Rocky Start Resto..

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Start of the new year. Pushing for a deadline. Still cold here and it seems to be raining every day…wrong coast....it feels like British Columbia :)

Pushed the car back into the garage and jacked it up. Pulled the old speedo gear drive and installed the new one I got from 65Val. Thanks again ! Put the new autometer sender on and due to space limitations, cannot seem to get a wrench on it. Am dropping out to my mechanic tomorrow, there may be a “skinny” wrench for this situation. If no, we will have to pull off the trans mount and perhaps the exhaust.

My son, reading the manual.

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/The-Rocky-Restoration-1975/i-RQW6jL9/0/XL/_IGP9585a-XL.jpg

Wires, wires everywhere. Now I understand why Plymouth went with printed circuit boards..with the gauges, tach and speedo sender, it looks like a dogs breakfast..thankfully, I have been labeling them as I go along..just waiting to receive some info on a sending unit, then I can install the gauge cluster.

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/The-Rocky-Restoration-1975/i-Wc7G5Zz/0/XL/_IGP9589a-XL.jpg
Yeah ! We installed the steering column. After we received so help from fabo, and we discovered it was much easier after we unlocked the column, it all went in.

With this, the boss sized up the location of the drivers seat and noted that it had to be moved a couple inches to the left. His humble servant will do that tomorrow.

I have made adjustment to the console..we are waiting after we install the carpets for the final install.

The tach holder from motopsycho fits perfectly.

Still struggling with the wiring under the bonnet..I swear the stuff is multiplying when I am not watching..

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/The-Rocky-Restoration-1975/i-NJmWvKf/0/XL/_IGP9592a-XL.jpg
http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/The-Rocky-Restoration-1975/i-RRSNvpn/0/XL/_IGP9597a-XL.jpg

It was great working with the kid this weekend in the garage. Makes you forget all the crap that is going on in life…

We are getting closer !
 
Ian, it's fantastic to see the Duster back in the Garage and you guys back at it!
 
needsaresto said:
Some zip ties might help clean that wiring up..
Click to expand...

Many of the wires pertain to the anti pollution controls that are no longer on the car. Once I sort through this mess...and I am still trying to find what some the wires are ...then I shall thin the herd so to speak and make it pretty. As for the gauge cluster...it too will be zip tied before it goes in...
 
DusterDaddy said:
Ian, it's fantastic to see the Duster back in the Garage and you guys back at it!
Click to expand...


And it feels good as well. My son is following a possible career path that will take him to the other side of the country for training..and possibly work. I am trying to make the most of it.

Thanks :)
 
grassy said:
Put the new autometer sender on and due to space limitations, cannot seem to get a wrench on it. Am dropping out to my mechanic tomorrow, there may be a “skinny” wrench for this situation. If no, we will have to pull off the trans mount and perhaps the exhaust.
Click to expand...

Big Dog dropped by today before I got out to my mechanic and suggested i make a tool out of scrap metal. :banghead::banghead: Sigh.

I did. It worked !

Picked up the steel to move the seat over and got the last two bits of information that will allow me to install the gauge cluster..one from the company that made the oil pressure gauge and the other from Big Dog again..how to find a switchable power source under the dash. I *really* appreciated your visit today !

After running some errands t-morrow morning, I have 3 goals with the Duster..

More later.
 
Ian,Just spent 1 1/2 hour's reading the whole build thread.Even though I'm building a Dart I'm in the same situation as to space and money constraints. Have been struggling lately to get off my butt and work on it but your build is the inspiration I needed to get going again. Keep up the good work.I'll be watching your build and will soon have mine to a point of starting a thread ( just been cleaning, painting and polishing small items not worth showing yet)
 
I now have all the engine bay wiring sorted out. A big cup of coffee and my parka...rather than looking at the "whole", I did it device by device. cannot believe the amount of wiring I am not using.

I mocked up the drivers seat ...I moved it over 2.5 inches..had a couple people sit in it ...now just a few more holes and I will have it installed.

Hooked up the tach. Will be powering up the harness so I should be able to find the switched power supply.

Hopefully, it will be a bit warmer tomorrow..
 
We have been busy. we have pushed up our schedule to have the car 'done" for my son's graduation. We are going to need a guardian angel to pull this off.

I should mention that one of our members recently told me that the Duster was boring and a “store-bought cookie cutter car” because we have replaced the /6 with an engine with a few more cylinders. Interesting.

No matter. On with this thread.

Our first big surprise of this year has been when we went to fill the cooling system with water and we heard water coming out from somewhere from the bottom of the engine. To our surprise 2 freeze plugs had popped out. Havening never put water into the engine since we got, we surmised that it was when the engine had been rebuilt for the PO and they had bench tested it. We tried putting normal frost plugs in but the two holes were behind the TTI headers. Impossible. After consulting with many members on the board, we put rubber plugs in it and them pressure tested the system for half an hour. I think we dodged a bullet...

