I'm not at all impressed with Flaming River columns. Installed one in a 69 Bee for a gentleman that wanted tilt. They offered a "direct fit". Direct fit, BULLSHIT!!!!!!! Far from it. "Here's a GM column, make it fit buddy!" Lesson learned.
the"Busted knuckle duster"
- Thread starter Cool Hand
- Start date
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Cool Hand
Well-Known Member
So still waiting on my summit parts but but did get the radiator set in and the air inlet tube on. Now I need to build a front cover to hold the top of radiator in place,as well as give me a place to mount overflow tank,and power steering reservoir.
1969dodgedart
Big Block 440
Looking good, what color is that ? Looks close to what I have.
Cool Hand
Well-Known Member
Orange crush. Had KBS coatings make it for us. Should be available to the public very soon
1969dodgedart
Big Block 440
Nice .I used KL4 which if I'm not mistaken is the same as Orange crush from 1969-70.
DionR
Well-Known Member
One nice benefit to moving the bottom of the column over is it will be closer to straight. From the factory, it is at an angle to the centerline of the car.
Always bugged me how the later A-Body steering column and wheel aren't square to the driver, so I plan to do something similar down the road. But far more important things to work on first.
Cool Hand
Well-Known Member
Glad you said that. My wheel isn't here yet,but the column definitely seemed square after the move but there really isn't a good reference point to measure from to be sure. I have driven cars that are off center,and it is agreeably annoying. Especially when I plan on Staring at the dash more than the underside of the hood when this build is done
It’s nice to finally see what a 67 front clip looks like on a Duster! I’ve been thinking of doing this for a few years now.
Cool Hand
Well-Known Member
Way better than the beek
For sure. I sold the 75 Duster that I was thinking about putting it on, but I do have a 75 Scamp that I just might swap it on to to see how I like it.
DieWilde13
Well-Known Member
Really nice work! This is selfmade as it should!
Keep up that good work!
Keep up that good work!
Cool Hand
Well-Known Member
So a beautiful thing happened today. I no longer have to steer the duster around by its tires yay! Didnt get brake parts yet,but I did get steering wheel knuckle,and dipsticks. All from summit and all fit just as planned.
She is coming along slowly but technically I was supposed to be working on customer stuff today. Whoops! Hard to concentrate on work when boxes arrive
She is coming along slowly but technically I was supposed to be working on customer stuff today. Whoops! Hard to concentrate on work when boxes arrive
Cool Hand
Well-Known Member
Rebuilt wiper motor with the wife today. Gonna test it out tomorrow if I can figure out which wires to add 12 volt to to make it go through the speeds. Any suggestions?
Cool Hand
Well-Known Member
Next ridiculously fiddly job. Getting the dash modified for the holley touch screen. Decided to mount the screen with a bracket to the dash frame instead of the gage cluster,and just use the plastic cluster as a frame. This way the heavy screen won't be relying on 46 year old plastic to stay in place. Working well so far. Just have some fine tuning left. Here are some pics so far .
Before
Cleaned stripped and ready for cutting
Pics of bracket won't load but here is what I have so far. The screen is taped up in the center. Cut out wiper,and light switch portions of old dash to reuse. Used 18 gauge steel for the rest. Once painted should be reminiscent to stock dash,and look like an oem part. Gap between light switch hole,and screen will be a fuel gage which I haven't ordered yet. Fuel is the only thing that won't be monitored by computer so I cant display it on screen
Before
Cleaned stripped and ready for cutting
Pics of bracket won't load but here is what I have so far. The screen is taped up in the center. Cut out wiper,and light switch portions of old dash to reuse. Used 18 gauge steel for the rest. Once painted should be reminiscent to stock dash,and look like an oem part. Gap between light switch hole,and screen will be a fuel gage which I haven't ordered yet. Fuel is the only thing that won't be monitored by computer so I cant display it on screen
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Cool Hand
Well-Known Member
So today I finished up the dash and got it all epoxied together. Gonna let it dry over the weekend. Also finished rebuilding the wipers. Had to weld washers on the linkages to replace the old busted plastic clip grommet pieces. Then linked them all together using grease washers and E clips. Works smooth and quiet as well. Huge improvement. Will post some pics latrr
Cool Hand
Well-Known Member
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Travis Mitchell
Active Member
Looks great! Did you have to modify the torsion bar crossmember at all or just the floor?
Cool Hand
Well-Known Member
Ya I cut it out between the trans mount bolts. Left enough meat to put all four trans mount bolts in. Then welded it all to the new tunnel from under,and above. Got lucky that nothing was rusted out under there so it is good,and strong
Travis Mitchell
Active Member
Thanks! Seems unavoidable. Just have to build a new crossmember and floor for these transmissions
Cool Hand
Well-Known Member
So for everyone that's been following along for awhile you may remember that I had to modify my QA1 6 link setup in the rear for the rear-end. Being that it is a aftermarket reproduction of an 83/4,not an actual mopar part. I am very happy with the rear-end being that it is beefed up in all the right spots,and has the gearing I want. It also doesn't hurt that it is new,and I didn't have to derust it. Anyways the pumpkin is larger, meaning I needed to make room for it by spacing the sway bar mounts lower, and bending a brace on the 6 link to clear around the back of the rear-end. All this worked perfect till I went to install the tank today. Sumbeech! The bar I modified lays right into the front of the tank. So my plan tomorrow while I wait for the next customer car is to remove the,rear-end, and suspension to get to the 6 link mounting frame out. Modify it again so it doesn't protrude into the tanks designated area. Paint it, put it back in, and remove the stupid fill cap bung on the rear-end that is unusable with the tank there,and just in my way. The worst part of all this is I was gonna do this months ago but thought it would be OK, and was alot of unnecessary work. Thats what I get for trying to save myself some time. As they say if you didn't do it twice you didn't do it right. I'll shoot some pics of the unscheduled projects tomorrow.
