the duster

[dusterbd13]

i introduced myself and my car in the new members forum, but i figured now that its mostly done and on the road, id start a project journal for it. figured id start from the biginning of my involvement with the car, so if y'all get sick of it, let me know.

my father got it for my from a guy in south carolina when i was 14. the dealership sticker on the taillight panel was stamford conneticut. when purchased, it was a 318, 3 on the floor, 3.23 sure grip car. deluxe interior, deluxe wheel covers, numbers matching, somewhat origonal. also not a straight panel, good interior piece, or not worn out part on it. we paid 600 for it, and that was 1996. my father started to tech me how to work on cars on this vehicle, as well as taught me how to drive in it.






these pictures show the car after the first 600 paint and body job. all bondo, man. but i was in highshcool, and thats what i could afford. looked great with good wax and armorall. we also "restord" the interior so it would be nice to drive. there are also picture of my first engine swap at the age of 16. after driving the car for a few months, i managed to kill the 318. dad picked up a 360 out of a PA cop car from a friend of his in Kane, PA. i actually got to play hookie from school to drive to PA to pick up my engine. ran pretty good, until i killed it.




in 2000, i was being a moron, running hard with a buddy of mine hight behind me. a person pulled ou in front, i slammed on my brakes, he didnt. pushed the back end in 18 inches. trashed everything from the doors back. at that point, i almost left the car for dead.

[dusterbd13]

in 2003, i decided to bring the car back. i swapped on some discs off of a 73 duster, big bolt back axles, and 15 inch wheels and tires. then i started the body work. i did my best for a year or so, welding in th subframe connectors, new floor pans, trunk pan, taillight panel, quarters, and starting the mudwork on the front fenders and doors. that was before i learned that i could do metalwork, but havent the patience or feel for mud and paint. so i blew it completely apart so a friend of mine could do a paintjob and finish the bodywork for me in 04.












a year and a half later, the car was in worse shape than i dropped it off in. he had gotten married, took a promotion, moved, and had a kid. the car sat. so my dad and i got it back, and took it to roger hatly, a guy in my church that does bodywork. he finished the body, and took it to micky culp to do the final blocking and painting. in march of 06, it was returned. took 4 trips to get all the parts back to the shop.

[dusterbd13]

i rebuilt it slowly. did dynamat and my wife added foil backed jute to the entire interior. we reused the carpet from when i drove it in high school, and had medlin's upholstery put in the headliner. the dash grew up from the red painted stocker (what was i thinking) to a 69 cuda bezel loaded with autometer gauges. i used a dash cap on the pad due to financial constraints. after the dashwas wired and installed, as well as most of the firewall components hung, north state auto glass put in the front and back glass for me. after that, i wired up the whole back of the car with an EZ wiring kit i picked up at the swap meet. stopped at the firewall bulkhead. then i slid under the car for a while. refinished the gas tank, refinished all the rear suspension components that i had done poorly before the paint and body. i reused the 3.91 sure grip. put new bearings on the moser axles, and swapped on 11X3 finned drums from a cop car. hung an addco 7/8 rear bar. 6 leaf 340 springs, and KYB shocks on it. used stainless hard and flex lines throughout. hung the back bumper and taillights that came with my rear clip after making them look as good as possible, and wired up the trunk mounted battery and external kill switch.




we then moved into the interior, finishing that by putting in the seats, door glass and regulators, weatherstripping, stereo, heater, etc. most of the parts are either cleaned up and recycled from the origonal interior, or gotten for cheap off something else. the door panels are actually 72 pieces that were blue, and re-dyed. kick panels are cut for blaupunkt component speakers, front bech was covered in JC whitney upholstery in high school, and a grant steering wheel that i liked on the shelf at autozone. the interior was intentionally left to look mostly stock. thats why the shift light mechanism is hid in the glove compartment, etc. didint want to deviate much on how it looked as my first car.


as all this was going on, we decided to "freshen" the motor. my dad and i tore it down. knew we were in trouble when we found large pieces of ring and piston in the oil pan. wound up with 3 flat lobed, 1 cracked piston, 6 broken rings, and two sucked valves. i beat that motor to death. the only salvageble things in it were the block, crank, and timing chain cover. even the distributor was worn. so we dropped it off at the machine shop and ordered eagle i beam rods, forged probe pistons, a comp solid roller, edelbrock victor jr, and a set of indy modified edelbrock heads. i had Kevco make me an oil pan with a crank scraper, windage tray, and all sorts of trap doors and bafffles. spent a while cleaning up casting flash and modifying a set of stock valve covers to clear the vlavetrain.

