Bringing a '74 back up to her intended glory.

Bmachine

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It seems that, after all the big stuff is done, the momentum to update this build thread slows down dramatically. Over the last 8 to 9 months I have done many smaller things which I need to update. Here are some of them, albeit woefully out of chronologically order.

I posted separate threads on some of them such as installing all new weatherstripping around the door:

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Then I build a wireless iPhone holder/charger that is both rock steady yet can easily be removed. This is mainly used for gps maps.

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Bmachine

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I also built a proper center armrest. I had adapted an e23 center console a long time ago which worked great. But I often wished it had a way to hold a coffee cup or a water bottle. I wanted it to be discreet, meaning that it could disappear easily and yet still be available but out of the way when driving and shifting gears. After doing a lot of research, I found a Volvo cassette that solved my dilemma: it offered 2 retractable cupholders: one sliding forward and the other sliding backwards. This allows you to use the forward one when you are stopped and the rear one when you are driving.

I used a later 5 series armrest top and combined the two into a solid unit using expandable foam. Then I figured out a way to secure that to the e23 console.

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Bmachine

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Another seemingly small item to make the driving experience more enjoyable. On the 74, the seatbelt system has the inertia reel being bolted to the outside of the rear seats. Unfortunately its path through the rear seat armrest has been designed to fit the triangle buckle on the B pillar. This is very low and makes the belt pinch your shoulder on long drives, especially for taller drivers. But I f you don't use that buckle, the seatbelt tends to get caught between the plastic opening in the armrest and the door card. When you do a lot of driving, this starts to get really annoying, but fortunately, the fix is really quite simple.

I took the little plastic opening guide out , peeled off the leather and moved the opening in the wood frame up a bit. I then took a piece of hard black plastic and epoxied it onto the outer top side of the plastic channel guide to keep the belt where it is supposed to be.

This makes for a much more comfortable position on the shoulder and the seatbelt never gets pinched against the door card anymore.

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Bmachine

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I’ve been stuck on the sidelines for six weeks now due to a bit of knee surgery. But not being able to seemingly accomplish anything each day was driving me nuts. So today I took care of one of those items that never rises very high on the priority list but that also bothers you every time you see it. And that is trimming the front strut bolts that protrude into the engine bay. Mine were way too long and I had only hastily cut the highest one which was rubbing against the hood a long time ago. I also took advantage of this to install the Walloth Nesch front sway bar after I painted the outer rings in body color.

I wanted to use @bavbob ‘s trick of screwing in an M8 die on each bolt before trimming them so the die could clean up the threads when you unscrew it. Unfortunately my die set is a cheap Chinese one and after trying on a few I got nervous that it was actually causing damage to the threads. So instead, I screwed 2 nuts and cut the stud right above that. (This, by the way, ended up being the perfect height when you use a swaybar and the acorn nuts on top of that with a thin washer.) You then slowly unscrew the top nut and force it to clean the threads as it comes off. Then you do a lot of filing to clean the top of the stud and you use the second nut to clean the filing. You never remove the second nut until you can screw the top one back on with ease.

After doing some research on these front sway bars, I’m not convinced that it’s going to make much difference in the handling. But I had gotten it during one of their sales so I figured that at least it will not hurt and it’s easy to take off if it really does not make any difference.

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The only issue with the WN swaybar is that, on the driver side, the innermost hole (left on the picture) is very close to the tab and therefore the acorn nut is difficult to tighten

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deQuincey

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I’ve been stuck on the sidelines for six weeks now due to a bit of knee surgery. But not being able to seemingly accomplish anything each day was driving me nuts. So today I took care of one of those items that never rises very high on the priority list but that also bothers you every time you see it. And that is trimming the front strut bolts that protrude into the engine bay. Mine were way too long and I had only hastily cut the highest one which was rubbing against the hood a long time ago. I also took advantage of this to install the Walloth Nesch front sway bar after I painted the outer rings in body color.

I wanted to use @bavbob ‘s trick of screwing in an M8 die on each bolt before trimming them so the die could clean up the threads when you unscrew it. Unfortunately my die set is a cheap Chinese one and after trying on a few I got nervous that it was actually causing damage to the threads. So instead, I screwed 2 nuts and cut the stud right above that. (This, by the way, ended up being the perfect height when you use a swaybar and the acorn nuts on top of that with a thin washer.) You then slowly unscrew the top nut and force it to clean the threads as it comes off. Then you do a lot of filing to clean the top of the stud and you use the second nut to clean the filing. You never remove the second nut until you can screw the top one back on with ease.

After doing some research on these front sway bars, I’m not convinced that it’s going to make much difference in the handling. But I had gotten it during one of their sales so I figured that at least it will not hurt and it’s easy to take off if it really does not make any difference.

View attachment 167703 View attachment 167704

The only issue with the WN swaybar is that, on the driver side, the innermost hole (left on the picture) is very close to the tab and therefore the acorn nut is difficult to tighten

View attachment 167706

there are thin wall hexagonal vases that will do the trick
 
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