Captainkirk's Duster project

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.......Impatient bunch, are we?
I'm lovin' it!
Yes, I'm working on the next installment. My internet time is sort of at a premium this week due to work, but I promise it'll be finished any day now, and I'll post it as soon as it is!

In the mean time, I went to a car show last Saturday night....I was rather disappointed. Only two Mopar muscle cars in the bunch (a Challenger and a 'Cuda) and nothing much on them aside from nice paint. We're being infiltrated by low-riders and giraffe-mobiles (my name for those ridiculous looking cars with multi-faceted paint on like, 26-inch chrome-y "hoops"). I think I need to visit a REAL car show like Mopar Nats....
This is not really Mopar country....too many Bow Ties and Fords around here for my liking.

Anyway, thanks for reading; hang in there, more to follow soon!
 
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So the New Year started off with a bang. The new owners closed the deal with Marie (we'’ll call them "Roy" and "Art") and jumped right in. A lot happened that first month…..introducing the New Company to our old clients, and aggressively trying to dig up new clients. Art called in the local paper to do an article and photo shoot, basically telling everyone that they had plans on competing with the Big Boys in the industry…..Oh yeah…...they were looking to change things, all right. Not content to be the little four-man shop we'’d been; rather, to turn up the heat and crank it into high gear.
Art was an accounting-type PR guru; highly educated with an excellent resume…; which, unfortunately, had nothing to do with aviation or service-related industries. He had a history with Roy in several past companies…..but that doesn'’t bring home the bacon. Aviation, as I may have mentioned before, is a ***** Mistress who plays by her own rules. You don'’t own her…..she possesses you, and you play by her rules, or you lose the game. We survivors know this. That’'s how and why we still play the game…...and live to tell about it.
Right off, Roy seemed to grasp this, probably due to his experience as a student pilot. Art was clueless; like a Boy Scout wandering aimlessly onto a battlefield. We sensed it immediately. The customers sensed it as well, and the fact that he was a germophobe didn'’t enhance his image much, either. Still, it was to be his job to work mostly from home on PR and financial matters, which was fine by us. Roy was the real bread-and-butter guy, the customer liaison and day-to-day “boss”. He started out buy Buying Things. New printer, new computers, new This & That. Things which, in our humble opinions, weren'’t necessary, but, hey…..we weren'’t writing the checks, right?
Right off the bat, my right-hand man "Karl" snagged a corporate aviation job and left …in January. The search was on. I was all by myself again, doing all the maintenance work, as well as all the DOM (Director of Maintenance) functions which included scheduling, inspection, parts research ordering, servicing and repairs…..a real One Man band! Fortunately, we picked up another mechanic rather quickly, which was a good thing, as the pace was killing me!
Sam’'s department was slow, not by any fault of his, but rather, driven by the sagging economy. New avionics are basically high-priced toys that pilots can fly without just fine; as the old ones usually do the job just as well; think of it as replacing your standard TV with a high-def widescreen or trading in your boring old cell phone for a Blackberry.…… Sure, the new stuff is incredible, but if money is tight, you can get along without it. So it goes with avionics. Avionics, by the way, is an acronym for Aviation Electronics, if that helps describe it with a little more clarity. There is some amazing new equipment on the market these days; the current trend is replacing the old standard analog gyros and instruments with flat-panel displays…. Truly awesome and arguably superior, but beaucoup bucks, boys. And in a sagging economy, guess which side the coin lands on; required maintenance, or new toys?
Which, by the way, didn'’t hurt me one bit, as maintenance was my game! Still, it made for a lot of frustration for Sam, as I was swamped and he was bored.
May brought, among other things, a new apprentice mechanic who was here for the summer. He was sharp as a tack, picked up things immediately, and jumped right in with both feet, which was a good thing, as maintenance was churning full-throttle. There were several out-of-the-ordinary projects going on, such as a prop strike (requiring a new prop and engine overhaul) and a Cessna with severe corrosion, requiring extreme parts replacement; both of which tied me up in addition to the other work keeping us running.
 
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...my brother & I went to the drag strip tonight; brother ran his Buell. He only got in two runs at 12:99 and 12:44 due to an accident shutting down the track for a while. I'd love to run against him with the Duke! Should be pretty close......:-D
 
Yes; sorry for the roaring silence lately. Unfortunately, due to the situation I've been in the middle of explaining, little got done all summer. I promise that now since the weather is going south for the winter, I'll have more time to catch up with you all shortly, and bring you all up to date. And, thanks for asking!
"Where are we going, and why are we in this handbasket?"
 
Heck, boys..I've been here all along.:read2:

Been checking in on a regular basis and all; just haven't had any progress to report. I should be embarrassed. Hell, I AM embarrassed! But I promise I'll bring you all up to speed soon!
 
