Still catching the blog up to the actual time of where I'm at with the '72. As I type this post, I am almost ready to begin the resto-mod. I initially thought I would drive and enjoy the car for a few years first, but I've become increasingly concerned with its safety for the following reasons.
- The seat belts were frozen/rusted and unworkable. I replaced these right away with after market belts, but started to make me worry about other issues that may be hiddened.
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| Oct 2013 |
- The steering was pretty loose. I eventually narrowed this down to a bad steering flexible coupling joint ("rag joint"). I've since replaced this, and the steering is a bit better but still does not have the tight feel that I want. This could mean the steering box needs rebuilding.
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| old rag joint in car |
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| Nov 2013 |
- I watched an episode of "Fast N' Loud" on the Discovery Channel that featured a car with brake line issues. The show is about a hot rod shop that flips cars for profit, and this particular episode showed a car with rusty brake lines that gave way during their work only hours after the car was being driven into the shop. My '72's brake lines (and fuel lines for that matter) are original to the car and wouldn't want them to cut loose while driving down the road!
So the resto-mod is due to begin soon. It will give me peace of mind with respect to driving safety, not to mention that I'm eager to get started anyway. I acquired a large compressor to run a sandblaster and air tools, and built a workbench for the garage. Just the other day, I got some wood to build the dolly that the body will sit on once it is separated from the chassis. I also need to build a body lifting rack. Next post will include pics of these two items... after that, let the resto-mod begin!
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