72 duster Build progress

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no posting doesnt mean no interest my friend.. just means we're waiting for more LMAO (at least thats what I keep telling myself since no one posts in the buggy thread anymore either LOL) ...

DAMN!! She looks gorgeous with the wing and the scoops... You sir should be super proud.. That car is a stunner.. No question.. Now get out there and lay some rubber down my friend! You and your family have a happy and safe 4th of July...
 
Dangit, posted all them pictures and then a new page in the thread started lol. If anyone wants to see a TON of pictures check the last page of this thread lol.

I hear ya Bill, just hard to keep the motivation to post a bunch of info and pictures and then not have much response from them. Wouldn't mind doing it asking as I knew people were looking at them and enjoying the updates and getting useful ideas from them. But it's like standing in front of a crowd of people for a big Q&A speech..... Making a big speech and having the crowd go silent.... Then you say to yourself "if I'm doing all this talking and it doesn't appear anyone is listening..... Should I keep talking?" lol.

Not saying I won't be posting updates. I'm just going to spread them out some and try to keep it limited to bigger updates. Unless of course the thread goes wild with lurkers finally speaking up wanting me to continue with frequent updates lol. If there is a demand I'll do my best to supply haha.

But yeah it's pretty close, I've got some things left to take care of and then I need to drive it some and see if there are any bugs that will need worked out. I was really shooting to make it to the last car show but I ended up catching a summer cold, and I had other responsibilities that had to come first so I wasn't able to make that deadline. But I'm hoping I'll be able to get it to this months show. I should be able too. I have a few weeks before that show which should be enough time to wrap things up.
 
trust me I know how you feel.. Like I said, the buggy thread has had no action in a couple months.. Sometimes I forget its there.. LOL ... Seriously though, I know I for one keep up with the thread.. My problem is sometimes, I catch up while Im sneaking some FABO time in at work, and will usually intend to respond when I get home and am on my own computer.. only to have 1000 other normal life events happen that keep me distracted.. then I forget to respond LOL

The car does look fantastic, whats left to do? I say drive that machine and have some fun LOL...
 
Sorry I didnt reply sooner Bill,

no I wasnt directing what I said at you...just seems like with as many of the views that the thread has had over the years that some of the lurkers would chime in once and awhile.

I look forward to seeing posts from people that have questions about something that I did to the duster because its something they are interested in doiong them self. Im not one of those guys that says "oh I came up with the idea to do such and such this way and I am going to be upset if you copy me"....heck no....I am all for people using some of the ideas I came up with along the way and even ideas I picked up from checking out other peoples threads and I like to offer up info on stuff when I can if it means helping someone else complete their project.

Its not even about getting comments for an ego boost ( although i wont lie.....alot of the comments do help keep me motivated on getting something else done ). I just like to see people interested and see people with questions and people with opinions and it makes all the posting not seem quite as much like im doing it for an empty crowd lol.


As for what needs done now....there is still a good little list but most of its little stuff....and some of the stuff on the list is stuff that I EVENTUALLY want to get or want to do....so technically doesnt fall in the list of whats needed before the car is ready for the road.

I installed all my new plugs today,tweaked my timing some,readjusted the carb,lubed my throttle and kick down cable again,checked the ohm resistance on my old plug wires vs. my new plug wires and there was quite a difference so I am sure they were needed even if I hadnt bought upgraded ones. I scraped off some over spray from my glass,cleaned up my lock knobs and installed them,cleaned up my seat belt clamps for the ceiling,detail sprayed the car down and then microfibered it (lots of water spots from when I rinsed it off yesterday).my master cylinder flash rusted after rinsing the engine bay so I scotch brighted it and then took a rag and rubbed bearing grease on it to try and prevent it from happening again or atleast as quickly,touched up the corner of my dash pad where the door jamb masking peeled just enough during paint to let a dusting of primer get on it, armoralled the dash up.

