Dartfreak75
Restore it, Dont part it!
That back seat looks great I wish mine looked that good
Slow, Driving Rustoration 1972 Dart
- Thread starter dartnlo
- Start date
-
Yeah I wish the front would just absorb some of that through osmosis, it needs help. I don't think the PO ever used it lol
Dartfreak75
Restore it, Dont part it!
My back seat is ok its cracked in a few spots but it's good compared to the front. The front is trash it's all ripped apart and the padding is dry rotted and dusty yellow.
So I started working Saturday morning it was very nice last weekend, high hopes abounded. I had a list of things I was sure I could get done. IN hindsight I actually achieved quite a bit.
The first thing I realized was that I was not going to just put this car back together without making things prettier than I ever planned on. Still not a restoration by anyone's definition but I was definitely cleaning things and painting more things than I thought I would, but this car is surprising me each time I work on a new area. It really is a solid car. I don't know how it survived this well in Iowa. Maybe it was the formidable undercoating she's wearing. Anyway, on with this chapter's story.
Here was my list, I had from 8-5 on Saturday and all day and night Sunday to work on it.
-Prep Front Drums for paint
-get filler on sail panel
-Gas Tank install
-Penetrating fluid everywhere
-front shocks
-Front brake rebuild
-Clip Distribution block free and clean
-bench bleed master cylinder
-remove all brake lines
-remove and install brake MC
-install brake lines
-bleed
-install starter
-change oil
-if time, begin work on floor rust & seatbelt mount
I got the front drums cleaned up and ready for paint. While I was there I cleaned up the little sheet metal shield along the lower left frame rail, and also the gas tank straps. I used some rustomleum hammer finish spray can that I found while cleaning up the work area. So I also repainted the rear drums. While all that was drying, I rebuilt the front brakes, hardware, shoes and wheel cylinders, just like the rear got. Packed the wheel bearing and replaced the bearing seals. Got it all put back together. Things were going well.
I started removing the brake lines, which was fairly easy, I wasn't messing around with getting the fittings off because everything was getting replaced. The new brake lines were close but not exactly what I needed but I was able to coax them into some gentle and some drastic new configurations. I'm not sure what vehicle Inline is using for the template but it wasn't mine. The worst one was the rear axle line for the left side. The fitting was almost 180 degrees off from where it needed to be. Maybe mine had an aftermarket tee back there. The main rear line wasn't too bad but it missed hitting the brake line clips due to some unneeded bends. I just got the rear lines ran when I had to head off to my night shift at the restaurant. I was rushing so there weren't any pictures during that time.
I got home early Saturday night so I did some body prep for painting the roof. I got most of the trim off and the rest of the vinyl top stuck in the crevices. Never did get any filler on the joints yet, but I got more glue off the main roof area.
Sunday I got up bright and early and started back on the brakes. I was still thinking I was on course for completing everything by Sunday night. I got the brake distribution block off and cleaned up. I took the master cylinder off to compare it to the new one before I did a bench bleed. I used the syringe method of bleeding and it worked very well. One syringe full front and back and it was cleared of bubbles.
If I haven't made it clear before, let me restate, my garage is small. In 21 years I've never actually parked cars in it that were in use. I organized it before this job and it was still organized chaos at best. No matter how I tried to clear space it is cramped in there. I rolled the car partially out the door so that I could at least walk around the front end. The floor was poured in 4 slabs sections and it is separating and cracking and generally no fun to try and work on. It was built in 1910 and was obviously for Model Ts at best. The lighting isn't great either. This whole weekend I bet I spent 25% of my time looking for parts or tools that I "just had." Which brings me to the first bit of frustration.
