1972 Duster, 340/4, black on black (the endgame)
Haven't posted an update here for a while, not for lack of work on it but because recent progress wasn't really photoworthy but enough stuff has come to fruition to justify a thread bump.
Front seats are recovered and installed (temporarily). This car started life with a front bench which I didn't care for so quite a few years ago I scored a pair of bucket seats that were alleged to be out of a '72 Charger, but were more likely out of a Challenger based on research. And those who have dealt with bucket seats for a '72 already know, there are some compatibility issues there. The '72 had the seat back springs embedded in the foam and new foam was in order as the original was never going to work with Duster vinyl. So after quite a few rounds of Trial & Error I finally got something that works. And no, no medallions. Never liked them and I wasn't about to go through the trouble and expense to do something I don't want anyway. Also replaced the factory seat belts with 3 point belts from Seat Belts Plus. And I'm not sure this is the end of it. With the seat all the way back the belt itself when applied has maybe a foot of slack in it-it's almost all the way out of the spool. I'm planning on doing some more digging and see if I can find some longer ones. I like the idea but they could be a foot or two longer. Still waiting for the vinyl for the back seat but in the meantime I can get the back belts in and everything else set up.
Brakes are in. Took way too long because so many vendors sent me the wrong parts and because the USPS can no longer be relied upon to deliver mail in a timely fashion. But it's done and the pedal is nice and solid. Could use a bit more adjustment on the pads and the parking brake cable still needs to be tightened up but the car stops when I want it to. It's actually a job I hemmed and hawed on because I knew having pads in there was going to make it harder to push the car around, but now that they're done all the engine compartment stuff is done and it's ready for a motor.
Got the fuel filler neck in. Had to go to a wedding back in Wisconsin a couple months ago so while I was there I stopped at Vans in Waupun, someplace I haven't been in ages (so long ago they had a pair of 340s they were trying to sell for $100 ea. and guess how many times I've kicked myself over that one...) and picked up the filler neck, one of two necessary trim pieces for the grill (out of stock on the other one) and carriage bolts for the back bumper. Now of course I have that flip-top gas cap mounted for real :thumbsup:
Also probably worth mentioning the left door is repainted. Still have to buff it out but it's not going on until the interior work is done. Meanwhile, repainting the right one will fill any time voids that come up while waiting for parts.
The dash pad showed up last week (thanks for the tip sireland67) and I also scored a 150MPH speedometer for it-the correct one for '70-71 Duster Rallye dash. It's in desperate need of reconditioning and I still have some research to do finding someone to do it but once that's done the dash can be torn down again, the pad installed and the new speedometer into the cluster. And I got the mounts on the back bumper and would've put that on tonight but the bolts I have are few and quite crusty. I'll make the trip to the hardware store next weekend for new ones and get that bolted up.
So the short list is get the seatbelts in for the back seat and get everything back there ready for the seat itself when the vinyl shows up. Get the loose ends on the dashboard wrapped up (I need the defroster hoses too). Then get the right door painted so I can get those mounted and get it out for a long overdue bath. Then the next project to start will be replacing bearings in the transmission. Since it's ready for the motor the transmission needs to be ready too.
And an aside for DionR, more pics of the third brake light. The brackets are made from a metal strip with spaced holes in it (I know there's a name for that but it escapes me) and it's just bolted down through the package shelf. The wires go through the shelf too. The ground is grounded in the trunk with the stereo ground and the hot runs back up to the dash alongside the harness on the left side and is tapped into the brake light switch on the pedal.
Haven't posted an update here for a while, not for lack of work on it but because recent progress wasn't really photoworthy but enough stuff has come to fruition to justify a thread bump.
Front seats are recovered and installed (temporarily). This car started life with a front bench which I didn't care for so quite a few years ago I scored a pair of bucket seats that were alleged to be out of a '72 Charger, but were more likely out of a Challenger based on research. And those who have dealt with bucket seats for a '72 already know, there are some compatibility issues there. The '72 had the seat back springs embedded in the foam and new foam was in order as the original was never going to work with Duster vinyl. So after quite a few rounds of Trial & Error I finally got something that works. And no, no medallions. Never liked them and I wasn't about to go through the trouble and expense to do something I don't want anyway. Also replaced the factory seat belts with 3 point belts from Seat Belts Plus. And I'm not sure this is the end of it. With the seat all the way back the belt itself when applied has maybe a foot of slack in it-it's almost all the way out of the spool. I'm planning on doing some more digging and see if I can find some longer ones. I like the idea but they could be a foot or two longer. Still waiting for the vinyl for the back seat but in the meantime I can get the back belts in and everything else set up.
Brakes are in. Took way too long because so many vendors sent me the wrong parts and because the USPS can no longer be relied upon to deliver mail in a timely fashion. But it's done and the pedal is nice and solid. Could use a bit more adjustment on the pads and the parking brake cable still needs to be tightened up but the car stops when I want it to. It's actually a job I hemmed and hawed on because I knew having pads in there was going to make it harder to push the car around, but now that they're done all the engine compartment stuff is done and it's ready for a motor.
Got the fuel filler neck in. Had to go to a wedding back in Wisconsin a couple months ago so while I was there I stopped at Vans in Waupun, someplace I haven't been in ages (so long ago they had a pair of 340s they were trying to sell for $100 ea. and guess how many times I've kicked myself over that one...) and picked up the filler neck, one of two necessary trim pieces for the grill (out of stock on the other one) and carriage bolts for the back bumper. Now of course I have that flip-top gas cap mounted for real :thumbsup:
Also probably worth mentioning the left door is repainted. Still have to buff it out but it's not going on until the interior work is done. Meanwhile, repainting the right one will fill any time voids that come up while waiting for parts.
The dash pad showed up last week (thanks for the tip sireland67) and I also scored a 150MPH speedometer for it-the correct one for '70-71 Duster Rallye dash. It's in desperate need of reconditioning and I still have some research to do finding someone to do it but once that's done the dash can be torn down again, the pad installed and the new speedometer into the cluster. And I got the mounts on the back bumper and would've put that on tonight but the bolts I have are few and quite crusty. I'll make the trip to the hardware store next weekend for new ones and get that bolted up.
So the short list is get the seatbelts in for the back seat and get everything back there ready for the seat itself when the vinyl shows up. Get the loose ends on the dashboard wrapped up (I need the defroster hoses too). Then get the right door painted so I can get those mounted and get it out for a long overdue bath. Then the next project to start will be replacing bearings in the transmission. Since it's ready for the motor the transmission needs to be ready too.
And an aside for DionR, more pics of the third brake light. The brackets are made from a metal strip with spaced holes in it (I know there's a name for that but it escapes me) and it's just bolted down through the package shelf. The wires go through the shelf too. The ground is grounded in the trunk with the stereo ground and the hot runs back up to the dash alongside the harness on the left side and is tapped into the brake light switch on the pedal.