Lookie what $5000 buys you....

[fesser]

Going to color sand the black off?

 

[Cheapsunglasses]

Great work kd!

I like the way it looks, has a menacing back alley bully kinda look

 

[Kern Dog]

Going to color sand the black off?

I might. I have some 800, 1200 and 1500 grit pads for color sanding. I can wet sand the ugly black primer and maybe get down to the green paint underneath.

 

[Kern Dog]

Great work kd!

I like the way it looks, has a menacing back alley bully kinda look

Thanks...It does look like something that someone abandoned in an alley.

 

[Richard Cranium]

This shows my dedication to the hobby. View attachment 1401139

Does this make my dedication greater?

 

[Cheapsunglasses]

If you haven’t lost a nail or blood working on your car, do you even work on your car?

 

[hanks73340]

Those gaps look great! Harbor Freight may be cheap but many tools were bought there, to get me through my 7 years of swearing and missing chunks of meat.

 

[HawkRod]

Those gaps look great! Harbor Freight may be cheap but many tools were bought there, to get me through my 7 years of swearing and missing chunks of meat.

As much as possible, I like to buy quality, American made tools. But I hear you, there are times I simply can't, or can't justify spending a great deal of money on a tool I will use once or twice.

 

[Kern Dog]

Pebbles is guarding the car for me.

 

[Kern Dog]

Taillights in the 68-70 Chargers are a signature design feature.
As much as I love my ‘70 models, I have to give the ‘68 top billing. I love the twin round taillights.
I fell into both of these ‘70 Chargers though and still love how they look.

Even ratty and neglected, to me they are still beautiful cars.
The plain, unpainted taillight panels of many ‘70 Chargers looked odd to me. My red car came with the aluminum trim panel.

I like how it accentuates the taillights with a big loop, it makes me wonder if it was designed to compliment the full loop front bumper for this year.
Years ago at a swap meet in Sacramento, I bought a trim panel for some cheap price… something like $80. I recently saw one advertised on this site for $600! Holy cow, have they really increased in value that much??

They do fancy up the panel a bit.

It is just resting there… I need the clips to mount it and of course, I’ll need to drill holes.

FBBO member IslandKent told me that many generic clips would work. I bought this panel just to have a spare for Ginger. I didn’t buy it with any inclination that I’d own a second ‘70 car.
I’ll get to this later.
For now, I’m looking to install the heater/defroster unit. FBBO member Derwud made me a deal on a rebuilt box awhile back. I have a new oval seal:

The control panel needs a little cleanup.

No problem….

 

[Richard Cranium]

Looks like the same Harbor Freight POS cabinet that I have. It leaks sand out everywhere.

 

[Kern Dog]

It does with mine too.
There are numerous YouTube videos on how to improve the function of these cabinets. Foot triggers, etc.

 

[Kern Dog]

The seal for the right side fresh air vent slips over the rim of the heater box.

Since this foam seal is different from the flex duct originally used, I’m guessing that the retainer ring and J bolts don’t get used?

I’m going to have to find a way to prop this up while I step around to the engine bay to thread on the retaining nuts. Is there supposed to be a support strap on the front side? This was originally an A/C model and it had one. I can surely make something that will work.

 

[ckessel]

Looks like the same Harbor Freight POS cabinet that I have. It leaks sand out everywhere.

Mine did too. Wonder if it was because I put sealer around many areas and didn't attach a vacuum. Will find out soon. Gotta be better with the suck o lux attached.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Should be a bracket

 

[Kern Dog]

I always use a shop vac when I use the blast cabinet.

 

[ckessel]

I was a ding dong at the time.

 

[Kern Dog]

Installing a unit like this alone really sucks but I am impatient and hard headed.

First off, I answered my own question regarding the foam seal. It appears that once the oval duct retaining collar is removed…

The cowl area is flat. It did have some crud to clean though.

Muscling the heater box into place isn’t that hard IF the holes in the firewall match the studs on the box. These two did…

…. Mainly because the right side of this patched in firewall is from a Non A/C car.
The stud at the far left end….

I thought I had a hole in the firewall for it but I did not. At all. Again, this unit isn’t heavy but it is awkward to try to hold it, prop it up, get out and attach the nuts and tighten them.
I made a support strap from a piece of sheet metal.

The seal fits snug.

There isn’t a whole lot of heater nipple to grab though.

It should be enough…. I hope.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Your nipples are about 1/2" longer than the ones on my heater box... On mine I cut the nipples off the original heater core & used standard plumbing 1/2" solder on pipe couplers.. to add 2.5" of old nipple to the heater core after cutting about 1" off the new core.. The couplers are a perfect fit...

 

[Kern Dog]

A couple of questions since I am not familiar with this….
The control panel has two cables. It looks like they control the air flow between the defroster and floor. There is another door over on the right for the cowl vent. Does that use a separate cable and knob?

I am curious if it is like the left side where a cable and knob are used. If so, it seems strange that it is integrated into the heater unit unless that is to blend in outside air.