Turning back the clock

[rmchrgr]

There is a small photo article in this months Hemmings Muscle Machines about Mopar factory race cars, there is a pic of the Duster.

 

[Old Man Mopar]

There is a small photo article in this months Hemmings Muscle Machines about Mopar factory race cars, there is a pic of the Duster.

Got it (subscriber). cool article on much missed NHRA modified production class
.

 

[HemiDenny]

[QUOTE="I know....sick , huh?

Yep, sick as can be Denny....and no know cure I'm affraid. At least you didn't go blind... ;-) LOL

Be well man,
Pat[/QUOTE]

thanks Pat....
BTW, always need good help...can you spare any of your crew?

 

[Old Man Mopar]

More empty still and getting ready for the turnaround.

 

[rmchrgr]

Can't tell if the roll bar is tied to the frame connectors, looks like it isn't? Aren't the side bars supposed to be shoulder height or some such thing or maybe that's a later roll cage development? Must be a P.I.T.A. to get in the car with them like that though. Gotta love 2" round tubing for the frame connectors.

Looks so flimsy with it all open.

 

[HemiDenny]

It was legal for 1975....they were not even allowed to put any bars thru the floor. Butch told me in a two hour coversation Sunday that he was protested (I think he said it was after the Gainsville win) but he showed them that nothing went thru the floor, however the bars did sandwiched the floor pan between plates....all completely legal.

I guess I will learn to duck....Butch said he did not mind the sidebars. He used to rest his elbow on it as he cruised down the 1320.

Amazingly, I have 99% of the sheet metal from a 75 (same year)....fresh SW Duster from Texas , originally sold in California......nice stuff. I dropped the donor front clip off at the dippers for a clean up.

 

[Old Man Mopar]

Can't tell if the roll bar is tied to the frame connectors, looks like it isn't? Aren't the side bars supposed to be shoulder height or some such thing or maybe that's a later roll cage development? Must be a P.I.T.A. to get in the car with them like that though.

This car was built at Ron Butler's and the high side bars were a trademark of theirs during this period.
You can see the high side bars in the attached pic. The cage was not allowed through the floor per NHRA
at the time. In fact, Butch Leal told us the other night that the tech inspectors had to be shown that the
cage was sandwiched to the floor with plates and did not pass through to the chassis members. I know
that sounds counterproductive but they did not want the M/P cars to be Pro-Stockers in disguise.

We actually removed quite a bit of very nice cage to return it to it's original 1975 specification. Lower side
bars. a front halo hoop and a bar across the bottom of the dash all had to be eliminated. The fuel cell
was removed and a new stock gas tank will be installed as well. No battery charging ports or on/off switch
in the tail panel either.

 

[SixSpeedSS]

Subscribed.

 

[Dragger40]

Damn, how did I miss this... Nice find!
Can't wait to see this one back together. At the rate you guys are going it shouldn't be long!

 

[HemiDenny]

Damn, how did I miss this... Nice find!
Can't wait to see this one back together. At the rate you guys are going it shouldn't be long!

I made a deal with my wife that I would finish the rental house rehab / new shop build BEFORE I started on the Flash........so, the other day I picked her up from her work greasy dirty (from Flash dis-assembly) head to toe.

she asked...."are you working on that car?"

I replied...."a little".

I'm still in the doghouse.....and I keep an extra set of clothes at the shop.....just in case

 

[ssba]

Nice work so far with the dissection. Cool to get a glimpse here while you have it opened up.

 

[Old Man Mopar]

The completely rust free core support, inner fenders and firewall are back from the dippers.
Now just have to get one other job out of the way and it's back in the shop but leaving for
Carlisle Thursday.

 

[rmchrgr]

Hope to chat with you gents at Carlisle, will be there Friday and Saturday.

 

[1967 'cuda]

So what's the deal with the frame above the transmission cross-member? Was it eliminated or did you guys have to cut it out when removing the floor?

 

[Old Man Mopar]

Hope to chat with you gents at Carlisle, will be there Friday and Saturday.

Check for us where the Motown Missile Challenger, the Mopar Missile Duster Wire Car
and the restored transporter are displayed.

Helping Joe Pappas this weekend and not bringing any of our cars.

 

[Old Man Mopar]

So what's the deal with the frame above the transmission cross-member? Was it eliminated or did you guys have to cut it out when removing the floor?

What frame is missing? Everything is there except for the floor and the firewall.

 

[1967 'cuda]

What frame is missing? Everything is there except for the floor and the firewall.

The torsion bar cross-member. - Shouldn't it look like this?

 

[HemiDenny]

Yes, it was removed and boxed where exposed when built. That modification, along with a removable trans tunnel gave easy access to speed up transmission, clutch, and shifter removal. I believe and will confirm with Gary Hasen that the factory trans mount was also slightly boxed for additional strength. However, Gary says Butch was not a fan adding any additional weight while removing anything not required or needed. I take note that all the little factory non- functional reenforcement plates were removed, examples: passenger seat belt, wiper motor, wiper posts, etc.

 

[68GSS440]

this is AWESOME guys, hurry up and finish the rental property and shop so you can get back on the Duster. you are lucky that the guys involved with the car originally are still with us so you can get the straight scoop directly from those who lived it. so many of our racing heroes have passed away in the last few years. maybe by the time you finish the car, FCA will bring back DIRECT CONNECTION and your car can be on the cover of the catalog, again. good luck on the rebuild

 

[HemiDenny]

I got the walls up and the roof trusses installed on the new shop....just got to help add the fascia boards and Mark (another Mark) takes over for a while.

after the Nats, Mark (frog) and I are back on the Flash.....can't wait.

 

[Old Man Mopar]

I got the walls up and the roof trusses installed on the new shop....just got to help add the fascia boards and Mark (another Mark) takes over for a while.

after the Nats, Mark (frog) and I are back on the Flash.....can't wait.

 

[Old Man Mopar]

With the Nat's over, the roof on the new shop and painting getting done inside the HDK condo house, the Flash is back on the front burner.

The missing inner front sheet metal has been replaced and the rest of the front floor and tunnel will be addressed next.

Trial fit of front fenders - perfect.

About a weeks worth of final adjustments and welding and it will be on the spit at our body shop for prep and paint.

 

[HemiDenny]

Time to send those front fenders to the dippers....then pull out the fender opening stetcher. I think I still have it.....or maybe I lent it out??

 

[Old Man Mopar]

The turnaround:
Mark the welder works the TIG as the finish welding commences on the front sheet metal. The new AMD floor (front section) will go in Monday.

For all that marvel at the beautiful welds on HDK suspension components....this is the man.

 

[HemiDenny]

Starting to look like a Duster again.

Hope by the end of next week we will be re-fitting the driveline. Then off to Boutwell Collision for new paint. Under the 5 year old (close, but not correct) paint , there are remnants of the factory off-white and the orginal California Flash paint scheme.