74 Duster - My first project.

This is not a must but they make a heck of a difference...SUB FRAME CONNECTORS, ever I put some on my car, almost everything has improved, handling, stability, overall stiffness(the rear wheels now follow the front wheels), the doors close better and more...

I actually did put sub frame connectors on my car. I made them and got a welder buddy to install them. Everyone that has them loves them. Eventually I want to go with the larger torsion bars, sway bars and tubular control arms etc. to make it handle well. I am just concentrating on getting it drivable right now, but I put the sub frame connectors on prior to undercoating the whole bottom of the car so I didn't have to clean off fresh undercoat to weld them in.

I'm really getting excited about it right now, but sunning out of time for a while with summer and the kids wanting to go to the Cabin etc.

Cley

Great start to the car.
Taking care of the kids and wife is important too.

I had a week off from work and I was at home with the kids. So we installed the guts in the doors and now I have windows that roll up and down! Those little things seem to mean a whole lot sometimes.

Well then I pulled the front suspension and K member to install the motor. I had never done it this way before but everything I read said that was the way to do it.



And here it is! My 360, 904, and new Patriot headers. I can't imagine putting the motor and headers in through the hood opening. Lowering the body was a piece of cake!



Now all I need to do is reinstall the steering column so I can roll it to the heated garage out back and finish it this fall and winter. I'll do an extreme clean up of my back shop, cause it's a little small, but it will work fine if I'm organized with the storage of all the bigger parts. I think i'll get some of those 4 wheeled skates to put under the tires to roll it around back there.

Oh and I did use the K member from the car with the sway bar etc. I could not believe how it is all one piece like that. I guess I should have known it would be, but it seems so simple when it's out on the floor.

I have been slowly picking away at some little things. It's nice to have it in the back garage that is dedicated to it alone. Then if I get an hour to work on it, it doesn't take a half hour to get to it before starting.

I got my rear side glass in. I got some Sound matting/Insulation installed, carpet that fit like crap is installed but I think it may just get replaced. It's not quite the right color (Dark Brown not Black) but I was going to live with it for a while because it came with the car and didn't cost me anything. It's not very well moulded so it looks kinda cheap. Not sure if I'll leave it for now or what.

The console is set in but needs to be cleaned up and painted. I made mounts for the Hurst Quarter stick I picked up at a swap meet. It looks great. The console top is from a 68 Baracuda and is quite pitted and crappy looking so I'll smooth it out and paint it body color. It should look good.

I have real decent driver quality bumpers for it now so that primered bumper will not get painted. Now I need some nice tail light chrome to match the bumpers. I need to get that vinyl roof installed so I can get a windshield in it.

I've been stockpiling parts and selling spare parts so that has been good. Vinyl top should be here any day. Weatherstrip and window gaskets are here just waiting to be installed. I bought an interior screw kit and that looks like it will be a good idea. Lots of other small things coming together. I mounted my dual snorkel scoop and I'm really happy with that. I just have to cut out below it to make it functional.

Just plugging away. If I don't have enough snow to go snowmobiling over the Christmas break then i'll get lots if time on the car then. It's been a crazy warm November/December here.


Cley

Keep up the good work, patience is very useful and the more you have the better the finished product will be.

Well, I got my console and shifter ready to install. I still need to put a cup holder in where the old ash tray went. I like how it turned out, but I still think I may send the top out to get Hydro Dipped with some design if I can find one I like.




Then I got my flip top gas cap installed, but it isn't quite sitting right, so I need to work with that a little more. I'll post some pics when I get it right.

For the last couple days I have been reinstalling the wiring. I'm so glad I got a factory service manual, since I didn't take it apart. I moved the power wire so it doesn't go through the bulkhead anymore. I've done so much recently but it doesn't really show. I have a couple more garage days ahead of me, so hopefully there will be more updates.

Cley

Looks good, what do you intend on using for the cup holder part ?

I love that consul. Car is coming along nicely.

X2

I haven't found anything for a cup holder yet but when my wife comes home I'm going to grab the one off the floor in the back seat area of her Ram pick up and see if it will work. Ill have to cut out the console a little more but I'm ok with that.

