70 duster: updating, and a no-dough pro-touring makeover
Last budget: 12,021.34 ish
Money spent and made:
lowering blocks: 35
parking brake cables 60
seatbelt anchor plates: 14
New total: 12,130.34ish
so, got the carb swap finished and the car back together. Proof of concept was driving it around town.
That let me get to the to do list in a serious fashion.
First, swapping the dead stereo and parts. I raided my boxes, and came up with an extra pair of 3.5 for center dash speakers, and rockford fosgate amp, some wires, etc. ran the fosgate to the old ws6 sub in a 2 ohm load (400 watts RMS), bridged the kenwood 744 to power the kicks, ran the 3.5 and 6x9 off the new digital media receiver. This thing is AWESOME. Almost 2000 watts, 9 speakers, and just great audio package.
20200404_173523 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200404_180707 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
went ahead and chased some gremlins in the dash harness (HVAC and tach ground), and tightened and tidied up everything. Also finally hooked up the emergency brake stuff. 1974 Chrysler town and country wagon passenger side cables were proper length. And I only had to tweak the neon parts a smidge by opening up the holes in the cable bridge piece.
I also relocated the reels of the seatbelts. This fixed the sensitivity issues when pulling the buckle end. It also let the seats move properly. I tacked the plats in, and then triangulated them to the horizontal of the floor plans with backing plats and such. Feel pretty good about it.
Got the rest of the interior back together except for the passengers seat. Still need the good welder for that, and im stuck in quarantine due to serious lung issues.
20200409_161955 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
I also un-flipped the rear leaf spring hangars. The front spring eye was hitting the floor and causing a lot of noise. I went ahead and got 4 inch angled blocks which set the height properly. Clamped the leafs in the front segment, painted them, and put the car back down.
Then, I went about getting the car cleaned up. Washed, stripped, claybar, meguires 205 on a black foam pad on the porter cable DA, mothers california gold wax. Lots and lots and lots of work. But.
20200407_120442 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200409_161920 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200409_161948 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200409_162108 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
the main thing in this update is THIS.
20200411_110604 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
im driving the car. And enjoying it. Its like coming home. My head and heart have some peace after 60 miles in it today. No fear of getting home. No concerns about what strange **** it will do next. Just a pleasure drive to check on my folks from 10 yards up the driveway. Going on some errands. Taking the long way home. Its not flawless. Its got a hunting idle, a small bog, and not as much power as I remember it having before all this. But its BACK. And I have faith.
Last budget: 12,021.34 ish
Money spent and made:
lowering blocks: 35
parking brake cables 60
seatbelt anchor plates: 14
New total: 12,130.34ish
so, got the carb swap finished and the car back together. Proof of concept was driving it around town.
That let me get to the to do list in a serious fashion.
First, swapping the dead stereo and parts. I raided my boxes, and came up with an extra pair of 3.5 for center dash speakers, and rockford fosgate amp, some wires, etc. ran the fosgate to the old ws6 sub in a 2 ohm load (400 watts RMS), bridged the kenwood 744 to power the kicks, ran the 3.5 and 6x9 off the new digital media receiver. This thing is AWESOME. Almost 2000 watts, 9 speakers, and just great audio package.
went ahead and chased some gremlins in the dash harness (HVAC and tach ground), and tightened and tidied up everything. Also finally hooked up the emergency brake stuff. 1974 Chrysler town and country wagon passenger side cables were proper length. And I only had to tweak the neon parts a smidge by opening up the holes in the cable bridge piece.
I also relocated the reels of the seatbelts. This fixed the sensitivity issues when pulling the buckle end. It also let the seats move properly. I tacked the plats in, and then triangulated them to the horizontal of the floor plans with backing plats and such. Feel pretty good about it.
Got the rest of the interior back together except for the passengers seat. Still need the good welder for that, and im stuck in quarantine due to serious lung issues.
I also un-flipped the rear leaf spring hangars. The front spring eye was hitting the floor and causing a lot of noise. I went ahead and got 4 inch angled blocks which set the height properly. Clamped the leafs in the front segment, painted them, and put the car back down.
Then, I went about getting the car cleaned up. Washed, stripped, claybar, meguires 205 on a black foam pad on the porter cable DA, mothers california gold wax. Lots and lots and lots of work. But.
the main thing in this update is THIS.
im driving the car. And enjoying it. Its like coming home. My head and heart have some peace after 60 miles in it today. No fear of getting home. No concerns about what strange **** it will do next. Just a pleasure drive to check on my folks from 10 yards up the driveway. Going on some errands. Taking the long way home. Its not flawless. Its got a hunting idle, a small bog, and not as much power as I remember it having before all this. But its BACK. And I have faith.