74 Duster - My first project.

I am putting stuff together knowing I will redo it at some point. I just have to remind myself that it will never be a show car and I don't want it to be. It will be a driver! And I will drive the wheels off it.

Cley

89on35s wrote:I am putting stuff together knowing I will redo it at some point. I just have to remind myself that it will never be a show car and I don't want it to be. It will be a driver! And I will drive the wheels off it.

Cley

Well said,

Cars are meant to be driven not to be flour pot...

It may or may not ever be a show car, but don't be afraid to show it off.

Oh I'll show it off? My little girl told me the other day - "You know Daddy, you are the greatest car builder I know!"

Cley

Here it is as it sits now. Last weekend I got the vinyl top done so now today I'm getting the front and rear glass installed. I guess I wasn't totally sold on the vinyl till I saw it. Now I am so glad I put it on.

I also managed to finish off my exhaust tips and the rest of the rear of the car. The tail light trim chrome is ok, but even the NOS one I bought has some light pitting.

Modern replaceable bulb headlamps replaced the old sealed beams. I am controlling them with relays too.

I had to throw a pic in of the Duster on the trailer on the way home from the upholstery guy. I love the fact they are the same color.

Looking real good. Love the color and the factory style vinyl top.

They look good together, big brother and sister.

Vinyl top, on these cars gave them a little class. She looks very nice. Love the car/ truck combo as well.

Thanks guys. The windshield and rear window are in now as well as most of the trim. Man that trim around the front and rear window is a bear!

Cley

Good job, nice car with the vinyl top.

philcollins wrote:Good job, nice car with the vinyl top.

Hey are you home already?

I got windshield and back window installed last week as planned. I got almost all the exterior trim on. I just need to finish around the windshield. I got a new rear bumper in almost perfect shape but installing that may have to wait.

All my lights work except my dash lights. I have a working gas gauge. I have a working stereo with 4 speakers. My old cheapo tach is mounted on the column and wired in.







We are going to the cabin this weekend then back to the car after that. Have a great Victoria Day weekend!

Cley

That darn thing keeps on looking better and better each time I see it.

Almost ready to go

Well here it sits right now. Exterior done, Interior 2/3rds done, then everything under the hood except the motor needs to go in to get it running.

89on35s said:

Well here it sits right now. Exterior done, Interior 2/3rds done, then everything under the hood except the motor needs to go in to get it running.

After you get the under hood part done including the motor, she'll need some Mothers ''Showtime'' and then she will be ready for the road and looking like a queen.

It definitely needs a wash!

Cley

A wash is fine but Showtime will give that extra sparkle. I find it does anyway.

Well, I'm spinning my wheels a bit right now. I took the dash back out to fix the dash lights. When I put it back together they stopped working again. It must be a bad pin on the plugin to the circuit board. I will have to take the dash back out to connect the speedo cable. I thought I could connect it with the dash in, but my big meat hook hands weren't meant for that job.

Also my LED signal lights pissed me off to the point that I now have 1157s in the fronts so the flashers will work. I'll have to come back to that little project. I found out that when you have a 2 speed wiper switch and wiring on the inside, and a 3 speed wiper motor and 3 speed under hood wiring, you actually have the sum total of nothing. I found my 2 speed motor and under hood wiring so hopefully that nagging little project will be finished soon. That's part of making one car out of 2 I guess.

My front seats are in. I just have to pull them out one more time to clean them up and dye them black. That's one thing about custom work, it's not like bolting stock components in that were meant to be there. Put em in, take em out, put em in, take em out! I'm quite happy with them now. They are from a 96 Avenger. There are lots of manual adjustability to them and I find them very comfortable. Eventually I'll cover them to match the stock rear seat but a black dye job will have to do for now.

I'm hoping for another big weekend this weekend so I can move on to getting it running and driving instead of revisiting a bunch of stuff I thought I was finished with.

Cley

I feel your pain, dash lights headlights power brake booster all sent to try our patince I am sure. Its all good rolling down the road though.

When playing with these old cars it can be hit and miss. Mostly because you don't know what's been done in the last 30/40 years. Show us some pictures of the seats installed.

Dan!!!!
Boy thats for sure, heres an example. Finally get the car on the road, discover a leak in my power brake booster.. sh--. The outfit here that used to rebuild they are out of the business find a company in Ontario the rep says send me a picture and I will see if I have a remanufactured one. Off goes the pics he send me a response saying thats not even a Mopar booster it looks like a Ford booster..... WTF. Thats the fun of old cars.

Well here it is, Exterior done for now, Interior done for now, I finished up the fuel line, trans cooler lines, grounded the fuel sending unit this weekend, so now all I have to do is figure out what I am going to do with the tank vent.
I pulled the intake off because I have to remove the P.S. head due to a screwed up frost plug in the back of it. As soon as the top end is back together I need to get everything under the hood buttoned up and away we go right?
Of course it is never that easy! No pictures cause I was too busy working!

Cley

I had a huge couple of weeks. As of last night, I need to add 2 vacuum lines and throw some fuel in the tank. In an ideal world it will start right up. In the real world, the timing is likely 180 degrees off and there are other issues, but I'll figure that out in the next couple weekends. The plan currently is to haul it to my hometown for the Homecoming car show. I will be leaving with it this weekend. I really wanted to hear it run this weekend but it was just a little too much left.

Cley

Keep plugging away, you will see that the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter, little by little!