I got the distribution block cleaned up and reinstalled and started hooking up lines. The right front brake line was tricky but I was able to fish it in there without needing to remove much. I hooked up the remaining lines and installed the master cylinder lines, then the master cylinder. All I had left to install were the little bits that go between the front rubber hydraulic hose and the wheel cylinders. I had taken all of the parts out of the box on Friday night and straightened out the long lines, and I had hung the shorter ones up on the peg board. But now I couldn't find them anywhere. I never did. I looked for over and hour and finally decided to just take the lines off of the spare hub assemblies that were in the trunk when I bought the car. They were in much better shape than the originals but the line was still seized in the fittings. 2 hours later after much soaking and light torching I had usable brake lines.
It was getting late. My girlfriend was on her way home and we were supposed to have relaxing night by the firepit with wine and snacks. I was filthy. Luckily she was late getting home. I thought I had everything buttoned up so I started trying to bleed the brakes.
Now I had never done this extensive of a brake job on an older car and bleeding brakes was usually a team event, but I had purchased a vacuum bleeder kit so away I went! A quart, yes 1 qt. of brake fluid later, I knew something was wrong. I still had air in the lines. Plus the manual vacuum pump was starting to fail from all of the brake fluid. Frustrated, filthy and tired, I shut down for the night sad that I hadn't completed my weekend mission.
Had a nice night by the fire and went to bed thinking about what was wrong.
To be continued.
The first thing I realized was that I was not going to just put this car back together without making things prettier than I ever planned on. Still not a restoration by anyone's definition but I was definitely cleaning things and painting more things than I thought I would, but this car is surprising me each time I work on a new area. It really is a solid car. I don't know how it survived this well in Iowa. Maybe it was the formidable undercoating she's wearing. Anyway, on with this chapter's story.
Here was my list, I had from 8-5 on Saturday and all day and night Sunday to work on it.
-Prep Front Drums for paint
-get filler on sail panel
-Gas Tank install
-Penetrating fluid everywhere
-front shocks
-Front brake rebuild
-Clip Distribution block free and clean
-bench bleed master cylinder
-remove all brake lines
-remove and install brake MC
-install brake lines
-bleed
-install starter
-change oil
-if time, begin work on floor rust & seatbelt mount
I got the front drums cleaned up and ready for paint. While I was there I cleaned up the little sheet metal shield along the lower left frame rail, and also the gas tank straps. I used some rustomleum hammer finish spray can that I found while cleaning up the work area. So I also repainted the rear drums. While all that was drying, I rebuilt the front brakes, hardware, shoes and wheel cylinders, just like the rear got. Packed the wheel bearing and replaced the bearing seals. Got it all put back together. Things were going well.
I started removing the brake lines, which was fairly easy, I wasn't messing around with getting the fittings off because everything was getting replaced. The new brake lines were close but not exactly what I needed but I was able to coax them into some gentle and some drastic new configurations. I'm not sure what vehicle Inline is using for the template but it wasn't mine. The worst one was the rear axle line for the left side. The fitting was almost 180 degrees off from where it needed to be. Maybe mine had an aftermarket tee back there. The main rear line wasn't too bad but it missed hitting the brake line clips due to some unneeded bends. I just got the rear lines ran when I had to head off to my night shift at the restaurant. I was rushing so there weren't any pictures during that time.
I got home early Saturday night so I did some body prep for painting the roof. I got most of the trim off and the rest of the vinyl top stuck in the crevices. Never did get any filler on the joints yet, but I got more glue off the main roof area.
Sunday I got up bright and early and started back on the brakes. I was still thinking I was on course for completing everything by Sunday night. I got the brake distribution block off and cleaned up. I took the master cylinder off to compare it to the new one before I did a bench bleed. I used the syringe method of bleeding and it worked very well. One syringe full front and back and it was cleared of bubbles.
If I haven't made it clear before, let me restate, my garage is small. In 21 years I've never actually parked cars in it that were in use. I organized it before this job and it was still organized chaos at best. No matter how I tried to clear space it is cramped in there. I rolled the car partially out the door so that I could at least walk around the front end. The floor was poured in 4 slabs sections and it is separating and cracking and generally no fun to try and work on. It was built in 1910 and was obviously for Model Ts at best. The lighting isn't great either. This whole weekend I bet I spent 25% of my time looking for parts or tools that I "just had." Which brings me to the first bit of frustration.