ok....side tracked a little there lol.....AS FOR WHAT NEEDS DONE...... I need to put my new plug wires on and route them comfy, I need to bleed the brakes off (still havent from when I converted to power brakes and put new lines on),I need to find some bolts to mount my hood scoops (ive had horrible luck finding the bolts that came factory and what ones I did find were priced ridiculously...so I may just have to find the closest I can at the hardware store),I need to install hood insulation, I need to polish things up under the hood a bit, I need to get a new air filter,I need a front license plate (still havent decided what id like.....I really like the one that came with the car when I got it and would have liked to keep it as one of the only things on the car thats the same now as when I got it.....but its kind of tattered and I dont want to make the car look tacky). I still need to button up a couple little exhaust leaks where pipes connect to one another over the axle and such, I still need to comb over the axle mounting hardware and make sure everything is true and tight. I need a new spring for my gas pedal (floppy pedal....old one was rusted and snapped). a few other things here and there......but as you can see, most of it is pretty minor or trivial stuff....just a matter of getting it done.

hopefully soon!
 
Quick little update. Today I installed the new msd plug wires and put wire clamps on them and got them routed nice and clean like. And I also did some work on the hood scoops ( couple of the mounting holes were stripped out so I had to mix up a little batch or resin and get to work. Now I just need to gets some nuts for all the studs and then I'll be able to mount the scoops on the duster for good.

Not a bunch done but a little bit anyhow. Should be able to get some more done soon with it being the weekend. So I'll try to get some updates in here if I can.

And I snapped a quick picture of the engine bay since I haven't posted any pictures of it in quite awhile. I still have to do some polishing and cleaning things up but I should be able to get it looking pretty good again.
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Thanks Bill,

I've got lots of cleaning up to do under the good still, lots of caked on dust and and polishing the shiny parts again and cleaning out residue from wet sanding that dripped its way under the hood out of all the nooks and crannies
 
Found some mounting studs for car mirrors that ended up being the same studs as the ones I was missing from my hood scoops. Some of the holes in the scoops were stripped out. So I mixed up a batch of resin and filled the holes and then set the studs in the holes and let them cure. Then went to the hardware store and picked up all the nuts I needed and got some rubber washers to use on each mounting stud of the scoops so that the scoops were not directly resting on the paint. Got the scoops all permanently installed finally.

I then pulled my hood insulation out and decided I wanted to add 3" holes for air flow into the engine bay and to stop to much wind pressure from building up behind the insulation. So I measured everything out and then cut the holes and then mixed up another batch of resin and coated the area I cut and the insides of both holes just to insure it stayed beefed up.

Once everything cured , my father an I hoisted it up into place and tagged it to the hood with push clip retainers. I ran out of the push clips though so I need to pick up a couple more to put in the center still.

I am going to go to the home improvement store some time and try to pick up some 3" plumbing grommets to put on the openings I cut just to make for a nice clean factory look.

It really cleaned up the underside of the hood I think.

Made for a much cleaner look and will also help deaden some of the engine sound through the hood.

Whatcha guys think?

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Thanks Bill, I thought so.

Back to work on the duster now.... If I get a bunch done worth mentioning I'll update the thread again later today.
 
What did you use to cut the holes with?
Also what resin are you using.
Looks nice and clean.
 
xMOPARx said:
Thanks Bill, I thought so.

Back to work on the duster now.... If I get a bunch done worth mentioning I'll update the thread again later today.
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Your welcome my friend.. Your getting way more done these days than I am lol.. All I've accomplished in the last few days are some burnouts lmao (see the pic in the buggy thread)
 
I actually used the inside diameter of a roll of masking tape because it was the exact size I needed. I just laid the masking tape roll on the insulation where I wanted it and then used an exacto razor blade to cut the insulation with, then once I reached the layer of resin on the back side of the liner I popped a hole in the resin and used a hack saw blade and cut the circles out by hand.

