shifter detailed, and complete. i went with aftermaket pistol grips, they are more of a 'burl' wood look. they are smooth as well. i can always go 'factory' if need be, as everything else is, but this is just something i preferred......

cluster is back, didn't re-screen the faces, just had modern guts put into the tach, clock, and had the speedo gone through...
a little steering wheel detailing, (not very fond of this one, would love a rimblow, but then again, not very easy to find, or very affordable at this point.)
we went with chrome surrounds on the pedals as well, they were not on the car when i got them.....

interior FIN! now, time to start detailing the engine compartment, sorting out the conversion to manual brakes, and ordering up a new engine wiring harness........ stay tuned!

None of the pics loaded btw...

-Daty

all the pics look great to me !!! Nice work....

Nice work!

Good luck with the rest of the project.

Mike.

Very cool car and nice job on it, hope I can see it in person sometime!

Looks really good. Your are doing a great job!

thanks for the nice words folks! one last pic of interior re-do, me, in the middle of "seat cleaning" mode. a few beers, and a few hours of fumes, well, this was a pretty fitting picture at the time.

so, while the interior is done, and still waiting on the motor, i thought we should look at the rear end. sure grip acted a little funny, and was leaking at one end. so, we took it all apart. no chunks in the housing, that's a good first step!

this was the fluid that came out? confused me, looked like atf with some additive in it. i am not familiar with this at all....

the car had the 741 center section with 3.91's. not really what i wanted behind a four speed hemi. my rear end guy had a brand new set of chrysler 3.23's for a 489 center, so i found one on ebay for $75, and i bought it. he built it up and that is what resides in the car now. oh, it has the cone style sure grip as well. the diff works great, running regular gear oil my guy suggested back there now, not the pink mystery fluid.

someone had really done a number on this thing. first the weird fluid that the diff didn't like, (chatter, slipping) the side to side lash was set completely wrong, they bent the axle bearing retainer plates, one lip seal was in backwards, a total mess. i am glad we took it apart. here, looks like someone used a dang wood chisel to get the lip seal out. i think that and the backward lip seal explained the leak.

the brakes were a little bit of a mess, broken springs, missing bits, so new spring kits went in, everything adjusted properly, back in business.........

retainer plates flattened, new bearings, and new wheel studs! (i will have to admit, being mostly a gm guy, i busted a stud off going the wrong direction! the front spindles had been replaced, both with right hand threads, so three wheels into it, they were all coming off fine. then, "hey, this one is stuck!" not so much. it took me a few to realize what was going on, only one wheel had lefty's! so, all new right handers now.)

rear end complete and ready for detailing! the driveshaft looked pretty decent, no vibrating, so new spicer solid 2 5/8" u-joints finished the job off.......

the ol' 833 looked good inside, so, a cleaning out of the case, new seals and gaskets, and back together she went. oh, new mount, and reverse switch, it was leaking like a stuck pig. i found out this, like the rear end, was NOT from an AAR like i was told. (imagine that! well, now it matches the non TA block. turns out, the only AAR running gear parts are the top end of the motor......) this tranny appears to be a 1970 vintage, with a 2.66 first, according to my homework from the brewer's website........

stay tuned for the next round, engine compartment detailing, getting ready for it's new tenant, the angry elephant!

very nice photos and write up! good luck with all!

well here we go on the engine compartment. before anything got 're-finished', i spent a lot of time fitting all the new components. radiator, my old shroud didn't fit, so i had to mod that, and we converted from power brakes to manual, so new lines had to be made, etc. those were the two big items. here, is the new heavy duty four core 22" radiator we had made. the tanks don't look as 'oem' as oem ones, but, it serves it's purpose well, keeping a hemi cool. i also noticed, on real big blocks, and a 26" core, the top inlet is on the right side of the car. they kept this one on the left, along with the lower outlet. i thought that was interesting, and was not sure why they did it that way. it was specified as a 'hemi' radiator as well. i got to use the small block upper radiator hose, with some trimming. a new lower was purchased as well.......

here is a mockup of the now manual brake setup. it was a drum car, so the whole car was plumbed that way. i did not want to replace the whole front brake line setup with 'proper' lines/distribution block/proportioning valve, so i used what we had. the car at some point had an older SSBC power front disc setup put on it. it didn't work for doo doo with the big cammed small block.....

they kept the stock lines, but installed a adjustable proportioning valve inline to the rears, the fronts two separate lines. so, i kept it that way. one inch manual master, fronts sump to the distribution block, then to the fronts, the rears sump to the p-valve hidden under the master, then to the distribution block and on to the rears. i kept the ssbc disc calipers, as they looked brand new, alomg with the rotors, you can still see cross hatch marks. this car did not get driven much. show car kinda thing, which is NOT my thing, i drive the snot out of my cars, and this one will be no different.......

the brakes worked, but not NEARLY as they should. with ever thankful help from dr. diff, he recommended a smaller bore master from a later plymouth with power brakes, it came in at 15/16"s bore, but had the deep indent for a manual rod in back. perfect. the ssbc calipers were fun to sort out for pads. they were modeled after an older kelsey hayes style, used on '65 to '67 mustangs, and some mid 70's plymouths. i ended up going with some red ebc pads as well. now, the car actually stops.