I got the distribution block cleaned up and reinstalled and started hooking up lines. The right front brake line was tricky but I was able to fish it in there without needing to remove much. I hooked up the remaining lines and installed the master cylinder lines, then the master cylinder. All I had left to install were the little bits that go between the front rubber hydraulic hose and the wheel cylinders. I had taken all of the parts out of the box on Friday night and straightened out the long lines, and I had hung the shorter ones up on the peg board. But now I couldn't find them anywhere. I never did. I looked for over and hour and finally decided to just take the lines off of the spare hub assemblies that were in the trunk when I bought the car. They were in much better shape than the originals but the line was still seized in the fittings. 2 hours later after much soaking and light torching I had usable brake lines.
It was getting late. My girlfriend was on her way home and we were supposed to have relaxing night by the firepit with wine and snacks. I was filthy. Luckily she was late getting home. I thought I had everything buttoned up so I started trying to bleed the brakes.
Now I had never done this extensive of a brake job on an older car and bleeding brakes was usually a team event, but I had purchased a vacuum bleeder kit so away I went! A quart, yes 1 qt. of brake fluid later, I knew something was wrong. I still had air in the lines. Plus the manual vacuum pump was starting to fail from all of the brake fluid. Frustrated, filthy and tired, I shut down for the night sad that I hadn't completed my weekend mission.
Had a nice night by the fire and went to bed thinking about what was wrong.
To be continued.
SO...
I had Monday night off and I continued to try and bleed the brakes and finally got the nerve to try the pedal. It was firm but then slowly would lose pedal as I stepped on it. Did I not bleed the master cylinder correctly? I decided that if that was the case it wouldn't even start with a firm pedal. I got out of the car and looked around there were little puddles of brake fluid. I won't say everywhere, but on almost every fitting. Turns out you really have to crank these new fittings down. No wonder I'm always rounding fittings off when I try to take them off later. I went around and though I tightened everything, but I tried to bleed and still had air for days. I decided to give up on the front, thinking maybe it was pulling air somehow through the distribution block from the back.
The back was bleeding ok now but then it just failed. I mean nothing but air. I saw more fluid on the ground but the fittings were dry. Hmmmmmm. I pulled the drum off and the right side on the left wheel cylinder was dripping with fluid. The rubber boot was off. I gave up for Monday night. This was a brand new wheel cylinder.
I wouldn't have another night off till Thursday. I checked the local o'reillys and Autozone and they both had the right one in stock. I had 3 days to wonder what was wrong. I didn't even pull it because I was just tired and frustrated by this point.
To be continued.
I had Monday night off and I continued to try and bleed the brakes and finally got the nerve to try the pedal. It was firm but then slowly would lose pedal as I stepped on it. Did I not bleed the master cylinder correctly? I decided that if that was the case it wouldn't even start with a firm pedal. I got out of the car and looked around there were little puddles of brake fluid. I won't say everywhere, but on almost every fitting. Turns out you really have to crank these new fittings down. No wonder I'm always rounding fittings off when I try to take them off later. I went around and though I tightened everything, but I tried to bleed and still had air for days. I decided to give up on the front, thinking maybe it was pulling air somehow through the distribution block from the back.
The back was bleeding ok now but then it just failed. I mean nothing but air. I saw more fluid on the ground but the fittings were dry. Hmmmmmm. I pulled the drum off and the right side on the left wheel cylinder was dripping with fluid. The rubber boot was off. I gave up for Monday night. This was a brand new wheel cylinder.
I wouldn't have another night off till Thursday. I checked the local o'reillys and Autozone and they both had the right one in stock. I had 3 days to wonder what was wrong. I didn't even pull it because I was just tired and frustrated by this point.
To be continued.