I'm using bondoi brand fiberglass resin. The hood insulation soaks it up like a sponge just as fiberglass strand or matting would do do it works nice and is nice and strong. They should come like this from the factory when you purchase them but unfortunately they come just as the brittle insulation.

And on top of it... Putting resin on the whole thing didn't add a whole lot of extra weight!
 
I think that hood insulation with the fresh air holes looks great, I might have to give that a try on my Dads 70' Swinger.:thumblef::thumblef::thumblef:
 
Looking great, so impressed by this build. It's one of the first I seen after I bought my valiant, so it's very inspiring to see it come together.
 
76orangewagon said:
I think that hood insulation with the fresh air holes looks great, I might have to give that a try on my Dads 70' Swinger.:thumblef::thumblef::thumblef:
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Thanks!, glad that its something you might tackel yourself. If you have any questions about it feel free to ask.

Otateral said:
Looking great, so impressed by this build. It's one of the first I seen after I bought my valiant, so it's very inspiring to see it come together.
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Thanks!, Thats what I like to hear!......if anything....out of this thread.....to inspire,motivate,pop light bulbs up on top of peoples heads or whatever the case. Makes me happy to know that people have enjoyed watching all of the hard work I have put into it over the years and that they might take and apply ideas to their own rides and keep yet another Mopar on the road. Thanks again.
 
Well guys, I got a pretty cool update here!.

SO today I got my father to give me a hand on bleeding the brakes off. We then jacked the car up and loosened the u bolts to make sure everything was seated where it should be and then we tightened them back down...so not the rear end is all good. also raised the front and I changed the oil on it.

ever since I put my fuel regulator on I have been smelling gas after I shut the car down and it has been hard to start. well today me and my father got to looking and after the car has ran and then been shut down my fuel gauge is still reading operating pressure. so what we think is happening is the regulator is holding pressure at the car and is allowing fuel to spit down into the intake for the first few minutes the car is off until the pressure in the line bleeds off....which is affectivly flooding it and giving me the hard starting issue. so I think what I am going to do is tap into the other "out" side of the fuel regulator and run a return line back to the tank ( I already have all new line for it....just a matter of doing the work) and then that issue should be taken care of.

ANYWAYS.....as for the "big update". I have crossed enough things off the to do list finally that I felt it was worthy of taking for a cruise and find out what bugs might need to be worked out.

so I prepaired for the worste and hoped for the best and I tossed a gas can in the trunk, screw drivers,wrenches,pliers and other tools in there. Grabbed up my wife and both the kids and we went for a DRIVE!!!!! finally!. took about a 30 mile cruise around some local back roads and just watched the gauges and felt things out and listened to everything. it was a blast to drive,road excellent. can let go of the wheel at 45 mph and it tracks straight down the road. ran great.

I did make a little list of some things that need attention though.....on the trip my brake lights stayed on....the flimsy little brake light switch bracket tweaks to easy so I am going to fab up a new one out of some thicker steel and that should fix that issue.

my oil pressure readings seemed really low and seemed to fluctuate ( I noticed I lost about 15 psi in pressure after I did my oil change even )....but what it looks like is I need to bleed off my oil pressure gauge ( I can look at my oil pressure line and it is tiger striped (oil,air,oil,air,oil,air etc....etc....) so I think there is a pocket of air in the line giving me a false reading.

I got one rear wheel bearing that makes some noise and has some pay so I am going to toss in new rear wheel bearings eventually (likely due to the previous owner driving the car who knows how long without the axle bearing adjuster installed!).

I need to readjust my kick down I believe. all my gears are there and engage at the shifter without a bit of hesitation.....all my down shifts work correctly. But my upshift is a little screwy at the moment. my 1-2 shift works as it should. but my 2-3 shift at part throttle will rev my rpms out in second until I let off the gas and THEN it will shift to 3rd. AND if I mash the pedal I get all 1-2 and 3 shifts as i should. so I think its just a matter of tweaking my kick down cable a bit.

