1971 Duster 340, 4spd, FE5/blk resto, "ruster" to Duster!

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Thanks Ben! Your're doing an awesome job on your Dart! :glasses7:

Weekend update:
Kids were at the grandparents and the wife at work so I put on a pot of strong Sumantra coffee, cranked up some Rammstein and got busy!
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Its partially alive!! I finished all the wiring connections and put 12 volts to her. Engine will crank! Dash lights & possibly gauges not working, along with one fender winkie.Thinking it may be a bad circut board as I had pin (dash feed) break and thought it I had it fixed, but maybe not.
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I was able to get the non functional cassette player mounted, after redoing the housing, what a pain in the *** that was. Wards tried to fix it, but they couldn't and subsequently stopped repairing them. Hoping for undercoating next weekend
Heres the dash and cassette player. The MP3 ad on works and the stereo sounds good. I added the tuff wheel which should help out with the manual steering. I may put the stock wheel back on for judged shows. I got a lot of things done in the last 2 days, but I'm not going to list them all. Once it gets undercoated the next thing on the list is engine break in, glass installation....and driving it!!!
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Today I got the rear wheelwells undercoated. I also indstalled the rear end assy for the last time, using loctite and proper torque specs. I used Resto Ricks undercoating and it shot well out of a 3M schutz gun at 35-40lbs. Up next is getting the calipers put on and bleeding the brakes.

This past Wed I got the detailed torsion bars installed, the ECS sytem lines in place. and put the car back down on its wheels for the first time since I tore it apart last year.
 

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Nice work. I always enjoy the pictures you post. When you get a chance could you take pictures of where the vinyl roof meets the windshield gasket area. Curious how you mounted the trim clips etc. I will be installing a vinyl roof on my duster in a few months and would like to see how you did that. Thanks in advance!
 
Your doing one hell of a GREAT job on your car....VERY VERY SWEET LOOKING...make room at the house for all the trophies your going to get...
 
Thanks guys! I want to have it all done and driving by Feb. I plan on taking it to MATS in Vegas to show it, drag race it, & autocross it! After that will be Spring Fling. Then it will be time to drive it A LOT.

340 Duster, I folded the top over and used a soldering iron to make holes for the window trim clips. The factory used these giant *** staples to keep the corners in place. I may actually have the top redone by a shop, as theres some small bubbles/ripples on the side the don't want to come out. I'll be sure to post pics before installing the windshield & trim.

74Dart, the cassette mount is original as the car came with it new (code R26, AM radio w cassette player). They pop up on ebay time to time. The biggest problem with the cassette players is that nobody services/ refurbishes them anymore. Mines dead so I may gut it and put a modern deck in it if I get bored.
 

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Wow learned somethin new. Didnt know that is factory. What are they worth? Walked by one 4 times yesterday at a big mopar show thinkin it was aftermarket
 
A working recently serviced and complete E body unit (most common) usually sells on Ebay for around $450. The knobs are usually missing and the cables can go bad. You have to have special deck with the cassette player lead out the back and they are not like an oridinary AM radios internally. The players are the same for all cars, just the lower mount is different.
 
I got the new calipers detailed today. Rather than rebuild the old ones I just bought new ones from Amazon, around $100 with no core charge. I highly recommend running a tap down the fitting holes though. Now I'm going through it to recheck everything is tight and installed correctly. If theres one thing I learned in years of desert racing its that proper torque and loctite are your friend.:D
 

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Car is looking awesome. Looking forward to seeing some trophies. Keep up the good work.:coffee2:
 
Things have been insane work wise, but now that Christmas is here its going to go back to normal. I've been able to get some things done.
-Rear window installed
-Wing painted and installed
-Heater hoses stenciled and installed at cost of about $10 as opposed to $90 for repops
-All electrical connections rechecked and troubleshot
-Lots of other odds and ends taken care of

Planning on having it pretty much done by Superbowl Sunday, which will make it 2 years start to finish.:prayer:
 

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Thanks 74DartSwinger360. I got the E70's from a fellow Duster restorer. They'll work for the initial debut, but a set of 15" Wheel Vintques and some fat BFG's will go on shortly thereafter!

Thanks moparker! Originally it had a Schneider cams iron cross in the back window, but I liked the retro looking peace decal better!
 
Thanks guys! Hoping to get the motor broken in this week and the windshield installed by next wed. Everything is ready to go other than adding water and gas. I just need to a few hours of free time....
Side windows will be going in this week also.
 
looks like we are both going to finish about the same time! Although my 6 month project has turned into almost 2 1/2 yrs.! Certainly have enjoyed following your progress and attention to detail! Ben.
 
Thanks Ben. Yeah my 1 yr project turned into 2. If I get it done by Superbowl Sunday then it will be 2 years to the day. Windshield goes in next week. Motors ready to fire.....
 
Its ALIVE!!
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I got the motor/cam broken in today. The weather was decent today, around 35 outside, so I warmed up the oil this morning. Got everything ready in the mean time. Cranked over a few times and nothing...advanced it and pop. Hmmm.. guessing the distributor was 180 out, pulled it, spun it 180, and dropped it back in. Sure enough, that thing lit off on the first crank!! Everything ran smooth.
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Thankfully there weren't any leaks anywhere. Well except for one, the exhaust leak. Its the TTI headpipe to the exhaust manifold flange..
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Hopefully that can get fixed
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Sounded good at idle..
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I'm super excited to get clear of that major hurdle! Windshield and side windows go in on Wed, and maybe an alignment next wed.
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Thanks Paladin! Now she has the sound to go with the look!

Forgot to add that the best part of the break in was having my two kids come tearing out of the house jumping and screaming that the Duster was running shortly after I fired it up. :cheers:
 
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