74 Gold Duster (WIP)

[Sully1190]

Finally summer! About two weeks, and I'll have my first full paycheck of the summer, meaning I'll have cash to work on the Duster. I've been so stoked. Made a bunch of spread sheets with things I need and where to get them, timelines, and this! It's a concept I had been toying with in my head, but I wanted to SEE it, since I hadn't ever seen the scheme on a Duster before. So, when I was finished, I decided I was pleased, and would see what the wonderful people of FABO thought!

I've always loved the GTX stripes, and to me, they match the angular body so well.

Special thanks to J-MacsMopars for the lineart.

 

[Bulldozer]

i like the stripes. that is definitely one idea i have never seen on an A body and it works. keep the pics coming Sully. have you decided what color yet? looks great, im watching this one!

 

[Sully1190]

At the moment, we're thinking black, as in the picture. With me and the wife though, there's no telling by the time we order paint haha. Black is one that we keep coming back to though, and I'm really liking the ones I see pictured in black, and this mockup, so there's a strong chance we'll stay with it.

 

[Bulldozer]

i know you are doing a budget thing here, but black with a red interior and the stripes would be downright sweet. purple is really overdone IMO. just throwing out ideas. any ideas on wheels yet?

 

[Sully1190]

I'm thinking about just leaving the tan interior and repairing what needs repairing. Red is certainly something to consider though. Sounds wild.

The wheels pictured are actually photoshopped in from a photo I took of some rims I have. The bolt pattern matches on them, I just have to rip them off the jeep they're on, and make sure the depth won't be an issue.

 

[Bulldozer]

i have had a set of those wheels that were on my XJ cherokee, and they have a mean backspace. something like a 4 3/4. they are 15 x 7s. they look nice in brand new condition though. i believe they are also clearcoated and once that crap starts to deteriorate, they need to be completely stripped and redone.

 

[Sully1190]

Yep. These are pretty. Just gotta pull them off the Cherokee. Since you know the backspace though, I don't suppose you know whether or not that's compatible with the Duster without hacking the wheel wells to pieces?

 

[Bulldozer]

i tried putting these on my charger with 11 inch drums and the (11?) big disc brakes and rotors, and the car would not roll because the rim was hitting the calipers and the leaf springs. you wont have a problem clearing the front, but i think you will find that the backspace is a little much. you may have to use an adapter/spacer. i would take one off and try it on the front and back.

 

[Sully1190]

Will do. Was just curious if you already knew it wouldn't work before I went through the trouble. Any chance a seasoned enthusiast such as yourself knows where to acquire such spacers cheaply? Cause I'm really fond of the rims.

 

[Bulldozer]

Will do. Was just curious if you already knew it wouldn't work before I went through the trouble. Any chance a seasoned enthusiast such as yourself knows where to acquire such spacers cheaply? Cause I'm really fond of the rims.

there is a guy on ebay that sells 1" and thicker billet aluminum spacers and adapters for 69.00 a pair shipped , they are very high quality and at a great price that are mopar specific. i will see if i can find his info for you, i bought some a while back and i would not hesitate to run them again. i would stay away from any cast aluminum adapters.

 

[Sully1190]

there is a guy on ebay that sells 1" and thicker billet aluminum spacers and adapters for 69.00 a pair shipped , they are very high quality and at a great price that are mopar specific. i will see if i can find his info for you, i bought some a while back and i would not hesitate to run them again. i would stay away from any cast aluminum adapters.

I would really appreciate that. Thanks. Do you feel the rear is the only place I would need them? Or would I have issue in the front as well?

EDIT: I know the only for sure way to know is to check, but I'm at work right now and can't. And I'm pretty hyped up about it all at the moment.

 

[Bulldozer]

Email TECH TJ at CJBARGINS@aol.com . great guys to work with. its really a matter of preference as to how you want the wheels to sit in the wheel wells. the drum to drum tracking is quite a bit narrower than the front on these cars with a factory rear axle. given the backspace of the jeep wheels, without seeing them on the car, i would probably use something like a 1" spacer in the front and maybe a 1 1/2 on the back just to get the wheels semi flush with the wheel wells and even out the tracking with the front wheels, if this makes any sense lol.

 

[Sully1190]

Email TECH TJ at CJBARGINS@aol.com . great guys to work with. its really a matter of preference as to how you want the wheels to sit in the wheel wells. the drum to drum tracking is quite a bit narrower than the front on these cars with a factory rear axle. given the backspace of the jeep wheels, without seeing them on the car, i would probably use something like a 1" spacer in the front and maybe a 1 1/2 on the back just to get the wheels semi flush with the wheel wells and even out the tracking with the front wheels, if this makes any sense lol.

A little. I'm not exactly extremely knowledgeable with most things automotive, but I do get what you're saying here. The only dissapointing thing, is that these spacers seem like they'll be almost as much as new rims.

