The 70 Duster......

-
Well the sell off has begun. Started on it over the weekend and we were able to clear out 3 cars (plus one that belonged to a family friend). Still have about 20 more to go. I hope to sell off at least one or two a week. Once we get all the cars sold off from behind the shop and at my parents house. I will work on getting the 74 Charger and my dads Petty Blue 340 Dart Sport dug out, cleaned up and listed for sale. That will leave us with the red 71 Dart, the blue 71 Charger, the orange 71 Satellite and the 73 Barracuda. That will be a much more manageable fleet.

The Duster......the dreaded Duster.... When I was at the body shop last week I was told he was going to have the trunk floor and small patch installed in the passengers floor pan by this weekend. "Then Saturday I am going to paint the bottom of the car, inside the passengers compartment, the trunk area, door jambs and the engine compartment." He also said he was going to text me some progress pictures since he got a new phone. Well, some things don't change. I never heard anything from him and talking with a few people that live near the shop. It did not appear he spent enough time at the shop to get that done.
 
Still no word for the shop working on the Duster.

Got a pic from the guy machine shop working on the 360. He was cleaning up the heads for the motor.
 

Attachments

  • Duster 360 Head March 25, 2013.jpg
    96 KB · Views: 687
Guess his ears were burning. Got a couple of pics but still none of that bright green paint. :(
 

Attachments

  • Duster trunk welded in.jpg
    33.8 KB · Views: 682
  • Trunk in place.jpg
    31.7 KB · Views: 677
  • Trunk in place bottom side.jpg
    29.9 KB · Views: 664
  • Duster trunk ext in place.jpg
    38 KB · Views: 674
Just got back from a quick trip up to show some of the project cars that we are selling off. Had time to drop by and see Larry working on the Charger. He also had done quite a few things on the 71 Dart already. He is mainly just fixing a few loose ends on it that needed to be addressed. He removed and fixed the rear window trim that was coming loose, fixed the bench seat hinge on the passengers side that was not allowing the seat to latch. He also has done some small detail things under the hood and is working on getting all the A/C parts installed! My dad and I did manage to car jack it and drive it about 30 miles just to rotate the tires! That was nice!!!

After cruising the Dart we decided to go check out the progress on the 360 for the "never gonna get painted" Duster. Block is final machined, heads are done, crank is balanced, and they were working on the pistons, rods and rings! They also ordered the custom ground cam on Tuesday so it should be a week or two on that! The transmission is done and ready!!!
 

Attachments

  • 360 Block March 29, 2013 .jpg
    97.6 KB · Views: 674
  • 360 J heads ext port March 29, 2013.jpg
    85.7 KB · Views: 655
  • 360 J Heads done March 29, 2013.jpg
    81.9 KB · Views: 651
  • 360 J heads March 29, 2013.jpg
    167 KB · Views: 675
Well progress has been going good on the Charger and Dart! Going to see them in person tomorrow morning! Motor for the Duster is being assembled in the next week or two.


Have not heard from the body guy working on the Duster and have not seen him at the shop since we got here Friday. Tried to get in touch with him and never heard back...:surprise:


The sell off has been going well. We have cleared out 5 cars and have people in line (working on getting transport arranged) for about 6-8 more. Today we cleaned around the shop, got the 74 Charger dug out and cleaned up a bit. They always seem to look better when you think about turning them loose.
 

Attachments

  • image.jpg
    44 KB · Views: 657
Made it back home this afternoon. We stopped to check in on the Charger progress and found out that the vinyl top is set to be installed on the 22nd!

The Dart is in the middle of the mini-makeover.
 

Attachments

  • 71 Charger Blue April 8, 2013.jpg
    69.6 KB · Views: 582
  • 71 Charger Int April 8, 2013.jpg
    104.1 KB · Views: 619
  • Charger And Dart in Shop.jpg
    65 KB · Views: 634
Duster progress.............and of course it is not body shop progress.
 

Attachments

  • Duster Motor April 10, 2013.jpg
    97.4 KB · Views: 637
Not real happy with the body man right now. See anything unusual? Or am I just being a little to OCD?
 

