66Dartdriver
Well-Known Member
Awesome project that is going to be one sweet ride love the color too. Keep up the great work. at this rate youll be done for the power tour for sure.
Blue Sky Hemi Duster Build
- Thread starter SkyBlueDuster
- Start date
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rayer:
SkyBlueDuster
Active Member
Thanks for the kind words, gentleman. It never really bothered me that this thread didn't get much attention since I'm sure there have always a few folks following along.
But I must say it is encouraging to be egged on during a project like this. It makes me want to throw more fuel on the fire!
As I said in my previous post the car will be ready to go to the fabricator once I get the steering sorted out. I lack the skills and equipment to do the welding and metal work to install the brackets and supports for the 4-link set up, sub-frame connectors and the firewall and transmission tunnel mods. It's going to be expensive but I'm confident the work will turn out well.
Once that work is done and the car is back in my hands I plan on busting my *** to finish and sort out the car for my June Power Tour deadline.
But I must say it is encouraging to be egged on during a project like this. It makes me want to throw more fuel on the fire!
As I said in my previous post the car will be ready to go to the fabricator once I get the steering sorted out. I lack the skills and equipment to do the welding and metal work to install the brackets and supports for the 4-link set up, sub-frame connectors and the firewall and transmission tunnel mods. It's going to be expensive but I'm confident the work will turn out well.
Once that work is done and the car is back in my hands I plan on busting my *** to finish and sort out the car for my June Power Tour deadline.
SkyBlueDuster
Active Member
Yeah, it was nice to see those guys chime in. I have been following their contributions and it seems like they might know what they're doing. :yawinkle:
I have dumped a lot of money into this project already.
I bought the Duster last summer not planning to really do anything to it other than get it running right. I've always liked Dusters and when I saw this one in B1 Sky Blue I had to have it.
I'm pretty sure I overpaid for the car at $10,000. It's in decent shape overall but has had the rear quarter panels, trunk and floors replaced. Some of that work wasn't done all that well. It's a good car, though.
When I decided to try to pull off this project, I bought the engine, transmission and all the other stuff from Cleveland Pick-a-Part. If you haven't heard of them, they specialize in late-model dropouts for projects like this. I believe I paid $5800. I don't have the invoice handy.
Then I sent RMS Motorsports a check for a little over $10,000 for the AlterKtion setup, 4-link, subframe connectors, Wilwood brakes, etc, followed by another $1,900ish to the fine folks at Hot Wire Auto for the engine/transmission harness, programming and speed sensors.
So we're looking at a nauseating $27,700, including the car and not including random parts, storage and any tools I've purchased for the project. I normally wouldn't have that kind of cash to throw around, but circumstances aligned to allow all this to come together and I wasn't about to miss my chance.
All this money and work are going into a 1972 Plymouth Duster that will never be worth all that much. Good thing I plan on keeping it!
By the way, this is the last time I will add up receipts for this project. From here on out it will be a mystery!
SkyBlueDuster
Active Member
It's been a while since I've checked in. You know how December can be. The long and short of it is that the Duster just needs a pair of wheels on the front to be a roller. It will then be rolled to the fabricator to take care of the rear suspension, which is beyond my current capabilities.
One of the tasks I took care of was shortening and modifying the Duster's steering column. This was necessary due to the AlterKation and 6.1 arrangement. I am now convinced that a steering column out of a car with an automatic transmission shifted on said column is the most complicate part of any car. I figured it out and all is well.
One very cool thing was the arrival of the 6.1/NAG1 wiring harness and speed sensors from Hotwire Auto. This is one of the most crucial elements of this whole project. The harness is a very nicely executed thing. Sure, I haven't installed it yet, but I'm confident it will work just fine.
Now that the Duster is ready to be handed over to the fabricator I suppose I'll just have to spend money and organize so I can be as efficient as possible once I get the car back and turn for the final stretch.
