Rapom's Rocket - just another Duster build thread

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rapom65 said:
Hi Marty! Was going to call and see if you guys still had your auto glass account and if a 74 Duster windshield was available, would give me an excuse to come up! Margret has been wanting to go to "her spa" and "the Puyallup" Maybe knock out a couple birds with one stone so to speak. You could have my old glass (if you want it) or template, your call.
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i'll see if they have one or can get one :)
 
Alrighty then! Could of answered you yesterday AM but didn't see your post started a new page on the ol' comput'n device.
 
This is what I did yesterday. Took about 6-7 hours but I was being very deliberate. Didn't use a roller just a heat gun and my hands to mould it to the floor. It came out even better than I hoped. This is what I used, about a box and a third so far. No chemical smells and much prefer the black finish over the aluminium normally seen.

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Little progress the last few days but I did get the window channel painted on both sides of the pinch weld with the semi gloss black industrial enamel I used on many of the chassis, drive train and suspension components. I think the rust issues are handled for now.

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1st test fit of the somewhat "molded" carpet kit. Poor thing has been crammed into a box for over a decade, another Mopar's At The Strip swap meet find. Some of the creases are going to need a bit of judicious heat to smooth out. All in all not bad though.

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Whew! I think I'd rather pull windshield trim than install this carpet. It's coming along though. 'Still have to fit it accross the firewall and work out a few creases on the trans tunnel. Then it's heater box, wiper mechanism and dash installs before the glass battle starts.

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Those sill plates look just like the inner ones on my 64 Valiant.

But man, you've done a champ of a job on that wiring harness!
 
Yeah, those sill plates don't look like mine do. Mine don't wrap into the inside like that.
 
rapom65 said:
I found these seats in the cab of an old brown Toyota mini-truck at a pick-n-pull. Obviously someone stashed them there intending to come back. To bad, so sad, this rat got to the cheese first! The driver's slide release handle was missing and during one of my junking forays I found an exact match plastic trim wise, but the seat material was different, in IIRC either a Mitsubishi or an Isuzu sport compact of some sort. I absolutely love these seats. They have every feature of a good racing bucket, are totally adjustable manually which means zero electric motors which means light weight. I think they match the car perfectly in style, intent and performance. The best part is they only cost $60.
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I was curious what seats you were using and did a little looking around to see if I could figure out what they came out of. Best I can tell, they look to be out of a second gen (95-99) Eclipse or (95-98) Eagle Talon. Can't figure out if they are 5 way or 6 way seats, I guess the Eclipse RS came with 5 way and the GS came with 6 way. The GSX had a "power" seat, but I guess it was only on the bottom and since yours doesn't it could be ruled out.

Best guess is that with the drivers side lumbar adjustment, they are 6 way and came out of an Eagle Talon.

Just in case you wanted to order seat covers or other parts. :D

I've got a set of E30 Sport Seats I'm trying to decide if I want to use. They are all manual like your seats and fairly light. Not sure on the style, so always looking around. Might dump these (should be worth a fair amount of coin) and jump to aftermarket seats. Not sure yet.
 
Those sill plates are an uber rare (possibly 1 of 1 even) set of non factory prototypes.

You could have a set too.

I had a spare set of sill plates for my '65 Baracuda and discovered by pure accident, when eyeballin them on the Duster,
that they snap right over the '74 sill plates. I eventually trimmed the pinch weld lip off the '74 plates and glued them together with seam sealer down the resulting channel. Other than having to drill 22 new screw holes and trying to find those holes through the carpet it was a sinch.

Before installing the rest of the interior I need to come up with some kind of headliner. Have an idea or two just need to make a decision and do it.

Hey Deon, thanks for the research and info on the seats. I had it narrowed down to maybe Mitsubishi. Wasn't Mitsubishi involved with the Talon? I'm keeping the stock gray cloth for now but the driver's seat has some wear on the bolster so it won't last forever. Always planned on recovering them in black leather but now maybe I can locate some replacement covers rather than having an upolstery shop take me to the cleaners.
 
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rapom65 said:
Hey Deon, thanks for the research and info on the seats. I had it narrowed down to maybe Mitsubishi. Wasn't Mitsubishi involved with the Talon?
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Glad to help.

Yep, the Talon was made by Mitsubishi. Or maybe Eagle built it and it was rebadged as a Mitsubishi? Not sure, but I know they were functionally the same car with different sheetmetal. I remember sitting in one years ago and swearing I would own one some day. I wonder how much the seats influenced that. BTW, never did own one.
 