[dusterbd13]

i rebuilt the front suspension again, this time using 11.75 rotors from a cordoba, 76 duster calipers, 73 duister spindles and steering linkage, boxed lower control arms, american muscle adjustable strut rods, poly bushings, KYB shocks, braided stainless lines, big block torsion bars, addco 1 1/8 sway bar, and a diplomat power steering setup.



my dad and i dropped in the motor with through bolted mounts and stock brackets after it was painted. we used a spec stage 2+ clutch, stock flywheel, and lakewood bellhousing. backed it up with the 4 speed from high school, stirred by a swap meet hurst shifter. used an internally regulated 105 amp GM alternator, summit fuel pump, high flow water pump, and aluminum radiator. wound up with cooling fans from an 80's new yorker. we also used TTI ceramic coated headers and a 3 inch TTI x-pipe exhause with dynomax mufflers. the first carb was a 600 edelbrock, but we couldnt get it to idle with the cam, and now its a 750 holly double pumper with a one inch four hole spacer. all this is under a 17 340 air cleaner.

[dusterbd13]

we bolted the front sheetmetal on, using a flat bolt on fiberglass hood, 73 duster fenders, and the best grille we could find.
we are now in the shakedown/cleanup/make it work better stage. it doesnt handle like i want it to, the interior needs some more attention, bumpers need rechromed, and it needs tuned in. other details need to be adressed too. hope y'all like it.








Michael

[Smock67]

That is sweet and a nostalgic look too. So from your plans looks like
re chrome bumpers
freshen the interior
get it too handle

Sounds good man.

[dusterbd13]

yeah. probably going with a FFI stage 3 box, tubular UCA's, and stiffer springs front and rear. may also look into 17 inch steelies to keep the vibe, but dont know how they'd look.
get the seats redone and replace the carpet
straighten chrome the bimpers.
see if i can get it into the low 12's, still handling great and driving anywhere.
Michael

[Rantheman]

nice I like dusters I had a 1970 twister with a v8 swaped in it. it was orange with black strips

[Tony_SS]

I'm not a Mopar guy, but I really like the build. Nicely done and it does keep the original feel for the car.

[Young Gun]

looks cool...fun project!

[dropit69]

Man thats Sweet !! love the Dusters great job !!

[Chevrolaine]

Great job! Way to keep at it.
Guess we all know who your first love was.

[dusterbd13]

so the FFI stage 3 box shipped today, and ive gotten the carb rebuilt. still need to fine tune it, as its running a little lean and has some hesitation.
also, ive gotten the clutch linkage debugged, turns out that i missed a return spring when i put it together.
once i get the box in, i'll get it re-aligned with some more posttive caster and negative camber and see if i can get it where i want it.

im also looking at new wheels due to the photoshop experts here, primarily these two if i can find them:




im also looking into 1 inch t-bars and new rear leaves from firmfeel while im at it.

dunno. just thought i should update someone on my project.

Michael

[Z06killinSBF]

PS looks great. Nice and low.

[LMDGUY]

the over size steel wheels look kinda cool.. kinda sleeper looking

[Krazed]

If you're looking for Handling and steering stability, might I suggest something?

Tubular Upper control arms. The new ones have far better adjustability, including built in positive caster to help strait line stability.

I put these on my 68 Barracuda, and they fit perfect, and look great, and work wonderfully.

http://www.capautoproducts.com/Control_Arms.html

Other then that, I like the Duster so far! Just beware, don't go too low with those TTI's, I have maybe 4" ground clearance with my 3" TTI Headers + exhaust.

[dusterbd13]

yeag, the photoshops are actually way too low. at that ride height, id have to build a new exhaust, or my current one would be flat.

i agree with the tubular uppers being the way to go, but out of a sense of masochism or something, im trying to see how far i can go with factory style stuff first. only change so far is adjustable strut rods, but only cause mine were seriously bent.

im still trying to find someone to make 17 inch steelies. stockton makes 16....

Michael

[High Plains Mopars]

im still trying to find someone to make 17 inch steelies. stockton makes 16....

I'd actually try to avoid that if possible, the additional weight of a 17" steel wheel will be large enough to have a pronounced feel on acceleration, braking, and handling. They weigh a freakin ton.

[Young Gun]

theres gotta be some company out there that makes some lightweight wheel that looks like those...

[ill steez]

on that car, i really like the look of the big steel wheels... i'm sure someone makes an aluminum wheel like thatm that you could just paint or powdercoat to match.