 

[Sully1190]

Well! I'm finally back from Louisiana (was TDY with work). Got to poke around the car some. Some rust has cropped back up on the roof. It's shallow, surface rust, but still annoying. Apparently, I didn't have enough primer on it. I'm going to fix that, and then, I found a guy who is offering me a /great/ deal on painting the car. I was excited about painting it myself, but now? I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with this guy. His work looks great, and I could barely beat his price doing it myself.

Oh, and did I mention that the wasps moved in while I was away? Because they did. I'm about ready to throw a tarp over the thing and toss a bug bomb underneath, just to be sure I've gotten them all.

Anyways, power steering hose is on the way. More parts incoming soon. Pics as soon as I can get them.

 

[74DartSwinger360]

Are you goin to put a top back on? If so you could do plum crazy with a white interior top and stripes. Just an idea.
I really like the GTX stripe idea

 

[Sully1190]

Are you goin to put a top back on? If so you could do plum crazy with a white interior top and stripes. Just an idea.
I really like the GTX stripe idea

Nah. I don't think I'll be putting a top back on with this incarnation. Pretty sure we're going with the black. Looks clean and sleek. Tried to get the wife to consider the "tank tread" variant, but she just wasn't a fan haha. So these will likely be the stripes.

 

[Thunder]

I like the stripe idea. Should come out looking sharp. Maybe it's just the picture but I would lower that front end a little. Keep up the good work.:coffee2:

 

[Sully1190]

It's just the picture. I was using lineart from J-MacsMopars. It also doesn't have the window louvers I hope to have for it.

 

[Sully1190]

Well, me and my father spent /way/ too long yesterday (2+ hours) trying to put the send hose for the power steering on (The damn thing just wouldn't fit! Had to move the whole pump, attach it, then move it back.) Only to crank it up, and find that the return hose is also leaking. Alot. So, going to grab the stuff today to fix that. Also getting some more stuff for body work. I'm having to redo the work on the A-pillars (the spot putty I used did... poorly). Might try on the old rims if I can get the ball rolling. Working on some more mock-up ideas as we speak, as well. I'll post them up when I have them.

 

[Sully1190]

Here they are. Hopefully, some work photos up by tonight.

 

[73hcode]

Hey man I saw you live in Clinton I do also I am working on a Dart Sport and it is in a million peices but one day I live on the west side of Clinton off the frontage road

 

[Sully1190]

Good to know there's other in the area working on it!

Painting began yesterday, and will continue throughout the week.

Yeah. We may not know what we're doing.

 

[Sully1190]

Quick shot I took this morning. The dew makes it look odd. Anyways, got a full coating on last night, using the roller method. I'm not going to lie. Applying it yesterday afternoon, it looked rough. But this morning it was really smooth. I was /highly/ impressed. Today will be wet sanding, spray painting around areas that can't be rolled, and applying another layer! Now that I've learned how, it's really not that tricky.

BTW: Anyone know a chain store where high grit sandpaper can actually be purchased? I can't seem to find anything anywhere. I guess I'll just go by a body shop and try to buy some of theirs. I can't find anything over 400 in the larger stores.

 

[Sully1190]

Here we go. Backtracking a bit, but finally got /some/ pictures online. So I'll post the highlights of what I have.

As you can see the paint smooths itself out really well.

These were the next day; post sanding.

Painted the interior pieces I got in. God. You have just got to love FABO's classifieds.

http://s265.photobucket.com/albums/...Restoration/?action=view&current=IMG_0302.jpg

http://s265.photobucket.com/albums/...Restoration/?action=view&current=IMG_0303.jpg

Coat two. You can see that the layers are really transluscent. You're barely applying any paint at all using this method. And please, PLEASE, don't just try to pile more on. You have to go very thin, very diluted layers. All of the layers we rolled on were cut 50/50, and you can't just dunk your roller in it. You have to wet one side, and then spread it around on the flat part of the tray till your roller is covered. After that, you roll it onto the car, pressing down firmly, then roll back over lightly with only the roller weight to smooth it out. You can work the paint like this (with only the roller weight) for just a little while. So make sure you move quickly to get it right.

More shots. The paint holds bubbles easily. The "light rolling" helps take these out.

My parent's lemans in the background.





We've done more than this on it. We've wetsanded it two more. Put several more coats, and sprayed on a coat, however, those pictures still aren't uploaded yet. (I had to threaten my brother just to get these.)

It has a lot of dents and dings and imperfections that I couldn't see before painting it, but I think it's going to still turn out alright. Current paint is smooth and sleek, but too thin in a place or two when you get it into the sun, so we're going to spray another coat or two. It's by no means a show-quality paint job, but that's not what I'm going for anyways, so, it'll be fine. It's great for a daily driver though. Maybe in a couple of years I can fix those problems in the body and paint it again. ;)

 

[Thunder]

I have to admit I've never seen a car painted by roller. It appears to be working out. I'm looking forward to see the final out come.:coffee2: