73' B3 340 Duster pro touring build

[76orangewagon]

First off, Happy Veterans Day to all of my fellow brothers in arms defending our great country...I salute you all. Now Every time I walk around looking for things to make a little cleaner before paint I find more and more small modifications I just cant let slide by....This week, I decided to fill the rear shock bolt holes and cut outs, then when I mocked up a front shock with the proper 1.5" washer to fit in the huge factory 2.375" hole, so that got tightened up to 1.625" then decided to look at the firewall heater hose holes, the brass heater outlet/inlets are .750" and the holes are 1.00" plus so they are now .875". Then once I realized I never welded the factory quarter panel to trunk pan supports back in, the wheels in my head started turning again....1st, I thought just make new steel ones, then make custom ones with a cool name in them..but what if someday the name gets old..then make them removable and then I can make them say whatever I want, whenever I want...then decided to go .160" Aluminum and oversized from 2." to 3." at the base and then they'll match the fuel cell appearance, So........Now I have a changeable oversized Aluminum support that is totally customizable later on.....finally made some Heavy duty rear tie downs for the frame...and its scheduled go to the body guy within a week or so....I need a Rum..anyone want to come join me ?

 

[rapidtransitric]

looks great!!! looks like you put alot of passion in your build

 

[HemiMark]

Did someone say "RUM"???


Looking good.... I like the idea.

 

[76orangewagon]

Okay,
Here comes another suttle but clean change...I decided to "stud" the fender's and give the engine bay a nicer look by smoothing the tops and eliminating the bolt head....I made my own 5/16" elevator bolts and welded them to the bottom of the fender's...the entire job took about 3 hours... I also decided to pick up a Detroit True Trac unit and 3.91 gears,yoke and install kit and start building the center section.

 

[76orangewagon]

Well here a couple more pics of the latest change...Since I had to upgrade the master cylinder to go with the 4 wheel disc brake set up, I decided to stick with Wilwood and add their Black 1" bore master cylinder and combination valve with adjustable pressure regulator, since I'm trying to clean things up I thought this would be a good time to "modify" the firewall and under dash brake support bracket to directly mount the 2 bolt master cylinder without the typical "4 bolt to 2 bolt adapter" usually needed for this change over. I also decided to go back to the drawing board regarding the fresh air grill in the cowl, it really didn't turn out the way I was hoping it would, so I redesigned it to look like more like the original with a smaller surface area and keep the oval design....Some input from some of you would be appreciated on the new design.......either keep it as is or change to the new design.

 

[t-granger]

Ross,

You need to stop you are making us all look bad here with your mods.
So two things first how are you going to mount the brake bias, the reason I ask is because I have that one as well and have not yet figured out where or how to mount it.

Second I like the newer style cowl design I think it looks cleaner, but hey I removed my vent so what do I know, right?

But I have to say it all looks good as usual.

I really like the clean fender look, I might just steal that idea from you, If I can get my lazy butt out there to do some work. My classes have taken up so much of my extra time lately.

 

[Tincup]

Nice work, definitely like the new cowl vent better.

 

[dusterbd13]

and add another one for liking the new vent better.
constructive criticism: the flat panel looks a little unfinished. try rolling the edges in between the vents a little to add some visual depth. kind of like the factory, only not so quick and dirty looking. a 1/16 to 1/8 lip downward into the cowl should do it.

michael

 

[76orangewagon]

and add another one for liking the new vent better.
constructive criticism: the flat panel looks a little unfinished. try rolling the edges in between the vents a little to add some visual depth. kind of like the factory, only not so quick and dirty looking. a 1/16 to 1/8 lip downward into the cowl should do it.

michael

I am 100% on the same page, I will be adding a lip to the vent to add depth and strength, this is just a template for a visual reference.

 

[Badart]

+1 on the new cowl vent. Goes great with the rest of the build.

 

[jrlegacy23]

You ideas are really coming out nice. It must be great to visualize and achieve on your own. Great work.

 

[76orangewagon]

Ross,

You need to stop you are making us all look bad here with your mods.
So two things first how are you going to mount the brake bias, the reason I ask is because I have that one as well and have not yet figured out where or how to mount it.

Second I like the newer style cowl design I think it looks cleaner, but hey I removed my vent so what do I know, right?

But I have to say it all looks good as usual.

I really like the clean fender look, I might just steal that idea from you, If I can get my lazy butt out there to do some work. My classes have taken up so much of my extra time lately.

