73' B3 340 Duster pro touring build

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Denny's thread has been quiet because he is busy building K frame and coil over conversion packages.....with a few refinements.

Also, in the last few months, the footer, block and rough plumbing for new shop were put in, along with gutting and changing walls in the rental house on the property.

By March or April things should get back to "normal"..... meaning the brown Duster comes out of storage for progress AND complete a HDK rear package for marketing. All this thinking time has the wheels turning (in my head).

Be nice to work on something without having to rearrange everything.....and have some actual workbenches, use my big air compressor, and update some equipment.

I might be getting old, but I got the drive for hot rods like a teenager in heat.


If I were closer I would help on construction finally got all of mine done yesterday moving cars around today and getting shop ready to work on the Valiant and Scamp still kind of unknown what will happen to them
 
I went tire shopping today to narrow down my 18" tire options for the rear. I had Summit pull a 390/40R17 which I currently have on the car for comparison purposes, then went with 2 different 345/35R18's, a Mickey Thompson and one M&H, the Mickey's a little wider but a little shorter, they also pulled a 30"x12"x18" Mickey S/R Radial and a 29"X15"x20" S/R Radial. The 30"x12"x18" Mickey was way to narrow, but I liked the height. The 29"x15"x20" didn't have enough sidewall for the look I want. So it came down to the 345's...looks like I'm going to have to give up 1.5" in tire height plus the 1" in larger rim, maybe I can offset that by lowering the car a little more.

The tires on the cart are the 30"x12"x18" and the 29"x15"x20 Mickey Thompson's. The middle tire with the Arrow is my current tire surrounded by the 345's.
 

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Finally got the GM door handles to play nice with the all Factory door latch rods without using solenoids and door poppers, I ended up making all the rods adjustable to dial everything in then installed the glass, I know a few people have had concerns over the curvature of the AMD glass so I thought I would post some close up photos of how well it fit and seals. I also upgraded to power windows.
I also got my rear seat back from being re-upholstered again since I had to modifying the frame again to fit over the re-modified raised driveshaft portion of the floor pan, also is a installed picture of the headliner installed with the aluminum dome light and rear mirror delete plates. The headliner is covered in the same cloth material as the seats, not the suede insert material that looks Purple in the photos.....but it's really Black.
 

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Looking good Ross.

Thanks Tim......
I know its just door handles and glass but for me this was a major hurdle to overcome getting the GM door handles to work with the factory rods and avoid the cables and springs that come with the Billet interior handles.
 
Thanks Tim......
I know its just door handles and glass but for me this was a major hurdle to overcome getting the GM door handles to work with the factory rods and avoid the cables and springs that come with the Billet interior handles.

That shifter looks bad bad ***.................
 
Thanks Tim......
I know its just door handles and glass but for me this was a major hurdle to overcome getting the GM door handles to work with the factory rods and avoid the cables and springs that come with the Billet interior handles.

Man, Glass makes the car look so much more finished. Just getting it in and adjust is a big step for sure.
 
Man, Glass makes the car look so much more finished. Just getting it in and adjust is a big step for sure.

I couldn't believe how easy it was to adjust, I basically used the previous setting indicated by the washer "bite" marks in the metal and didn't have to change anything....it literally took about 10 minutes to install.
 
Did you use the electric life kit for the windows?

Yes ......I will say the installation was very easy and they are quiet, fast and smooth. They did come with square roller guide's instead of the factory round ones but bolt right in. I also got the door latch rods installed and adjusted on the passenger side before installing the Passenger side door glass.
 

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That shifter looks bad bad ***.................

Looks great! I will be inspecting it in person very soon and yes, that shifter looks Bad ***.

Maybe I'll mock up the center console and shifter plate so you guys can get a better visual
of the final look when you both visit (don't know if Denny mentioned it but you guys are coming over on my Birthday) .
 
Don't know if Denny mentioned it but you guys are coming over on my Birthday.
No, He didn't mention it. The Dollar Store better damn well be open!

Wait! We usually get gas at a truck stop right before we get there and I think
they have Slim Jims right by the cash register. Whew! Pressure relieved.
 
back to post 4354 and the tires -- but lets not skip over the doors, the handles looks like they belong there. they're from a Vette yes? the tires, how can a 345 section width tire be bigger, wider actually, than the 390/40/17 you have now? or am i seeing things? (AGAIN)
 
back to post 4354 and the tires -- but lets not skip over the doors, the handles looks like they belong there. they're from a Vette yes? the tires, how can a 345 section width tire be bigger, wider actually, than the 390/40/17 you have now? or am i seeing things? (AGAIN)

This Door handle maybe used on the corvette also, mine were actually taken off a 2003 base model Malibu since I wanted manual locks on both sides (most were only Driver side lock to be used with keyless entry) I've seen the same door handles on some Buick's from the same time period.
Here's what I came up with for the tires my current tire with the arrow measurements are 29.5" height, 14.3 section width and 12.5 thread width measured on a 12" rim. to the left of mine is the M&H 345/40R18, it measures 28" height, 13.3 section width and 12.10 thread width to the right is the Mickey Thompson, it measures 27.5" height, 13.9 section width and 12.8 thread width. In the picture all the tires are un-mounted so my current tire in the middle has no sidewall bulge to reach its 14.3 potential but the Mickey Thompson does have a wider thread width mounted or not and a shorter stiffer sidewall to stand it up more un-mounted, I currently have mine mounted on a 11" rim and they only measure 13.4" section width.
 

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Had a great visit (and lunch!) with Ross and his dad Dave (340 6-pack Dart) yesterday.

Also attending were HemiMark, Bull1tt (Donnie), HemiDenny and myself.

Checked out Ross's sweet operating power window conversion (lots will want to do this).

BTW - Dave's neighbor, across the driveway, builds B-1 wedges and has a 7-second B-1 powered gas dragster.

Pic: Ross's Duster's undercarriage.


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With this ground dragger, what is amazing is what you will not see.....the way Ross tucked everything up on the bottomside is sweet.

BTW.....don't forget to tighten everything
:) reminder
 
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