Let the fun and games begin! (1974 garage find)

[Bob]

Very impressive. Keep us posted of your progress.

[Nacho-RT74]

OUCH, dunno what to think about LOL

just in case you care and wish to restore the old stock cluster, I have a NOS 74 standard cluster bezel around LOL ( yes, 74... is slightly diff from 71/73 )

[Vegas_Nick]

Today I think I went to a whole new level. I was trying to pull the dashpad. Well that lead to pulling the dash. That lead to untaping about 90% of the cabin wore harness to gut out useless crap. Now I have to dynamat the firewall.. and who know's what will happen next!

[Dino]

Yeah that's how it usually goes. I once had a 79 Blazer that needed a new front fender and a patch in the cabin. It turned into a 5 month full resto. There's a reason why I like to keep my projects small, and once again with the Charger it got out of hand.   

[Vegas_Nick]

Tonight I finished un-taping all of the harnesses inside and removed the fuse block. I also pulled the bulkhead connector and have pulled every wire that is not needed and ones that will be replaced such as the start/ign wires. Today I ordered a new Bussman fuse block that has a split bus so I can have BATT and ACC feed. It looks like this:


I'm waiting on the fuse block, a Jegs switch panel and about 600 ft of colored hook up wire!

Now I'm kicked back and actually hand drawing the new wiring schematics.

[Bob]

Very nice Nick.

[Vegas_Nick]

The results of my cleanup:



I finished testing all the tail light and turn signal wiring tonight. Also was able to do away with the headlight switch, so I'll be adding that to the toggle switches. I'm pretty excited. No we're headed off for a weekend in the desert so It will be a week before I can get back to it.

[Vegas_Nick]

Not much done this week but buying parts and waiting. Took the weekend off to go play in the desert. So tonight with the few parts that have arrived I started doing a basic mockup of the power panel that will be under the hood.



The 100A CB is for the alternator feed. The small 80A relay is for accessory power control.


I'll also have a separate fuse block in the center console.

[Vegas_Nick]

I started making my wire list this week and wiring the fuse block. Old avionics habits die hard.





Still waiting on terminals for the bulkhead connector and brackets for the fuse block.


In the meantime, I looked at the gauges one too many times and decided to rework what I started. We're off to buy the supplies to get this stated today:

[Vegas_Nick]

Happy Sunday!

I worked the instrument cluster most of the day.

Fleece and glue.. well the first try ended up being a balled up wad of pissed off on the floor.  Next try went much better. Hey, this was my first time at this:

Just test fitting it loosely


Spray adhesive hell...


Now the fun begins:


Had to clamp a few places to assure the corners stayed put:


First Sanding and some test fitting:


And then the "rondo" application. It's a mix of Resin and Bondo that makes a self leveling filler:


And tomorrow we sand and then sand some more!

[Vegas_Nick]

In between sanding and filling today I started laying out the electrical panel. I am still waiting on the mount bracket for the fuse block to get this drilled up and then it all comes apart for paint.

[Vegas_Nick]

A little more progress this weekend:

I started laying the wires in the car finally. Yeah, I know it's nasty under the hood. I'm going to gut it out and handle all under the hood when the 318 finally dies.



The dash is coming along as well:




I am still struggling with how to make the AC controls look better. I am thinking about getting a bezel 3D printed or an billet one to match the switch panel. And yeah, I am keeping the factory wiper switch on that panel. I may try to do something better with the lock nut and the knob.

[Bob]

Very nice

Bob

[Vegas_Nick]

Well first off, my weekend was somewhat darkened by finding how bad the roof line on this thing was rusted and hidden under the bondo.




But... I just tossed that aside and test fit the new dash so I could work on some wiring for now:

[Vegas_Nick]

Finally found my dream exhaust! So happy to see they still make Boom Tubes!

[Vegas_Nick]

After a full 7 days of the flu I was able to get out and get this thing started! Ran into one issue with junk ECU's from Oreilly. Solved that by building a new harness for a GM Ignition control Module. RUNS again! The goal really has been just to get it running and driveable with the original 318 2BBL and get it to the welding shop. We have to replace 1/4 of the roof it looks like and want to get the roll cage started. After that, I'll just enjoy it while we work the 360 stroker build. When I do the engine swap, I am going to to the K member replacement and paint the engine bay.

Here's the GM ECU I put in:

[Vegas_Nick]

Started cutting away bondo and bad metal today. I'm not going to lie. This is making me question if I should have started this at all. I am not a metal guy by any means so this is going to be learn as I go project. So I have at least bought a new welder, and now buying a shrinker/stretcher from Eastwood so I can make the window frame. Tis is intimidating as hell but since it's not going to be a show quality restoration, I'll keep trying and see how she looks!

[RCCDrew]

It's only metal. You'll get it!

[Vegas_Nick]

It's only metal. You'll get it!

I hope so!

[Vegas_Nick]

While I am waiting on things like the metal stretcher and shrinker set, and all new brake system parts to show up, I decided to tackle the pinion bearing seal change and the rearend oil. It looked like mud coming out! I am sure it will have to get a full rebuild at some point but for new, fresh Lucas oil, a new seal, and a new cover and she'll be good as almost new.

[Vegas_Nick]

The rear end is back together. I guess it should be a hint to the fun awaiting me when I found spider nests in the brakes!


Rear wheel cylinders were completely frozen up. No fluid to the rear brakes so I'll have to figure this out.

[Vegas_Nick]

The trans pan gasket was leaking like crazy. This is how the filter looked on a 100K + miles. The thing shifts fine and drove fine for the few miles that I have driven the thing.

[Vegas_Nick]

And last for the weekend. I finally started working on forming the new front window/roof line. Shrink, stretch, dolly and hammer. fit, test, repeat. Slowly but surely I will get this puzzle done.

[Vegas_Nick]

Manged to get some metal welded down and started working on a new rear floor pan.

[Vegas_Nick]

So this week I started getting some of the "rubber"....


And I drove to Havasu to pick up the 360 from Dave's Mopars. Great guy! 1986 truck motor.


I had to do at least something before I quit for the night