Minor update as not much has occurred on the car as lately I'm being inundated with family crap which is crimping my garage time "bigly". Don't you love your family bitching at you about your shop full of 1/2 done projects but constantly fill your day with the crap they don't want to do?

Drove north last weekend and picked up my new tinted glass from my bud W2stroker. Thanks again Marty. Not installed yet but I do have the gasket and lock strip on hand, another MATS purchase that has been sitting on a shelf for 10 + years.

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Since then I've been working on some of the body work that needs to get done sooner or later. I can't believe how rough the lead work on this car is and that it actually got thru assembly QC, painted, final QC and then shipped to a dealer who accepted it. The roof to sail panel splices on both sides of the car has significant ridges and lows, which I'm currently working on and will post some pics of latter. The A pillar to roof splice had no lead at all, just rust, I assume due to the 1/2 Snakeskin roof covering it. And the cowl panel where the A pillar attaches had some visible dips and high spots also. That's all been adressed and in primer now.

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And lastly I installed some 3/16" thick closed cell foam, that I picked up with the sound deadening mat I purchased on line, in lieu of a headliner. I may cover that with some of the headliner material I used on the package tray if I can find some more locally. I took some pics but the charcoal foam blends so well into the black of the roof it dissapears. I'll try again with some better lighting.
 
rapom65 said:
Minor update as not much has occurred on the car as lately I'm being inundated with family crap which is crimping my garage time "bigly". Don't you love your family bitching at you about your shop full of 1/2 done projects but constantly fill your day with the crap they don't want to do?

Drove north last weekend and picked up my new tinted glass from my bud W2stroker. Thanks again Marty. Not installed yet but I do have the gasket and lock strip on hand, another MATS purchase that has been sitting on a shelf for 10 + years.

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rapom65 said:
And lastly I installed some 3/16" thick closed cell foam, that I picked up with the sound deadening mat I purchased on line, in lieu of a headliner. I may cover that with some of the headliner material I used on the package tray if I can find some more locally. I took some pics but the charcoal foam blends so well into the black of the roof it dissapears. I'll try again with some better lighting.
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you are very welcome!!! and thanks for your help with patterns. lexan is all cut and fitted. will have it installed next week after i weld up the tabs for the doors.

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Well despite our best efforts to the contrary those look like they fit the car pretty good! Hope you didn't expend too much time & effort getting them fit. Any progress on the sheetmetal and do you think you will have her ready in time for the race? And now that you've teased everybody you need to post a couple of profile shots of that beast.
 
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I'm finding some Interesting dents and dings as I'm assessing the bodywork. I'm imagining a tale of misspent youth partying as there are two teenage girl butt dents in the roof above the windshield and a fist shaped dent in the driver's side sail panel. Too much alcohol and a jealous boyfriend taking it out on the car? I know it's from a right cross as my knuckles on my fist fit the indentation perfectly. And NO it wasn't me. I take my anger out on my tools! Fixing cars takes too much effort. The roof dents popped out from below and will take a thin skim of filler to perfect the crown in the metal. I almost want to leave the fist dent as a conversation piece, just hope whoever it was broke his dang hand, idiot.
 
Some body work progress shots.
Drivers side roof seam worked down with 80 grit, then filler work and an initial primer coat.

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Most of my time lately has been spent modifying my air compessor. I'm adding an after cooler setup in an effort to eliminate water condesation issues in prep for future paint work. I'll do a blurb on it once I get it finished.
 
Doing ok?

Working on a brake upgrade using Scat Pack calipers and rotors and was reviewing your wheel and tire setup. Love the build!
 
Yeah everything is OK just car time is more limited with the arrival of cold weather and an increase in grand baby watching as my son has taken on a new job. I'll trade cars for grandbabies any day. I'm focused mostly on body work at this stage so a little warmer and especially drier wx would be nice. Air compessor mods are done and work great except for a issue with power coverters for the fan that has me chasing my tail.
 
rapom65 said:
Yeah everything is OK just car time is more limited with the arrival of cold weather and an increase in grand baby watching as my son has taken on a new job. I'll trade cars for grandbabies any day. I'm focused mostly on body work at this stage so a little warmer and especially drier wx would be nice. Air compessor mods are done and work great except for a issue with power coverters for the fan that has me chasing my tail.
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Glad to hear. Kids and grand kids are the future, cars will rot away.
 
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