Here are the two little buggers that escaped this winter :)

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/The-Rocky-Restoration-1975/i-zfrkhh9/0/XL/_IGP9603-XL.jpg

We installed a Lokar kick down cable ..cleaned and painted the gas pedal then tried to install the accelerator cable to the carb. Looks like it would require a lot of work to mod the cable to the Lokar assemble so we ordered a Lokar accelerator cable which went on w/o a hitch.



We then installed the audio system. The sub and 2 amps in the trunk, 2 6*9 tri axles on the back shelf, 2 tweets and 2 5 inch tri axles in the console.

The power brake unit went in. We had to flip the valve covers because the breather hit the unit..


http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/The-Rocky-Restoration-1975/i-LSHgm4b/0/XL/_IGP9667a-XL.jpg

Here is Calum modding the parcel shelf to take the 6*9s…

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/The-Rocky-Restoration-1975/i-LCb4B2Z/0/XL/_IGP9624-XL.jpg


We took the ballast out of the system (we have a coil with ballast) so we had to jury rig the wiring to see if it worked.. My friend made this for that moment.. it is out of the car now :)

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/The-Rocky-Restoration-1975/i-dhV9VtP/0/XL/_IGP9629-XL.jpg

As I have mentioned before, I had to cut out all the excess wiring not needed since I no longer run pollution control...here is the pile..

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/The-Rocky-Restoration-1975/i-JmrzwR2/0/XL/_IGP9630-XL.jpg

My almost finished console…

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/The-Rocky-Restoration-1975/i-7qmKHSm/0/XL/_IGP9642-XL.jpg

The start of putting in the carpet..

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/The-Rocky-Restoration-1975/i-j9Ksppb/0/XL/_IGP9647-XL.jpg

Cutting the hole in the bonnet…

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/The-Rocky-Restoration-1975/i-WMjw28D/0/XL/_IGP9652a-XL.jpg

A pick of the buggered seat bottom I had to make to have the chair slide correctly. Big mistake, I should have bought a welder at the beginning of the project so I didn’t have to depend on anyone to do it for me.

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/The-Rocky-Restoration-1975/i-Nf69n6X/0/XL/_IGP9654a-XL.jpg

I installed LED lights in the car and I couldn’t get the blinkers to blink even with electronic blinker units. While trouble shooting, I had to take my gauge cluster out a couple of time..last time I dropped and broke it…:banghead::banghead: Here is the start of a new one..I think the only way you can run LEDS is to used a timed blinker unit ??

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/The-Rocky-Restoration-1975/i-qs9b4tF/0/XL/_IGP9655a-XL.jpg
http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/The-Rocky-Restoration-1975/i-LPw53mH/0/XL/_IGP9656-XL.jpg

Installed all seats, console, stereo……I have left the wiring lose to make sure everything works.

I should mention that we installed the console the tried to get the back seat in. The console had to come out again. We have lost count of how many times we have had to take thing off to get things on.

I think when we have the outside painted, it will make the interior pop...

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/The-Rocky-Restoration-1975/i-CZF2Mbn/0/XL/_IGP9672a-XL.jpg
http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/The-Rocky-Restoration-1975/i-h2WJ5n2/0/XL/_IGP9673a-XL.jpg

A few pics of the outside..

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/The-Rocky-Restoration-1975/i-5mSvP9L/0/XL/_IGP9661a-XL.jpg
http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/The-Rocky-Restoration-1975/i-Gm4tTCc/0/XL/_IGP9663a-XL.jpg
http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/The-Rocky-Restoration-1975/i-mgWjw2h/0/XL/_IGP9662a-XL.jpg

Ack ! The motor isn't in the center of the car ?!?!

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/The-Rocky-Restoration-1975/i-VFwWcbL/0/XL/_IGP9664a-XL.jpg

Found some retro “clear” mats.

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/The-Rocky-Restoration-1975/i-FDGC7JL/0/XL/_IGP9665a-XL.jpg

Until next time, Ian.
 
Pardon me but I would **** twice and die if I dropped and broke that custom cluster...
God bless you Ian, keep going!
 
Thanks ..I don't have a choice. He wanted me to install the broken one..just about broke my heart... but i couldn't. He is a patient kid and I understand what this means to him so I keep moving forward...
 
No pictures in this post.

Well we lost the female ends of out seat belts. Huh ? Borrow a friends from his ’70 GTX but didn’t fit. Moved the ones in the back seat to the front. Still need to buy new ones.

We seem to be in a rhythm of one step forward, 2 steps back. Lost count of things we have had to take of or change to put more on. Is it just the pressure we are putting ourselves under or more likely just don't understand the order of installation. The manuals are not a help here.

Had the car towed to a trusted garage to go over all of what we have done and to safety it.