Cool Hand
Well-Known Member
Well not as bad as I originally had thought I managed to remove the framework for the 6 link without to much hassle. Was able to keep the rear and links in place. I found a piece of tubing that did exactly what I wanted so I went to cutting my previous mods off. I got some really nice welds laid down,and while that cooled I mounted the gas tank. (I have a brand new set of tank straps to sell BTW) once I cleaned up the rest of the frame work with a flapwheel I fit it in the car.This was not an easy task which brought me to the decision that once installed it would get painted in the car. Which it was. Tomorrow I will reassemble the coil overs and such. Here are some pics.
Post more pics tomorrow when she's all cleaned up,and assembly is done
Post more pics tomorrow when she's all cleaned up,and assembly is done
Cool Hand
Well-Known Member
Well it has been a minute. Forgot to post pics of rear-end finished,and cleaned up. Rest assured she is back on the ground,and lookin good.
I have moved on to some interior work now that I have some sheet metal. I showed a few pics of the dash mods,but now I have started the center console. I fabricated the first setup showed below,but was not happy with the look. I was gonna put some ball vents, and charging ports in the flat section. Could put a nav screen or anything in it really. It is a great setup built off of the original chrysler 300 center console. Hate to trash it if anyone is doing something similar they can have the parts I made.
So anyway her is what I am actually gonna run. Based on the same console but a little less modern look,and retains original vents. Gonna put some charging ports in it.
I have moved on to some interior work now that I have some sheet metal. I showed a few pics of the dash mods,but now I have started the center console. I fabricated the first setup showed below,but was not happy with the look. I was gonna put some ball vents, and charging ports in the flat section. Could put a nav screen or anything in it really. It is a great setup built off of the original chrysler 300 center console. Hate to trash it if anyone is doing something similar they can have the parts I made.
So anyway her is what I am actually gonna run. Based on the same console but a little less modern look,and retains original vents. Gonna put some charging ports in it.
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Cool Hand
Well-Known Member
Here is what I did to make all the venting to the rear work. I even left enough room to put fuse box in here so I can put holley ecm under dash by column where the fuse box would normally go.
273commando
Well-Known Member
excellent craftsmanship! thanks for posting.
Cool Hand
Well-Known Member
As usual its been awhile since I posted. Strangely enough though a ton has been done. Unfortunately pics of the last stages of the dash and car will have to wait till Tuesday when I get back to the shop because I forgot to take pics.
So we built a few brackets ,and got the throttle pedal mounted as well as the holley ecu ,and wiring routed.
We removed the dash stripped it,and got that as well as the ashtray,and glove box door painted.
We started painting the gauge,and heater control bezels
Thanks to some guys here on FABO we were able to find some cool taillights with the matching center panel. I think they are way cooler than what the duster had,and I couldn't find originals in good shape anyway. Funny thing is the matching set came from different sellers in different states. Gonna paint them so wasn't worried about condition,but needed the lenses to be great,and the bezels not broken. Check on both boxes thanks guys.
We also managed to get the rest of the body disassembled,and stripped of all its original paint. Gonna KBS coat a few dark spots in the metal that showed evidence of future rust,and seam seal all the areas that need it tomorrow. Will take pics of that tomorrow as well as some of the sound deadener we started to apply.
Last but not least we got the new TCI seats mounted. Had to make a few riser brackets to mount the inside tracks since this was a bench car,other than that they look great. Was nice to sit in the car again.
Here's the pics of our last weeks journey with the busted knuckle duster
View attachment 1715699626
Fitment on the badge was obviously meant to be.
Post more pics tomorrow night.
So we built a few brackets ,and got the throttle pedal mounted as well as the holley ecu ,and wiring routed.
We removed the dash stripped it,and got that as well as the ashtray,and glove box door painted.
We started painting the gauge,and heater control bezels
Thanks to some guys here on FABO we were able to find some cool taillights with the matching center panel. I think they are way cooler than what the duster had,and I couldn't find originals in good shape anyway. Funny thing is the matching set came from different sellers in different states. Gonna paint them so wasn't worried about condition,but needed the lenses to be great,and the bezels not broken. Check on both boxes thanks guys.
We also managed to get the rest of the body disassembled,and stripped of all its original paint. Gonna KBS coat a few dark spots in the metal that showed evidence of future rust,and seam seal all the areas that need it tomorrow. Will take pics of that tomorrow as well as some of the sound deadener we started to apply.
Last but not least we got the new TCI seats mounted. Had to make a few riser brackets to mount the inside tracks since this was a bench car,other than that they look great. Was nice to sit in the car again.
Here's the pics of our last weeks journey with the busted knuckle duster
View attachment 1715699626
Fitment on the badge was obviously meant to be.
Post more pics tomorrow night.
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