My 1971 Road runner

[71Beeper]

Do you mean this one?

 

[T2R9]

Yes. The slot in the plastic bushing needs to align with holes that it snaps into.

 

[71Beeper]

Hmmm, I thought that the outer edge of the bushing contacts the spring clip when installing.
I will double check that.

If it does need to align with the slot in the bushing then wouldn't it move the z-bar even closer to the engine?

 

[T2R9]

I have always lined it up with the groove to "lock" it in position. The service manual does not specify. Outside meaning the to the left of the bushing? Are you able to slide it left any now? Wish I had a small block here to compare to.

 

[71Beeper]

I will do some investigating this weekend.

 

[71Beeper]

I'm happy to report that T2R9 was correct about the Z-bar.
I pulled the clip off and pushed the Z-bar over and put the clip back in and now its locked in place.
It's all good.
Kudo's to T2R9.....

 

[71Beeper]

Today I wanted to get the shifter boot mounted.
Since I have a pistol grip handle that is designed to go into the bayonet style shifter box I have to mount the handle in the boot, then push the handle into the box.
But there was some difficulty in that, so I pulled out the isolator to see if all the bits were there.
Well, whoever had this shifter box before made a mess of trying to shove the handle in.

The piece on the left is supposed to look like the one beside it.
That was in the bottom of where the handle gets mounted.

Whoever must have forced the handle so much that the plate got mangled and shoved to the bottom.
Anyway - got a new kit on order from Brewers.
Moving on to my Weld rims - the backside of them looked terrible.

Well, a little bit of spit and polish using this stuff.

Cleaned them right up.

But not quite as nice as the fronts, but that's okay.

Next I bought these to put into the unused lugnut holes.

Here they are installed.

Finally, I put some temporary front tires on the car as it will be coming off the stands right after the steering column goes in.

They are some old Uniroyal Tiger Paws 225-70-15's on a 15x6.5 Rallye rims.
I had those tire on the back of my 1976 Volare Road Runner back in the day.
I do have Welds for the front - they are the narrow front runners.
I want to polish them up before they go on the car.

 

[71Beeper]

So, my shifter inserts finally arrived from Brewers.
I installed them along with the shifter.

Then I figured I'd glue the bottom steel ring to the boot for ease of install.

So while that was drying, I figure I take a crack at cleaning up my front runner Weld's
I bought this after watching a video online about it cleaning up brake dust and other crap off the rim.

Took the rim outside to do it say the directions say to rinse with water.
Here's the rim before spraying.

Next step - spray the stuff on.

I did a quick wipe with a shop rag and then rinsed with 2 bottles of water.

Took it back into the shop and put some polish on it.
Here it is polished (on the left) vs the one on the right that isn't

And here they are both cleaned up and polished.
I'm happy with the turnout.

 

[71Beeper]

So I've come to the conclusion that i have the wrong shifter for my setup...
The pistol grip shifter I have is for the bucket seat set-up for B & E body's.
The floor hump in the car is for a bench seat set-up. That puts the shifter too close to the dash.
I tried rowing thru the gears when I installed the shifter and wondered why 3rd gear was literally touching the dash.

Looks like I need this shifter.

It's the Hurst 7754 shifter.
It's used for the 1971 bench seat set-up.

That means I will be putting my current shifter up for sale.

 

[71Beeper]

Well, Christmas came early for me.....
I went over to my US mailbox to retrieve the bench seat style shifter as shown above - I got it from E-Bay.

The E-Bay name is the shifter doctor - I think he deals directly with Hurst as my invoice came from Hurst Shifters LLC.
I got it home and unwrapped it and wow!

Good thing the new pistol grip handle and bezel and bottom piece came in from National Moparts the day before.
I put them on the stick.

Here's a comparison of the shorter one and longer one.

I went to the garage and installed it in the shifter box - I still have to screw down the shifter boot.

No more third gear shifts into the dash...

 

[whayden2003]

Now that’s a damn shifter there.

 

[71Beeper]

Thanks whayden - I also got the trim ring installed.

The next item on the agenda is to install the steering column.
I stab it in the car and have this on the other end.

