Rapom's Rocket - just another Duster build thread

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Sorry to let this thread sit in limbo for the last 5 weeks but with all that's been happening lately I haven't even given the car a thought, let alone work on it. The holidays, family commitments, fall house and yard maintenance and a couple of unforeseen events have all conspired to take away my beloved car time. A week or two ago, its all starting to blur, Mother Nature gave me a backhanded Christmas gift by doing some significant wind damage to our row of large pine trees on our back property line. Lots of chain saw work and hauling off load after load of limbs and branches. Thanks Mom.

Promise as soon as something of interest occurs with the car I'll be back with an update.

Here's hoping everyone is having a great Christmas, mine has been super so far. Lets make the new year a happy one too.

I know how you feel! Same sort of thing here, I've gotten a few things done on the Duster but it seems like between the weather and the holidays it's been rough trying to find the time.

I got a few things for Christmas that will help out with the Duster, so hopefully I'll have a least a small update or two on mine here soon.
 
I have a reasonable sized car fund built up for all of the remaining goodies on the build wish list. So far I have managed to control the urge(s) to go binge shopping and end up with a giant pile of new parts with not a free minute to work on the car. Once things settle down after New Years I'm putting Operation "Done Duster" into effect. I vow some major progress on this ride is going to be made next year come hell or high water.

Looking forward to the updates Blu, you always come thru with the goods.
 
Sorry to let the thread laps into hibernation. Been dealing with a series of events which have put a smackdown on my motivation. Life sucks sometimes. Lately its sucked alot.
Can't wait to get the wrenches flying again.
 
Hey there stranger. Not quite on it yet but there's an automotive smack down com'in soon. What's the plan with the Duster and Dart?
 
Whoo Hoo!!! The automotive Gods smiled upon me today and I hit the Trifecta: 1st the weather was perfect, 2nd I had time to myself today and 3rd I got my sorry a.. out to the shop and made some progress on the car. I feel reinvigorated.

Pic 1 - Got both sides of the cowl behind the splash shields treated and painted.
Pic 2 - Put the 1st of two coats of undercoating into the rear wheel wells. Still have to attach a trunk floor pan to the back of the arches so I left a strip uncoated. I will apply a second heavy coat and blend in those areas when the floor is in.
Pic 3- Finished trimming the filler panel between the hood and cowl induction scoop. Then welded and smoothed the opening all the way around and put a coat of primer on it for some protection. Also seam sealed the panel to the hood on the interior side.
Pic 4 - I used some small sheet metal screws to clamp the scoop and hood skin together to see if there were going to be any issues before welding. Fit was actually quite good all the way around.

I think the next set of goals will be to install the trans onto the engine and put the whole shooting match (K, engine, trans, front suspension, power steering) onto my skate and slide it under the car. Then I can start working on the "stuff that needs done" list like oil filter location, completing the engine wiring harness, make lines for the power steering cooler, locate the steering coupler and drill the shaft for the cross pin, make up some grounding cables and so on and so forth.... But first I've got to get my steering box rebuilt by Firmfeel and finally make a damn decision on what Torsion Bar to run.
 

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I suppose if I'm going to assemble the motor and trans in order to complete the mock up of the engine compartment I should first freshen up the internals of the transmission and prep the clutch parts. I purchased a rebuild kit for the '75 iron cased OD from Brewers which has everything needed to do the deed. The brass rings are new syncros. Also included are new roller bearings, gaskets, seals, bushings and all the clips/pins/springs ect. needed for the job. I also opted for a proper tub of assembly grease which was not included in the kit.

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Small update... Picked up a new set of MSD 8.5mm spark plug wires at the Portland Swap Meet this weekend for the paltry sum of one Jackson. Had a great time with my buddies sorting thru junk and eatin & drinking the rest of the time.
 

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Update #2... Brake booster on it's way for a week stay at "Booster Dewey's" spa in Portland. Long overdue for a massage and a face lift.
 

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Dewey looked the booster over and was of the opinion that my front can and the band were too pitted to get a quality finish from the CAD plating I had wanted. The total for new parts, plating and rebuild pushed the cost equation too far up the scale so I'm opting (going cheap) for the std black. I think black might work with my paint and the overall feel of the car just as well so no big deal either way.

I have not been impressed with the CAD plated stuff I've acquired lately. Much of my grade 8 suspension hardware is corroding along with some of my new parts. Shop building is currently unheated but kept dry with absorbent all year. Hate to see what road conditions are going to do to them.
 
