My 71 Duster work in progress

[b-body-bob]

1 out of every 3 67/9 abodys ive done front end rebuilds on has hung up 1 bar at random and had to be smackked in with a hammer

Where were you a week ago

hell even my alfas require a bit of hammering and its a VERY similar setup..the differance being no adjuster bolt and something like 27 splines....you pull the LCA down to adjust your desired ride height/preload...haveing both ends splined slightly differently gives you infinite possibilitys

Seems like a big hassle to me but I guess once you've got it set you never mess with it again anyway.

We torqued mine with the car sitting on ramps. On its weight is on its weight; the car doesn't know if it's on the ground or 10" from it.

Hard to say where I should start next. Probably rad & battery tray, then wiring.

 

[b-body-bob]

I have never in my life seen a thermostat housing like this one I got from RockAuto



Even those chromed big block ones that always leak have a "flare" at the top edge to hold the clamp/hose. I should've looked at the photos closer.

 

[Dr.Jass]

I have one like that as well. I needed the boss on the side for some reason or another that never came to be. It's still sittin' in the box on a shelf. I have more f__kin' thermostat housings than any one man should, about 95% of 'em are factory ones from engines/cars I've parted. I also have timing covers stacked like cordwood.

The chrome ones always leak. Always. I gave up on those years ago.

I doubt a well-clamped hose is going to come off that. There's not that much pressure in the system before the cap releases. Oh, yeah... big- and small-block use the same housing, as long as we're talking pre-axial-AC-compressor engines (1980?).

 

[b-body-bob]

The chrome ones always leak. Always. I gave up on those years ago.

I've got one here with an O-ring in it. It's here because it wouldn't stop leaking and to remind me to never use one again.

I doubt a well-clamped hose is going to come off that.

My luck and all that.

big- and small-block use the same housing

I'll look around more, I might have a factory one here somewhere. Actually I know there is one here, from the 400.

 

[Dr.Jass]

I've got one here with an O-ring in it. It's here because it wouldn't stop leaking and to remind me to never use one again.

I had a Mr Gasket housing on my 440 when I first built it, way back in 1992. No amount of machining, modification, or silicone could make that thing seal. I've only used OE ones since. I did buy the one you showed, but it's still in the box. That engine is still a long way off.

My luck and all that.

Fair enough.

I'll look around more, I might have a factory one here somewhere. Actually I know there is one here, from the 400.

That'd be the one I'd use. The one on Agnes's engine is in truly gnarly condition, with lots of huge pits and voids. The gasket surface was good, though, so I ran it. It's never leaked a drop anywhere, despite using Corbin clamps on a far-from-good surface.

 

[b-body-bob]

I've still got the one that came with the 360 too, it looks like stamped sheet metal and is rusty as heck inside and out. That might work but I worry it also might spring a leak at break-in. Many things I need, that is not one of them.

 

[Dr.Jass]

Yeah, I think I'd forego the rusty steel one as well. Even that pitted one on Agnes is about 3x thicker than steel in the low spots.

 

[b-body-bob]

I'm off work tomorrow, hoping to get some more done. I hung the exhaust and it's about 2-3" too short. I can probably just cut off some of it and adapt it to the collector. I like to never got it hung, I even had Gina out there trying to help, eventually she spotted the transmission jack and asked why I wasn't using that to raise the mufflers. Doh.

I also need to do some welding because the lag bolts they drove through the rear seat belt plates won't hold a thread any more. It's OK for now but in the long term it would just shake right out so before it's over I'm going to weld a nut to the floor on each side.

 

[Dr.Jass]

I also need to do some welding because the lag bolts they drove through the rear seat belt plates won't hold a thread any more. It's OK for now but in the long term it would just shake right out so before it's over I'm going to weld a nut to the floor on each side.

When we pulled the carpets out of Agnes, the whole passenger's side retractor came out with it, still bolted to a rusty piece of floor. There was virtually nothing left of the floor, inner rocker, or seat-belt mount. The end result was a whole lot of welding, including a couple of gussets heavier-gauge than OE and a 3/16" steel plate with the original nut plate welded to the back of it. For that seatbelt to come out now, about two feet of the rocker would have to come with it, rather than just the floorpan as original.

I like the idea of the welded nut. It's much stronger than a nutsert or Heli-Coil, and it's a safety issue. That's why we went complete overkill fixing the one we did. Maybe nobody will ever use those seatbelts, but if they do it's nice to know they won't pull out due to something you did (or didn't bother to do).

 

[b-body-bob]

I like the idea of the welded nut. It's much stronger than a nutsert or Heli-Coil, and it's a safety issue

It only affects the hanger behind the mufflers.

My luck and all that.

Example:


It was installed before, now it hits the underside of the column. There is no moving the column up or down, it's where it should be. But still, that.