This brings us to Thursday, last night. First things first, I pulled the brakes apart on the leaking wheel cylinder and extracted it from the backing plate. Got it up on the workbench and immediately one of the things I thought had happened had happened. The right side cup was completely pressed over into the left side, so it was actually past the fluid inlet hole in the cylinder. So the only thing holding the brake fluid in was the piston. It was hard to get the cups out but I did. I cleaned up the cups and cylinders and boots and reinstalled it. I was feeling better already.
Started bleeding again. I had read that the bleeder screw threads themselves allowed air in under vacuum. SMH. Yep, I carefully teflon taped each bleeder, opened the first screw and immediately got clear fluid with the vacuum!
I have brakes! Here are all the parts I replaced
The night was young so I installed the gas tank. I had forgotten to repaint the floor above where the gas tank goes so while that was drying I decided to change the starter.
Trying to install the new starter I couldn't get the faces to tighten flush, it felt wedged. Finally I realized the back of the starter was hitting a brace bolt on the engine block. It turns out the new starter field housing was longer than mine. So I blew out all of the brass dust from the old one, lubricated the shaft and cleaned the contacts and put the old one back in. Thanks Autozone.
Gas tank was easy. New j-bolts and a new tank pad. I put gas in it, used the vacuum pump to pull fuel up to the carb. Boom, it's running again.
I "installed" "universal" muffler. It was not. It hangs way too low. Also I have no idea what I'm doing lol. I've never done anything but bolt on exhaust stuff, but it will work till I get dual exhaust installed later. It is quieter.
Here is the picture of my disaster area of a garage. I need to go in there and put stuff away again. I should have taken a before picture. Prior to last night that tandem bike was hanging vertically in the way. I hit my head on the handlebars at least 40 times before I finally hung it horizontally and more out of the way. Maybe hitting my head so many times is why I can't ever find anything. It's really as bad as it looks, but it almost works for me. The next thing on the list is finally painting the roof and fixing the floor pan rust and carpet, because I got my carpet yesterday! I took it to the carwash to wash off the crap and drove it for about 5 miles. The brakes are great. No more pumping, no more drastic pull to the left! Thanks for listening.
Started bleeding again. I had read that the bleeder screw threads themselves allowed air in under vacuum. SMH. Yep, I carefully teflon taped each bleeder, opened the first screw and immediately got clear fluid with the vacuum!
I have brakes! Here are all the parts I replaced
The night was young so I installed the gas tank. I had forgotten to repaint the floor above where the gas tank goes so while that was drying I decided to change the starter.
Trying to install the new starter I couldn't get the faces to tighten flush, it felt wedged. Finally I realized the back of the starter was hitting a brace bolt on the engine block. It turns out the new starter field housing was longer than mine. So I blew out all of the brass dust from the old one, lubricated the shaft and cleaned the contacts and put the old one back in. Thanks Autozone.
Gas tank was easy. New j-bolts and a new tank pad. I put gas in it, used the vacuum pump to pull fuel up to the carb. Boom, it's running again.
I "installed" "universal" muffler. It was not. It hangs way too low. Also I have no idea what I'm doing lol. I've never done anything but bolt on exhaust stuff, but it will work till I get dual exhaust installed later. It is quieter.
Here is the picture of my disaster area of a garage. I need to go in there and put stuff away again. I should have taken a before picture. Prior to last night that tandem bike was hanging vertically in the way. I hit my head on the handlebars at least 40 times before I finally hung it horizontally and more out of the way. Maybe hitting my head so many times is why I can't ever find anything. It's really as bad as it looks, but it almost works for me. The next thing on the list is finally painting the roof and fixing the floor pan rust and carpet, because I got my carpet yesterday! I took it to the carwash to wash off the crap and drove it for about 5 miles. The brakes are great. No more pumping, no more drastic pull to the left! Thanks for listening.
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Gitter done! Your garage gives me anxiety...
I bet!
