The Great Pumpkin - '71 Duster
OK, more progress, inching ever so closer to getting this thing back on the road.
Finally put the car back on the ground. As stated in my last update, brakes are done, steering column is done and the FR steering box is in. Of course I ended up having to mess with **** to get it right but it's all good. I need to adjust the t-bar ride height when the motor is back in and get it re-aligned.
I am also planning on switching the Caltracs to the top mount hole. My launch at the track was soft and I learned that the top hole will hit the tires harder. Pretty simple deal, just unbolt the front arm and move it.
One of those small but pertinent peripheral things I needed to complete was how to mount my tach so I 'made' er modified a tach bracket. I had a cool bracket previously I got from SS/AFX but since I switched to a mechanical tach which uses a cable, the position of the existing bracket would have made for a sharp bend in the cable which is no good.
I had a brand-new Moroso tach bracket sitting around for years that I finally put to use. It sat too tall to put on top of the dash and would not have worked upside down either since every tach I have is rear exit for the cable.
This is what I came up with. Now I need to figure out where to put my oil pressure gauge...
Got a new parking brake lever at Carlisle, the old one was somehow bent. Putting the roll pin in here kind of sucks.
Also got a carbon fiber style overlay for the instrument panel from DMT at Carlisle to hide the faux wood grain. Ahhhh, the '70s.
One thing I am really happy about completing was altering the position of the driver's seat. Previously, the seat was too far forward and made me sit up too high, drove me nuts. When I had a helmet on, it was pushing up on the headliner. I actually modified an existing seat bracket I had from something else but it made me think all I had to do was move my existing bracket a little. Seat position is much better now - lower and more relaxed.
Basically I just have to put the motor in now. Hopefully I don't hem and haw about it for too long. Wish me luck.
More to come.
OK, more progress, inching ever so closer to getting this thing back on the road.
Finally put the car back on the ground. As stated in my last update, brakes are done, steering column is done and the FR steering box is in. Of course I ended up having to mess with **** to get it right but it's all good. I need to adjust the t-bar ride height when the motor is back in and get it re-aligned.
I am also planning on switching the Caltracs to the top mount hole. My launch at the track was soft and I learned that the top hole will hit the tires harder. Pretty simple deal, just unbolt the front arm and move it.
One of those small but pertinent peripheral things I needed to complete was how to mount my tach so I 'made' er modified a tach bracket. I had a cool bracket previously I got from SS/AFX but since I switched to a mechanical tach which uses a cable, the position of the existing bracket would have made for a sharp bend in the cable which is no good.
I had a brand-new Moroso tach bracket sitting around for years that I finally put to use. It sat too tall to put on top of the dash and would not have worked upside down either since every tach I have is rear exit for the cable.
This is what I came up with. Now I need to figure out where to put my oil pressure gauge...
Got a new parking brake lever at Carlisle, the old one was somehow bent. Putting the roll pin in here kind of sucks.
Also got a carbon fiber style overlay for the instrument panel from DMT at Carlisle to hide the faux wood grain. Ahhhh, the '70s.
One thing I am really happy about completing was altering the position of the driver's seat. Previously, the seat was too far forward and made me sit up too high, drove me nuts. When I had a helmet on, it was pushing up on the headliner. I actually modified an existing seat bracket I had from something else but it made me think all I had to do was move my existing bracket a little. Seat position is much better now - lower and more relaxed.
Basically I just have to put the motor in now. Hopefully I don't hem and haw about it for too long. Wish me luck.
More to come.