Custom Mike

Now onto a couple of things that went right. I got the fuel line connected to the fuel pump with ease, and made a new upper radiator hose from 18 Gauge wire and got it installed! I also got the grille made up and installed in the nose!

Sam, I need to tell everyone, I know now why you never attempted this one, you must have known it was gonna be a nightmare! Another test fitting once it was all done (I think I test-fit this engine a good twenty times throughout this process) shows the pipes are finally where they needed to be! Now onto the next engine-related headache, the radiator. The Duster, as far as I know, was never available with a big block, so I should have seen this coming, but I didn't. I got the engine in place, and tried to put the radiator where it belongs... Guess what's in the way? If you said the fan, give yourself half a cookie, because the entire belt assembly was also in the way. I hacked the fan off, this baby will never run.... This is how much I had to remove from the fan shroud to get it to fit, even with the fan gone... The heavily modified radiator shroud, smoothed out and repainted. At this point, I also discovered that the lower radiator hose inlet on the engine is non-existent, and no way to drill for one, so another reason this is a Trailer Queen!

Sam, I need to tell everyone, I know now why you never attempted this one, you must have known it was gonna be a nightmare! Another test fitting once it was all done (I think I test-fit this engine a good twenty times throughout this process) shows the pipes are finally where they needed to be! Now onto the next engine-related headache, the radiator. The Duster, as far as I know, was never available with a big block, so I should have seen this coming, but I didn't. I got the engine in place, and tried to put the radiator where it belongs... Guess what's in the way? If you said the fan, give yourself half a cookie, because the entire belt assembly was also in the way. I hacked the fan off, this baby will never run.... This is how much I had to remove from the fan shroud to get it to fit, even with the fan gone... The heavily modified radiator shroud, smoothed out and repainted. At this point, I also discovered that the lower radiator hose inlet on the engine is non-existent, and no way to drill for one, so another reason this is a Trailer Queen!

Now we show one of the biggest headaches so far, the exhaust manifolds for the 383(496). Once again, I used some beading wire at the ends of the pipes to secure the exhaust to them, but I also added some on the engine side to make sure the stay put. This is where the nightmare started. Here's what they looked like when they were installed, all nice and pretty! Beading wire installed on the pipes, I added some to the head sides too, look at how straight those pipes are.... I did a quick test fit in the chassis, and the pipes were nowhere near where they needed to be, and the driver's side was hitting the tie rod. So I broke out a lighter, and spent the next two hours carefully applying heat and bending the pipes (Four bends on one side, five on the other) while they were attached to the engine..

Now we show one of the biggest headaches so far, the exhaust manifolds for the 383(496). Once again, I used some beading wire at the ends of the pipes to secure the exhaust to them, but I also added some on the engine side to make sure the stay put. This is where the nightmare started. Here's what they looked like when they were installed, all nice and pretty! Beading wire installed on the pipes, I added some to the head sides too, look at how straight those pipes are.... I did a quick test fit in the chassis, and the pipes were nowhere near where they needed to be, and the driver's side was hitting the tie rod. So I broke out a lighter, and spent the next two hours carefully applying heat and bending the pipes (Four bends on one side, five on the other) while they were attached to the engine..

Now onto more of the exhaust system. I got it all together nicely if you recall, added a bit of Mr Hobby White putty, but it just wouldn't fill the cuts properly. Here's the glued exhaust, the gap has gotta go... A bit of Mr Hobby White putty, a bit of sanding.... After hitting it with some Metalizer Stainless Steel, it just didn't look good enough... At this point, the pipe going up to the driver's side had snapped off at the joint. Now I had to strengthen the joint, a small piece of strip styrene was added to the back side, A bit of shaping to hide it on the sides... And a quick test-fit on the chassis, this is where the inspiration hit me, I had a way to hide the joint! Here's the fix, and a way to attach the exhaust to the chassis all in one! I grabbed some more .010 styrene strips, and glued a piece to the underside of the exhaust... A second piece was glued to the flat side and pushed down with a piece of sprue right against the exhaust, causing it to go vertical... Once the glue had set, some more glue was applied to the exhaust itself, and the strip was held down until the glue set, then the first step was repeated until I had a clamp/hanger assembly... A bit of trimming of the new hanger, two holes drilled, then mocked up on the chassis. Once I had the exhaust where I wanted it, I marked where I wanted to cut the pipes to join with the engine and drilled a hole in each to accept the beading wire in the exhaust manifolds...