Timothy,
Here's where I decided to mount the Brake bias valve. I cut out a section of the frame to weld 5/16"-18 nuts on back side to serve as threaded inserts then welded the frame section back in and then ground the welds, I had to modify the bent over factory pinch weld to clear the inlet fitting's....a little filler and it will all look factory again.


I made a quick trip to Summit Racing after taking some reference measurements from the radiator opening to start mocking up the radiator mounts, what I ended up with was a near perfect fit.... should be a easy install, more pics on this once I get the mounts made. One more thing... I failed attempting to made a cowl opening vent with a factory depth look to it, so I decided to just eliminate the opening since it wont really benefit me anyway.

 

[t-granger]

That is what I did I figured I do not need the cowl vent so get rid of it.

Thanks for the pics of the brake bias good place to hide it.

 

[sireland67]

Everything is looking good.
You might want to make a heat sheild for the brake bias, it is going to catch alot of heat from the exhaust right there.

 

[Idaho]

Are you putting in a line lock? Wondering how that interfaces with the wilwood pieces. Sure like how compact that turns out, might go with that over my power brake system. I wonder how hard the pedal will be.

 

[76orangewagon]

Everything is looking good.
You might want to make a heat sheild for the brake bias, it is going to catch alot of heat from the exhaust right there.

Thats a good idea, although the factory one was in the exact location it never hurts to add a little protection here and there. I was gonna add one to the master cylinder so it will be a matching pair.

Are you putting in a line lock? Wondering how that interfaces with the wilwood pieces. Sure like how compact that turns out, might go with that over my power brake system. I wonder how hard the pedal will be.

Yes, I'm gonna add a line lock, I'm sure it will work fine with the Wilwood stuff theres lots of performance cars running the same combo...shouldn't change the pedal hardness since its just balancing the brake ratio front to rear and the distribution block does the same thing as the factory unit ( see above pic)

 

[Idaho]

Sorry, I wasn't clear.ops:
I was wondering about pedal hardness with manual brakes and the wilwood master cyl.
Fun watching what you do.:happy1:

 

[HemiMark]

I'm alway's impressed. Just looking great Ross :thumblef:

 

[Three A's]

Been following your build for awhile now, i have to say your one very talented fellow.On your rear end back brace you have holes on each side of it,are you going to put turn signals in them. also on your cowl vent your you keeping that design, or your you going to close it off. But keep the oval design '30-'40 style and have it raise and lower at the push of a button, just in case you get caught in the rain.

 

[blue missile]

Ross,
one of the things you can do to still stiffen your frame is box the front rails which eliminates that folded over junction and cleans up the compartment. You cut off the extra metal the full length of the rails and you do a full pen weld the length of the rails at that corner.
Andrew

 

[Brad426]

Nice work & I am right behind you in my project. Do you have a P/N for the rad in the pictures. Keep up the great designs and fabrication.
Brad
A&P

 

[76orangewagon]

Nice work & I am right behind you in my project. Do you have a P/N for the rad in the pictures. Keep up the great designs and fabrication.
Brad
A&P

Brad, thanks for the kind words, heres the Radiator I went with....

Be Cool 35005 - Be Cool Universal Aluminum Radiators


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Radiator, Universal, Crossflow, Aluminum, Natural, 28.5 in. Wide, 16.5 in. High, 3 in. Thick,Manual Trans,Each
Part Number: BCI-35005

 

[76orangewagon]

Been following your build for awhile now, i have to say your one very talented fellow.On your rear end back brace you have holes on each side of it,are you going to put turn signals in them. also on your cowl vent your you keeping that design, or your you going to close it off. But keep the oval design '30-'40 style and have it raise and lower at the push of a button, just in case you get caught in the rain.

Damn you Three A's, now ya got me thinking how cool it would be to have a electric operated cowl door kinda like a mini Air Grabber... I redesigned the cowl and once I have it all glued together and welded in place I'll post some pics. Your Idea is totally cool but I've got alot of time involved going with the original route. I dont want to eliminate it all together since I want the car to have a modern factory look which involves a smaller cowl vent.

 

[76orangewagon]

Ross,
one of the things you can do to still stiffen your frame is box the front rails which eliminates that folded over junction and cleans up the compartment. You cut off the extra metal the full length of the rails and you do a full pen weld the length of the rails at that corner.
Andrew

Good Idea Andrew, once I get the steering column mounted I may have to make that mod too...since I'll be running a small block the factory rails will be in plain sight.

 

[Three A's]

Your right it would look pretty cool, but way too much work,but i do recall someone asking for input on the cowl. I'm just kidding. haha eh. On a different note your rotisserie did you build that or is it bought, and if it was if you don't mind me asking where and how much thanks.