Rebirth of Dustbull-with 408ci, efi, t56, dana 60

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Thanks guys! And ill definatly be putting in LED tail lights and an LED 3rd brake light-im thinking one of those 3' long truck third brake lights (normally ive seen between the bumper and tailgate) to go just above the bumper, what is anyones thoughts?
 
I've seen them mounted (on Bentley GTs) at the top of the rear window. Most people just go for the bottom of the rear window or if you mount the Direct Connection style rear spoiler on it, you can rear that right across the whole thing (that would be different).
 
Good news about the settlement!
Glad to hear you are doing o.k. too.
Nice work on the Demon. You'll be back in the saddle in short time!
 
Looks like your dad loves this car as much as you do. Any chance he wants to come work on mine hahahahah Glad to hear you were able to settle and get some cash on its way to help with the new build.

I don't think the truck style LED strip lighting would look good and would take away from the classic styling/nature of the car. Adding brighter LEDs to the stock locations would be my suggestion, as I don't think brighter lights are going to prevent this accident from happening again anyway. It is hard to notice any brake lights when you are driving distracted (ie texting) But hey, different strokes for different folk. Do what makes you happy, this is just my opinion.

Ryan
 
Thanks guys! And ill definatly be putting in LED tail lights and an LED 3rd brake light-im thinking one of those 3' long truck third brake lights (normally ive seen between the bumper and tailgate) to go just above the bumper, what is anyones thoughts?


Look into slant six dans posts, he has a bunch of info posted about headlight and taillight upgrades. He is into all the old and current standards... I think he does it for a living, and has his own website somewhere...


Joe
 
Thanks Ryan for the opinion, you made very good points. the 3rd brake light doesnt need to be overpowering, but i do want to run one as i feel a lot of people accustomed to modern cars have become trained to looking for a third brake light to light up. Id like it to look properly executed, possibly unnoticable when off, and not just slapped on (which the truck style may in fact look like that). Having a third brake light may not have prevented this accident, but it might help prevent a tail-gater from slamming into me in the future...

And joe, thanks for the hint i found this:
http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=91840

Real good read, it sounds like from it ill be getting some honda bulbs!
 
Thats the one! I know, i made a list too...

Sorry about the car, i would be truly devastated. What a disaster, i never wanna do mine again. However i am sure there would be some lessons learned that made the next build a bit easier/ nicer.. Good luck with the new one, and keep those pics coming...


Joe
 
Im absolutely speechless. Its been awhile since ive looked at your original thread and I just now went to show my gf what your car looked like and I saw what happened.
 
Heres a pic of how i got the duster delivered to me...I was told they were specialized lifts that would not damage any underbody components-bs! I didnt notice until i got it home, but theres a huge dent in the back of the oil pan.
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Onto new stuff: I found a used fiberglass hood for the demon on CL for a good price, ill be picking it up in a few hours. It has the factory style scoop, but i dont like the looks of those; im going to splice in a cowl scoop. My dad thinks theres too many spot welds on the inner fender wells to take the dusters off and use on the demon, so we'll be ordering new ones soon. I have a solid 4 days of working on the demon before i have to work again, well see how much i can get done. 1) fuel cell/trunk. 2) sub-frame connectors. 3) transmission tunnel/ front floor pans (maybe).
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Hey Dude,

Not sure if this is something your interested in due to distance/shipping/warranties. A guy in my neck of the woods has inner fender for sale. Both left and right Autometaldirect inner fenders for 67-74 a body $400 obo.
http://saskatoon.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicles-auto-parts-tires-auto-body-parts-dodge-dart-inner-fenders-W0QQAdIdZ337961881
He's been trying to sell them for a while and with the holidays right around the corner maybe you can get them for a good deal. I think they are just mocked up in the photos and not welded in. If my car was in need of inner fenders i would have snatched these up.

Those wrecking yards are barbaric.....specialized lift my butt
 
Holy Crap....did you say $13k? Well that is a pretty good deal...not worth reliving the wreck but at least they took care of you. I really didnt expect to hear much over $1500. Sorry for the loss of Dustbull, but I cant wait to see what you do with the Demon. Do you figure your trans and engine survived?:burnout:
 
Thanks ryan for the link, Being that were on the opposite end of North America i think that the shipping would hurt that deal. We already ordered a new set of inner fender wells...

