Rapom's Rocket - just another Duster build thread

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"Rocket" got off it's belly and took some baby steps this week thanks to a smoking hole in my bank account.
Pic 1: Power steering box back from Firm Feel with a Stage III rebuild
Pic 2: New Moog Pitman Arm also from FF
Pic 3: 4 speed OD rebuild completed
Pic 4: Group shot including FF 1.06 Torsion Bars. Because everything was bare cast iron, and I liked the look, I decided to paint it all in "Cast Iron" enamel from Duplicolor.

Gettin it done!
 

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Looking good! Now get those puppies installed! :thumbup:
 
Been busy the last few days doing research and buying parts on the web. Due to 72BluNBlu's and Goldduster318's write ups on the Contour/Mystique/Cougar radiator fan conversion I decided to incorporate this on my car too. Sorry Marty I tried to work with your fan but it just left way to much core uncovered and presented to many issues to fix. I think it will work perfect on the Chev truck though.

Picked up a used 2000 Cougar fan with the electrical connectors thru an Ebay parts seller (Pic 1 Hacked from 72 B-n-B). Ordered up a DCC 2 speed dual fan controller (Pic 2) and found a great buy on a new 100 AMP black Tuff Stuff replacement altenator (Pic 3). It's not that I'll ever put such a huge load on the electrical system to ever need 100 AMPS but at idle this alternator will pump out 45 - 50 AMPS which will more than meet the needs of the fans, ignition, head lights ect. when stuck in traffic on a hot summer night.

Been sanding, sanding, sanding on the hood. Cowl is blended in nicely now but there is a bunch of little dings to still fix.

Pic 4 Say goodbye to the tail panel decal. Using a tool called the "Eraser" on my drill to peel off what was left of the 41 year old stripes. Works great and doesn't damage the paint at all. Pic 5 Smooth as a baby's butt.
 

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Parts, parts and more parts... put them all together and what do you have? A half full money pit. Car pieces are all over my shop. Work is getting done on a lot of different areas but you sure can't see any progress looking at the body shell.
My Tuff Stuff 100 Amp alternator arrived, Pic 1 chillin on the patio table.
Cougar dual fan set up, Pics 2 & 3 mocked up on my radiator. Not a perfect fit but doable with a little bit of modification. Mounts are going to be challenging. This thing is super skinny, no thicker than the radiator itself. Been working on building a harness but can't make any more progress until my controller gets here so I can locate it and cut the wires to length.
Sold all my 15" tires and rims to my bud W2Stroker. Committed to 18's now. Borrowed other buddy's 345/40-17 tire and rim to do a fitment test and get some measurements. Azz end needs to come down over the tire more.
 

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Latest arrival ~ 60 amp Maxi Fuse, holder and cover picked up off Ebay for $6 shipped.
 

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Tell me this doesn't raise your pulse a few beats. But..... its too tall, a bit too wide and a drag radial in construction.
 

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Small update on latest progress: After digging through my scraps I found just enough cold rolled sheet steel to fab up some mounts for the fan and located some material to act as a cushion between the radiator tanks and the core support, Pics 1-3. I still have to drill and tap the mounting holes in the side of the rails in order to bolt on the lower mounts. I trimmed off 3 of the mounting tabs from the fan shroud as they weren't used. Got the fan controller and Maxi fuse holder mounted and started work on the wiring harness, Pic 4. Need to order up a couple of more items in order to finish up the electrics on the fan install. Also need to find some thin U shaped rubber trim, like a door edge molding, to go between the shroud and radiator. If anyone has some ideas/suppliers please speak up.
 

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Thanks Crisco.

It's not as bad as it looks! The fender apron where the battery used to sit has turned into an electrical panel. Fan wiring at 90%. I installed a new resistor in the low speed fan circuit to replace the badly corroded original unit. The DC 2 speed dual fan controller has a 45 amp low speed relay and a 80 amp high speed relay built in. They're on/off function is controlled by temperature, sensed by a probe, and set with an adjustable potentiometer. Power is fed to the controller from the power distribution block (aka starter relay) thru the 60 amp Maxi Fuse. Internally the controller routes power to which ever relay (low fan/high fan) is required by the temp. The red thing is another power distribution block needed to connect the four 10 gauge wires which feed power to the two fans thru both relays. I have mine hooked up so it will power the fans with the ignition off until the temps reach the presets.
 

