The Great Pumpkin - '71 Duster
Did some more stuff over the last couple days but didn't really accomplish a whole lot. I guess that's how it goes sometimes.
First thing I tried to do was make a new riser bracket for the shifter. Unfortunately it didn't exactly come out the way I thought it would. I wanted it to run parallel to the trans tunnel. The problem is the mounting holes for the shifter are 2 5/8" apart but I only had 2" flat stock so it had to go perpendicular. I guess I could have found some better stock but cutting it down is a pain and I didn't feel like going to find something. So I bent up two strips of flat stock to bolt the bottom plate to and set it on the trans tunnel. It looked ridiculous. I re-thought it and decided to keep the aluminum box I already had and modify it.
Whoever made the box did a decent job, the TIG welds are good. Originally it had flat stock welded to the bottom that stuck out on each side for tabs. There were machined aluminum blocks underneath those that mirrored the shape of the trans tunnel so the box could be mounted upright and solid. They bolted the tabs to the blocks then drove self tapping screws through the blocks into the floor to hold it down.
Due to the new new seat position, the shifter needed to be moved back a little for best fit. Since the shape of the tunnel is different in certain spots the box wouldn't mount solid farther back. The solution was to cut the old tabs off the bottom of the box and then clean up the welds so the bottom was smooth. I didn't finish it but I'm just gonna get some aluminum angle and bolt it to the front and back of the box rather than on the sides, then bolt it to the top of the tunnel. Should be easier to deal with and less holes to drill.
I've posted this picture previously but it shows what the shifter riser box bracket thing looked like before I modified it. You can see the tabs and the aluminum blocks with the self-tapping screws.
Here's a pic of the modified bracket. I painted it before it was modified so it's gonna have to get sprayed again. I might use a texture paint next time.
This was the horrendous bracket I made out of 2" flat stock. You get to see it all gang, no secrets or modesty here.
Next thing I had hoped to accomplish was finishing up the cooling system. I had what I thought was everything I needed except for a fan shroud. I found one here and it arrived the other day. it was in pretty nice shape. Too bad it didn't really fit my fancy Griffin radiator.
The radiator I have is supposed to be an 'exact fit'. That's laughable. First of all the brackets they make for the radiator support makes the core stick out much farther than the OE radiator. If you're running a clutch fan like me, you need a shorter clutch or it won't fit. I used Hayden 2765 and it worked good.
Second, the mounting provisions for the shroud are in no way shape or form based on an original radiator. Instead, they use aluminum channel that's too narrow and also sits above the core. With this arrangement, the shroud sits on top of the channel on the sides leaving a large gap top and bottom. This would seem to defeat the purpose of the shroud.
I looked at it for a while. The only idea I could come up with to make these components work together was to modify the really nice shroud I just bought. That was painful but that radiator wasn't cheap so the shroud got ground on.
I tried to be gentle with it but no matter how conservative I was, it wasn't going to fit in the channel without significant grinding. Basically I had to remove material from the mounting tabs and cut the holes into slots so they could slide around the nutserts in the channel. I got it to fit though and I guess it's OK.
Here's what the shroud looks like.
Here's the shorter Hayden 2765 fan clutch. It takes up a lot less real estate the the OE one.
So I got everything all set and ready to bolt on the fan blade when I find out the one I have is too big for the shroud opening and won't fit no matter how I wiggle it in or adjust the shroud opening side to side. After wrestling with it, I decided to use my brain a little and measure - sure enough, I have a 20" blade that is just a little to big.
I ordered a Hayden 3618 from Summit which is an 18" 6 blade. Hope that works. I also got a zinc anode to put in place of the drain petcock to stem the tide of corrosion. Order should be here in a few days, hope i can button up this system then.
Had to clean the garage again too. I hate that.
More to come.
Did some more stuff over the last couple days but didn't really accomplish a whole lot. I guess that's how it goes sometimes.
First thing I tried to do was make a new riser bracket for the shifter. Unfortunately it didn't exactly come out the way I thought it would. I wanted it to run parallel to the trans tunnel. The problem is the mounting holes for the shifter are 2 5/8" apart but I only had 2" flat stock so it had to go perpendicular. I guess I could have found some better stock but cutting it down is a pain and I didn't feel like going to find something. So I bent up two strips of flat stock to bolt the bottom plate to and set it on the trans tunnel. It looked ridiculous. I re-thought it and decided to keep the aluminum box I already had and modify it.
Whoever made the box did a decent job, the TIG welds are good. Originally it had flat stock welded to the bottom that stuck out on each side for tabs. There were machined aluminum blocks underneath those that mirrored the shape of the trans tunnel so the box could be mounted upright and solid. They bolted the tabs to the blocks then drove self tapping screws through the blocks into the floor to hold it down.
Due to the new new seat position, the shifter needed to be moved back a little for best fit. Since the shape of the tunnel is different in certain spots the box wouldn't mount solid farther back. The solution was to cut the old tabs off the bottom of the box and then clean up the welds so the bottom was smooth. I didn't finish it but I'm just gonna get some aluminum angle and bolt it to the front and back of the box rather than on the sides, then bolt it to the top of the tunnel. Should be easier to deal with and less holes to drill.
I've posted this picture previously but it shows what the shifter riser box bracket thing looked like before I modified it. You can see the tabs and the aluminum blocks with the self-tapping screws.
Here's a pic of the modified bracket. I painted it before it was modified so it's gonna have to get sprayed again. I might use a texture paint next time.
This was the horrendous bracket I made out of 2" flat stock. You get to see it all gang, no secrets or modesty here.
Next thing I had hoped to accomplish was finishing up the cooling system. I had what I thought was everything I needed except for a fan shroud. I found one here and it arrived the other day. it was in pretty nice shape. Too bad it didn't really fit my fancy Griffin radiator.
The radiator I have is supposed to be an 'exact fit'. That's laughable. First of all the brackets they make for the radiator support makes the core stick out much farther than the OE radiator. If you're running a clutch fan like me, you need a shorter clutch or it won't fit. I used Hayden 2765 and it worked good.
Second, the mounting provisions for the shroud are in no way shape or form based on an original radiator. Instead, they use aluminum channel that's too narrow and also sits above the core. With this arrangement, the shroud sits on top of the channel on the sides leaving a large gap top and bottom. This would seem to defeat the purpose of the shroud.
I looked at it for a while. The only idea I could come up with to make these components work together was to modify the really nice shroud I just bought. That was painful but that radiator wasn't cheap so the shroud got ground on.
I tried to be gentle with it but no matter how conservative I was, it wasn't going to fit in the channel without significant grinding. Basically I had to remove material from the mounting tabs and cut the holes into slots so they could slide around the nutserts in the channel. I got it to fit though and I guess it's OK.
Here's what the shroud looks like.
Here's the shorter Hayden 2765 fan clutch. It takes up a lot less real estate the the OE one.
So I got everything all set and ready to bolt on the fan blade when I find out the one I have is too big for the shroud opening and won't fit no matter how I wiggle it in or adjust the shroud opening side to side. After wrestling with it, I decided to use my brain a little and measure - sure enough, I have a 20" blade that is just a little to big.
I ordered a Hayden 3618 from Summit which is an 18" 6 blade. Hope that works. I also got a zinc anode to put in place of the drain petcock to stem the tide of corrosion. Order should be here in a few days, hope i can button up this system then.
Had to clean the garage again too. I hate that.
More to come.