I agree 71dusterdan, id rather have the duster and not have gone through this whole ordeal, but the insurance did pay out nicely in the end. The transmission and engine survived, i think the only thing we still need to order is: roll cage, fuel lines, leaf springs/shocks, paint, and a few other little things. Mostly everything is salvagable, even the fuel cell only has a tiny dent on it.
 
Dude with that much cash and your Duster back that is going to be one sweet Demon.
 
Glad to see you are working through the nasty accident, never fun especially with a car you have put so much into. Sounds like you have received pretty fair compensation for the car, but I wanted to chime in on the potential medical, I was rear ended in 2000, not hit nearly as hard but ended up messed up. Turns out that I squished a disk in my neck which resulted in serious surgery at the Mayo Clinic, about $50K in "body work" if you would, still have tingling in my fingers and weakness in my arms. Never be the same again, so follow the advice many have given you here and take care of that end of it. Cars come and go, but if you lose your health you are screwed, ask needsaresto, he will give it to you straight. Good luck on the new project also, looks like you are well on your way.
 
Thanks for the advice on the health aspect of this whole ordeal; sorry you had to find out about it through first hand experience. Dont worry though, i am addressing my health as well..i just figure that isnt as 'fun' or as 'exciting' as car updates haha.

I didnt get as much finished as i wouldve liked, but im going back out there tonight for another few hours of work. I finished up the fuel cell's trunk frame, and got one of the subframe connectors cut up and welded in. Im hoping to get the other subframe connector welded in tonight, the front floor pans out, and maybe the new fronts tacked in.
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From you new picture I am glad you walked away. But I have to agree with marksmopar. I can also tell you that needsaresto is a great member to talk to,if you need to talk to anyone.
 
Thanks valiant rebel, not to worry though, all is well with me physically.

Heres what ive been up to today: Finished up the subframe connectors, removed the rusted front floor pans, welded in most of the trunk floor while my dad welded in the new front floor pans and worked on the front fenders.

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The firewall patch is ready to be welded in tomorrow, along with the rest of the trunk. If we run out of welding im going to have some fun with fiberglass! As i said im not a fan of the stock demon hood scoop w/ the 'nostrils' but i also think the 'chevy style' cowl hoods look out of place. Im going to cut the scoop out, turn it around, modify the inlet (that will now face the cowl) and make my own mopar cowl hood
 
Another day down: The firewall (heater/ac/blower area) is shaved. I finished the sheet metal on the trunk, and started working on the hood since were still waiting on rear floor pans, roll cage..etc.
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Heres my fiberglass hood, for $150 i think its a good deal. Im flipping the scoop around and tilting it to make a cowl scoop. If im lucky by tonight ill have it all roughed in (before i have to head to work).
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EDIT: a couple pictures of tonights work. The inner fender wells should be here in two days, so it looks like there are no foreseeable hold ups on this project anymore. The scoop is glassed to the hood, i still need to flip it over to glass the inside, connect the front of the hood to the scoop to make the cowl.

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WOW, honestly at your initial description of your hood plans....I threw up a little in my mouth! Then to see how you worked it out...I kinda dig it. Nice job, cant wait to see it finished and installed on the car!
 
Thanks guys,

71Dusterdan, I have a really good vision of what i want to make, but cant translate it to words very well-that being proof i suppose

And 66plyValiant, I hope you know i didnt put that piece of crap on the car (the under-dash wiper arms are still attached to further show the half-assed effort), itll have wipers when were done with it. that was the previous owner who also did that to the heater/blower motor holes and cut out the inner fender wells to make it into a "race car" ...im glad we got to it before he could do any more to it.
 
Damn, every time I see those pictures of the duster it makes me wince. If I were you I would have blasted that guy who was getting on your case right in the face. I hope this never happens to mine. I've been in one crash and it was not fun, but hey if you get something better out of it, maybe you'll see some worth in it. Aside from the retarded paint job, my caprice came out of the crash better than when I got it. GL on it.
 
Thanks Muad'Dib15, like i said, obviously i wish it never happened, but it does give me a chance to change a few things i wanted to, and put in the fuel injection ive been working on.

Well i got home yesturday and found out that my dad got a lot more done than i thought, the inner fenders are completely welded in. I cut out the old rear floor pans and started welding in the new. I did a bit of fiberglass work on the hood, its going the need a lot of work though to match the cowl on the car's countour from side to side ...
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And just a 'fun' comparison picture:
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