I need to get a fan shroud or convert to electric fan....it stays cool while driving but at an idle it will slowly climb in temp ( I was already assuming I would have to eventually get a shroud or something for it so its not like I was blind sided by the issue).

other than those issues really.....it ran and drove awesome. we all had fun, my wife was happy that we finally got to go for a cruise. The kids had the rear windows popped open, in front we had the heater box vents opened for a blast of cool air (it was near 90 degrees out today). and cruising down the road at 40mph I got blasted in the face by leaves and sanding dust and what not from the vent boxs lol.

it was a good little trip though and I learned of some bugs that need worked out and it was good to finally get a chance to enjoy it a bit.

I hope you guys like the update and ill be working on it some more so keep checking in and ill keep trying to bring you guys more updates!.

Here are some pics my wife took of the first family outing in the duster!.

My kids staring me down while I was probably grinning lol





 
That is awesome news my friend!! Glad you and the family got some cruise time in. Nothing puts a bigger smile on the face than that. Sounds like just a bunch of little minor shakedown adjustments. You'll have her all dialed in quick I would imagine. Now that you've actually taken a drive, it'll be like a drug. You'll want and need more. Lol. Enjoy my friend. You've built a stunner.
 
Thanks guys.

Back to work on the duster now. Think I'm going to work on running a fuel return line and depending on how long that takes then ill move onto the next thing.
 
I forgot to mention that while we were out cruising I bet I got at least 30 thumbs up,"cool car" comments,hoots and hollers. Even had one person drive past me while I was parked at my house picking up the family and they turned back around and parked behind me and started taking pictures.... With us still in the car lol.

It was a strange feeling getting so much attention but was still pretty neat to see so many people that liked the product of all my hard work.
 
xMOPARx said:
I forgot to mention that while we were out cruising I bet I got at least 30 thumbs up,"cool car" comments,hoots and hollers. Even had one person drive past me while I was parked at my house picking up the family and they turned back around and parked behind me and started taking pictures.... With us still in the car lol.

It was a strange feeling getting so much attention but was still pretty neat to see so many people that liked the product of all my hard work.
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I love when the car gets attention... So I know exactly what your saying. I'm sure that was just the first taste of what will be a whole lot more thumbs up, 'cool car' moments my friend
 
SpeedracerX said:
I love when the car gets attention... So I know exactly what your saying. I'm sure that was just the first taste of what will be a whole lot more thumbs up, 'cool car' moments my friend
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Thanks.

Im not sure how I feel about all the attention....but I suppose ill have to get use to it when im driving the duster lol.

However....today I got some bad attention lol. I took the duster around the block doing some test and tuning. And some lady yelled out "SLOW DOWN". And I yelled back " IM ONLY DOING 15MPH" lol.

and it was a 25MPH zone. I guess that it sounds like its going faster than it actually is lol. Or just looks fast. I dont know lol.
 
xMOPARx said:
Thanks.

Im not sure how I feel about all the attention....but I suppose ill have to get use to it when im driving the duster lol.

However....today I got some bad attention lol. I took the duster around the block doing some test and tuning. And some lady yelled out "SLOW DOWN". And I yelled back " IM ONLY DOING 15MPH" lol.

and it was a 25MPH zone. I guess that it sounds like its going faster than it actually is lol. Or just looks fast. I dont know lol.
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I get that too.... I ignore them. (Unless I really am overdoing it, then I just apologize, and move along lol)
 
When I was younger I use to speed everywhere and went through a set of rear tires every 2 weeks if you catch my drift lol. But I grew out of that crap. I was just took back a little by it lol. She yelled at me to slow down and I thought "

really?. I'm doing 10 mph under the limit " hahaha.

I built a mustang a about 7 years back and had JUST got done painting it and , cop pulled me over and handed me a ticket for 3mph over the speed limit. Then says "by the way, nice car" and slapped my quarter panel and walked back to his car.

So I don't even risk the though of getting special privileges for drive a nice car after that lol
 
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