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Front of motor is coming together. I'm going to try running the stock V belts since the drag of a belt driven fan has been eliminated with the new dual electric fan set up. Hopefully belt throwing won't be an issue.
 

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Stage III box and power steering coupler mocked up for header check.
 

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Took some measurements off a stock Duster to determine hood/windshield clearance. Looks like 6" is a good starting point for trimming the back of the scoop. The cut will need to be radiused to follow the curve of the glass. Pic 1: Laid out some initial cut lines and kind of settled on the side profile as shown. Pic 2: Drivers view over the hood. I likey.
 

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Put the finishing touches on the fan install. Pics 1 & 2: Drilled and tapped the frame for the lower bracket bolts. Pic 3: Did some tweeking to the upper brackets and then repainted all of them semi gloss rather than the gloss black I had originally just to make everything more uniform looking. Pic 4: Found some weather stripping for fan apps. and installed it along the top and bottom of the housing to close up the shroud/radiator gap. Pic 5: Finished? Nope I already see I forgot to zip tie the #2 fan wires back to the shroud.
 

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Geez, a month has gone by since I last updated. Made progress on finishing up the dash but it's still a work in progress so nothing to show yet. Some paint work and a bit of wiring and I will be done. Although much of my "free" time has been spent with the wife lately I've still been pounding the computer doing research. 92.5% sure I've settled on a 18" wheel & tire package. To fit the front tire width I want will require tube upper A arms for rim clearance and I'll be going back to Firm Feel for those. Since I work ~3 miles from them I just might pay them a visit during lunch tomorrow! Good news for W2Stoker as he already has "dibs" on my rebuilt stock set. Could have saved myself a bunch of work on those but who knew????
There were two major future mods I had planned on "someday" doing to the car. Fuel injection and a Passion aluminum 5 speed. I have decided to jump the gun on the fuel injection by ordering up one of FITech's recently released fuel injection kits along with their Fuel Command Center. I have a perfectly good carb but I just plain want the driveability that FI will provide from day one. What sealed the deal was the command center which negates the need to redo the entire fuel system again. Much nicer unit than Edelbrock's offering at roughly 1/2 the price. Trying to reduce stress and enjoy life more and since the car is apart now is the best time to do it really.
Since I'm in such a free spending mood I might as well order up a leather covered Tuff Wheel while I'm at it. It's fun having car money again!
 
That's the shiznit right there. My baby matches front and rear now. However... there might be a wee problem but its being worked on.
 

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Hey Rapom,

I've been enjoying watching your build.

Dick Ross is a good guy, and has great products. I can vicariously say that I have a teeny hand in some of whats in Firm Feel's catalogue.

Anyhow, what is the designed in caster setting for the tube upper arms? The last time I was able to visit with him, he had different jigs and could make upper arms with variations from stock caster design up to 8* caster design.

I lived in McMinnville from '90 to '05. Our best friends lived off of Fourth Plain Blvd, very close to All American junkyard and my wife's boss (until we moved) also lived in Battle Ground. I sure miss the NW! Maybe we can come back in 6-7 years.

After I left Evergreen Airlines, I worked at Quickor Suspension for a while. I heard, and see that he has a website up again, and is hawking sway bars at various swaps. Caveat emptor!

Mike in FL
 
You mean there is someone out there following this thread???

Mike, Dick told me the A arms would add an additional 4 - 4.5 degrees of caster over stock. My little problem is the rims I had selected are only available in 8 or 9.5 widths up front. 8 is too narrow for 275s and the 9.5s are pushing the envelope of fitment (fender, A arm, frame ect). Had to go back to the drawing board to find another style that's avail in the widths and custom offsets I need front and back. Think I found something pretty cool and they're $100 a rim cheaper to boot! More updates coming so stay tuned...
 
rapom65 said:
You mean there is someone out there following this thread???
Click to expand...

Hey now! I'm following it, this is one of the threads I go looking for when I come here. But I am only allowed 1 log-in per month (j/k) so I don't hardly post anything.

Truth is, your post about the EFI system you are looking at had me on their site for some time. Even sent them a question about the possibility of using a Ford EDIS module rather than a distributor (which I still haven't heard back on).

Keep it up, can't wait to see it on the road.
 
I've been following along, just a heads up. Just because we don't post doesn't mean we aren't admiring from the shadows. :D
 
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