My boy's first Mopar!

-
Hey Richard sorry to hear about you being out of work for a while. I know the oilfield has slowed down a lot are you still in it.

PUPJOINT
 
Glad to see someone planting the gearhead seed in the young generation. My 5 year old daughter comes out to the garage every time I'm out there working just to watch. I had her sanding some parts the other day and she had a smile ear to ear. She says she can't wait for me to drive her to school in the car.
BTW.I'm just down the road from you in Madisonville.
 
I wish my son had this hobby in common with me.
 
Great Job gettin the kiddo involved, keep up the good work. He's gonna be jumped when he's driving it in a few yrs. I got my dart when I was 15, (34 now) most the work was mine, as was the cash... I learned a lot about these cars, and broke tons of stuff in the process... And i truly learned the difference hard work and elbow grease can make on a project...


I still have my Dart, and it's finally built the way I've always dreamed it....

Joe
 
Thanks for all the great comments guys ... locumob I WILL teach him to weld although right now he likes the plasma cutter better , tried to let him weld on a tractor project I just finished but he said he didn't want to screw it up ... he will do some of the welding on his car before this is over , He will get his hands in every part of this resto one way or another .
1967cuda , you know I looked back through some more pics because I was gonna prove you wrong about Vaughn's apparent lack of enthusiasm in the pics . Nope , you were right no smiling in any of them , HA , but I think it was due to his braces he got last year , he just got them removed last Monday so we shall see if he looks more enthused in future photo's!
pupjoint ,yes I'm still in the oilfield ... supposed to go to Nigeria on my next project ... I've avoided that place for 30 years and now it's either that or starve , been home so long I'm having to sell stuff to pay bills. I just refurbished this old tractor and now have it up for sale
View attachment 20150404_120556.jpg
Yep I do own a Ford , but it's actually pretty cool... it's a 1939 Ford 9N , first year for N series tractors and first year for the Fergusen system 3-point hitch . Everything works and I just posted this up on craigslist for $ 3000 . If ya'll know anyone who might be interested in it , please let them know. I can supply detailed pics .
racerjoe , I live between Ponchatoula and madisonville ,off Lee's Landing Rd. shoot me a PM with your contact details if you need any help with your Duster project , I know a kid who will work for cheap!
 
Thanks for all the great comments guys ... locumob I WILL teach him to weld although right now he likes the plasma cutter better , tried to let him weld on a tractor project I just finished but he said he didn't want to screw it up ... he will do some of the welding on his car before this is over , He will get his hands in every part of this resto one way or another .
1967cuda , you know I looked back through some more pics because I was gonna prove you wrong about Vaughn's apparent lack of enthusiasm in the pics . Nope , you were right no smiling in any of them , HA , but I think it was due to his braces he got last year , he just got them removed last Monday so we shall see if he looks more enthused in future photo's!
pupjoint ,yes I'm still in the oilfield ... supposed to go to Nigeria on my next project ... I've avoided that place for 30 years and now it's either that or starve , been home so long I'm having to sell stuff to pay bills. I just refurbished this old tractor and now have it up for sale
View attachment 1714809214
Yep I do own a Ford , but it's actually pretty cool... it's a 1939 Ford 9N , first year for N series tractors and first year for the Fergusen system 3-point hitch . Everything works and I just posted this up on craigslist for $ 3000 . If ya'll know anyone who might be interested in it , please let them know. I can supply detailed pics .
racerjoe , I live between Ponchatoula and madisonville ,off Lee's Landing Rd. shoot me a PM with your contact details if you need any help with your Duster project , I know a kid who will work for cheap!

You misinterpreted my comment about his enthusiasm. He's got that 'business-like' look that gives me the impression that he'll do great working on the car. I've got one of those 9Ns myself. - Cool little tractors. Mine's got a loader on the front.
 
Oh , I gotcha ... yeah he's definitely doing a good job so far ... I think when schools out he will get some good progress done . He did all but about a dozen of those spotwelds himself . I helped in some difficult areas but I let him go at his own pace and he got it done eventually . He's away on a school trip this week , but we plan on some more disassembly next week . Speaking of which if anyone needs any /6 parts let me know, we will not be reusing most of this drivetrain so any brackets /small parts are up for grabs ,I don't mind boxing them up just pay for the ride . Rich
P.S. I imagine there are quite a few N tractors in your neck of the woods :)
 
He always looks so enthused in the photos. I get a kick out of this thread!

One of my favorites here :color: The young man has gumchin thats for sure and a fast learner :glasses7:
 
Yep, always cool to see a young guy go at it.

I'm always fighting/preventing rust on my old junk. I replaced the floors in my 69 cuda and while the front frame rails were exposed, I sand blasted and rustproofed inside the rails. But before that, I welded short sections of 1/8" plate tieing the torsion bar anchor tubes to the frame rails. The reinforcements added are inside the rails and gets covered by the floor pans. Too many old A-bodies went to the junkyard around here because the frame rails rusted and the T-bar anchor twisted out and BANG! the front end is in the weeds, the fuel line gets ruptured and off to the boneyard it went. You had enough floor rust that I would take a good look at the rail thickness in that area.

Keep at it Vaughn.
 