I also bought a set of bellhousing dust cover bolts that I can't find anywhere. I found the two screws that go to the dust cover laying on a bench but the 5 bolts have fallen into a black hole. I found some factory looking bolts that work until I find the new ones in a month or two.

I think all that's left to do before putting the car on the ground is to fill up the transmission.

 

[Dr.Jass]

Something's hinky with that column. It looks like it's way too low on the firewall, or the clocking is wrong, or... something.

Don't know if any of this will help (since my car has the ignition switch on the dash where God intended) but here's a few upskirt shots of Agnes's dash:









(You just shut your whore mouth about the wiring... )

It really looks to me like the issue on your car is at the firewall, unless there's something going on with the three fasteners that hold the column to the dash structure. I was a bit pressed for time and position (the door only opens so far at the moment) but I can take that trim cover off and get pics in that area if you'd like.

Sump'n's weird.

 

[b-body-bob]

Something's hinky with that column. It looks like it's way too low on the firewall, or the clocking is wrong, or... something.

Don't know if any of this will help (since my car has the ignition switch on the dash where God intended) but here's a few upskirt shots of Agnes's dash:

View attachment 27963

View attachment 27964

View attachment 27965

View attachment 27966

(You just shut your whore mouth about the wiring... )

It really looks to me like the issue on your car is at the firewall, unless there's something going on with the three fasteners that hold the column to the dash structure. I was a bit pressed for time and position (the door only opens so far at the moment) but I can take that trim cover off and get pics in that area if you'd like.

Sump'n's weird.

The wiring looks pretty much exactly like mine does. I did try to clean up the gauges and all tht with a terminal block but it's still a mess.

The arrangement of parts is pretty straight forward. Really the only thing it could be is the floor plate. The two bolt seal thing only goes in one place, ditto the 3 underdash bolts. The underdash bolts should clock it correctly - I didn't remove the bracket from the column.

I don't know what's going on but maybe just loosening things up AGAIN will let me move it where it needs to be. Or maybe it will cause the coupler to run into something again.

Madness I'm telling you.

 

[b-body-bob]

I had to loosen it all up from the firewall to the dash, then put it together from the dash to the firewall. Starting with that plastic trim piece.

 

[Dr.Jass]

Is it all squared away now?

 

[b-body-bob]

Is it all squared away now?

Yeah that is. I also checked that the coupler is still OK and it is.

I noticed something weird. Long story, had to pull the driveshaft to fix a u-joint that had a problem clip on it (cup was walking out). While I was on that I noticed that it was hard to turn the driveshaft under the car, ditto turning at the wheel. It sounded like it was something out at the wheel, so I pulled both. Wheel off, everything turns like it should. Brakes aren't too tight - the drum slips on and off with no drama. Put the wheel on, tighten the lugs, everything gets hard to turn. Loosen the lugs, easy to turn. What's up with that?

Started to spray a coat of paint on the intake, noticed the "Made in USA" decal on it. I guess I have to tape that off or scrape it off before I paint.

 

[Dr.Jass]

I'm going to assume the tire isn't rubbing the fender, because that should be obvious.

Is it a constant drag, or drag/free/drag/free? Did you try torquing the lugnuts without the wheel installed to snug up the drum and see if the issue persists?

 

[b-body-bob]

Is it a constant drag, or drag/free/drag/free

It feels exactly like the drum is too tight, but it's not. It seemed like it would tighten up the more I turned it at one point it got to where I couldn't turn the drive shaft at all but I'm a weakling. Then I pulled the wheel.

Did you try torquing the lugnuts without the wheel installed to snug up the drum and see if the issue persists?

I have not.

I also didn't look specifically for any rubs on or inside the drum/brake, but there is no noise like you would expect if that was the case.

 

[Dr.Jass]

OK, each the following questions is based on the previous one:

Is this a factory-built A-body 8.75" rearend?
Has it been converted to the 4.5" wheel bolt pattern?
If so, how was it done, i.e. redrilled, resplined, or new (Moser, Strange, etc.) axles?
Have the backing plates been changed? If so, to what (if you know)?

 

[b-body-bob]

Is this a factory-built A-body 8.75" rearend?

No. It is a generic 8.75 cut down to A-body dimensions. Probably from a C-body.

Has it been converted to the 4.5" wheel bolt pattern?

Not really "converted" but yes.

If so, how was it done, i.e. redrilled, resplined, or new (Moser, Strange, etc.) axles?

New axles

Have the backing plates been changed? If so, to what (if you know)?

I think they are new backing plates but am not certain. They may just be generic 8.75" backing plates. Drums are new.

 

[b-body-bob]

Did you try torquing the lugnuts without the wheel installed to snug up the drum and see if the issue persists

After I try that, if it shows nothing I'll back the brakes off to help figure out if it's related to the shoes.

There seemed to be a lot of brake dust in the drum for the few miles that I have driven the car, but there's no way to know.