This was a big weekend for the Duster. During assembly, I created a couple of nicks and a chip. The worst are was located behind the right front fender and door. While I was installing the antenna base, the bracket fell down into the dog leg. I shut the open door to move around the car. Of course, the bracket landed in the gap between the door and fender. Closing the door knocked a chunk of paint along the edge and in back of the fender. I also wanted the rear valence painted where the car was attached to the rotisserie.
I spoke with Mike earlier about bringing the car out to him for the repairs. This was the weekend to do it. Since I don't own a trailer or a vehicle with a hitch, i figured that I would drive the car out to Mike and Kenny for them to work their magic. I've been tinkering with tuning the car and I thought that she was in pretty good shape for the trip (despite the fact that I probably logged less than a hundred mile on the old girl tooling around town).
I loaded up the paint, tools, vital auto fluids and a fire extinguisher and hit the road solo around 3 AM Friday. I must admit that I was a bit anxious about the trip, but I figured it would be the car's trial by fire. The trip out went well. I ran into a little rain near Youngstown and winds were gusty but I rolled into Mike's shop around 10:30. Mike's body man, Kenny, started working on my car Friday night into Saturday morning. By 10 AM all repairs were finished and I was back on the road to Lancaster, PA.
The trip totaled 732 miles round trip. The old girl ran and handled like a champ! I varied MPH from 55-75. Calculated MPG was 13.3 on the homeward leg. I love the Firm Feel Stage 3 steering box upgrade and the 1 inch torsion bars. Handling is night and day better than with the factory front suspension.
I have the utmost respect for Mike and Kenny. They have been a vital part in helping me make my car beautiful. When I first started my project, I had a vision of how I wanted my car to look and perform.....I'm happy to say that my vision has become reality.
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