1972 Duster Build

Well December didnt see much Duster time but I stayed busy in the shop. My shop buddies and I built a 12x20 mezzanine at the back of the shop and moved out the Challenger which gave us so Much more room and we were able to get a little bit organized.

Got some car time here and there but the last two weekends were pretty productive. Got the carb rebuilt and cleaned up the new grill I picked up. Also picked up a set of Cooper Cobra GT 275/60/15's and mounted them on a set of Black 15x10 D window steelies.

Finally leveled the car up on some stands and yanked the 7.25 rear out from under the car. We spent a ton of time measuring, measuring, measuring, and measuring some more until we got the 8.8 squared up and centered where it needed to be and heavy tacked the ladder bar and shock mounts on it. I still have to cut off one of the upper shock mount tabs on each side and move the out about a 1/4". The mounts that were on the cross bar were already on the car when I got it and my upper shock mount and coil retainer clip are a bit too wide to fit properly.

But I at least have the car sitting at a really nice ride height and stance and it least mean! I am going to increase my back spacing on the 15x10 Rallyes I'm getting to 5.5 which will pull them in enough to tuck under and drop it nice and level if I want to. I still have sooo much empty space in those tubs.

Speaking of tubs, I was able to modify a set of stock deck lid hinges so I can get clearance from the top of the tubs and still allow plenty of lift. This way I don't have to move them inboard and reengineer the mounts. I need to add some side straps, a bottom plate, and profile grind everything so it's strengthened and looks good. I also need to extend the hinge mount plate down to the top of the tubs to stiffen them up and provide some support for the package tray.

Looking forward to finishing the shock mount tabs so I can get it sitting on its own weight and be a real roller. I can the star working on the rest of the cage, fuel cell mounts and the rest of the sheet metal work...

My wife's going in for spinal fusion surgery on her neck on the first so I'm expecting not to get back to it for a couple weeks or so afterwards. Making sure she's comfortable and healing correctly is gonna be number one priority!

I'll post a few pics from the last couple weeks, enjoy!