Judge Mills' 1971 Plymouth Duster

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J

Judge Mills

1971 Plymouth Duster
Joined
Jan 6, 2009
Messages
1,123
Reaction score
12
Location
Westport, Washington
I guess it's time to start one of these threads, that way all my progress is detailed in ONE thread... I have owned the car since 2001. Originally a slant 6 car, it is now a 318/904. Buddies and I built the engine back in 2002.

Edelbrock 600 CFM carb
Edelbrock Performer intake
Sealed Power flat top .030" over pistons
Lunati Bracket Master II .292 duration .480" lift camshaft

904 was acquired from my friend that owns a 73' Dart. It was made by some speed shop and is designed to be a mild performance piece... Supposedly has a better first gear, though I don't know what ratio it is....

At one time this engine powered a dirt racing Duster... but we don't participate in that anymore....

Right now I'm just piecing this thing together... This car literally had 4 different colors, and possibly 8 layers of paint on it... The driver's side rear fender is all banged up, and had up to 1/2" of bondo ALL over it.... So this will not unfortunatly be a professional resto, as I do not posess the body skills to pound out the wierdness that this car encountered in its past. This is not going to be a professional build up, just something I will be proud of driving.... Here are a few pictures to tide you all over, if you haven't seen them before already!


318block.jpg

bareengine.jpg

filter.jpg

beforeduster.jpg

dusterfender7-11-2.jpg

paintbooth2.jpg


dusterfender7-11.jpg

robengine.jpg


dusterback.jpg


dstr.jpg



pumps.jpg


delcoduster.jpg
 
Thanks!

I work nights during the summer time, So the only time I get any work done on it is on Mondays and Tuesdays... I'm hoping that in two weeks I'll be able to post some positive progress pics!
 
So Judge, with all the colors you have to choose from on that car, which one is it going to end up to be?
Your car is looking great!
 
chancey683 said:
So Judge, with all the colors you have to choose from on that car, which one is it going to end up to be?
Your car is looking great!
Click to expand...

I bought some orange paint a year ago named "butterscotch"... not sure if i still want it orange or not..... I'm not even sure if the paint is good anymore!

Snake said:
I think you have the bypass hose on the wrong side of you water pump.
Click to expand...

meh, it's not hooked up yet.. :D
 
New picture time!

Not much progress, as I'm still involved in my power steering pump debacle.

I did however get the battery tray installed, bought a new battery, and installed my HEI coil this week.... Next week I'll hook up the new ignition!

ALSO: thought I'd include the pic of me and my mad soldering skills, haha.

HEI coil.jpg

tray.jpg

HEI coil.jpg


tray.jpg


solder.JPG
 
UPDATE: FINALLY got the power steering issue resolved... Car Quest sells line with fittings for 5 bucks.. messed around with it until it fit. Once the car is up and running, I'll see if I have to bend a new line, but for now it fits, so I'm not caring much!

Also got the alternator back from Rock Auto.. The first one didn't spin freely. Apparently whoever rebuilt it thought it was a good idea to paint the fan, which caused it to hang up.. The new one is unpainted....

Now I just have to put the radiator in, and I'll be real close! Eventually new valve covers (anyone want some rusty upside down stamped TRW chromies?), new fan (this one is temporary, you didn't think I'd run a flex fan, did ya?) ....

newprogress.jpg


newprogress2.jpg


newprogress3.jpg
 
Hey mr. mills: there is a guy out here at the beach that has helped a lot of us withbody work he work cheap if you miight be interested let me know and I will get his name and no. for you
 
That's because our wives are amazed that we actually work 'em instead of just standing there dreaming about the day...they have to take a picture for posterities sake! :-D
 
09-14-09 UPDATE:

it was, after all that pain, a 3/4 fitting for the bypass hose... the dang thing REALLY didn't want to thread, though.... anyway, it's in now... decided not to have the heater core hooked up at the moment, because i'm not sure if it is any good or not, so i just bypassed that. Hooked up the fuel line today as well. I WAS going to buy the nice edelbrock chrome line, but that's 40 bucks I dont have! This will do for now. The other big thing I did today was install the Throttle cable! (i installed the kick down a few nights ago)... this thing is REAL close to running!:cheers:

09-14-09engine2.jpg


09-14-09engine.jpg
 
Judge, looks like you are making steady progress, good on ya. Don't worry about your skill level or how others view your work, doing the work yourself will give you far more pleasure when it's finished than hiring it all out and just shelling out for a professional job. Kev
 
OK - Are the vintage TRW valve covers stamped upside down? Or is the Guiness kicking in?
 
They are indeed stamped upside down... I bought them off of ebay back in 02'...... I have NO idea why they would be stamped like this... Have never SEEN another pair of TRW's! Drunkies must work there :D
 
And if you decide to keep 'em on there you'll have the folks at the car shows wondering if they've had one too many...
 
UPDATE: It's been a crazy past few months... long story short, we moved closer to work. I now have a garage that's half the size of the last one. But, that's fine, at least I still have one!

The downside is that every time I look at this car, I find another problem.....I keep asking myself "is this car worth saving?".....

Newest problem I've tackled: Leaking gas tank. I finally got that off minutes ago. Sorry no pics, I can't find my cameras after the move......
 
just don't stop. every little problem you find and fix now is one less you find the hard way later. keep going man. you will be glad you did, trust us.
 
Minor setback today.... The 73' Duster I was going to swipe the disc brakes from went away to the big junk yard in the sky today..... Shoulda grabbed them last year... Oh well, they were probably in bad shape anyway...
 
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