Duster Resto-mod Build
 

Hello lateral-G members, I been following several build here and decided to start posting pics of my build. I purchased this car in September of 2010 and spent the first several months just replacing panels and fixing rust, I tknow from the begining I was leaning toward a mild pro touring build I wanted the lowered look, upgraded suspension and some modern convenience's what I am ending up with is more of a Resto Mod. The car has a custom built Triangulated rear suspension and also a custom front coil over conversion K member built around the car not the car built around it...basically I got my car at the desired stance and first and designed the suspension around it.
I have several pages of the build on another forum but I feel that my car would be better suited here since I've drawn several design inspirations from builds here. The car has a 8 3/4 rear with a 3.91 detroit tru trac center, future plans for the driveline will be a old fashion 340(stroked to 416) and a 727 torqueflight...

Nice build :thumbsup:

I knew there were a few FABO members here, always nice to get your comments.

Nice. :thumbsup: I love those cars.:D I so wanted to buy the Lime green one the guy did with a late model hemi and t56 that was for sale last year but I already have too much $$ in my projects.

I like the direction you are going. The old school 340s were great little mils. Top that baby off with an AAR tripower...........

Love the looks of that front suspension, looking to do something like that on my Barracuda. You have some more details?

I just parted out a 73 and thought for half a second how cool it could be...must, stay, focused.
Cool lookin ride.

:cheers:
Dan

:thumbsup:

Welcome! Nice to see you drop in here...

Looking good!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Welcome to Lat-g you have a nice build going.

nice build! Do you know what parts you are going to use to build up the 416 stroker?

-Dave

So far I was able to pick up a set of Diamond pistons, I still need a Forged crank and rods...

It was made by my buddy who is a member on "For A bodies only" (FABO)
he has been building these for about 20 years and is getting ready to bring his products to the general public, As far as I am aware he only is making them for A bodies but may be open to making something for E bodies..his screen name is HemiDenny on FABO and yes he stuffs 426 Hemis into A bodie Mopars and makes them look factory.

Nice Build!

here's a couple little details I've added and made so farthis weekend I decided to swap out the tail panel for a 70-71 model, the front end will be converted also.

heres a link to all the work from day one on this car over at FABO

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/...d.php?t=117240

Going to do a spoiler on the decklid? I like the idea of the front end swap to the earlier style Duster.

I guess the cardboard template kind of gave away the plan...I would like to design a molded in steel low profile lip but we'll see. Eventually I got to get this thing to the painter

I'll have to check it out. I've got a 67 fastback (A body) so his set up should do the trick.
How wide of a wheel/tire combo can you get up front?
That rear 4 link is the same route I'm headed, kinda based on the Ridetech/ Morrison stuff.
:cheers:
Dan

Looking good. I enjoy a well done Mopar.

Thanks but it's tough to hang with you GM guys, theres so much more cool off the shelf parts available of you ....Ford too.

Yeah, the Mopars did get the "shaft", so to speak.
I wouldn't mind a pro-tour Mopar someday. Keep up the good work.

heres a couple pics of some nice new parts I'm waiting on...they've been on order for a couple weeks now...until then I'll do some more welding ,grinding and Modifying.

Very nice stance. Good luck completing the car. More people need to build Mopars. They have a lot of potential especially if you look outside of keeping it all Mopar.

What was gonna be a quick day of shooting some Southern Polyurethane's Epoxy primer snow balled a little, but got done regardless of the setbacks...once I looked at all that needed prepped, I decided to get some blasting sand and blast my welds (there's alot) to ensure a good clean surface. Well that let me find a couple pin holes and a small section of weld that gave way to the blaster as well, so after agetting those welded back solid it was time to spray. Looks like there won't be a lot of work getting those modified inner fenders in shape to paint, firewall too..one could say they still look "factory

Well all the Rear Bumper welding is done I have a little more fine tuning and have to make the side filler panels to make a 1/4" gap between body and bumper. Once the exhaust tips arrive and there mounting brackets are welded in place I will send the bumper off to get professionally straightened and Re-Chromed. I removed 1" total in width and welded Elevator 3/8" bolts after the holes were filled, the dual exhaust cut outs are from a 2010 Dodge Ram 1500. The first photo was about a month ago before the taillight switch and bumper mod's

She's coming along nicely.

It took all day to mount the seats but it was no easy task....I could have jsut bolted them in but I would have all kinds of issues with the console and headroom. So I cut apart the seat mounting brackets and made new bolt mount tabs which lowered the seat over 1" and then used the lowest factory hole (in the background of pic with tabs)and cut the other two off which gave me another 1/2". Then there was the issue of console clearance (The custom console is 10" wide) I couldnt move the seats out since the factory floor pan where a bench seat would mount was causing major problems so the only solution was to cut out the problem and replace it with a flat piece of steel..I still have to re-make the seat reinforcements, but that should be easy. So 8 hours later I had two mounted seats. Also recieved my dash from Peak Dashs, I'm sure there will be issues there from what I hear from other Members. But after 3 1/2 months I'm just happy to have something. I mounted the gauges to get a quick peek.

I decided to try and make a spoiler, like all the cool cars on here. I used 1/4" rod for the framework and then ended up using .050" 4130 steel for the skin. It added more weight than I wanted but not enough that the lid wouldn't stay up on it's own, I'll adjust the hinge springs later to help it out a llittle more. Anyway this thing is sturdy as can be ...I still have to finish off the part where the two frame pieces come together ,that shouldn't take more than 45 minutes but I ran out of time today, total invested time so far is 11 hours but I really expected to be spending 3-4 weeks on this project so It's not that bad of a job. I'm really glad that I stuck with steel and was able to fully weld it to the deck lid . Enjoy

Bro, this Duster is turning out pretty damn sweet. I like what you are doing...keep going! :yes: :yes: Keep the pics coming too!!:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Thanks...I appreciate the compliment

From another Mopar guy... Nice work! Just went through your 50 plus pages over on FABO! I'm building a Challenger so I never get over there too much. Great build.

Wes

X2 :cool:

Thanks Wes,
I keep hearing from people "thats a lot of work for being a Duster". I guess I get it since its not as desirable as a E or B body, but maybe I can make dusters cooler with a highly modified version, tastefully done. Thanks again for the compliment, I'm trying to post more here than on FABO mainly due to the higher Quality of the builds here, but it's tough to break into a GM/Camaro dominated site but I'm giving it my best.

Ross

Sweet!!

Shiny Side Up!
Bill

nice
 

Cool, another Mopar. :thumbsup:

Nice mods! I like what your doing. When I was a teenager there were plenty of nice Dusters around that held their own plenty! :thumbsup:

.

Thanks I'm trying to think outside the box a little with the mods, but keep the Integrity and character of the Duster

Cuz, it's just plain bad ass...that's why!!:yes: :yes:

I actually love A-Bodies-Dusters, Darts, etc. My first choice would probably have been a 68 Dart build, but my wife didn't like Darts as well as a Challenger. I needed her support to justify the costs! LOL :D

The Duster is well worth all the work!
Wes

Here's the color combo I'm planning on going with, Granite Pearl for the body and Hot Rod Black on the hood treatment outlined with a bold red to match my Wilwood calipers.