I'll be utilizing the services of Kevin Broderick at Fabrications Unlimited to put the rear suspension and sub-frame connectors together. He comes highly recommended by folks whom I respect. Upon meeting with him and discussing the Duster project I have a ton of confidence in his operation. This should be good.
As usual, feel free to check out my blog for more details if you're interested.
Happy New Year, folks.
One of the tasks I took care of was shortening and modifying the Duster's steering column. This was necessary due to the AlterKation and 6.1 arrangement. I am now convinced that a steering column out of a car with an automatic transmission shifted on said column is the most complicate part of any car. I figured it out and all is well.
One very cool thing was the arrival of the 6.1/NAG1 wiring harness and speed sensors from Hotwire Auto. This is one of the most crucial elements of this whole project. The harness is a very nicely executed thing. Sure, I haven't installed it yet, but I'm confident it will work just fine.
Now that the Duster is ready to be handed over to the fabricator I suppose I'll just have to spend money and organize so I can be as efficient as possible once I get the car back and turn for the final stretch.
I'll be utilizing the services of Kevin Broderick at Fabrications Unlimited to put the rear suspension and sub-frame connectors together. He comes highly recommended by folks whom I respect. Upon meeting with him and discussing the Duster project I have a ton of confidence in his operation. This should be good.
As usual, feel free to check out my blog for more details if you're interested.
Happy New Year, folks.
SkyBlueDuster
Active Member
DARTGAME
SuPeRcHaRgEd
Looks great. Love that color on dusters to for some reason. Keep up the good work.
Ian
Ian
74DartSwinger360
The Brat Pack
Lookin awesome. Dont see B1 often on anything much less a Duster. Hope to one day do this with mine
76orangewagon
Well-Known Member
Just like the old saying goes......."A picture is worth a thousand words." No text needed here just a couple cool pics that says it all. Nice jobs, love the color too, cause it's different
MoparDemon
Well-Known Member
Awesome Picture...wallpaper material.
Good work i really like what your doing.
Good work i really like what your doing.
SkyBlueDuster
Active Member
My friend Gary loaned me some 17" wheels so the car is now a roller. Turns out, 14" wheels will not fit over 13" brakes! :yawinkle:
The Duster will be shipping out for the rear end work next week. In the meantime I suppose I'll be sourcing more parts and trying to gain knowledge.
Cheers! :drunken:
The Duster will be shipping out for the rear end work next week. In the meantime I suppose I'll be sourcing more parts and trying to gain knowledge.
Cheers! :drunken:
Mad Dart
Nothing to see Here!
I reached an important milestone on Saturday by getting the engine, trans and k-frame pulled from the Duster. The engine and trans leaked fluids so there is considerable cleaning up in my future.
There is some rot here and there in the forward unibody assembly but not too much. Since the RMS set up doesn't use the original upper control arm or shock mounts, I suppose it doesn't really matter beyond aesthetics. Correct me if I'm wrong.
It's nice to have made some progress.
Snazzy time-lapse video of the work!
You think nobody noticed but you have your hands down your pants scratchinnn your Nutzz at 43 Seconds........:director:
SkyBlueDuster
Active Member
Sometimes a man needs to stop and scratch his nuts.
SkyBlueDuster
Active Member
Last October I placed an ad on Craig's List for a bunch of 340 Duster parts including the engine, transmission, k-frame, brakes, etc. Craig's List being what it is, I received
several emails and texts from scammers, a bunch from apparent losers and a handful of what seemed like legitimate inquiries that just didn't pan out. The ad eventually faded
and I moved on to different things while all those parts collected dust and took up room. Eventually all that clutter started getting me down and I let Jimi know he could send
the k-frame to the scrapper. It was big, heavy and bulky and I had lost confidence in anybody taking it off my hands.
Not long afterward I got a call from one Kevin N. from somewhere in Minnesota. He was one of the more serious callers from my Craig's list ad who happened to have business
in St. Louis, MO and wanted to head to Kansas City afterwards to purchase my pile of Mopar A-body parts. Of course the main thing he wanted was the disc brake equipped k-frame.
