In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :
Not gonna make it next weekend. Something about going to a friends wedding...
I should be able to do a drive-by at the autocross and hand the parts over. They have been riding around with me for a week and they still didnt get sent.
In reply to stafford1500 :
Awesome. Thanks. I really, really appreciate it sir.
Previous budget was 2318 with 315 recoup
new money:
wilwood pedal box with three brake pedals and bias bars, no clutch pedal: 40
upper control arms and alignment shims from SRI: 200
pedal box mount plate from speedway: 17 shipped
trade phantom tach for autogage and speedometer
open 31 spline ford 9 inch hogshead: 60
front calipers that were with the car: 100
1971 camaro pitman arm: 35
1971 camaro drag link: 55
gallon rustoleum slight machine gray: 50
4x 255/60/15 cooper cobras: 160
new total: 3035 with 315 recoup
when we left off, car was more or less as purchased. I had made a general plan, and a general action item list.
So, I got to it.
First order of business was getting the body off. This took quite a few hours. Many spot welds, braces, and tabs. Finally came down to brute force, but I was able to save it well enough for the guy that bought it for wall art.
20220509_182219 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
I gabbed my seat, sat it on the floor, ant test fit myself to my new car. And made engine noises. Cause that's what you do.
20220509_173229 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
pushed outside for cleaning u the shop and car. Easier than trying to walk around it
20220510_075311 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
steve came over later in the week to review the car with me. We discussed my plans, thoughts, and fears. He stated that the car is quite possibly late 80s, the tubes in the passengers side could be removed without fear, the 9 inch is straight enough for road course, and the chassis does not have hardly any offset. I got lucky, apparently.
Which meant I could go wholle hog without fear.
First order of buisness was cutting the front bimper mount off after taking it tp the nads a couple of times. Ill add something in its place when the car gets skinned.
I also went to SRI for their used parts. Got a pair of same spec upper control arms, caster slugs, alignment shims, and looked at all the other parts for a while. Ultimately decided to hold off for now, until I get a better feel of what I have and what I need. When I git home, I squared the upper control arms, and installed the steering box. Somewhere in here I also determined the steering linkage is 70-73 camaro. I ordered a pitman arm from ebay for 35 (cheapest I could find) and a non damaged center link from oriellys. I know they aren't race spec, but they should get me going and sorted out. If I find later I need to make changes, ill at least have a starting point.
20220512_072340 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20220514_080502 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
after that, ive done a lot of cutting and grinding. I ground down all the stubs and spot welds left from body removal. I cut out the passengers side bars. I ground down the layers of paint and vinyl around the door openings. I cut out the original pedal box. Everything you see in green etch primer is somewhere I have touched with a grinder. Not all pictured, because it gets repetitive.
20220528_175122 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20220528_175043 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20220528_171752 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
so, well go off chassis for a minute to finish up the update.
First, I needed tires that held air. I also need tires for storage and towing. I found a set of 255/60/25 cooper cobras for 160 used. Right height, wide enough, next door to a stop for work. So I bought them. I went ahead and cleaned up the 8 spare wheels that came with the car. Had a friend with a blast cabinet blast off the rust and stickers. It didn't touch the powdercoat though. One set I did in rustoleum hammered black. It came out more dark gray. Other set I shot in rustoleum gloss black. Had the tire shop mount up a set of the TA2 slicks, and the coopers.
20220522_152246 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20220523_071648 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20220525_154857 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
I also started working on finalizing parts for the brake system. I was able to obtain the original to the car JFZ front calipers to match the rears. I assume all four calipers will need rebuilt, and need to do a LOT of research on JFZ stuff. Initially it seems they were bought by wilwood, and may be able to use all wilwood pads and seals. But....
20220528_160422 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
I also lucked out on a set of wilwood pedals in a hanging orientation. The set came with three brake pedals and balance bars, but no clutch pedal. Steve is making me a bushing for one of the brake pedals to turn it into a clutch pedal. Ill just need to make a clevis. But for $40 I ain't complaining. Anyone need a brand new bias bar for wilwood pedals?
Also, I got the wilwood pedal box plate from speedway. They're 15 bucks, but I had a $10 off coupon, so total shipped was about 17 bucks. I wasn't expecting ¼ plate steel being the material, but it ought to be sturdy!it'll all work beautifully with my wilwood bias adjuster knob and box of tilton cylinders I picked up a while back.
20220528_160420 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
I also was able to source a 31 spline 9 inch hogshead. For 135 I got the whole assembly. Patrick had bought the housing for 75, and for an extra 60 I got the rest. I think its a 2.7x open, which is far from ideal, but its a start.
