Toluene Duster -- Kinda

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Toluene56

Toluene56

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Hello ladies and gents, I figured I would post a build thread about the girlfriends new car. Her mom and stepdad knew a guy in Salt Lake city that happened to have a duster, they also knew she wanted a car. So they bought her the duster! Awesome right?

So we made the trek from Reno NV to Salt Lake City Utah and picked this sucker up. Best thing is.. it came with the trailer too!.. score for me. This duster had been partially restored and repainted and fixed up, previous owner decided he wanted to build a drag car. Stuck on some nice hoosiers and bought a bad *** transmission and some other goodies. Then let it set for 10+ years.
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We dragged this puppy home along with the extra crate full of parts. New stuff included, extra set of wheels, brand new Protrans 904 with RMVB and 2.77 low gear, Dynamic converter (which went in my dart), cal trac mono leafs and bars (also went in my dart), bare magnum block and a SLEW of extra camshafts, fuel pumps, distributors, bolts, rockers, pushrods. Oh and it came with 489 case w/ 4.30's and detroit locker, 489 case with 3.23 sure grip. We have choices.
After we got home and the car was cleaned out and inspected. She decided to start on the sanding (clear coat was destroyed).
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So as she sanded, I formulated a plan to get her up and running for the spring/summer. I decided to pull the 410 stroker and 3800 converter out of my dart and slap it in the duster. I took the virgin 360 magnum block that came with the car on a pallet and built a new 408 bruiser for my dart. Which is in another thread.
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She slapped in a new fuel tank and sending unit and I ran new -6 AN from the tank to front. She also cleaned up the old headers that came with the car, painted and wrapped them (she has wayyy more patience than I do). I did have to fix some weird brackets the previous own had made for the leaf springs. Once I removed those and put everything back where it should be the wheels/tires didn't touch. ALthough they are still way too big and dry rotted. This thing is cherry, no rust holes, no mashed floor boards.. it's a dream..
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After some tinkering with little things here and there. The stroke was ready to drop in, along with the protrans 904 and the RoadRunner 3800 converter. We also installed a new Shifter.
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And then.... There was life.



Everything is basically buttoned up under the hood. And this is where we're at.. sanding, waiting for a new driveshaft and a few more little things I need to get sorted before she can get it on the road.
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I guess this is what happens when your transmission is the last one built on a friday.

Here's some knowledge... 727 park rods don't work that great in 904's...who knew, you'd think the trans builder would have. lol
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That is going to make a nice one.
 
New wheels and tires for the rear, successful test drive around the block. With obligatory burn out to clean the stickers off the tires.
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Jadaharabi said:
What the story?
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well, she drove it to the track and first run for the car.. spun through first and second, she pedaled and it grabbed kicked her sideways into the wall.. Doesn't look to crazy though, should be able to get it back up and running. NO leaks still runs. So thats a plus..
 
Jadaharabi said:
Maybe some wet parking lot cat *** pratice training is neaded.
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yeah maybe, that lane had nothing but issues all day long. The plan was to baby it and roll into the throttle.. well she decided to go full send..
 
Looks like a little straightening is in it's future. door gaps and panel gaps are all good up till the very front, engine still level, firewall level. Front support is about 1/2-3/4" tweaked. No visible wrinkles in subframe. We'll see if I can get it sorted and measured out right, if not might have to load 'er up and send to a shop with a frame machine.
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Jadaharabi said:
Was she hurt as in physically?
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nah, the woman is fine. She's a tough nut. Found a video of the crash though. Here's the link starting at the point. Unfortunately you don't get to see it hit as the camera person damn near dropped the camera. note- I am not the person that took the video just happen to find it looking on youtube.
 
That's not bad. It won't quite buff out, but it's not bad. What's up with the DLI stickers? Did it have Landy power at one point?
 
RustyRatRod said:
That's not bad. It won't quite buff out, but it's not bad. What's up with the DLI stickers? Did it have Landy power at one point?
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I don't think so. Previous owner had the stickers on it. We found some new ones that match them just in case they don't last much longer here in the desert.
 
Toluene56 said:
I don't think so. Previous owner had the stickers on it. We found some new ones that match them just in case they don't last much longer here in the desert.
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Well, we can find out if you want to. I am friends with Robert Landy, Dick's son on Facebook. Talk to him all the time. He is super cool. Might remember something about it. Who knows? Might have been "just stickers" but you never know.
 
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