I cursed my impatience in letting go to the scrapper. Undeterred, Kevin still wanted the other parts.
Turns out, his business in St. Louis consisted of purchasing a dilapidated 1972 Dodge Demon that actually has a pretty decent body and plenty of potential.
It marks Kevin's third Demon and is being slated as a future project. I'm not sure it if my old 340 is destined to lay between that Demon's frame rails or not.
Kevin inspected the engine and transmission and deemed then good. We then reviewed all the other crap that was stuffed into boxes, laying on the floor or stashed on shelves.
Radiator and fan? Check. All manner of brackets, pulleys and linkages? Check. How about these snazzy Mopar valve covers? Check. And so on.
We settled on a price and he and his crew began to stow and secure his bounty followed by handshakes, declarations of good luck and directions to the highway. And that was that.
Before they left Kevin and I had a chance to chat and he told me that one of the things he likes about projects like his is the opportunity they afford to meet
different folks who also play around in this classic car sandbox. I heartily agree.
One guy I'll be getting to know better is Kevin Broderick of Fabrications Unlimited. As I've mentioned before, he's the cat who will be doing the fabrication work on the Duster.
While I am pretty good at cutting giant holes into floorboards and cross members, I haven't a clue about how to put them back together. Same goes for installing
sub frame connectors, four-link suspension mounts and the like. Kevin comes highly recommended and I'm confident he'll be a huge asset to the project.
Not long after Kevin N. headed back to Minnesota Kevin B. arrived to haul the Duster to his shop. If things go right I should have it back in my hands in about a month.
By then I hope to have talked Jim down from his Camaro induced cliff so I can get him up here for plumbing and wiring. We will then be frighteningly close to having a car that actually runs.
In the meantime, I have some important things to figure out. Near the top of the list is a solution for the exhaust manifolds/headers, I'd rather do headers
but if I have to find a pair of those SRT8 Jeep manifolds I will. I like Jim's idea about the side exit exhaust so I'm going to see if I can slap on some AAR 'Cuda/Challenger T/A pipes style pipes.
Then there's the rear end. Looks like it shouldn't be too tough to find a good 8.75" center chunk. Jim and I noodled on the ratio and have decided to go with 3.55:1,
which should be a good number considering the gearing of the NAG1. Then there's the brakes. Do I stick with manual or try to fit a hydroboost system?
Right now I'm leaning toward the former given time and expense involved with the latter.
several emails and texts from scammers, a bunch from apparent losers and a handful of what seemed like legitimate inquiries that just didn't pan out. The ad eventually faded
and I moved on to different things while all those parts collected dust and took up room. Eventually all that clutter started getting me down and I let Jimi know he could send
the k-frame to the scrapper. It was big, heavy and bulky and I had lost confidence in anybody taking it off my hands.
Not long afterward I got a call from one Kevin N. from somewhere in Minnesota. He was one of the more serious callers from my Craig's list ad who happened to have business
in St. Louis, MO and wanted to head to Kansas City afterwards to purchase my pile of Mopar A-body parts. Of course the main thing he wanted was the disc brake equipped k-frame.
I cursed my impatience in letting go to the scrapper. Undeterred, Kevin still wanted the other parts.
Turns out, his business in St. Louis consisted of purchasing a dilapidated 1972 Dodge Demon that actually has a pretty decent body and plenty of potential.
It marks Kevin's third Demon and is being slated as a future project. I'm not sure it if my old 340 is destined to lay between that Demon's frame rails or not.
Kevin inspected the engine and transmission and deemed then good. We then reviewed all the other crap that was stuffed into boxes, laying on the floor or stashed on shelves.
Radiator and fan? Check. All manner of brackets, pulleys and linkages? Check. How about these snazzy Mopar valve covers? Check. And so on.
We settled on a price and he and his crew began to stow and secure his bounty followed by handshakes, declarations of good luck and directions to the highway. And that was that.