20220518_080106 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
lastly, I finally was able to get paint for the chassis. I decided on rustoleum light machine gray, which seems to be sold out EVERYWHERE. I found the gallon at the oakboro hardware store. It was $50, but its definitely enough for shooting the whole chassis and touch ups afterwards. Plus, its almost an exact match for what was on here!
20220529_092318 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
that's all for now. Its under the carport for a while while I do a terminator x install on the vortech supercharged cuda my buddy brought me. Gotta replenish the hot rod fund somehow.
20220529_135250 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
Just weld that diff. I did it with a the OEM open diff in my 323is and loved it, other than the ratio. Memory is fading but I think mine was a 2.73 also.
In reply to jimgood :
My brother had a mustang with a spool one time. Same as a welded diff in action.
I hated it. Only thing it did well was go straight.
I appreciate the suggestion though! Theres a loose limited slip unit on marketplace for 150 asking that im thinking about. Its a total pig in a poke, but....
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :
While everyone wants LSD I say run it as is for now. Maybe you won't be traction limited.
In reply to Stampie :
Good point!
Great score on the 9" rear end! I sold mine out of the Cougar for $275 as I wanted it gone. Advertised to picked up in 40 minutes at that price!
Stampie said:In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :
While everyone wants LSD I say run it as is for now. Maybe you won't be traction limited.
Its a 9". Swap in 1,000 different pigs as needed. Running is better than perfection.
Dusterbd13-michael said:In reply to jimgood :
My brother had a mustang with a spool one time. Same as a welded diff in action.
I hated it. Only thing it did well was go straight.
I appreciate the suggestion though! Theres a loose limited slip unit on marketplace for 150 asking that im thinking about. Its a total pig in a poke, but....
I'm surprised. Once I was on track, I never noticed any issues with my welded diff. I had other issues with my suspension with an LSD where it was spinning the inside tire during cornering. The welded diff fixed that.
Edit: I should clarify. The welded diff did not fix an issue with the LSD. The issue was related to not having any preload on the springs. The car was rolling too much, lifting the inside tire and causing wheelspin in corners. Swapping to a welded diff "fixed" the issue somewhat. Later I realized about the preload issue, fixed that and went back to the LSD.
In reply to Stampie :
I agree with Stampie...roll it as is and deal with traction later. You could weld it but if you plan to use this on the street in any fashion, that will suck. You are toying with driving this on public roads still?
In reply to jh36 :
Street legal for testing and possible shock value is still a design goal.
The gears are 2.76 and open. I think, for now, i deal with the less than ideal setup, and worry about it when it becomes a handicap. I have a lot bigger fish to fry.
And i may have gotten a $300 body from about 40 miles away. Its a buddy of one of my mopar customers. Hes taking me there next weekend to inspect. It WAS a 73 340 car, but its now a shell. May or may not have a front clip and windshield, no title or vin plate.
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :
Nice! I spy a glass back barracuda in the weeds too.
that looks pretty ideal. Staying tuned!
In reply to jh36 :
Theres a 68-70 charger shell, and an old tube frame race car poking out as well. Its going to be a cool stop wether i buy the car or not!
I'd have such a difficult time not slaping that Charger shell on the chassis. I have such a hardon for Finnegan's Death Metal 68.
No VIN? Won't that cause issues if you're doing on the road testing?
I'm pretty sure (in Maryland) you can apply for a hot rod vin with the state police. Seems like at some point I convinced myself of that.
Oh theres places the vin will be stamped, but that vin isn't title able. Ill go through the ncdmv process for a constructed car vin, or replica car vin
Ive done bothe with customers in the past. Its a pain in the butt, but doable
Gotcha, sounds good, then
Just slap plate from other duster on
jh36 said:In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :
Nice! I spy a glass back barracuda in the weeds too.
that looks pretty ideal. Staying tuned!
I saw that too. I had one that I wanted to restore years ago but was in over my head. It really wasn't a bad car and was running and driving (just no brakes). It was an early car with both Valiant and Barracuda badges.
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :
That Duster bod will look really nice on there. I hope he has the front clip to match.
Thanks everyone!
Im off to start learning about floater axles. And truck arm geometry. Because, if im honest, the axle is my next hurdle. Getting it squashed away allows me to put it on the dolly and tow it to dads place where i have the good welder. I need the good welder to do the controls and seat mounts, as well as some tube repairs and the fuel cell repairs. Then i can test fit and start mockups. Thats the exciting stuff.
Until then, ill leave a picture of the cuda im injecting. Its been more involved, but less complicated than.i expected.
Done with the cuda. Goes away tonight, and i get the kart back in and drop the axle out.
How was the experience with the Holley Sniper?
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