Thanks. I always forget how small A bodies really are. I guess it is good I had to abandon my 66 Barracuda Formula S project before I got too far into it. It would have been terrible to get it done and then realize I was too big to fit in it!

If you are good with a welder, you could have moved the front seat back (assuming you aren't going to have passengers in the back anyway) and welding in a couple of plates/braces for it to get some room....Oddly that same modification was done to a 340 Duster by a friend of my aunt's...he was a big guy and a) wanted the room, but b) the move would shift some weight to the rear so the car would dig harder at the track...he said it was good for another couple of tenths at the track.

-D.Idiot

See, that's one of the problems- I am TERRIBLE with a welder. I did OK welding the frame of my old Ford van (1/4 inch steel), but I always blow holes in sheet metal, no matter what I do. I have accepted that there are some things in life I just can't do, like be a horse jockey, a runway model, or do decent auto body work or welding.

I might embarrass myself later and post some pictures of the god-awful welds i did putting the patch panels on this Duster. They are truly hideous. Part of it was because I only learned after i welded them on that sheet metal is welded by hundred of single tack welds instead of a long continuous bead. Heat warping is a given with my welding, as are big holes blown in the metal. I am half tempted to cut what I did out and start over or hire the bodywork out to someone who knows what they are doing.

cant wait to see more this things going to look wild

_________________
old hemi's and old mopar's forever

Thanks. I am in the process of getting the car ready to be dropped off at a bodyshop to finish up the hard bodywork on the rear end. I have admitted defeat and am throwing in the towel. SOmetimes it is just more efficient to pay a professional to o the work. Once we get it back from the shop the rest of the project should come together quickly. I know I have said it before, but I am seriously hoping to get this Duster back on the street by the end of this year.

Reed,welding takes pratice...set up a couple pieces of sheetmetal and put tacs about 6 inches apart ...setting low ...come back and put inbetween.....then skip every other space ...soon will have tacs form complete weld ....mig is best as stick has flux that needs chipped off

That is what I am finding out. Of course, I already have done all the ugly welding. I have a wire feed welder that can be upgraded to gas shielding, but I don't have the gas hardware yet. It's OK. It isn't a show car and body filler covers all sorts of bad welding.

a grinder can dress up ulgy weld also ....watch out for heat /warp

The problem is I would be grinding away feet of 1/4-1/2 inch thick welds. I will be spending much time cleaning up my mess. I am sorely tempted to cut it all out, buy new panels, and start over.

The Duster went on its first self-powered voyage in over 5 years today! It left my garage, backed up my driveway, and did a lap around my cul-de-sac! The last time I tried to back it up the driveway a lack of transmission fluid caused the Duster to stop about 3/4 of the way up. See it here! : http://youtu.be/fcwrmkTqHrY

This time it made it up and out no problem.

Come along for a ride: http://youtu.be/dUDGFqQSGmU

I am very excited that the Duster has gotten back to being self-propelled. Disc brakes up front, 8 1/4 rear axle (currently 2.2:1, will be changing to 3.2:1), 11 inch drums (yes, 11) in back, rebuilt front suspension, rebuilt 1983 wide ratio gear 904T transmission with a shift kit, original 225. Hopefully this will be the year it gets finished.

Next step is going to be emptying the car to take it to the body shop. Once it comes back from the body shop then the car will be stripped down to a shell and prepped and painted by my brother and I. I seriously hope that by summer this car will be nearly done.

The Duster has been dropped of at the local Maaco. Not my first choice, but they are close and not many shops around here do the kind of work I need to have done on this Duster. I spent a long time going over with the estimator what was needed and showing him all the problems and my half-assed solutions. They estimated two weeks, but we'll see. I am going to be going in and getting progress reports and inspecting how it is going. I am sure this is not what they are used to doing and the car is probably older than most of the employees. However, this isn't a show car. I just need to get the dang bodywork out of the way so this project can get moving forward again.

The good news is that when I pick it up it will be primed and ready to paint from the door jambs back. Hooray! I think there is a decent chance that this project will get finished this year, at least the first round of repair and refurbishment.

much progress ,, and ,,,you have no idea how nice it was to be looking out a car window and not seeing snow,,,

Thanks! Yep. No snow, but it was raining buckets today. I went through three sets of clothes today because when I loaded and unloaded the Duster I got completely soaked.

I am very excited to get some real progress made on the car. The end of the tunnel is in sight!

I forgot to mention- I have told you how the power steer in grump leaks like a sieve and you have heard how it whines in the videos I have posted. Well, a couple days before i hauled it in to Maaco I willed the power steering pump with some pre stone power steering fluid with stop leak. I figured it couldn't hurt anything. Well, I noticed that the leak did slow down, if not stop altogether, and now the pump is pretty much silent. Cool beans.

I might head over to the Maaco shop tomorrow and check on the progress and take some pictures.

Drove by Maaco today. Kind of ticked. I dropped it of on Tuesday and they said it would be in the shop in a couple hours. Well, here it is Friday and the car is still sitting outside. Granted, they moved it to the secure area, but no work has been done on it. I will check back again next week, maybe Tuesday and if nothing has been done then I am going to complain. I paid half of the quoted price when I dropped it off and they said it would be done in two weeks. Four days later (almost 1/3 of the time they estimated it would take) nothing has been done. If I worked that way I would be disbarred.