My first mopar restoration! 70 Duster

[volitech]

today I removed this piece from the car and repaired it.....

I did some measuring and made some marks and cut off the bad....

I then cut a new piece at the dimension i need and since there is a bead rolled on one end I marked the position of it and used my bead roller to try and match it...

I then butt welded it all the way across the panel in the form of a couple hundred spot welds....

After welding i ground it all down flush.... I also cut down the end I ran long and folded it to match the panel....

After grinding I used some self etching primer to coat it....

 

[volitech]

I then started on the rocker again, As with everything on this car right side is worse than the left.... this is how much I had to take out to get to clean metal....

I had a rocker that was suppost to fit this car but the bends were all wrong so i decided to seam in only what i needed and flatten out and re-bend it to a dimension that actually matched the car....

Hopefully Ill have more done on monday.......

 

[volitech]

Today I did some fabrication....I'm making a spot for the fuel cell to sit in the trunk area where the spare tire was....
After cutting some sheet metal to size I made some marks on it and put it in the metal break to get the bends i needed then put it in the bead roller to strengthen the bottom and ended up with this......

I then cut some holes in for the fuel lines....

I then started fitting the sides and welding everything up....

Then I ground everything down and smoothed it out....

 

[QuintinMotorCompany]

nice!!

 

[volitech]

nice!!

Thanks!

 

[volitech]

Can anyone tell me witch direction I should mount the fuel cell? With the feed outlet pointing forward toward the engine or towards the back of the car?

 

[volitech]

Anyone????

 

[cuda20]

You want to mount it with the feed lines toward the back. Nice work your doing.

 

[volitech]

You want to mount it with the feed lines toward the back. Nice work your doing.

Thank you! Thats what I was thinking but wasn't fully sure. I've never had any experience with fuel cells...

 

[volitech]

Got a bunch more done today on the trunk area.....

 

[volitech]

More progress today! I did some fitting and fabbing.....
this piece was 2" too wide to fit in my break...

I will be media blasting everything before welding anything in......

 

[volitech]

I also did a test fit of the rear panel...

 

[volitech]

So can anyone tell me what company if any make headers to fit a 440 in a duster?

 

[Tony Fields]

I think I see a new Duster any day now.

Good work right there.

 

[moparisbest]

I also did a test fit of the rear panel...

Just wanted to jump in here and give you a pointer . I messed up when doing the quarters on my duster . You really need the fenders and doors on the car so you can line it all up befor welding the quarters in place . I didn't and ended up having to do a lot of extra work that could have even avoided . And the trunk lid needs to be in place to line up the tail light panel. .

 

[volitech]

I actually got the last of the rust blasted on the car and and finaly moved it out of the blasting booth and moved it to the front room!

i then got it up on jack stands and removed the suspension...

Decided to do some work on the fire wall and make some of the extra holes go away...

 

[volitech]

Just wanted to jump in here and give you a pointer . I messed up when doing the quarters on my duster . You really need the fenders and doors on the car so you can line it all up befor welding the quarters in place . I didn't and ended up having to do a lot of extra work that could have even avoided . And the trunk lid needs to be in place to line up the tail light panel. .

Thanks for the tip! I had a few other people tell me that witch was one of the reasons I moved it out of the blasting booth today, I have alot more room to do the fitting of the panels....

 

[moparisbest]

More progress today! I did some fitting and fabbing.....
this piece was 2" too wide to fit in my break...

I will be media blasting everything before welding anything in......

The other thang you should look at is centering the fuel cell pan . If you look under the car try and remember that the tail pipes will need to go out the back next to the frame rails . Just talking from experience .

 

[fez440]

looking great so far. keep up the good work, it will be worth it in the end

 

[scrowe]

Keep up the nice work. I think I will follow this....

 

[volitech]

Does anyone know of another company other than firm feel suspension that will reinforce k members?

 

[grautiere]

Hi,
seems you have the same (rusty ) problems like me at my 1970 Duster- have a look here:
http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=174858

I had nearly the same idea with a new gas tank like you...

Have a lot fun while working on the car - this should be nearly a NEW car when it´s ready !

Will follow your thread !
But I think, it will be more than difficult to pick that big engine in your car without many work before on sheet metal, Motor mounts and last but not least AT THE BREAKES !
The car will be so much more heavy at the front with that -may be after this it´s difficult to drive .... ? Think about it before, please

Peter

 

[volitech]

Thanks for the advice! I am going with a 4 wheel disc conversion and I have a guy that builds altered wheel base cars for a living advising me on the right way to do it... I am also putting in frame link connectors..... I also emailed firm feel inc about a stage 2 or stage 4 suspesion kit but they never return my emails..... Anyone know of another company that reinforce k members????

 

[volitech]

I ordered the bellhousing yesterday, can't wait till it shows up......

 

[volitech]

Got more done today! I took moparisbest's advise and centered the fuel cell in the trunk and welded everything in....

I took the door strikers out and found this on both sides...