The wheel studs on the back we just a bit short for the adapter plates so they started to put in longer ones. I found 5 for them in 2 days of searching. To get the rest would mean a couple of hours driving… so I suggested that we drill the axle stud holes out and install new, longer ½ in studs since the front has 1/2 inch studs. They thought that was a good idea. Hopefully, that will be done tomorrow.

I installed a too small transmission cooler lines. Of course, the darn thing doesn’t use normal fittings. Back on the search and found last radiator fitting today. Farm machinery stores can be your friend.

I asked them ..since access to the transmission is far easier on a lift than on your back.. to install the Lokar kick down cable and B&M shift cable. Found I was missing a lever on the a727. Thank you Mr. PO. The local transmission guy pulled two trans cooling fittings and the lever of his own Barracuda and gave them to me !!!! Wow.

They have also bled the brakes. I have done that before and it is like griproc crack filling…I know how to do it but would rather not ..

The mechanic is having trouble with the shift cable. They are talking about taking out the console. First hole they drilled came out over the trans brace..The darn thing (console) is going to get a complex…

Missing the correct brake pedal bolt for the pedal to rod …the guys are super safety conscious and won’t safety the car without it…or consider a temporary fix. This is probably a good thing. I think I have called everybody I know plus a couple of others..found one on e-pay..7 to 14 days delivery…went through the garage a couple of times..went through again today and I think I have found it..just having it verified with a member now..

Checked with the alignment guy..he only needs one day notice. Have to talk to the paint guy again. I have suggested to son that if we don’t have time for paint that we tape off the car and let his friends go at it with spray bombs…

They have had the car 6 days now. Getting nervous.
 
Coming along nicely Ian! Interior looks great, love the gauges! We put LED's in dads cuda and we got some to work and some wouldnt..not impressed with them. Some have luck, ours was all bad...LOL
Keep it up!
 
4spdragtop said:
Coming along nicely Ian! Interior looks great, love the gauges! We put LED's in dads cuda and we got some to work and some wouldnt..not impressed with them. Some have luck, ours was all bad...LOL
Keep it up!
Click to expand...

Thanks :)

I am told that LEDS work. Didn't have any more time to play.

We still have a list of things we want to accomplish but they can be doe after graduation. If I live that long :).

It feel really odd that the car isn't in the garage.

Ian.
 
Nice work Ian! Really love this thread. Might have to visit you next time on the way up to visiting the folks in Port Morien.
 
It has been some while since I updated this thread..

The car is out of the garage now but we have to bring it in occasionally to work on it. It may be just me but it seems that when the car is moved out..stuff fills in the void so when we want to bring her back in, I have to clean up that garage.

It was decided that we will not change her name to go with her new entry back on the road. Lefawnda it was and now will stay.

When I took the car to be aligned, the company had the latest in technology and the guy operating it was a MOPAR guy from way back. It was obvious that the front tires were too big but he had to get it closely in alignment before we replaced the tires to do another.

Still lots of problems with the darn stereo.

We couldn't make paint before the prom. I am very pleased to say that the car didn't overheat in the long line up and it looked kinda cool with it's temporary paint job. You see, I gave the kids some spray bombs and they "painted" it..

Pics of the car..

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/The-Rocky-Restoration-1975/i-n6ZcbCb/0/XL/_IGP9682-XL.jpg
http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/The-Rocky-Restoration-1975/i-SgTqHF6/0/XL/d2-XL.jpg
http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/The-Rocky-Restoration-1975/i-Qc5fNpM/0/XL/d3-XL.jpg
http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/The-Rocky-Restoration-1975/i-bJVQMGS/0/XL/d5-XL.jpg

In the lineup for prom..this is a big thing...families and others wait to see what the kids show up in..from tractors to little type wagons, to helicopters to firetrucks..



We were told that the sub woofer box was too small..so i looked up the specs and built a new one. Oddly enough, for the rear 6*9s , I was going to put them on a piece of plywood but my son wanted them to be flat ...for the installation screws to bight into something he had to make collars which were installed from underneath.

A few pics..

One person


Two persons


Marvelous how much room is in these :)


Well, we finally got the car out of paint jail..perfect except for a spot that was very apparent. Apparently, at the last moment, our paint guy saw a small dent in the car hood and laid down some filler. The next day he painted ..2 days later, it started to bleed through..he is redoing the bonnet this weekend.

Not a good pic..


So we have began to re tighten nuts and fix thing that pop up. Found a small nub on the engine block kept the headers from mounting flush so we could hear a "tick Tick".. and the normal odds and ends.

Till next time..
 
Best part of this whole project is it's a family affair. I just LOVE that your kids are so involved,and learning how to old school just build something.

VERY COOL SIR!!
 
It's great to see all your progress. I have to say, that interior color is amazing! I love it.

Cley
 
Ian,

It is so great that you guys got the car ready for the prom cruise!

I love it! Here's to you and yours:prayer:
 

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