.....so said The Duke as I peered under the tarp today. Yes, the snow is mostly gone. Yes, the garage is warming up. No, I don't have any more time than I did before. Yes, I did take on more bike projects. But no matter; The Duke will get some priority time this year, that much is certain. I'm so close to finishing the underside up and starting work on the rear end and suspension. Just can't let it slide another year. Besides, I woke The Duke up now, and you all know what that means.
 
Welcome back Cap'n, Happy spring! I haven't done anything to mine either except look at her. This year its time to get busy. Best of luck! Rog
 
Popdart said:
Welcome back Cap'n, Happy spring! I haven't done anything to mine either except look at her. This year its time to get busy. Best of luck! Rog
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Thanks, Rog!
Having no set finish date, I guess it's OK to take some time off, but you're right; time to roll up the sleeves and get back to it! Maybe you & I should have a "turtle race" to see who gets the most done this summer......just for fun!
 
Welcome back Captain,
I hope all is well with you and that you get alot done on the Duke this year.I also hope you have been following my build and the stories, I keep trying to feed the monkeys.
Andrew
 
Captainkirk said:
Thanks, Rog!
Having no set finish date, I guess it's OK to take some time off, but you're right; time to roll up the sleeves and get back to it! Maybe you & I should have a "turtle race" to see who gets the most done this summer......just for fun!
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No finish date on the car works real good, but I'm worried about my body's finish date . . . I'm getting old!! I want to drive it before they take my license!! :clock:
Rog
 
any new progress capt? or are you still messing with the bikes and neglecting duke:poke:
 
mac daddy mopar said:
any new progress capt? or are you still messing with the bikes and neglecting duke:poke:
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Damn...you people scare me!
Caught me red-handed!
FYI, I have set a date of May 15th to get rolling on The Duke again. It's kinda nice having no pressure, but I got very little done on The Duke last year and it's time to play catch-up yet again.
You may be dismayed to know I have taken on not one, but two bike restorations. But I'm committed to giving Ol' Duke one night a week at least. Watch for progress!
 
I have set a date of May 15th to get rolling on The Duke again. It's kinda nice having no pressure, but I got very little done on The Duke last year and it's time to play catch-up yet again


and the countdown begins:-D 5 days:toothy10:
 
I just found this thread last night. Great thread Captain! Brings back TONS of memories of years past. Thanks for sharing! The red minx reminds me of my first love. 73 Challenger that I had a bitter parting with! Consider me another loyal follower.
 
hawkfn18 said:
I just found this thread last night. Great thread Captain! Brings back TONS of memories of years past. Thanks for sharing! The red minx reminds me of my first love. 73 Challenger that I had a bitter parting with! Consider me another loyal follower.
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Yes, ***** that she was, I love her still....

Well, Duke promises to put that all behind us.

Tell me about your bitter parting........
 
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Captainkirk said:
Yes, ***** that she was, I love her still....:thebirdm:

Well, Duke promises to put that all behind us.

Tell me about your bitter parting........
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Well where to start? It was 1993, I was fresh out of the Navy with a Camaro (don't flame me guys!) that needed work. Too much in fact. A friend of mine had a 1967 RS/SS he was trying to sell. So, me being a still wet behind the ears kid that didn't know sh*t from shinola, went to look at it. Passed on that one, too far gone. He also had a 71 Cuda that he was selling along with another car. There she was, fresh out of the paint shop, with drive train out and front end sitting high in the air. It was a 1973 Challenger Rallye 340 with 47,000 some miles on it. It had been a project he and his dad were finishing up, however his dad passed on and the car sat unfinished. It was love at first sight. I bought her on the spot and my love for all things Mopar began.

Fast forward to 2001. I had rebuilt the motor a few years back. It was a screamer! A tad scary to drive at times. I was an electrician making good money, some for the car the rest to financial obligations. Then it happened. The bottom fell out of my trade. No work. Was laid off. The bank account drained, foreclosure looming on the horizon, I had to do something drastic. I had held on for a year and a half, but could no longer hang on. I had to sell her. I sold the car to my cousin. Instead of keeping her in a nice, dry garage, she sat on the street slowly decaying. It was not until last year that he actually put the car in his garage. Insanity I tell you! To see the car that I loved, (still love) slowly rot is hard for me. I offered to buy the car back recently, but I got the "I'm gonna restore it" response. I am still a scorned ex lover whose girl is now with another guy. :banghead:
 
Fresh out of the Navy? Great Lakes NTC, I'm guessing. Actually we're only a few miles apart. If I see something come up local, I'll be sure to spot you a heads-up.
 
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