So I guess the starter was correct? I'm not sure why, but mine is different and there is a brace and bolt on the engine block that will not accommodate the correct one. Everything I look up points to this 1972 318 needing the 3258 starter. While the one installed in mine is the one with a shorter field housing, model 3250. There is about a half inch difference in overall length. The 3258 is a higher HP model I guess. Do you think there is a chance that my car has had a motor from another year installed? I've also posted a version of this question in the technical forum.
mygasser
Well-Known Member
it's great when shiny bits start going back on, i'd turn the exhaust clamps 90 degrees though so the 'studs' don't catch on speed humps etc 
it's great when shiny bits start going back on, i'd turn the exhaust clamps 90 degrees though so the 'studs' don't catch on speed humps etc
Thanks! Good idea, it was the last thing I did last night and I was maybe trying to get it done too quickly. It was about 1 am...
mygasser
Well-Known Member
i've done that a few times myself
Dartfreak75
Restore it, Dont part it!
Great job!! It's really looking great. What did you clean porportioning valve with that thing looks new again.
Thanks! I have a small ultrasonic cleaner that I use with CLR or Simple Green depending on what needs removed then I remove the rest with a bench grinder that has a wire wheel. It got used a lot last weekend!
Dartfreak75
Restore it, Dont part it!
I was gonna get one of those ultrasonic cleaners for reloading brass but never did. I have a case tumbler but it's to dusty for stuff like that.
I bought a really inexpensive one off amazon when I was restoring my old Honda. It would barely hold one carb at a time but it works great. It's paid for itself at least 3 times over in parts it has saved.
Dartfreak75
Restore it, Dont part it!
I will have to take a look at them. Do they do good at removing caked on grease?
It seems to do better on rust than grease. But It does heat it up so with simple green it softens the caked on grease so it comes off easier.
Dartfreak75
Restore it, Dont part it!
I need something for oily greasy nuts and bolts. Also rusty ones lol
For grease nothing beats a solvent tank with a brush! But a hot bath of simple green or purple power and a scrub brush works great for me! I'm a big fan of a wire wheel for rust. Very satisfying.
Dartfreak75
Restore it, Dont part it!
Yea wire wheel and brake cleaner is what iv used on everything so far. There has to be an easier way lol I know the small stuff is gonna be harder to do with a wire wheel. More dangerous too.
Dartfreak75
Restore it, Dont part it!
Just found these this will save me alot of scrubbing!
First story from this weekend involves cruising, breaking down, heading back into town, breaking down, and finally redemption.
Saturday morning I got up planning on changing the starter even though it didn't fit the first time. Armed with new information I was ready to try again. I got in the Dart and it started. That was not typical, the last few times I had to jump it to start it. I was going to warm it up and wash some more grease and road grime off of the front end and engine. It was running very well so I decided to take it for a short road trip, just 5 miles out of town and back.
She ran great and I even got on it a couple of times with decent response. I came to the place I wanted to turn back to town and it coughed and died. I could tell it was flooded. I pulled over to the side of the road an started looking for issues. Normally I just let it sit for a few minutes and it's good to go again but I went to check the carb and there was gas all over the intake. I had taken my tools out of the trunk but I did have a 1/2" wrench, a regular screwdriver, a phillips screwdriver, and a very large pair of channel locks. So basically I could fix whatever was wrong. Wrong.
Luckily a guy in a Dodge Ram stopped by to see if I needed help. So we started taking the carb apart. I thought maybe the float was stuck or needed adjustment. This is a new chinese carter 2bbl knockoff. When we got the float out I could tell it was heavy. Yep, leaky float. Bad day on the soldering line I guess. I set the float on the exhaust manifold to see if I could see where it was leaking. No luck. I decided to empty the fuel from the bowl, put it back together and just run back to town balls out to try to avoid the flooding.
By now the warmed up starter was having none of it. We tried jumping but you could hear the starter dragging, luckily he had two batteries on his diesel Dodge and he hooked up another set of jumpers. After letting it charge for a few minutes it finally started. I headed right to the only place in town I knew would have a float in stock. A locally owned independent parts house that has been in our town since before I was born. I avoided stops as much as possible and made it to the intersection right before and stopped and it died and wouldn't start.
