Quick summary

Bought the car September 22, 2010. Had wild dreams, but got my head squared up lol (how out there were my ideas? See for yourself... http://slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=51667)

Spent 2 1/2 years tinkering with it, mostly body/interior work. Legalized it and got it roadworthy last May, drove it for less than 3 months, and got rear ended in the end of July with less than 2k on the reset odometer. Totaled. Rear subframe bent, body twisted, quarters and rear wheelwells bent up. There was enough give in the body that the radiator and the mechanical fan decided to get engaged. Three days after the wreck, the last parts come in that I ordered for an engine build DusterIdiot had helped me out a little bit with.


Oh, despite the damage, I was able to use some pretty creative photography for my senior pictures. Also, I never really took any pictures of the car once it was finished, so these were the closest I had of the car looking normal.


Pretty much, I got mad/depressed at it, and it sat till sometime this spring. Around April, I drug it out of the barn and trailered it to a local mom & pop frame shop, and the old girl pulled out nice and straight. Actually, it turned out way better than we thought. (The frame guy wasn't all that happy when he seen the car in person, but he did a great job) Turns out, no replacement panels are needed, everything pulled out to be workable. So in the shop it goes...




Also, a month or so before the wreck, I purchased (what I thought was) an early 70's 225 out of a Duster. I get it all pulled apart, and after much exam we find that the crank rings like a bell when you tap it with a hammer, but has post-76 rod journals Could it be a late forged crank? Do cast cranks ring? I dunno. Oh well.

Anyways, the original plan was a super super six:
Stock bore, hone & re-ring, polish and re-bearing
Holley 2280, iron intake, stock exhaust
Oregon 819 (219*@.50, 109 lsa, .436 lift and 105 intake centerline)
447 head w/ mild bowl work, stock valves
Shooting for 9.2 compression, due to user error I have 8.8ish
Recurved dizzy w/ bigslant6fan kit

Upon seeing an Aussiespeed Hurricane, 2bbl flavor, for sale on here, and for $300 none the less, the plans drifted a little bit. So now we need a 350 Holley as well. And there's no point in having a factory exhaust manifold if you don't have exhaust heat, right? go ahead and toss in a pair of Dutras.

That being said, hindsight is always 20/20. If I were to do this again I'd go with the Offy, a modified rear exhaust and a dutra front. But, I'll make the best with my overkill

Where were we? Oh yes, old engine out...


Paint engine bay...


Check the drums, still look good from 1st time. Rebuild front suspension.


The new engine and old 904 got bolted together sometime in here, with the Holley and Dutras not yet arrived. For some reasons I ain't got a picture of it. Sorry to disappoint However, I did snag a picture of the moment before it entered the paint booth. This is all bodywork and priming completed, and stripe deleted.


Cut scene to paint booth


What? You painted it black? Well, yes and no. It was black for a whole 15 minutes or so. We thought it would be a good base, maybe to try and make the copper a little deeper/darker.


Good theory, but it didn't work. Somehow we ended up with a lighter copper. The difference is minute though, but I still like it a teensy bit better than the first copper. It may have also been lighter because of the unexpected variable. We thought we had enough of a certain pearl (don't remember the particular one) but whenever we started mixing it up we realized we were a few grams short. Long story short, there's half a dozen more pearls than the original color had

It was getting a bit foggy...



Here is a shot right before clear


After clear



Dad was trying to show the shine of the paint in this picture (there's only four coats of clear there ) but it is also a good look at how low the car was. That fender top is only about an inch above my knee While redoing the suspension, we cranked on the torsion bars some, but up in the air you can't really tell the results. It looked mean as all get out, but extremely impractical. It was raised up enough later on.

The next day it was unwrapped and pulled out of the paint booth, and then reassembly began. Here it is completely assembled




And it seems that I stopped taking pictures after this, so I'll summarize. Dutras came in (SUPER quick, I might add) along with the Holley, and downpipes were fabbed. It then had the cam broke in without a hiccup, and all adjustments made. Exhaust was installed (dual 2" with thrush welded) and then an inspection was in order, along with licensing, insurance, and an alignment. I drove it for all of October and put 1700 miles on it without any problem (except lots of fuel consumption ) and it now sits in the garage for the winter, unless there is an exceptionally nice day like yesterday, in which I will drag it out.

Oh, yesterday. The whole reasoning of why I finally started this build thread. Yesterday was so nice, I felt like driving around the countryside and taking some pictures of the ol girl. I think they turned out pretty good, but I didn't have anyplace to post and brag about them.






Now I do!

Oh, and if for some strange reason you would like to see more of these pics, they're here: http://s1365.photobucket.com/user/darts ... Sport%20v2

The pictures that show up look good! Glad you kept it and got back to it when you could.

Great job! Hope you are enjoying the driving and gaping onlookers...

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

*fixed pictures

Yes, I absolutely love this car! And just about everywhere I go, I get compliments on what a sweet Nova I have The first time around, when it had the stripe, it was a cool lookin Torino. I ain't sure what's worse... You just can't win!
Lately tho, it's been getting called a Duster, and that's close enough for me!

If someone just hears it idling, they ask if its a warmed small block. If they see me pull in though, it's weird looks for miles, with lot's of "What in the world is that?". Also, lots of "I/my buddy/spouse used to have one of these, shouldn't of ever sold it!" and the occasional "Yeah, my buddy's uncle in law had a '69 Duster, with a 383 Hemi and a six pack!"

My little sister and I went to KC one weekend, and it weirded her out. She said, "Everyone is looking/honking/waving at us!" I guess I'm just used to it

This afternoon I was digging through some of dads old stuff from his Dart, and I stumbled upon the aircleaner and AFB from a 273 Commando perched atop an old LD340 intake.

Now, the aircleaner base wont fit my Holley, because the AFB has a different sized neck, but I was able to take the top and replace mine on my cheapo open element. Now it may not be as good as a 70's snorkel, but it should suck up a little more warm air than the open element, hopefully helping with warmup.
Please excuse the messy engine bay!


Oh, and it also makes all the local Chevy boys scratch their head!