My 71 Duster work in progress

Dr.Jass said:
Got an old shoe
Click to expand...
That's an idea. They're $2.50 each at Brewer's. Reusing the old bearings took $20 off the top of the kit price. Right now I've got both brake pedal bushings, those two washers, and an up-stop bumper thing on my buy list as far as the pedals go. I saved $20 on bearings but of course it's going to cost me $25 more because the pedal pads were rock hard and one tore coming off..

Dr.Jass said:
With the column out, it's literally six fasteners
Click to expand...
I'll look at it and if it seems easier to get the assy out than it will be to build it back in place there you go. Now that it's all cleaned up and lubed it should just slip right back together. We'll see.
 
Each and every part, except the clutch kit, was neatly folded in an individual sheet of newspaper. I'm impressed with the care taken. I'm used to the shove it in a box with a piece of bubble wrap on top of it all approach to shipping.
 
Brewer's has never ceased to impress me. I've ordered six or eight times over a greater number of years, but when I call (if necessary) they know who I am. The shipping is always top notch, and if you run into a problem they're extremely helpful with tech. Wayne has helped me a few times when I had oddball questions.
 
The only parts that in the order that I could've ordered from a big box store like Summit was the clutch kit and that was the same price. I don't even know if there are sources for the other parts. Maybe Passon, but I'm still protesting the $40 I spent on that useless 4-speed book of his.

I didn't need to talk to Wayne but I did talk to Lisa because they're old fashioned so you can call with a credit card or mail a check, either way is fine.
 
The shipment was folded up in newsprint, a nice touch. The newspapers were from spring of 2018 so they must have come from a recycler.

But, here's the weird part, the crossword and sudoku puzzles were done. So they were recyled by an individual, not a newspaper dumping extra copies. Also, I can't imagine they stay in the system long once they're in the recycling stream, definitely not 5 years. So maybe these papers were recycled recently after someone died and a relative cleaned their house out. That's kind of creepy in a way.
 
Actually yes I did notice one page of comics. Didn't look at it though. I folded it all up and put it in my masking/packing materials box.

I've found x-word pages for 3 different dates. Same handwriting on them all.

I put the pedals back together last night. Would've gone smoothly if I would've paid closer attention to the order I put things together in. Disassembly/reassembly was involved. I put the Ebrake in before the side brace, then took that back apart - all the way, the cable has to be removed and tucked away. The side bracket went in easy enough I guess, then I put the e-brake back in and this time the cable was in the way of the top pivot so there was one last cycle of dissamble/reassemble.

By the end of that I was basically putting on a master class in cussing. Should've had a class full of young'uns watching to do my part toward improving the future. To confirm my age, I didn't smash anything, but I did throw my hat once.
 
Now I don't feel so bad, still bad since I seem to do it all the time!
One I can alert you to, put in the hard brake line across the engine bay while it's empty, royal pain after the motor & mater cylinder were in!
 
I once put a side-to-side brake line in a b-body. I remember there was one magic way to start it and it went right in. Early B-body glove box liners are the same way. The hard part is finding the magic way to start it.

FWIW the brake line is OK so I didn't change it but I did wipe all the black paint off and mask it so it's not painted blue.
 
b-body-bob said:
I've found x-word pages for 3 different dates. Same handwriting on them all.
Click to expand...
Brewer's probably hangs onto everything resembling newspaper they can get. Hell, it might be Lisa's or Wayne's handwriting. I'll bet everyone they know holds onto every newspaper that comes their way. I doubt anything sent to a recycler that long ago would still be recognizable after all this time.

On the subject of old newspapers and in the spirit of the holiday, when I was in high school I finally got curious about the rolled-up newspaper our Christmas-tree lights had been wrapped around as long as I could recall. I got it unrolled and somewhat flat, just enough to see the headline. It was the Iron Mountain News from November 23, 1963--something about a murder in Dallas. I asked Mom why she had the Christmas lights rolled up on it for 20+ years, and she said "We still have it, don't we?" Fast forward 10-12 years. The last of the real trees had been the previous Christmas, and with the new tree Mom got all new lights. I never thought to ask what happened to the old C7 lights and their significant spindle.
 
I considered if it was theirs, but seems like they would've used it long before now. Especially if they're wrapping all shipments like mine was.

Related to the tree newspaper, one of my sisters moved back in with my grandmother and at one point she threw out everything that she (sister) decided she didn't want. Photos, yearbooks, things saved from our childhood,, even a set of 70 HP manifolds were gone. I was kind of estranged from them thanks to her nutball husband and had no idea until it was too late. Probably nothing with more than sentimental value, but still.
 
Master cylinder body gaskets - the car had a plastic one on it that I broke because it was stuck to the car. I'm planning to cut one out of cork or some of that white packing material stuff like you find under the axle retainer. Is there a problem with that plan? Seems to me the only purpose in it is to protect the paint. Or something. It sure doesn't seal anything.
 
I never gave it much thought, to be honest. There's nothing on my Valiant except a boot over the back through which the pushrod fits, but not tightly. The function I can see to that is it'll leak brake fluid onto the carpet rather than the firewall, as if that's somehow more desirable.
 
I've got the boot too, kind of rotted at this point.

I had the same thought about the gasket, it will leak inside instead of outside. Which it would do anyway because the part where it leaks sticks through the firewall.

Then the outside gets brake fluid on it anyway through the process of removing, filling, and putting the cap back on.
 
Does your Duster have the factory 4-bolt master? I thought the back of that one was flush. I didn't think of it when I posted, but I have the aluminum 2-bolt master (plastic reservoir) used in '78-newer cars along with an adapter plate. The aluminum master has a pilot that sticks through both the adapter and the firewall, so it's absolutely guaranteed to leak inside the car.
 
It's got a 4-bolt. Pretty sure it's a Volare part, supplied by Dr. Diff.

The ring from the plastic gasket is still on the MC, and the rod is still in it. The MC is bolted to the car but it's still waiting for me to climb in and bolt it up tight enough on the inside to yank the rod out with the brake pedal.

IIRC this one doesn't stick out on the firewall side but the plastic ring fits right into the bore. The thing may have never leaked once, but the firewall was a wreck under the MC anyway from 60 years of checking the brake fluid.
 
Now that I can forget about the home water situation for a while I'm back to spending money I mean working on the Duster. I hope I just received the last bunch of parts I need to assemble everything, and I thought it odd that the Edelbrock recommended plugs (RC12YC) were individually carded and not in a box.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

SiteLock

SiteLock
Back
Top