I think to myself easy peezy just have to push the coupler on to the steering box right??? WRONG
It wouldn't go on at all.
So upon further investigation it turns out the new coupler I bought is for a power steering box which has smaller splines.
No wonder it would not go on this steering box.
Luckily for me I have the coupler adaptor that goes from a power steering shaft to a manual box.
Put it on this coupler and try it again.
The result.....success!

Now, I have a tech tip.
Instead of using the roll pin to secure the adaptor to the steering box I used a 5/16 UNC stainless set screw.

I ran a tap down the opening and applied some blue Loctite on the set screw.

In future if I ever have to take it apart, it will be alot easier unscrewing that set screw than trying to knock out a seized roll pin....
Done deal.
I plugged in the 2 wiring harness' from the column to the main wiring harness and finally put the ignition key into the cylinder.

I'm happy this hurdle was cleared.
On to other stuff, like installing the line-loc button.

Next step will be to hook-up the ground wire for the battery and put some power to this car before putting the steering wheel on.

 

[ct71rr]

Very, very nice!! That shifter is awesome!

 

[whayden2003]

Thanks whayden - I also got the trim ring installed.
View attachment 1586738
The next item on the agenda is to install the steering column.
I stab it in the car and have this on the other end.
View attachment 1586746View attachment 1586747
I think to myself easy peezy just have to push the coupler on to the steering box right??? WRONG
It wouldn't go on at all.
So upon further investigation it turns out the new coupler I bought is for a power steering box which has smaller splines.
No wonder it would not go on this steering box.
Luckily for me I have the coupler adaptor that goes from a power steering shaft to a manual box.
Put it on this coupler and try it again.
The result.....success!
View attachment 1586751View attachment 1586752
Now, I have a tech tip.
Instead of using the roll pin to secure the adaptor to the steering box I used a 5/16 UNC stainless set screw.
View attachment 1586753
I ran a tap down the opening and applied some blue Loctite on the set screw.
View attachment 1586754
In future if I ever have to take it apart, it will be alot easier unscrewing that set screw than trying to knock out a seized roll pin....
Done deal.
I plugged in the 2 wiring harness' from the column to the main wiring harness and finally put the ignition key into the cylinder.
View attachment 1586756

I'm happy this hurdle was cleared.
On to other stuff, like installing the line-loc button.
View attachment 1586757View attachment 1586758
Next step will be to hook-up the ground wire for the battery and put some power to this car before putting the steering wheel on.

I spy something I know I’m missing off my car. That white busing dealy. Is that a bushing for the inner steering shaft? How the heck would that not be there? Broke off?

 

[71Beeper]

Yes, the white bushing is suppose to be there (or so I was told).
Above the white bushing is the rubber seal to keep water out of the inner tube.
One thing I did remove from this assembly was the inner tube for the column shifter.
Above the rubber seal inside the tube I actually installed a bearing I bought from Amazon because the factory never put one there & there is no support for the inner shaft in that area.

A member here (I don't remember who) posted the bearing on his thread - I think it's a universal design that fit nice and snug into the tube.

 

[71Beeper]

Here's the bearing I installed.

Just discard the outer snap ring and the 2 set screws and shove it up into the tube far enough to put the rubber seal and white bushing on.

 

[71Beeper]

A big day for me and the car today.
I finally got the ground cable hooked up for the battery.

And tried a few circuits - first, the low beams.

So far so good - next are the side markers.

Okay, no issues there.
Next, the high beams.

The headlight relay kit works like it should.
Here's the dash lights.

Parking brake light works.

As does the reverse indicator.

The turn signals and 4 ways work as does the heater motor and wipers (all three speeds).
The only issue was the dome light - but that turned out to be a burned out 1004 light bulb.
And the BONUS......no smoke coming from any of the wires...

 

[71Beeper]

So the next step is to fit the tuff wheel canister.

And finally after all these years.....the tuff wheel.

Here' a final pic with the dash lights on.

And again in the dark....

I turned the steering both ways lock to lock with no issues.
Now I'll be able to put her on the ground and move her to her side of the shop to make room for my Dart to go in there for the winter.

 

[T2R9]

Good stuff!

 

[71dodgechargerrt]

More progress, looking good.