The New Project: Part Deux!

[Dave Rifkin]

and so it begins...........again. Can't wait to see how nice this one turns out. I am amazed at the knowledge and skills that so many people on this site possess.

[SS427]

Perseverance and tenacity at their finest! Good job once again Steve.

[njsteve]

Thank you for your morale support. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/biggthumpup.gif[/img]

Today's project was getting the heater core out. It actually went rather well. You have to remove the pass side inner fender to do it properly in order to access the lower studs and the heater hoses. Otherwise you will spend hours with extensions, lost sockets and scraped hands. It took me ten minutes to pull the inner fender and then another ten minutes to get the nuts off the studs. Once inside the car you have to pull the glove box door, glove box and the A/C ducts from one side to the other. That way the heater assembly comes out easier. In total it took about an hour to get everything out of the car. Now I have to wait for the new core to arrive....

While the heater was out I was able to see the VIN stamped in the firewall which was a reassuring thing. I then wiped the giant black seam sealer waterfall away from the area and was able to do a pencil tracing of it. Remember it is upside down and backwards since it was stamped from the engine side - so don't have a heart attack if you try this on your car and it at first doesn't match. Take your tracing and hold it up to mirror and it will magically transpose. Or you can always just flip the photo in your photo editing program.
[img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/scholar.gif[/img]

[njsteve]

After the heater core removal was accomplished I crawled back under the car and started scrubbing some more with the diesel fuel and a rag. That took the rest of the day.

Here's a shot of one of the sway bar mounting brackets. Looks like a junior high school shop project on &quot;Learn How To Weld Day.&quot; They acually tried so many times that they burned through the rail under the bracket.

[njsteve]

And here is the final result. After these photos were taken I snaked the old exhaust back over the axles and reattached it so at least I can drive the thing again. I will probably be getting the Gardner Exhaust for this car like I did with the 72 T/A. I'll have to wait til after the frame repairs get done, though. Though they go together very easily, that is one system that you want to install once and not take apart again. (looks too pretty to risk scratching it up).

You can see the original black overspray nicely, in these shots...and the spots I missed under the fuel/brake lines. I'll wait til its time for the frame repairs to remove those lines and clean underneath.

[SS427]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: njsteve</div><div class="ubbcode-body">........Gardner Exhaust for this car like I did with the 72 T/A. I'll have to wait til after the frame repairs get done, though. </div></div>

Might want to order it now as the last few times I have ordered a system they are about 6-8 weeks out. Not an issue with me as I have the time to wait but you might not.

[njsteve]

And the final item of the day was adjusting the clutch, which was grabbing way too high. On a hunch, I pulled the actuating rod and noticed the same wear that was on my other car. This groove was cut halfway through, eventually it would have snapped off. I will be replacing both rods: the bellcrank to fork rod, as well as the pedal to bellcrank rod as they both tend to exhibit the same wear patterns.

[njsteve]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: SS427</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: njsteve</div><div class="ubbcode-body">........Gardner Exhaust for this car like I did with the 72 T/A. I'll have to wait til after the frame repairs get done, though. </div></div>

Might want to order it now as the last few times I have ordered a system they are about 6-8 weeks out. Not an issue with me as I have the time to wait but you might not. </div></div>

Good point. Makes for a great Father's Day gift. I will start dropping hints now. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/grin.gif[/img]

[old5.0]

I wonder if this one'll get to a million views? [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/naughty.gif[/img]

[njsteve]

I got the new heater core installed and the box is back in the dash again. I can never understand how something can drop out so easily but take so much finagling and manhandling to get the darn thing back into the car. It took over an hour to figure out the exact angle and turns to get the heater box back under the dashboard. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/no.gif[/img]