I pushed it across the intersection and into a parking space. Bought the float, installed it, and then waited for the car to cool down enough so the starter could crank. A couple of people tried to jump me but I couldn't get enough amps to turn the dying starter over fast enough. Finally another diesel Dodge Ram parked right beside me. They asked if I needed a jump. Yes! The good news was now it ran so much better than before.
I drove home and changed the starter. All I had to do was grind about 3/16" off the head of the engine transmission brace bolt and it fit perfectly. Now it starts easily! I didn't realize how bad the starter was, I was always assuming my battery was shot.
Here is the size comparison of the old and new starter, you can see the longer field housing on the new one
If you ever run into this issue, this is what it will look like after you grind your bolt head down.
Next up ... Guess why the car stopped moving suddenly.
Saturday morning I got up planning on changing the starter even though it didn't fit the first time. Armed with new information I was ready to try again. I got in the Dart and it started. That was not typical, the last few times I had to jump it to start it. I was going to warm it up and wash some more grease and road grime off of the front end and engine. It was running very well so I decided to take it for a short road trip, just 5 miles out of town and back.
She ran great and I even got on it a couple of times with decent response. I came to the place I wanted to turn back to town and it coughed and died. I could tell it was flooded. I pulled over to the side of the road an started looking for issues. Normally I just let it sit for a few minutes and it's good to go again but I went to check the carb and there was gas all over the intake. I had taken my tools out of the trunk but I did have a 1/2" wrench, a regular screwdriver, a phillips screwdriver, and a very large pair of channel locks. So basically I could fix whatever was wrong. Wrong.
Luckily a guy in a Dodge Ram stopped by to see if I needed help. So we started taking the carb apart. I thought maybe the float was stuck or needed adjustment. This is a new chinese carter 2bbl knockoff. When we got the float out I could tell it was heavy. Yep, leaky float. Bad day on the soldering line I guess. I set the float on the exhaust manifold to see if I could see where it was leaking. No luck. I decided to empty the fuel from the bowl, put it back together and just run back to town balls out to try to avoid the flooding.
By now the warmed up starter was having none of it. We tried jumping but you could hear the starter dragging, luckily he had two batteries on his diesel Dodge and he hooked up another set of jumpers. After letting it charge for a few minutes it finally started. I headed right to the only place in town I knew would have a float in stock. A locally owned independent parts house that has been in our town since before I was born. I avoided stops as much as possible and made it to the intersection right before and stopped and it died and wouldn't start.
I pushed it across the intersection and into a parking space. Bought the float, installed it, and then waited for the car to cool down enough so the starter could crank. A couple of people tried to jump me but I couldn't get enough amps to turn the dying starter over fast enough. Finally another diesel Dodge Ram parked right beside me. They asked if I needed a jump. Yes! The good news was now it ran so much better than before.
I drove home and changed the starter. All I had to do was grind about 3/16" off the head of the engine transmission brace bolt and it fit perfectly. Now it starts easily! I didn't realize how bad the starter was, I was always assuming my battery was shot.
Here is the size comparison of the old and new starter, you can see the longer field housing on the new one
If you ever run into this issue, this is what it will look like after you grind your bolt head down.
Next up ... Guess why the car stopped moving suddenly.
Story 2 from this weekend.
So I got the starter on and decided to go to Autozone and finally get the transmission filter kit and oil change stuff. Filled with happiness with the non-flooding and easy starting car I was ready for some routine maintenance. I spent way too long in the ATF section looking up suggestions on the interwebz for what fluid I needed. I got the stuff and headed home.
