1972 Duster, 340/4, black on black (the endgame)
New year and time for an update here. The seats are redone and in:
I started with the front buckets. The upholstery showed up on a Friday and I though it would make a fine weekend project.
It took six weeks...
For a refresher I bought the seats on ebay advertised as from a '72 Charger but once I dug into it they're more likely out of a Challenger. Not only was the foam different but in order to use the correct '72 vinyl I had to get rid of the springs in the seat back. All stuff I learned the hard way, meaning as I went along. I used the PG Classics foam and the only disappointment I have with it is it's really stiff and I sit awfully high in the seat. Hopefully it'll settle down over time or I may just set a 5 gallon pail of lead ingots I have kicking around on the seat to see if that helps. The wrinkles in the left seat are disappointing too, but that would be the third time I put that cover on the frame and it's getting too worn around the edges already to work it over more. Maybe that too will settle over time, I may take a heat gun to it and see if that helps or maybe I'll just leave it as is for a conversation starter :poke: Chicks won't see that when I'm sitting in the car anyway :p And I still have to recondition the plastic seat backs. They're black, but they're scratched up and drying out plastic so I see more priming and sanding in my future to smooth them out. It'll do away with the texture molded into the plastic but I'm not that fussy.
The upholstery for the back seat showed up Monday and it took about 3 hours.
The seat belts were another matter. With the cloth headliner I wanted to go with newer 3 point belts to do away with the hanger clips for the separate shoulder belts along with the inconvenience of that separate belt. The ones I got are nice but they could be about a foot longer. They're so short you can't really reach for anything without them holding you in place. And, they way they sit and travel the belt is on your neck instead of on your shoulder. So I did a little digging and found the seat belt loops from a 3rd gen Firebird were the answer. They're split so it's easy enough to pull the belt out for easier access to the back seat but the payoff is now the belt is even shorter. Something for later as I may contact the vendor to see if they have anything longer.
Elsewhere, the transmission is rebuilt with new bearings bushings & seals and ready to go in:
Putting the tail shaft in a A833 OD is no fun Boy Howdy I tell ya what. You have to take some of it apart to get it in and putting it back together is a balancing act with really heavy awkward parts. But it's done and it's nice and smooth.
The 340 went to the shop last Monday for the cam break-in. We're shut down for the two holiday weeks at Gibson so I was hoping to have it back, in and running before we go back but the distributor failed so I had to order another one. Still hoping to have it back before the weekend because I work nights and picking it up while working those hours could be a little tricky. So, hoping the next update here is 'motor's in'.
New year and time for an update here. The seats are redone and in:
I started with the front buckets. The upholstery showed up on a Friday and I though it would make a fine weekend project.
It took six weeks...
For a refresher I bought the seats on ebay advertised as from a '72 Charger but once I dug into it they're more likely out of a Challenger. Not only was the foam different but in order to use the correct '72 vinyl I had to get rid of the springs in the seat back. All stuff I learned the hard way, meaning as I went along. I used the PG Classics foam and the only disappointment I have with it is it's really stiff and I sit awfully high in the seat. Hopefully it'll settle down over time or I may just set a 5 gallon pail of lead ingots I have kicking around on the seat to see if that helps. The wrinkles in the left seat are disappointing too, but that would be the third time I put that cover on the frame and it's getting too worn around the edges already to work it over more. Maybe that too will settle over time, I may take a heat gun to it and see if that helps or maybe I'll just leave it as is for a conversation starter :poke: Chicks won't see that when I'm sitting in the car anyway :p And I still have to recondition the plastic seat backs. They're black, but they're scratched up and drying out plastic so I see more priming and sanding in my future to smooth them out. It'll do away with the texture molded into the plastic but I'm not that fussy.
The upholstery for the back seat showed up Monday and it took about 3 hours.
The seat belts were another matter. With the cloth headliner I wanted to go with newer 3 point belts to do away with the hanger clips for the separate shoulder belts along with the inconvenience of that separate belt. The ones I got are nice but they could be about a foot longer. They're so short you can't really reach for anything without them holding you in place. And, they way they sit and travel the belt is on your neck instead of on your shoulder. So I did a little digging and found the seat belt loops from a 3rd gen Firebird were the answer. They're split so it's easy enough to pull the belt out for easier access to the back seat but the payoff is now the belt is even shorter. Something for later as I may contact the vendor to see if they have anything longer.
Elsewhere, the transmission is rebuilt with new bearings bushings & seals and ready to go in:
Putting the tail shaft in a A833 OD is no fun Boy Howdy I tell ya what. You have to take some of it apart to get it in and putting it back together is a balancing act with really heavy awkward parts. But it's done and it's nice and smooth.
The 340 went to the shop last Monday for the cam break-in. We're shut down for the two holiday weeks at Gibson so I was hoping to have it back, in and running before we go back but the distributor failed so I had to order another one. Still hoping to have it back before the weekend because I work nights and picking it up while working those hours could be a little tricky. So, hoping the next update here is 'motor's in'.