Or you could just go really cheap and delete the booster all together. :D

Nice job, keep it up!
 
Naahhh....Done the unassisted brakes and steering thing on all my previous cars. Those of us in the more "seasoned" age brackets appreciate the creature comforts of more modern vehicles the more "seasoned" we get. I'm more "seasoned" than I like.

So... booster back from rebuild and all assembled and ready to bolt in. Cleaned up and painted my horn and swapped out my too long mock up throttle cable for the correct one for the '74. The throttle cable bracket I had wasn't right for the application so I modified it a little. Monday I dropped off my power steering box to Dick at Firm Feel for a stage III rebuild and a new pitman arm. Talked torsion bars over with several guys on the staff and the group think came to the conclusion that 1.06's would suit my needs best. I still haven't ruled out the 1.12's though because of the overall weight of the car. Progresssss!

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Nice!

I think you'll like the 1.06's. I bought a set for my '71 GT, although it's not on the road so I can't really comment too much.

The 1.12's are great, I really like them on my Duster, but they're pretty stiff for the street all the time. I think the 1.06's will be a good compromise for a car that spends more time on the street than it does on the track.
 
You would think after all the years I've played with cars I'd learn to temper my enthusiasm a bit... but it isn't happening. Always want to up the anti when cracking open the piggy bank for new performance parts even though deep inside my brain there is a voice telling me to cool my jets a bit. This time I listened and the 1.06s are ordered.

Question for you 72Blu: Trying to figure out if my stock upper A arms are going to become an issue when trying to fit wide 17 or 18 inch rims up front. Nearly everyone I see with these on an A body is also running adjustable A arms. Besides the wider range of adjustment are they also solving clearance issues? Do you have any info you'd care to share??????
 
Question for you 72Blu: Trying to figure out if my stock upper A arms are going to become an issue when trying to fit wide 17 or 18 inch rims up front. Nearly everyone I see with these on an A body is also running adjustable A arms. Besides the wider range of adjustment are they also solving clearance issues? Do you have any info you'd care to share??????

Yes, they do also solve clearance issues if you get the right type. The "V" shaped tubular UCA's are narrower than even the stock UCA's. I originally intended to run my Duster with stock UCA's and offset bushings. In fact, I WAS running it that way until I added my 18x9's and 275's. But because of the offset on the 18x9's, the rims actually hit the UCA's before full steering lock at full suspension droop. It wasn't a huge amount of interference, but they hit. The tubular UCA's clear.

How much of a problem is that? Hard to say. The chances of being at full suspension droop and full steering lock at the same time are probably pretty slim. But I didn't want to chance it. It also depends on the front rims. With a set of 18x8's I doubt it would come up. Even with 18x9's with an offset to run a 255 in the front it probably wouldn't be an issue if you set the offset so the tires were out closer to the fenders than the frame. But with the offset I needed to cram a set of 275's in there it can become an issue. Another one of those annoying wheel clearance things, it depends pretty much entirely on the specs and design of the rims you want to run.
 
Thanks Kid. In 10 months I've gotten 2 "eehh" responses and one "like" on the hood. I'll take that as an endorsement of the work. At least it's functional!

Hey Blu I found this post of yours on another thread: "Something to consider- 275's will perform better on a 10" rim. I was initially trying to stay with stock UCA's, which is why I went 18x9's. Knowing now that the stock UCA's didn't clear the rims at full lock and full droop, I would just have gone to tubular UCA's like I have now, and a 10" rim."

I'm guessing that a 10" rim and stock A arms would have contacted sooner than the 9"s do at roughly the same spots. Where are your tight spots in the front wheel well now? Is there room for a 10"rim/275mm tire combo in the front? What's your guess on where interference points would be? I'll be running stock spindles and 11.75 B body brakes for now.
 
It's the small things that make it feel like progress is being made. Gas pedal refinished/refurbished. Brake booster back home where it belongs. Without that big rusty tin can hanging on the firewall the engine compartment took several strides forward today.
 

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Usually trying to decide on a color to paint the car is the most vexing decision to make in executing a build. I'm seeing that a tire & rim package is going to be my Waterloo on this Duster. Damn straight, I want the biggest weenies that will fit mounted on the baddest *** wheels made. I already knew custom off$et rims in back were required. Now it looks like new A arms. Friggin Money Pit...

