My 71 Duster work in progress

[Dr.Jass]

Does E-bay charge a listing fee even if your item doesn't sell? Double down.

They used to, but I'm not sure how they bill now. There used to be a listing fee, then a final auction fee. Both were based on value (opening bid or reserve, then final sale price). I know they're also charging fees on shipping now, because apparently that's not expensive enough. Total eBay fees end up between 10-20% of the total invoice amount, meaning it's a lot less profitable (and fun) than it was 20 years ago.
They do have a "run until sold" option now for Buy it Now items, which is how a lot of stuff gets listed these days. I've got a few parts that have been in my watchlist a year or more.

 

[69.5CUDA]

they also offer every now n then "list up to 10 items for free" with no fees to keep it listed untill sold as an auction they only take a cut if/when it sells

 

[b-body-bob]

Been sick here. Head cold.

I found a website that says A & B lower fender braces are the same, but it limits the b-body to 66-67. I'm almost 100% certain those are the same through 70 for the B's
https://www.classicindustries.com/product/mm1139.html

So A and B are the same, and AMD created a rare part out of thin air by selling the brace as a B-body only part making it seem like the A-body part is special and rare.

 

[Dr.Jass]

I found a website that says A & B lower fender braces are the same, but it limits the b-body to 66-67. I'm almost 100% certain those are the same through 70 for the B's
https://www.classicindustries.com/product/mm1139.html

The information on CI's website is correct, your certainty is not.

I know my posts get wordy, but it's with good reason. I already addressed all of this using the factory parts catalogs earlier in the thread, including part numbers and specific applications. 1966-'67 B-bodies use the same parts as the '67-'74 Plymouth non-Barracuda and '67-'72 Dodge A-bodies. That part number never changed during its 7-year usage span (which could actually go to '76, but I don't have cataloguing after '74). Barracuda and '73-'74 Dart did not use the braces.

1968-'69 non-Charger B-bodies use a different part number than '66-'67. The Charger, '70 Dodge models, and Superbird did not use any braces. If the braces used were the same part, they would have the same part number. They don't, so they're not. What the difference is, I don't know. That's not the way the parts manuals work. It could be as minor as a difference in the angle of the bent end, but they are not the same part. One would've superseded to the other eventually, but that never happened. Whatever the difference might be, there is one.

 

[b-body-bob]

I admit I do tend to scan things and not read them.

I'll dig out those spare b-body parts I've got and see if they're really close enough to use. Also - I seem to remember that the angles on the one I found and installed didn't match up as good as it should have at the bumper bracket.

 

[69.5CUDA]

id bet they made a dozen different ones of the same length with slight bend changes

 

[b-body-bob]

I decided to check the backup light switch while I had the tunnel off so it's easier to remove it if needed. It seems there is wiggling involved in getting it to work, but it does work.

I've had a head cold, so going is slow. I just feel tired.

 

[69.5CUDA]

a wiggle?...is it the body or the plug...if plug tweak the conectors..if body..replace it

 

[Dr.Jass]

Check your private messages, @b-body-bob.

 

[b-body-bob]

a wiggle?...is it the body or the plug...if plug tweak the conectors..if body..replace it

The shifter. The plug fits as tight as any I've ever seen.

Check your private messages, @b-body-bob.

I meant to yesterday but forgot.

 

[b-body-bob]

The hump is back in. Waiting on the weather to dry out so I can let the carpet sit in the sun, heat up, and relax. I used strip caulk (aka dum-dum) to seal the edges, thinking that would be just as good as anything and a whole lot easier to deal with if/when I have to take it back out.

@69.5CUDA, I also picked up a repair kit for the wiper pivots

 

[69.5CUDA]

did it come with a zerk? something i remember the early kits coming with was a zerk for the shaft, to which i think may be over kill , and a small hole drilled so a needle greaser can be used instead

but a-bodys only have a few places to get water on the floor....overflow from the air boxes(clean the drains), and thru wiper pivots, anything after that is pretty much a rust hole somewhere

 

[b-body-bob]

No I forgot about the grease zerks but TBH whatever I do to the car now will last forever no more than it will be used.

 

[69.5CUDA]

imo greasing the shafts made for smoother action as well, tho the zerk made em hell to install, "when" i get round to my 69 ill just pin hole drill and needle grease

 

[b-body-bob]

Carpet's in, still needs the seats, trimming, sill plates, kick panels etc.

 

[b-body-bob]

These not-right seats are pushing right over into the shifter hump. I didn't notice that before. Adjustments are needed to get the shifter further to the right.

The widow woman we bought the car from mentioned those seats were one of her last gifts to her husband, and some rat bastard sold her seats out of a Vega or something.

 

[69.5CUDA]

those seats remind me ALOT of the ones that were in my ramcharger, which i eventualy tracked to being aspolare seats..any chance they are?

 

[Dr.Jass]

These not-right seats are pushing right over into the shifter hump. I didn't notice that before. Adjustments are needed to get the shifter further to the right.

I would strongly suggest putting the seat(s) back in place before you do this.

those seats remind me ALOT of... aspolare seats..any chance they are?

That's what they look like to me.

 

[b-body-bob]

I thought they could be Volare/Aspen seats too. There is no plastic seat back on them.

Another problem could be that the prev owner drilled holes in the floor instead of using the ones that were already there. The holes go through the floor bracing on the outside, but they're not the factory ones. I just stuck with those holes because there have been enough damned holes drilled in that floor over the years since it started with a bench seat. I did buy a set of the factory spacers and the correct nuts to bolt them in with.

Dr.Jass said:


I would strongly suggest putting the seat(s) back in place before you do this.

Yeah I knew that would come back to haunt me LOL.

 

[Dr.Jass]

I thought they could be Volare/Aspen seats too. There is no plastic seat back on them.

Plastic seatbacks mostly went dodo in the early '70s. The E-bodies lost 'em mid-production during the '72 run and they vanished from the A-bodies in '73. On those cars, it was a concession (if an artificial one) to rear-seat legroom as well as a cost-saving measure. The roomier and more-expensive B lineup used them much longer, but starting around '75-'76 they began covering them with matching vinyl. The F-body and its variants never had them.

Put a stitch across those seats at about shoulder level to pinch the vinyl inwards, and they could almost pass for '73 Duster seats.

The odds are at least even that if you found the right adjuster mechanisms, those seats would bolt into the original holes and clear everything. The basic frames never changed dramatically; the differences were usually in the springing, foams, and seat adjusters/brackets. The basic shape of the bucket seat is very similar between a '70 Charger and an '83 Mirada.