Now onto more of the exhaust system. I got it all together nicely if you recall, added a bit of Mr Hobby White putty, but it just wouldn't fill the cuts properly. Here's the glued exhaust, the gap has gotta go... A bit of Mr Hobby White putty, a bit of sanding.... After hitting it with some Metalizer Stainless Steel, it just didn't look good enough... At this point, the pipe going up to the driver's side had snapped off at the joint. Now I had to strengthen the joint, a small piece of strip styrene was added to the back side, A bit of shaping to hide it on the sides... And a quick test-fit on the chassis, this is where the inspiration hit me, I had a way to hide the joint! Here's the fix, and a way to attach the exhaust to the chassis all in one! I grabbed some more .010 strips styrene, and glued a piece to the underside of the exhaust... A second piece was glued to the flat side and pushed down with a piece of sprue right against the exhaust, causing it to go vertical... Once the glue had set, some more glue was applied to the exhaust itself, and the strip was held down until the glue set, then the first step was repeated until I had a clamp/hanger assembly... A bit of trimming of the new hanger, two holes drilled, then mocked up on the chassis. Once I had the exhaust where I wanted it, I marked where I wanted to cut the pipes to join with the engine and drilled a hole in each to accept the beading wire in the exhaust manifolds...

The next headache on the road to completion, the 383 Sam sent, of course was not the engine designed for this chassis. So when I tried to slide it into place with the exhaust installed, I found the oil pan was hitting the inside of the K-member. A quick couple of passes with the X-Acto knife solved this one...

The next headache on the road to completion, the 383 Sam sent, of course was not the engine designed for this chassis. So when I tried to slide it into place with the exhaust installed, I found the oil pan was hitting the inside of the K-member. A quick couple of passes with the X-Acto knife solved this one...

Niko, that enigne looks great, Jim, I hope you and Marshall can join in, you've both got some killer work going on! Now I'm gonna take over the thread for a bit, I got a lot of work done on the SuperDuster this weekend! First up, we'll show the completed interior. I screwed up on this, after making up the under-dash gauge sets, I forgot to put them in. Now, since I did such a stupendous job gluing it together, I had to add the set of three gauges AFTER everything was assembled. I also forgot to paint the Duster badge on the driver's too, so that had to be done also. Let's start with the pics of the not-quite completed interior, then we'll get into the adding of the gauges...I'm a goober! Now comes the part where there was a very high chance of screwing this interior up. Trumpeter Panel Scriber to the rescue! I love this tool even more now, it made this possible with the dash glued solidly in place, thank God! I picked a spot for the gauges (Right above the ashtray), and started carefully scribing a line in the front side of the dash... Once I had the front side started, I went at it from the back side also... At this point, I had laid the gauge set on the back side of the dash to see how long the hole was going to have to be, then continued scribing the hole The hole is all the way through now, just a bit of clean-up, and the gauges can be installed! The gauges in place, almost like I never forgot them!

Ok, time for a bunch of updates, I worked my butt off on thsi one over the weekend. First up, we'll show the completed interior. I screwed up on this, after making up the under-dash gauge sets, I forgot to put them in. Now, since I did such a stupendous job gluing it together, I had to add the set of three gauges AFTER everything was assembled. I also forgot to paint the Duster badge on the driver's too, so that had to be done also. Let's start with the pics of the not-quite completed interior, then we'll get into the adding of the gauges...I'm a goober! Now comes the part where there was a very high chance of screwing this interior up. Trumpeter Panel Scriber to the rescue! I love this tool even more now, it made this possible with the dash glued solidly in place, thank God! I picked a spot for the gauges (Right above the ashtray), and started carefully scribing a line in the front side of the dash... Once I had the front side started, I went at it from the back side also... At this point, I had laid the gauge set on the back side of the dash to see how long the hole was going to have to be, then continued scribing the hole The hole is all the way through now, just a bit of clean-up, and the gauges can be installed! The gauges in place, almost like I never forgot them!

John where did you get the battery clamps, or did you make them? If you made 'em you've gotta spill it on how, because they're perfect!