Cley

89on35s wrote:I haven't found anything for a cup holder yet but when my wife comes home I'm going to grab the one off the floor in the back seat area of her Ram pick up and see if it will work. Ill have to cut out the console a little more but I'm ok with that. Cley

Please keep us up to date.

Well I got my wiring almost done. What a chore! I am not finished the headlight relays, and the dash and steering column aren't done. I couldn't find the f'ing speedo cable, or that would be done too.

With the headlight relays and the LED lights everywhere else, there should be very little amp load through the bulkhead. The car came with the 60 amp alternator, so the main power wires were routed outside of the bulkhead anyway, but since I am doing away with the amp gauge and rerouting the alternator wire, I upgraded the wire coming into the dash to a #8, and added another #8 all the way back to the trunk since my son thinks we need a big ass amp and sub box back there.

I never got as much done this week as I had hoped, but boy was my stress level dropped way down! Nothing mellows me out more than garage time, even when I can't find that stupid nut, bolt or cable that I am looking for!

Now I'm off to try and find some snow to ride around on with my family on our snowmobiles. Since it's lightly raining now, I'm not sure how that will work out, but they were insistent!

Always a good idea to get rid of the amp gauge inside the car and turn it into a volt meter.

Have fun in the snow, if you can find some...

We might have so in the woods, but outside of that GOOD LUCK

excellent thread keep up the good work it takes a lot of dedication to take  on such a project your car will be very nice when you get it done and you will know exactly what you have .

crankycrow wrote:excellent thread keep up the good work it takes a lot of dedication to take  on such a project your car will be very nice when you get it done and you will know exactly what you have .

He is very right, it is a super feeling of accomplishment, for me it was 9 years ago.

Very nice looking car lets see some finished pics

Package tray and rear speakers are in. Weatherstrip installed on doors and windows adjusted. Dash all in and done. Now if I would just stop running the paint on the steering column every time I paint it, that will be in too.

Turns out that the headliner I had for the car was the wrong one! I wish I had known that prior to covering it in vinyl. It was shorter but wider than I need. I think it must have been from a Scamp instead of a Duster.

Hopefully soon I can get someone to install my vinyl top and my front and rear glass. Then I will be seeing some progress!

I'll add some pics soon.

Cley

Any pictures of side glass w/strip?

Nice work.

I forgot to take the pictures today when I was out. I did get the console installed, finished repainting the steering column and painted the fender bolt heads under the hood. Feeling really good about things lately. Also I have the week after Easter off for holidays so that should be a productive week also.

Cley

Here's the latest.



Chrome Bumper in place and almost aligned. Every time I look at it I adjust it a little again. I slotted the mounting holes so it would sit back closer and  it looks really good to me. It also helps me get rid of the stock rubber filler stuff. When I get it rechromed, I'll narrow it 1/2' to 3/4" on either end to tuck it in nicer. But that won't be for a while. The chrome actually looks pretty good in the picture, but its not great.



Console is in and hooked up. That went pretty well but I may have to get a shorter shifter cable. This shifter is a swap meet special and came with a really long cable. I managed to route it away from everything hot and it slides really nice. I hope it will be OK. I abandoned the cup holder idea for now. My original idea crashed and burned, so I decided to leave the stock ash tray.



The rear bumper is a mess. The bottom corners were bent in a little and wouldn't let me tuck it the bumper in until I beat them straight. I modified the stock shock style bumper mounts to allow me to slide the bumper in and get rid of the rubber crap around the back too. It wasn't as easy as I imagined it to be, but it's done now!

I'm still waiting for the guy who is going to do my Vinyl top install. That's holding me up on most of the rest of the Exterior. The new headliner I ordered is holding up most of the interior, however I can still do my door panels and side panels.

I can see the finish line, but there is still lost to do!

Cley

As long as you can see the light at the end of the tunnel, you know your making progress. Even when you are finished you will find some little thing which got missed...unless you are one of the lucky ones.

Looks great Cley, You should be driving it this summer.