Attachments

  • Duster floor.jpg
    30.3 KB · Views: 585
Here is a before pic.....notice anything different from the pic above?
 

Attachments

  • 70 Duster Under Jan10, 2013.jpg
    78.8 KB · Views: 614
Subframes and what looks like a patch repair on the right rear floorpan? That's all that stands out at first to me
 
Is this on your Duster? I thought the body work was nearing completion on this thing?
 
Yes it is the Duster. I had a couple people email me from this forum and another that I was worrying way to much about nothing. It is a piece of metal that was welded in. What I was concerned with was the fact the patch has ridges that run from side to side instead of at an angle......yeah I know......I sometimes worry about nothing.

From what I am being told. He is going to paint the underside, engine compartment, interior compartment, trunk and door jams Saturday or Sunday.
 
I would tend to lean that direction as well for myself-HOWEVER-it's your car and if you're paying for it, I'd assume you expect a certain level of workmanship and finish detail.

I'm sure there will be no concern for lack of strength, though...

As to his comment; man, after reading this thread, I'd probably be a little pessimistic and tell him, "Great! Can't wait to see pictures Sunday afternoon!"
 
txstang84 said:
As to his comment; man, after reading this thread, I'd probably be a little pessimistic and tell him, "Great! Can't wait to see pictures Sunday afternoon!"
Click to expand...


Actually I had made all the arrangements to pull the Duster on my next trip up there if was no progress. I had been in contact with about 3-4 different shops to finish the project but it appears the body man finally understood that I was ready to pull the plug.
 
Getting ready to see if it will pass the test....
 

Attachments

  • 70 Duster Motor Dyno install.jpg
    138.4 KB · Views: 563
  • 70 Duster Motor Dyno Carb.jpg
    163.1 KB · Views: 583
Hope to have some big news on the Duster this week....meanwhile....
 

Attachments

  • Picture 023.jpg
    144.9 KB · Views: 604
txstang84 said:
Sweeeeeeeeet-how's that MSD Atomic EFI treating ya?
Click to expand...

Well they made some pulls yesterday on the dyno. The carb setup made decent numbers. The Atomic system....well it was not ready for that yet. Probably going to have to wait to get numbers on the EFI set-up on a chassis dyno after a few miles. The EFI system was installed in about 3 hours (on the dyno). It did not take long at all but I know it will be a little more involved when installing in the car. Anyway, after getting it installed they primed the fuel and it fired right up and ran good. It sounds a lot smoother on the EFI system than the carb. But since the system "learns" and really did not have much run time. If you tried to rev the motor it would stumble right about 4k rpms. But I think after some driving time and road miles that the EFI will "learn" and correct that. So far very happy.

I just got back home after a short trip up to watch the motor being broke in and the EFI install. I also managed to clear out (sell) 5 more cars/trucks from the collection of projects. And the biggest news...the Duster has been freed!!!!!!!!!
 
:blob::blob::blob::cheers::cheers::cheers:

That's great news!!! I saw the update and clicked on it immediately to find out!

So, did he get it in primer or color? Or just release it to you so you can find another place that will actually work it more than once a quarter?
 
Well...I pretty much just showed up and said...."I am pulling the car today." My brother offered his trailer and some help. So I talked it over with him and my dad and decided to go get it. Was not really my plan for this trip but had to jump at the chance to rescue the car.
 
carcrazyguy said:
Well...I pretty much just showed up and said...."I am pulling the car today." My brother offered his trailer and some help. So I talked it over with him and my dad and decided to go get it. Was not really my plan for this trip but had to jump at the chance to rescue the car.
Click to expand...

Definnately the right call....in my opinion
 
HemiDenny said:
Definnately the right call....in my opinion
Click to expand...

Yes it was.....now just have to figure out where to go from here with it. 2 body shops later and more money already invested in bodywork now than the car will be worth redone......who knows. The bright side, the motor is done! And even though I now know there won't be any work done on the car, I will finally be able to sleep much better at night knowing the car is not somewhere it should not be! And not having to wonder what surprise lies around the next corner!!!!!!!
: priceless :
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top