John, I've run out of adjectives for your work, simply put, you are THE MAN!!! One question (Which I'm sure you've been asked before), how do you keep the Alclad from rubbing off while you're building and adding details?

Nice color combo TJ, it's one you couldn't miss rolling down the street!

Congrats on the second and third Gary, and you thought you were gonna have problems! And you'll love the Mustang, it's a good looking kit, I need to get going on mine someday....

Between you and Bill, you're making me want to move out to Kansas and just watch the two of you work on your masterpieces......awesome work buddy!

Rod, that is a stunner, it's far and away the best I've ever seen built! Out of all the details you added, the one that caught my eye first was the windshield washer lines run up on the cowl, I don't recall seeing anyone do that before, outstanding job!

Gotta love a woman who's paying attention, mine says the same thing every time I crack open a box!

Greg, I'd be happy to remove it from your hands, that is one of their best kits, and I could use another one....round windshield or not!.

I picked up a few of those Ollies kits, and one (The F-150 4X4) had a melted tire in the box, and a bunch of warped parts, so I beleive the warehouse fire story was correct. And if your nose is good enough, there was a very slight smoke odor to a few of the kits I bought, but it was hard to pick up. I imagine if the kits were stored in another warehouse prior to hitting Ollie's that slight smell could be gone bfefore you got it in your hands.

And one last pic for the night, a quick mock-up shot using the spare body, I think I have the front wheels where I want them now!

And one last pic for the night, a quick mock-up shot using the spare body, I think I have the front wheels where I want them now!

This part tells me why Sam didn't want to build it, the Challenger T/A exhaust wasn't exactly designed to fit a Duster. This took a bit of heat, a whole lot of eyeballing and test fitting, and a couple of pieces of beading wire to hold the modified exhaust together. First up, the stripped exhaust in it's original size on the chassis...yeah, that's not gonna fit! The exhaust itself lands right at the back corner of the door...not the best placement! A bit of heat was applied to the exhaust tips, a bit of pressure, and we have tips that are better aligned. I also cut a section out of the center, and bent the pipes going up to the engine so they would line up with the location that the Duster's exhaust took over the transmission crossmember... 4 holes were carefully drilled in the modified exhaust, and a bit of 24 gauge beading wire was added to each pipe on the rear half... And a bit of Tamiya Extra Thin cement was added to the joint. Once it's cured, I'll work on making the seam disappear, hopefully making it look like a kit part! Once all of the repairs to the exhaust are done, I still need to make it play nice with the exhaust from the engine, which should be a real joy...I'm not looking forward to it! Oh, and then I need to find a way to get the exhaust secured to the chassis!

This part tells me why Sam didn't want to build it, the Challenger T/A exhaust wasn't exactly designed to fit a Duster. This took a bit of heat, a whole lot of eyeballing and test fitting, and a couple of pieces of beading wire to hold the modified exhaust together. First up, the stripped exhaust in it's original size on the chassis...yeah, that's not gonna fit! The exhaust itself lands right at the back corner of the door...not the best placement! A bit of heat was applied to the exhaust tips, a bit of pressure, and we have tips that are better aligned. I also cut a section out of the center, and bent the pipes going up to the engine so they would line up with the location that the Duster's exhaust took over the transmission crossmember... 4 holes were carefully drilled in the modified exhaust, and a bit of 24 gauge beading wire was added to each pipe on the rear half... And a bit of Tamiya Extra Thin cement was added to the joint. Once it's cured, I'll work on making the seam disappear, hopefully making it look like a kit part! Once all of the repairs to the exhaust are done, I still need to make it play nice with the exhaust from the engine, which should be a real joy...I'm not looking forward to it! Oh, and then I need to find a way to get the exhaust secured to the chassis!

Dang Marshall, I hope you plan on a monster motor for that beast, that baby is looooong! OK, the interior is now done, but it's in the spare body to keep it all squared up while the glue dries. I got a bit more done, starting with making a new driveshaft. I chopped the universal joints off the kit part, added a piece of aluminum tubing, and we have a driveshaft that fits! Next up was a minor fix to the back wheels, the inner wheel backer was not as big as the rim, so the tires were looking slanted toward the axle. A strip of styrene around each one makes the tires look like they should! Once it's painted, you can barely tell it's there!