Sweet Build! You think it's tough dealing with people about building a Duster, you should try being into Mavericks.....

Do they think your car is a Vega? because for some reason people think Dusters are Nova's......A guy down the road sold a real nice Comet this summer, I was tempted to pick it up.

Thanks for the compliment...

Great idea keeping the accessories low to show off the great looking heads and valve covers.

really cool duster mate, not a car that has ever appealed to me but yours looks awesome! keep up the good work.

Thanks, Unfortunately everything has to be custom made for a application like this. I was going to buy a GM low mount kit and try to modify it like I did the Chevy Timing pointer but decided to save the $$$$ and make my own. I'm not done with the Valve covers either ...If I had a project name I would Water Jet it into them but I want to give them more dimension regardless of a logo or name.

Thanks Cozmo76,
I hear from co workers and friends..."That's a lot of work for just being a Duster, you should have done that to a Cuda' or Road Runner." But originally it was only going to be slightly modified...and then the snowball effect started.

Vega's for sure, I had a guy at a car show say to me "You must know a lot about AMC's.." once I explained to him it was a Ford, he walked away very quickly...:) The other common mistake is Camaro..

I managed to finally get a Alternator mount made, It's not my favorite design but it works and once plated, polished or painted (haven't decided on the finish yet) and dropped in the engine bay it will disappear and be forgotten. I swapped out my power steering fluid reservoir for something a little cleaner and smaller and started designing a bracket to mount it to the single head bolt on the drivers side and use the gap between the head and block as a lock to keep it from tilting and rotating.

I Re-made the Power Steering mount today and after mounting it I decided tomorrow I will re-design it for the third and hopefully final time, each time It seems to get smaller and cleaner like the Alternator and Power Steering pump mounts did. At least this will give a better idea of the size and location once complete.

Best lookin alternator i have ever seen, and same goes for your Duster project. My friend had high reving W2 340/4speed Duster in early 90's and that car set my fire on this crazy hobby :)

I decided to start mocking up some weld in reinforcement brackets for my bolt in main hoop bar and pro touring door bars. I am not going to use the rear bars instead I am going to use the upper shoulder belt bolt hole for an attaching point to the top of the hoop for stability, like the 60's Shelby mustang bar ( see last 2 pic's). I also started fitting my new shifter...the console it came with was a plain rectangle so I will be making a "curvy" console so it has some character and style, the new oval top plate is made and installed the console will be built around it.

I've thought about this too! Surprised more don't do this, seems like a great way to tie back into the body and get some more strength.
Love this project, these are really under used body styles.


Jeff-

Since it's mainly a street car and I hate to work around a welded in cage when it comes to installing an interior, the cross bar will be removable for rear passenger access and also will serve as an attaching point for the shoulder belts. Once the interior is installed (rear seat, headliner, carpet) I can bolt the bar in place.

My correct length 6 rib serpentine belts (26.7") from KRC power Steering showed up and I finally had a chance to make sure everything is bolted down and works the way it should before I paint or polish everything. I also picked up a Billet Specialties Black Formula D shaped steering wheel with Contrasting Cuts that match up pretty well with the dash and Billet buttons.

Looks really nice. Where did you got those billet buttons?

There from Autoloc, there the 22mm ones and are laser etched with there control function. Here's a link to there website.

http://www.autoloc.com/products/buttonbuilder/

Hmmm, you've got my wheels turning now. I like this idea, I'm thinking it's just what I've been looking for to put in my car.

My main reason for wanting to add a roll bar is for the cross bar to use as a harness mounting location and like yourself...the car is mainly a street car and I'd like to keep the nice interior not all cut up plus retain access to the rear seat.

Do you plan to make the bar mount to the seat bolt area a bit stouter than the Shelby looking mount? And what do you plan on using for safety belts?

Ultimately I'd like to retain a 3 point retractable belt for everyday use and have a way to bolt the harness bar in place and and install a set of 5 or 6 point harnesses for track days.

I have less room for a door bar than a rear bar though, so it might be easier for me to put rear bars in. Are your door bars going to be welded in?

Loving your build btw...subscribed...

I actually have thought about making the top mount location more wedged shaped and tie it in to the main hoop throughout the roof line bend for a more rugged looking mount but it still will bolt in to a single point and only provide a certain amount of stability... which should be plenty for it's intended purpose.

I plan on using 4 point Racing harness with the shoulder belts passing thru the seat back opening. I figure 95% of the time It will just have front seat passengers so I can run the crossbar and shoulder belts, if I do have rear passengers I won't hot rodding to much and have a real need to be fully strapped in.

The door bars will bolted in at the front mounting points and I am planning on clamping the rear mounting points to the main hoop like a Ridetech Tiger cage.

Here's an update on the roll bar support brackets, I re-made them and got them welded in, the new design not only looks better but without that corner sticking out should be more convenient for rear passengers. I stopped by Summit Racing and picked up a Chassis Engineering main hoop for an "A" body Mopar ...as you can see it was too long to fit on top of the brackets so I'll have to take 3" off each leg and make a jig to hold it so I can widen it at the bottom by about 2.75"per leg so it's tucked in close to the interior panels. I will be on a 5 month Military Deployment soon so the build will be coming to a halt, and I just accepted a position at Patrick AFB, Fl starting as soon as I get back...so the future of the car is unclear, I was offered $15K Thursday night for the car the way it sits, after I chuckled a little I said "That's what I have in the engine and that's not including all the custom made parts on it".

I Finally got the Rendering from Kris Horton....Man I really dig it. Here's the Bad News, I leave within a few weeks for several months on a Military Deployment so work on my end will come to a complete stop, the up side is the body will be painted by the time I return. I hope everyone enjoys the Rendering, see you all in the fall for the updates to start again.

WOW!!!! Very nice!


--Eric

sweet !!!!

looks very nice

That looks great

Have a safe deployment Ross! It was great working with you and can't wait to see the finished car. You're doing an amazing job with everything so far and it's only getting better. Be safe over there!

Kris

Thanks Kris,
I might be getting back in touch to add that rear 3/4 view we discussed.

Good looking rendering..

Thanks Rob,
Your demon was an inspiration for the build

Your progress has surpassed mine.....I've got a little AMC project going now. Stay safe on your deployment

Well it's not a progress picture but here's just one of the cool things I get to work on during this Current Military Deployment......Now, If I could just incorporate some of the design and technology in the Duster !

That's very cool! Those things are incredible feats for ingenuity.

Thank you very much for serving!

That is an awesome Picture - thank you for sharing and Thank you for your service.

I really enjoy what I do and your welcome.

Awesome!!

I'm back from my deployment :bigun2: and started back on the car. The Motor is on the Dyno and should be done tomorrow. Hope you enjoy the pics, I think the car looks spot on to the rendering.

Thank you for your service and Welcome home ! The car looks Sweet, I like the paint scheme. I hope you get the motor in soon so we cane hear it.

Ross even though I'm from Canada I'd still like to thank you for your service as I do all our military.I've just been through your entire build and the engineering that you've put into this build is really impressive.That's putting it mildly...I'm currently working on my 69 Camaro and I liked the look of seats you chose.Could you tell me what type they are?
This is such a cool build !...cheers

Dave

Looks great, nice to see something different.

Mike

Thanks Dave, there were some Canadian Air Force stationed with us and they are a fun and great group of guys and gals. The Seats are from Ciphert auto and I removed the Shoulder bolsters to look more like a factory seat and had the middle Suede inserts changed out to match the rear seat. Here's a picture in there original form (Left) and the modified version in the car (Right).