added sway bars, and dropped it 3/4
before:
after
and now i can get back to the duster. which is a good thing, as Ive registered for RTTH in September, gotten the time off work, paid for the hotel, and arranged for my dad and a trailer to go with me.
Ive spent a lot of money on the car in last few weeks, but no real time. the last time i drove it, or even looked at it, was the 4th of July for a parade my little girl was in. just before that, due to the heat, i finally addressed my cooling system problems. i replaced my thermostat housing with a trans dapt unit that i picked up for 15 bucks, thinking that would solve the leak. i honestly figured the Chinese chrome one i put on the car was crap, but i didn't properly diagnose it before spending money. therefore, it leaked worse than ever before. turned out that i had the wrong thermostat in it. instead of spend more money on a new thermostat, i took the cheaper way out. i cut down the diameter of the mounting flange of the thermostat to fit properly in the recess of the new trans dapt housing. took about 10 minutes. hasn't leaked since.
i also used a JAZ surge tank on the radiator (23 bucks). this car has always had a coolant level thats 2 inches below the filler neck ever since i put in the crossflow radiator. never had any major overheating issues, but its always bugged me. since the installation of the surge tank, its staying full, and oddly enough operating temp has lowered 10 degrees.
so, grand total for this update is 2699.64
take a good look at the last picture of the engine bay. cause its all gonna change next weekend. i finally ordered my AC that Ive been wanting for the last 10 years. seems every time i got close, something came up. like wrecks, dead appliances, baby, wedding, etc. this time i finally got it. I'm stupid excited. absolutely stupid excited. ill take pictures and update as soon as the box hits my front porch.
Michael
so, been a long time with no real updates.
and this isn't really one either.
since my last update, Ive been busier that a one armed wallpaper hanger. been working almost every night and weekend on customer cars. also got laid out for a little bit when i took a screwdriver to my left eye at my day job. and yes, i was wearing safety glasses. (picture taken a day or two later. caught both my eyelids, cut notches in them both. swelled my eye shut, and got metal shavings in it. it hurt. a lot. )
i did take a promotion at my day job, and have become a director over the mental health facility i work at. its currently temporary, but i find out next week if its permanent.
on my side job, i fix and restore other peoples cars. it helps pay the bills and get luxuries for my family. i also get to keep some of it for playing with my own junk.
Ive done a lot of work this summer so far, but ill fill you in on the interesting stuff, and even show some pictures of some of it.
1968 hemi road runner. fixed wiring gremlins and installed EZ EFI system. (lost some of the finished pictures in a computer crash. blame bill gates)
c5 vette. upgraded the shocks, sway bars, springs, and some bushings. aligned and corner weighted. also installed the corsas.
1960 corvette, rebuilt the carbs and ignition system, fine tuned the whole setup. its coming back for a brake job, wiper repair, and interior touch up.
and most recently, a 1967 GTO 400 4sp convert. re-resto work. the car is an older resto thats been driven a bunch, and neglected a little. i redid the engine bay, fixed some electrical gremlins, cleaned it up, mounted the redlines, dialed in the carb and ignition, adjusted all the linkages, painted the gas tank and exhaust, installed a new dash speaker (major PITA), etc. lots of little things that added up to almost 30 hours of work.
before:
during
after
1989 Chevy long bed. i redid the interior earlier, now i two toned it, added sway bars, and dropped it 3/4
before:
after
and now i can get back to the duster. which is a good thing, as Ive registered for RTTH in September, gotten the time off work, paid for the hotel, and arranged for my dad and a trailer to go with me.
Ive spent a lot of money on the car in last few weeks, but no real time. the last time i drove it, or even looked at it, was the 4th of July for a parade my little girl was in. just before that, due to the heat, i finally addressed my cooling system problems. i replaced my thermostat housing with a trans dapt unit that i picked up for 15 bucks, thinking that would solve the leak. i honestly figured the Chinese chrome one i put on the car was crap, but i didn't properly diagnose it before spending money. therefore, it leaked worse than ever before. turned out that i had the wrong thermostat in it. instead of spend more money on a new thermostat, i took the cheaper way out. i cut down the diameter of the mounting flange of the thermostat to fit properly in the recess of the new trans dapt housing. took about 10 minutes. hasn't leaked since.
i also used a JAZ surge tank on the radiator (23 bucks). this car has always had a coolant level thats 2 inches below the filler neck ever since i put in the crossflow radiator. never had any major overheating issues, but its always bugged me. since the installation of the surge tank, its staying full, and oddly enough operating temp has lowered 10 degrees.
so, grand total for this update is 2699.64
take a good look at the last picture of the engine bay. cause its all gonna change next weekend. i finally ordered my AC that Ive been wanting for the last 10 years. seems every time i got close, something came up. like wrecks, dead appliances, baby, wedding, etc. this time i finally got it. I'm stupid excited. absolutely stupid excited. ill take pictures and update as soon as the box hits my front porch.
Michael