Before they left Kevin and I had a chance to chat and he told me that one of the things he likes about projects like his is the opportunity they afford to meet
different folks who also play around in this classic car sandbox. I heartily agree.
One guy I'll be getting to know better is Kevin Broderick of Fabrications Unlimited. As I've mentioned before, he's the cat who will be doing the fabrication work on the Duster.
While I am pretty good at cutting giant holes into floorboards and cross members, I haven't a clue about how to put them back together. Same goes for installing
sub frame connectors, four-link suspension mounts and the like. Kevin comes highly recommended and I'm confident he'll be a huge asset to the project.
Not long after Kevin N. headed back to Minnesota Kevin B. arrived to haul the Duster to his shop. If things go right I should have it back in my hands in about a month.
By then I hope to have talked Jim down from his Camaro induced cliff so I can get him up here for plumbing and wiring. We will then be frighteningly close to having a car that actually runs.
In the meantime, I have some important things to figure out. Near the top of the list is a solution for the exhaust manifolds/headers, I'd rather do headers
but if I have to find a pair of those SRT8 Jeep manifolds I will. I like Jim's idea about the side exit exhaust so I'm going to see if I can slap on some AAR 'Cuda/Challenger T/A pipes style pipes.
Then there's the rear end. Looks like it shouldn't be too tough to find a good 8.75" center chunk. Jim and I noodled on the ratio and have decided to go with 3.55:1,
which should be a good number considering the gearing of the NAG1. Then there's the brakes. Do I stick with manual or try to fit a hydroboost system?
Right now I'm leaning toward the former given time and expense involved with the latter.
SkyBlueDuster
Active Member
What we have here is the Be Cool radiator and electric fans in all their installed glory. You can't see it, but the A/C condenser is there, too. As is the power steering fluid reservoir, regulator and random hoses.
I saw these mid-length length headers in the Street & Performance catalog and thought they might fit. The folks at S&P thought the headers would be worth a shot and offered to send me an unfinished, tacked together version so we could modify them if necessary.
Turns out, the headers won't be modified. Instead, one motor mount and the firewall will be massaged. I've been fretting about this header/exhaust manifold thing and I'm relieved to have a solution.
Sticking with the original gas tank which will be modified to accept a proper fuel pump for the fuel injected 6.1.
8.75" 489 housing with Eaton Sure-Trak, 3.55:1 gears.
I have less than three months to finish the Duster in time for the Power Tour. Cautiously optimistic!
SkyBlueDuster
Active Member
I will keep you updated. Thanks for your input. It's reassuring to know I wasn't the only one facing this challenge.
SpikeWills69
Live Free or Die
Just found this thread. Very cool duster project, love the SRT-8 and what you are doing with it all. My wife had a 72 Scamp the same color back in the day. That will be so neat on the Power Tour.
SkyBlueDuster
Active Member
The Duster will be back in my possession this week. The fabricator and I aimed for April 1 but didn't hit it. Oh, well. With six weeks to go I'm confident the Duster will be ready to go in time for the Power Tour.
I had planned on buying some snazzy custom wheels but I fear it's too late to work out the details and get them built in time. Right now I'm leaning towards using Gary's loaner wheels.
From what I can tell they'll work on the Duster and when I asked Gary if I could buy them he said "drive the hell out of them for as long as you want". Free wheels. Gary rules.
And now for some photos of what's going on:
Things will be busy for the push to Arlington. I'll be in touch.
I had planned on buying some snazzy custom wheels but I fear it's too late to work out the details and get them built in time. Right now I'm leaning towards using Gary's loaner wheels.
From what I can tell they'll work on the Duster and when I asked Gary if I could buy them he said "drive the hell out of them for as long as you want". Free wheels. Gary rules.
And now for some photos of what's going on:
Things will be busy for the push to Arlington. I'll be in touch.
72BBSwinger
Well-Known Member
Cool its good to see what stumbling blocks people have so I know what to expect when the time comes. I appreciate the documentation. Now if someone would build one without the Pinto front ends.
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