My 71 Duster Project

[smartken22]

You are really making a lot of progress on your car. Keep up the great work.

Thanks, I get more motivated the more progress I make!

 

[smartken22]

Well, here is the progress from today. I started out by welding up some misc holes in the engine bay. Mixed up a little primer and shot the one side. Not to shabby! Then the kids wanted to help work on the car so I let them sand the primer to prep it for black paint. I should be ready to install the rearend next weekend after I clean up the bottom and shoot some undercoating. Enjoy the pics!

 

[smartken22]

Here is an update from todays progress. I made a huge mess cleaning up the underbody of the car and prepping it for a new coat. I did not realize how much work that was going to be. I am glad its over. That underbody was a greasy mess! Here are some pics of the new undercoating applied. I am looking to reinstall the rearend either tomorrow or the next day and she will be movable again! More to follow. Its coming along nicely!

Ken

 

[smartken22]

Well, the rearend restore is completed with the exception of the brake lines. I will work on those this weekend. The only issue I ran into was snapping the bolts on the shackles. I posted a post on that issue in the suspension forum because I need advice on that one. The stance seems a little low in the rear, but I am sure that is because the motor and trans are not in right now. Other than that, the install went pretty smoothly! Here are some pics!

Ken

 

[Old Tired Rebel]

Looking good.

 

[3406pk]

You are making fantastic progress in only 2 months. Congrats, the work looks top notch. Good luck on rest of job.

 

[Captainkirk]

Wow....you're making fantastic progress! (compared to me!) Keep it up-you'll be done in no time!

 

[smartken22]

Thanks everyone for the comments! I have run into a minor snag with my shock setup and started some chatter in the suspension forum about it. I pulled the air shocks off and returned them for a refund. I ordered the Rancho 9000 rear shocks from Mancini with a 1" higher clearance to accommodate the XHD leafs. I was having an issue with the air shocks being too short at full extension causing the leafs to compress about two inches to make them fit. After thinking about it when I got it all together, it seemed to me like too much stress for the shock mounts, so I decided to do it right. Only reason air shocks were on there prior was due to weak leafs so I really dont need that setup anymore. I will post pics of the new setup once completed.

 

[a68postcar]

really nice.

 

[alleyoopmgv]

Looks good smartken22!
When you get the Duster done you need a picture of the plane and the Duster together.

 

[smartken22]

I received the new shocks today from Mancini. Everything fit perfectly and they are no longer too short. This makes the rear finally complete except the brake lines. Next project is to finish the brake lines and install the new fuel tank.

Ken

 

[green1]

Here are some pictures of the transmission I brough back from my Dad's. When it was in the car, the clutch pedal was super stiff and it would eat throwout bearings like crazy! After we removed it, it appears as though it has a B body tailshaft on it and the crossmember was rigged to accept that style tailshaft. It also moved the motor back 2.5in and since the tranny was hard mounted, the motor and tranny sat at an angle. That would explain all the problems and the weird hack job in the floorpan. Well, I received the 4 speed hump and when I went to line it up, the shifter was too far forward. Here is my plan to fix this and make it all right...Ordered a B/E style tailshaft from Brewers performance (see pic example) since it is the same length as the B tailshaft. Once I swap that out it should move the motor back to its original location since I am using the correct crossmember and should move the shifter back farther. I plan to machine a bracket to move the shifter to the A body position (I saw an example/template on the Big Block Dart page). Am I going in the right direction with this? Thanks!

Ken

How did they move the engine back that far?

 

[smartken22]

How did they move the engine back that far?

They welded the tranny mount 2 inches farther towards the rear moving the whole motor/tranny back. We knew something was wrong when the distributor would hit the firewall.

 

[green1]

I will send them your way when I get my new ones! They are straight, just rusted out. I also have a spare one that is in excellent shape as well. I will keep you posted.

Here is the progress from last night. Got the old fuel hard lines removed as well as the rearend. I guess that I have the California emissions setup on this car for the fuel system. Should I get rid of the 4 tube tank and convert to the single tube, or should I just stick with how it is? I also saw a nasty break in the return line as well. Looks like it got crushed somehow. Well, good thing I am goin through it! Next plan is to restore the rearend and slap her back in! Here are some pics.

No return line.

 

[green1]

They welded the tranny mount 2 inches farther towards the rear moving the whole motor/tranny back. We knew something was wrong when the distributor would hit the firewall.

lol, I was wondering about that...

 

[green1]

Just emission crap. All you need is one vent tube, or just drill a hole in the sealing part of gas cap.

 

[HemiMark]

Thanks everyone for the comments! I have run into a minor snag with my shock setup and started some chatter in the suspension forum about it. I pulled the air shocks off and returned them for a refund. I ordered the Rancho 9000 rear shocks from Mancini with a 1" higher clearance to accommodate the XHD leafs. I was having an issue with the air shocks being too short at full extension causing the leafs to compress about two inches to make them fit. After thinking about it when I got it all together, it seemed to me like too much stress for the shock mounts, so I decided to do it right. Only reason air shocks were on there prior was due to weak leafs so I really dont need that setup anymore. I will post pics of the new setup once completed.

Looking good Ken? Thank you for your service. What kind of undercoating did you use?

 

[skypower]

Looking good you do awesome work.

 

[HemiDenny]

that rear is a mirror.......

why the air shocks?....don't the HD leaf springs hold the car up the extra you want?

just wonderin'

Mopar to ya'
Denny

 

[smartken22]

that rear is a mirror.......

why the air shocks?....don't the HD leaf springs hold the car up the extra you want?

just wonderin'

Mopar to ya'
Denny

The car originally had air shocks on it (probably because of the leaf sag from the old springs) which was why I bought new ones. Then after doing some homework and replacing the leaf springs with new ones, I decided to return the new air shocks. I bought the Calvert 9 way adjustable shocks from Mancini with the 1" additional ride height to match the XHD leafs with the 1" added arch. The white shocks in the pics are not air shocks.

 

[smartken22]

Looking good Ken? Thank you for your service. What kind of undercoating did you use?

I used the 3M Body Schutz Rubberized Coating with the gun. It sprays pretty nice and looks like the factory coating.

 

[smartken22]

Just emission crap. All you need is one vent tube, or just drill a hole in the sealing part of gas cap.

Gotcha. So do I just cap off the four lines coming off the tank and remove the emissions tube in the trunk? What is the routing of the vent line. That would be nice to get rid of all that crap back there.

 

[smartken22]

My new quarter panel skin arrived today. Time to get rid of that old bondo mess of a quarter I have on there now. It looks like this is going to be lots of work and I am kinda nervous about it. If all goes well, I will try to tackle this one this weekend. Here are some before pics of the bad panel and the new panel. More to follow...

Ken

 

[smartken22]

Well, here is the progress from today. It was a perfect day and everything went as we planned. Here are some pictures of some of the airframers that I work with helping me rip out the old quarter panel and welding up the new one. It looks awesome! I cant believe that we almost finished this in one day! It also helps when there is three of us welding at the same time. There is a little more welding left to do which I wont get to for a couple of weeks because of my schedule. Next weekend we plan to go camping for the memorial weekend so the car will sit until the following weekend. Regardless, I am making way farther progress then expected so its no biggie if it sits. Enjoy the pics!

 

[HTRTrash]

Looking good!