A tale of two Dusters

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Here is a new rendering I drew up for one of my Dusters... Let me know what you think!

AeroDuster1.jpg
 
Here is a copy of the article that was in Popular Hotrodding. I'm on the top right.

MagazineArticle.jpg

Ha! Thats cool! I had a letter published by mopamuscle and answered by Steve Dulcich.Everone should get thier 15 minutes of fame,lol..
 
Nice to see a young gun going at it so hard, keep up the good work and good luck with both of 'em!
 
Ha! Thats cool! I had a letter published by mopamuscle and answered by Steve Dulcich.Everone should get thier 15 minutes of fame,lol..

HAHA! right!

Nice to see a young gun going at it so hard, keep up the good work and good luck with both of 'em!

Thank you! and thanks for looking! I should have some more updates soon!
 
I have to say that I now think that swaybars are God's gift to the motoring public!!! I just finished installing my addco 1 1/4" front bar and the results are astounding! Barely any roll, Quicker turn in, A LOT more grip!!! I'll try to post pictures tomorrow.

Thanks again for looking!

Benjamin
 
Nice job on that tire well install.8) You gonna fab that front nose cone out of steel or fiberglass?
 
Nice job on that tire well install.8) You gonna fab that front nose cone out of steel or fiberglass?

I was thinking Fiberglass with an Aluminum Tubular spaceframe. I can get it lighter that way.

And thanks for the compliment!
 
So here is the deal. I had a bugger of a time installing this addco 1-1/4" front bar because it was too short to fit above the radiator core-to-Kframe support like the pictures showed. And the only way it would fit is really low and I'm having ground clearance issues right now. I'm going to try to crank the adjusters up and see if that works. But I need a stiffer spring rate in the front for less brake dive. Shocks might help that too.. Other than that it is amazing! Much more responsive and a whole lot better transitions. It doesn't feel like it is going to scrape the ground on the outside of the turns anymore. I have a noticeable increase in grip (from less roll) even in the wet. :love7: So enough of my chatter.. here are the pics. Sorry their isn't any during the install... I couldn't hold everything and take the pics at the same time. And It was raining when I drove it so that's why everything is wet.
All the parts organized:

bjk001.jpg


The underside before:

bjk003.jpg


Thinking about yanking the hoops:

bjk004.jpg


Holes clearanced:

bjk007.jpg


Finished:

bjk010.jpg
 
Well... Not exactly how I was hoping to start my week... I start up my car to go to church and the water pump starts barfing fluid everywhere! Just great! Hope to have it fixed by Tuesday.
 
Whew! Thank God! It wasn't the water pump! It was the radiator cap leaking down to the fan and at first look it looked like the water pump! So Happy I don't have to fix that tomorrow!
 
I got a lot of stuff done tonight. I got the swaybar mount problem fixed.

front view:
dusterstuff001.jpg


Side view:
dusterstuff002.jpg


I also made a "$2 vinyl top" to make the top where the old vinyl top used to be.
Here is a pic of the top before I started:

dusterstuff003.jpg


Taped up and ready to go:

dusterstuff004.jpg


Done:

dusterstuff006.jpg


Untaped and trim on! Finished!:

dusterstuff008.jpg


Side view:

dusterstuff009.jpg


Thanks again for looking!

Benjamin
 
Oh by the way. I had to do some clearance grinding and slot the mounting holes to make the swaybar fit.
 
That two dollar top looks good.8)

Thanks

Nice job on the roof! What did you paint it with?

Thanks! I used two cans of $0.98 walmart paint in flat white. Though I probably could have used a couple more cans for better coverage. I have sprayguns and everything but I decided to try the spray-can's this time for fun.
 
Hmm.Shoot some clear over it. If you want it flat or semi gloss,this could be done with clear too.It' will last longer with the clear on it and it wil be way less likely to rust.
 
VERY Interesting day/night. On Thursday I get to school for class and look at my car only to find it is puking coolant out the water pump! So after class I get a couple of gallons thinking I can at least limp it to work (where I'd fix it Friday)... No such luck! So there I am.. Sitting in a cloud of steam so thick that the only way... I can tell weather the stoplight changed is that the cloud changed colors! I get it across the intersection and into a parking lot and shut it off, Time: 11:14pm. I hike an 1/8th of a mile till I find a trucker with a cell phone. Then wait, pace around, etc. till the tow truck finds me, Time: 12:45 am. Get back to the shop,Time 1:53 AM. Go to a friend house to crash Time: 2:45 am. spend a rough night on the couch and up in the morning at 6:15 for work! After work on Friday I started to fix my Duster and found out the damage was even worse than I thought. the fan had totally hacked up the radiator when the water pump went out. I fixed everything else Friday and found the radiator Saturday. Got it Sunday and hope to have it fixed by Tuesday. Now for pics!

The play in the pump:

DUSTER002.jpg


The radiator:

DUSTER001.jpg


The water pump:

DUSTER004.jpg


Timing cover:

DUSTER005.jpg


New pump on:

DUSTER007.jpg


All the carnage!:

DUSTER009.jpg
 
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. looks like you got things pretty well in hand though. rock on dude.
 
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