Again, I got less than half a block from my house, turned the corner and BAM! The car stopped dead in its tracks. I was only going about 10 MPH so it wasn't to scary but, I was of course concerned. My first thought was my hack job of a muffled had fallen off and stopped me, then I thought maybe drive shaft. But after it stopped me, I was able to drive again, for about 10 feet then BAM! Something locked up again. This time I could tell it was the left front tire not moving. I had just rebuilt all four brakes, hardware and all, so I thought maybe a spring had come off and a brake shoe was flopping around.
I was able to back up, then I could pull forward about 3 feet before it would lock up again. So I decided to back into my driveway. Then it switched, I could go about 2 feet in reverse then it would lock up. Evenutally it just stopped being able to go at all in reverse and only a few feet in drive. I was able to drag the front tire into the driveway and I had to go to work at the restaurant from the evening.
Now I had the brakes completely disassembled so I assumed I did something wrong. I had even taken the backing plate off to clean and paint it so there were many things it could be. I thought about it all night assuming it was the brakes.
This morning, Sunday I got up early and fixed it in about 6 minutes. The only tools I used were as follows:
Lug wrench, jack, jack stand, and needle nose pliers.
The drum was really hard to get off but not locked up hard. When I got the drum came off something fell out, that fixed the problem and I put it all back together and it was fine.
Can anyone guess what it was. There was a hint in the story above.
So I got the starter on and decided to go to Autozone and finally get the transmission filter kit and oil change stuff. Filled with happiness with the non-flooding and easy starting car I was ready for some routine maintenance. I spent way too long in the ATF section looking up suggestions on the interwebz for what fluid I needed. I got the stuff and headed home.
Again, I got less than half a block from my house, turned the corner and BAM! The car stopped dead in its tracks. I was only going about 10 MPH so it wasn't to scary but, I was of course concerned. My first thought was my hack job of a muffled had fallen off and stopped me, then I thought maybe drive shaft. But after it stopped me, I was able to drive again, for about 10 feet then BAM! Something locked up again. This time I could tell it was the left front tire not moving. I had just rebuilt all four brakes, hardware and all, so I thought maybe a spring had come off and a brake shoe was flopping around.
I was able to back up, then I could pull forward about 3 feet before it would lock up again. So I decided to back into my driveway. Then it switched, I could go about 2 feet in reverse then it would lock up. Evenutally it just stopped being able to go at all in reverse and only a few feet in drive. I was able to drag the front tire into the driveway and I had to go to work at the restaurant from the evening.
Now I had the brakes completely disassembled so I assumed I did something wrong. I had even taken the backing plate off to clean and paint it so there were many things it could be. I thought about it all night assuming it was the brakes.
This morning, Sunday I got up early and fixed it in about 6 minutes. The only tools I used were as follows:
Lug wrench, jack, jack stand, and needle nose pliers.
The drum was really hard to get off but not locked up hard. When I got the drum came off something fell out, that fixed the problem and I put it all back together and it was fine.
Can anyone guess what it was. There was a hint in the story above.
In other news I guess I still know how to do body work badly after 15 years off.
I'm getting the vinyl top area ready to paint. Put some POR on the backside of some pinholes then went with a Bondo brand metal filler first then regular bondo. While sanding the last bit of adhesive off the roof I found some hail dents so repaired them as well. I have everything in primer now so I hope to have it painted in F7 tomorrow night! I hope the F3/F7 combo looks as good as I think it will.
I had 2 rattle cans of filler primer available so I used them but that will be the last project of this size I use them on. It was a bit of work to paint with them. Especially knowing I have a perfectly good HVLP gun.
I'm getting the vinyl top area ready to paint. Put some POR on the backside of some pinholes then went with a Bondo brand metal filler first then regular bondo. While sanding the last bit of adhesive off the roof I found some hail dents so repaired them as well. I have everything in primer now so I hope to have it painted in F7 tomorrow night! I hope the F3/F7 combo looks as good as I think it will.
I had 2 rattle cans of filler primer available so I used them but that will be the last project of this size I use them on. It was a bit of work to paint with them. Especially knowing I have a perfectly good HVLP gun.
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