As for rim$ I got 2 candidates currently under consideration that toot my whistle. The mushroom cloud coming out of my wallet will be epic.
 
Hey Blu I found this post of yours on another thread: "Something to consider- 275's will perform better on a 10" rim. I was initially trying to stay with stock UCA's, which is why I went 18x9's. Knowing now that the stock UCA's didn't clear the rims at full lock and full droop, I would just have gone to tubular UCA's like I have now, and a 10" rim."

I'm guessing that a 10" rim and stock A arms would have contacted sooner than the 9"s do at roughly the same spots. Where are your tight spots in the front wheel well now? Is there room for a 10"rim/275mm tire combo in the front? What's your guess on where interference points would be? I'll be running stock spindles and 11.75 B body brakes for now.

Yes I believe the 10" rims probably will give you less room to work with than the 9's as far as the UCA's are concerned. I don't think stock UCA's and 10" wide rims are a compatible option, you just need too much backspacing to make it work. Like I said, my 18x9's didn't even work. They were close, so I think with a little less backspacing 18x9's might work with stock UCA's, but it will come down to rim design, exact backspacing, etc.

As far as the 275 tire, I think it will still work on a 10" rim, but your offset/backspacing will have to be perfect. As far as "tight spots", pretty much everything is a tight spot on my car. ;) I'm still running my 3mm spacers with my 35mm offset 18x9's and Dr Diff 13" brakes. Right now I have a slight rub on my frame in the back at full lock. It's just enough to rub the paint off the frame, but the steering does hit the stops, it's not being stopped by the frame. I've got a set of 5mm spacers that I haven't installed yet to fix that problem. But, there's almost zero room to the fenders. I haven't hit the fenders yet, but the tires are right there at my current ride height. I haven't rolled them yet though, and I'm not running the most negative camber I could yet either. So, I'm holding off on the spacers until I'm ready to adjust my alignment or roll the fenders. :D

Tomswheels runs 285/35/18's on his Valiant, but he pushed the fenders out to do it. Even on my car I extended the lower front fender to bumper braces by close to 2" to push the corners of the front wheel openings out. The bottom front of the fender is visibly pushed out compared to stock. I also gave a little pull on the top of the wheel openings. If you sight down the bodyline on my fenders you can see they're slightly bowed out at the wheel openings. I may push on them a little more when I roll the fender lips.

So, it really depends on what you're willing to do. If you're ok with extending the fender to bumper braces, rolling the fender lips, and running close to -1* of camber I think the 275's on 18x10's will fit with the right backspace. You might not need to do all of those things, but you may need to do some of them. With the 11.75" rotors I would say you need to be at 25-30mm offset, or 6.5" to 6.75" backspacing on a 10" rim (I'm currently at 27mm offset, which is 6.1" backspace on a 9" rim). 6.5" would be the absolute minimum I would go as that will put the tires really close to the fenders, 6.75" will probably need a small spacer to adjust for frame rubs. It's a really tight window, and of course all of these cars are a little different. So, just because that's what works on my car doesn't guarantee it will work on yours.

Which is where "what you're willing to do" comes into play. If you're willing to play around with more negative camber, rolling the fender lips, pushing the fenders out with the braces, etc, then I think it will work. If you don't want to do any of that stuff, I'm not sure I'd even suggest running 275's because of the body tolerances on these cars. They absolutely fit, but I definitely had to make some adjustments to get them to work. I think they're the limit without making irreversible changes to the bodywork. Where I'm at right now if you put the stock fender braces back on they return to their stock shape. Any further won't.
 
Excellent info. Thank you for taking the time to write that up.

Hey no problem. I had to figure it all out for my car, might as well pass it along.

With of course the standard disclaimer that the body tolerances on these cars aren't that great, so when your clearance tolerances get smaller than the body tolerances not everyone will be successful. With the 275's up front on my car, with how it's set up for ride height, etc, I think I'm only playing around with an "extra" 1/4" to 3/8" or so. It's tight.
 
Fortunately for me I've got plenty of time to figure out my wheel fitment dilemma and build the bank account up for the expense. Yesterday I was working on the hood and got to thinking about paint. Engine bay will be body color, grill and hood semi-gloss black. A poll for those following the build: Do I paint the underside of the hood black or body color to match the engine bay? What say you?
 
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