This is a good thread, and we are pulling for you Vaughn. Just let us know if you get hung up on anything, we'll (someone) help talk you through it! Keep up the good work.
C
 
Your boy is very lucky to have you guide him along. I picked up the hobby through trial and a lot of error. I had a good dad but he didn't know a gas cap from a bottle cap. Keep up the good work!
 
Thanks again for the encouragement .. Vaughn comes home from his school trip today ... He was planning to play paintball Saturday ( he and his school buddies started a team) but Saturday looks to be rainy so hopefully we can get back to the Duster ! KosmicKuda , I was worried as to what I would find as far as corrosion in the torsion bar crossmember but as you can see in post #41 it wasn't bad at all... just surface rust with some small areas of pitting where the floor contacts the x-member this car rusted from the inside out due to standing water in the floorboards , it was a southern car and not exposed to road salt but it was flooded during a hurricane and water sat between the rubber floor mats and the floor ...I bet the wiper pivots leaked also ,they are in sad shape and I will need to source new ones .
 
If your on Lee's Landing road we are only about 3 miles apart. I am on S. Thibodeaux road. I have two old dusters out back for parts. You are welcome to what you need. Great to see young blood interested in our hobby!
 
Sorry for the lack of updates ... I have been playing catch up lately... working two jobs along with all the honeydoo's around the ranch doesn't leave much time for Vaughn's car. He's getting pulled in many directions also , currently he is visiting his Grampa in Kentucky , he goes every year for a week during the summer to fish and generally do guy things with his grampa ... yesterday they went to a drag boat show , today their celebrating the 4th and tomorrow he will be on his way home .
Twistgrip , we will get together soon... I'd like to bring Vaughn over to check out your Dart project and look over your Dusters. Thanks
 
It was great meeting you and Vaughn today. I am impressed with his enthusiasm.
 
Same here Carey , we enjoyed the visit and really appreciate the generosity .
For others following this thread ... Twistgrip was nice enough to donate a 74 Duster parts car to Vaughn ... looks like it will have some parts like wiper arm pivots , and grill that Vaughn needed! Carey , let me know when it's time to cut your lawn and I'll bring the boy over!
 
Hard to believe it's been two years since posting here . I wish I could say the car was done but... no ... work , time and money constraints , weather events and honeydoos at the ranch along with Vaughn discovering girls and losing his mind for a bit added a new layer of dust to the Duster . Vaughn did get his learners permit and is now itching to complete the Duster . Here's some updates ...
EPIC road trip :
0802161640.jpg
0731161348_HDR.jpg

EPIC floods :
0813161736.jpg

And EPIC fails :
0926160921.jpg

...And now the good stuff ...
...the floor is in !
0529171120a.jpg

0529171110.jpg

0525171226_HDR.jpg

0525171653f_HDR.jpg

The ol' slant six is out ... along with the k-member and front suspension ...
kmem.jpg

0602171802a.jpg

I'm afraid this may be getting a little bit picture heavy so ... to be continued .
 
... did a little horsetrading and got a sweet 360 and 904 combo to tide Vaughn over till the 340 is complete ...
0626170800b.jpg

Picked it up in Kentucky while Vaughn was on his trip to visit Grandpa ... and swung by Whirly Jig factory on the way home !!!
p.s. Eric and his dad are major Mopar guys .
0627171550.jpg

0701172022.jpg

So here we are , Duster is on rotisserie , floor is in ... just a couple more plug welds and we can raise the body off the jackstands and remove the tired old 7 1/4 rear axle ... and replace it with the 8 3/4 we scored today !!!! whoo hoo !
0717171412a_HDR.jpg

0717171817_HDR.jpg

Yep scored this 73 today for a song ... it's got an A body 8 3/4 of unknown vintage in it ( gonna check the numbers tomorrow ) and a V8 K-member !
 
... did a little horsetrading and got a sweet 360 and 904 combo to tide Vaughn over till the 340 is complete ...
View attachment 1715070718
Picked it up in Kentucky while Vaughn was on his trip to visit Grandpa ... and swung by Whirly Jig factory on the way home !!!
p.s. Eric and his dad are major Mopar guys .
View attachment 1715070719
View attachment 1715070720
So here we are , Duster is on rotisserie , floor is in ... just a couple more plug welds and we can raise the body off the jackstands and remove the tired old 7 1/4 rear axle ... and replace it with the 8 3/4 we scored today !!!! whoo hoo !
View attachment 1715070721
View attachment 1715070722
Yep scored this 73 today for a song ... it's got an A body 8 3/4 of unknown vintage in it ( gonna check the numbers tomorrow ) and a V8 K-member !
i need the cross member with the trans mount brkt if your not going to use it. mine in rusted where the torsion bars connect. let me know how much shipped to 06042.
 
Bigus , will have to check shipping options and will PM you about that , but are you aware AMD reproduces that part ?
 
Checked the rear axle today ... it's a 741 with a sure grip ... forgot to check ratio , maybe I 'll check it later today , got honeydoos to get to now.
 
Great to see you back and making progress. Let me know if y'all want to ride over and see the progress on my Dart. Also remember the other old Duster is yours for the taking if you want it.
 
-
Back
Top