71 Duster: Part 2

wes beem · Nov 19, 2024

Some of y'all may have seen my ongoing part one of the build post from 2 years back. After i got it generally and basically restored I had to take some time off due to My bank account disagreeing with my goals for the project.

It's still slower going than I'd like but here we go...

Step 1: I wasn't liking how cluttered and blacked out my engine bay was, its already bad enough that since the car is black so is my engine bay. The murdered out look under there wasn't doing me any favors.

I also wasn't a fan of the power brake setup id installed, the booster made the master cylinder stick clear out halfway down the engine bay covering up the valve cover and making it hard to get to spark plugs, valve cover bolts,
header bolts ext for mmaintenance purposes, plus i just thought it looked dumb and knowing im going to be doing cams in the future, now was a great time to ditch it and go back to manual brakes with a Doctordiff adjustable push rod and Master cylinder.

At the same time I did some common engine bay dress up stuff with a nice new chrome air cleaner and new chrome Direct Connection Valve covers.

Still more cleanup to do in this area, but i am much more content with it now, and I actually like the feel of my manual brakes better than I did the power ones.

I'd like to find some kind of better looking chrome or billet type batter hold down, I think the factory one with those tall screws looks kinda janky. I also want to get a chrome alternator to match the valve covers.

wes beem · Nov 19, 2024

Next up, a reoccurring theme for part 2 of this build. I wasn't liking the full blackout of everything on the exterior of the car either.

With the full blackout from 50 yards away my 71 Duster looked like a 2014 Challenger. Yuck.

So i stripped the powdercoat from all of my trim, and then polished it out to be nice and shiny.

I still need to add brand new chrome door handles so everything matches and looks new but we're off to a good start.

Next Up, i sold my blacked out wheels in favor of the same style of wheels in high polished Aluminum, NOW we we're getting somewhere.

I still need the chrome trim for my dual hood scoops and Chrome front/rear bumpers, but they're coming as soon as funds become available.

wes beem · Nov 19, 2024

Next up, I decided that the bench seat is an item that only guys who get the girls need for "Reasons" (huehuehue)

And since I'm not getting any...I want to make the swap to buckets. I Scored a Set of Charger bucket seats last night on Facebook marketplace from a really cool dude at a damn good price, and today I started tearing them apart to get ready for reupholstering. Again, with money being an issue as well as Legendary's (Legendary) Wait times. I'll be reupholstering them with a good used set of charger pattern covers from legendary that I got with the seats. It won't be "correct" but it will get me by until more money (and wait time) is available. The seat foams are in really good shape and don't need anything besides a good ozone soak to get rid of the old car smell.

As for the frames, i stripped em down, power washed the hell out of them, and ill be taking them to sandblast this week before I paint them and begin reupholster process.

hcallaway · Nov 19, 2024

Great strong start. I will enjoy watching the transformation.

Oldmanmopar · Nov 19, 2024

Cut the bolts on the battery hold down. They holder is usually rubber coated so it doesn't corrode. Chrome wont last long at all on the battery. I like the Murder Duster look. Better lines then a Nova.

wes beem · Nov 23, 2024

Continuing the Bucket Seat Saga. I got the first seat back from sandblast and dropped off the second one, and got it all painted up, and the sliders greased up and functioning flawlessly.

I also took all the little fittings and hardware from the seats and cleaned the rust off of those and painted them up.

On the seat foam, i gave them a couple two hour sessions of Ozone baths followed by a total wash down with vinnegar to Kill the musty "old car smell" my last step is going to be to give them one last good Steam clean before i put them back on the frame and begin recovering them.

wes beem · Nov 24, 2024

And just like that seat #1 is done.

RattyBarracuda · Nov 24, 2024

Looks good with the chrome wheels.

wes beem · Nov 26, 2024

Seat Number 2 done. This one didn't come out as clean as the passenger side one, the covers were pretty stretched out and tired. And a good bit dirtier.

They will pass for a season though until i can afford new foam and 70 duster specific covers from legendary.

mygasser · Nov 27, 2024

nothing wrong with that at all. :thumbsup:

blown340 · Nov 27, 2024

Like the chrome wheel look better that the black, seats look good, cat approved :thumbsup:

wes beem · Dec 3, 2024

So finally began the process of getting the seats installed. It was a ***** of a job due to the fact that my floors are no longer factory, and in some places they are wonky and uneven.

In order to get the seats to work with the B Body sliders i had to swap the driver/passenger seat. This results in the seat fold down buttons being on the wrong side, but since my car is a rear seat delete, there's no reason to be messing with that anyway. I probably could have gotten away with just switching the brackets, but the upholstery on my drivers seat is significantly more worn than the passenger, so i figured by swapping the seats i can wear out the passenger one for a while until im ready to reupholster both of them with the proper brand new upholstery from legendary.

On my bench seat i was running 2" relocation brackets that pushed it back to give me more Legroom....yeah...deff leg room and totally Not belly room....

So to figure out where to mount the buckets i just measured 2" back from the factory bench holes and went with that. The end result is both seats are sitting flush with where my bench seat did.

So that was a win.

I also had to make 2" riser brackets for the insides of both seats, Im assuming if you had the proper A body Brackets you could skip this step.

My next issue was, once both seats were installed, i looked in from the front windshield and noticed my passenger seat was sitting extremely lopsided, and Higher than the driver seat which was perfectly flat.
(here comes that wonky floorpan issue)

My solution was to make "spacers" out of 1.5" diameter solid aluminum slugs to push the seat up to level where it needed to be. The B body seat tracks had come with some similar spacers but they disintegrated almost instantly.

Once i finally got the seats all sitting level where they needed to be (after installing and uninstalling them at least 30 times) I pulled them, put all my interior carpet back in, and now im ready to mount them back up once i finish some work under the dash to address my Sticky brake pedal issue.

wes beem · Dec 13, 2024

And here we go, after lots of cursing, lots of small modifications, and lots of finneggling, One set of poor mans bucket seats installed!!!

It's not perfect, but it'l do for a season or two until i get some brand new Covers from Legendary and new carpet so i can do a better job getting everything seamless.

While the seats were out i also fixed my sticking brake pedal issue.