73' B3 340 Duster pro touring build

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76orangewagon

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Hello and welcome to my 1973 Duster build, this car left the factory as a 340 auto in cool B3 blue (petty), white stripes and bright blue interior, as you can see it needs a lot of work but for some reason I just couldn't resist the challenge. I brought the car home labor day weekend and really only have weekends to work on it since I work for the U.S. Air Force in Pittsburgh Mon-Fri. My plans are leaning toward the pro-touring theme, a complete rotisserie restoration is currently underway and have already purchased some chassis add-ons like U.S. car tool frame connectors and xv motorsports radiator support, I will be keeping it a small block 340 car(possibly 416 stroker) custom dash (rocky mountain style), 8.75 rear with triangulated 4 link suspension 32" full tubs with 325/50r15 tires....hope you all enjoy the build. more to come shortly.
 

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wow I love pro-touring cars my absolute fav. Plan sounds awesome good luck with the build and keep us updated frequently.
 
well here it after having it sandblasting.... not too many surprises, I already ordered inner fenders, outer rocker panels, trunk pan with extensions from AMD the fit so far has been awesome it case your wondering, Ibought back a full floor pan I included with a prior sale to HemiMark (thanks Mark), also got a used frame rail included with car, the only shock was the front upper control arm area, not to bad of a repair. I upgraded the steel to .090 from the thinner factory stuff so it worked out for piece of mind regarding a weak link.
 

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That is rough. I'm looking forward to seeing the progress.
 
heres the front inner fenders and firewall brackets, I know this looks like a car that most people would pass on but I will have peace of mind knowing that there isnt any corner untouched and no short cuts were taken. really its mostly just panel replacement. although I dont know if I can use the term American Muscle after this is done since all my AMD panels say made in Taiwan !!!!! I looked at some car that cost a lot more and were very solid but you dont see the rust on the inside, yes, they all have some inside, at least in this part of the country. buy the time I am done I will have been inside every frame rail and rocker that hasn't seen the light of day since new and will be able to correct any and all issues as the pics will show as the build continues, Hell this is the fun part right !!!! dont worry my dad thinks Im nuts too... he'd rather spend the big bucks and get one done. but then this would be a short Members Restoration build wouldnt it. enjoy and thanks
 

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wow, keep thie pics comming./.. great job
 
and floor pan.......once I removed the entire old floor pan (lost count on how many spot welds there were) I sand blasted inside the frame rails and coated with Southern Polyurethane's epoxy primer. Ive read great things about there products and dont want to do this twice so I went with the best I didnt mention this before but this isnt a budget build, I am on limited funds but I save on labor I will spend on Quality parts. the only issue I had with the floor pan was the location for the outside seat belt bolt, in the one picture you will notice the new location, which is approx 2.5 inches back from the AMD stamped one. FYI incase you find yourself doing a floor pan replacement.
 

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Wow. Someones not messing around! Looks great so far and I look forward to some more progress
 
You've been holding out. This thread just started today. Good work. Keep us posted.
 
4door68,
not trying to hold out but I started a little over a month ago and wanted to get ahead on some progress before I started posting since I only have weekends to do the work. Winter means progress the nice big pole building that you see becomes a heated storage space for some really nice cars, so grinding and dirty work will come to a much slower pace, I'm just trying to get it solid so I can mount it on the Rotisserie before the snow flies.
 
4door68,
not trying to hold out but I started a little over a month ago and wanted to get ahead on some progress before I started posting since I only have weekends to do the work. Winter means progress the nice big pole building that you see becomes a heated storage space for some really nice cars, so grinding and dirty work will come to a much slower pace, I'm just trying to get it solid so I can mount it on the Rotisserie before the snow flies.

Ross......... Dude, that looks fantastic! keep up the good work! :cheers:
 
on to the bad frame rail....luckily I got a good section from a donor car when I purchased the Duster, still needed some work but the main rail was solid, I added new AMD leaf spring perches (not shown in current pictures) even though I will probally be adding a triangulated 4 link and this area wont be used, I still wanted a original clean factory appearance, there will be more photos later once I get the floor pan and extensions in but for now heres how it currently sits....thanks for all the positive comments
 

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Well this weekend I made 2 steps forward and 1 step back, I patched the bad frame rail sections and added a new AMD rear crossmember, fairly easy but making patch panels eat up alot of time, then I decided that It would be easier to just replace the rear taillight panel instead of patching the couple bad areas, basically around the extensions are mostly rusted away. next weekend I hope to have them in along with the new AMD taillight panel and trunk extensions..wish me luck but for now heres the weekend progress. before installing the trunk floor I blasted the inside of the rear frame rails and epoxy primed them before sealing in up for good.
 

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may i make a suggestion?

since this is a pro-touring build, and sice you can obviosuly weld pretty good, why not stitch weld the whole car?

its already down this far, theres no reason not to. the added benifits in structural rigidity and general solidness would more than make up for the hassle of doing it.

michael
 
Dusterbd13,
I actually am stitch welding where I can get away with it not showing, I want a factory clean look without any noticable repairs but under places that get seam sealed there are pleanty of stitch welds, like I said earlier I have U.S CarTool contoured frame connectors and XV motorsport lower radiator support to add rigidity along with frame reinforcement front and rear to reduce flex. once i get the car on the rotisserie hopefully in a couple weeks I'll have the cool parts installed and pics posted thanks for the advice ..
 
After consulting with several (professional's) and seeing pics on line of cars on rotisseries for floor pan replacement(with minimal bracing) I simply took 4 jack stands under the main suspension support frame areas, got the car perfectly level, took measurements at various locations and installed the "free" door braces included in my recent rotisserie purchase and had at it. nothing too complicated or over engineered, kinda like a K.I.S.S report in the Air Force" Keep It Simple Stupid is the motto I followed here. not being a convertible I wasn't too worried about twisting, flexing or bending ,all measurements were exactly the same after installation.
 
You're really taking the time to do this one up right. Everything is looking great! Subscribed for more pics and updates!
 
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