Custom Mike

OK, I finally got some good outdoor pics taken with the newly painted side mirrors, enjoy!

Now, another shot of the "T" bolt in place, they'll be glued down once I get the plug wires in place. Then I opened up the ends of the Challenger T/A exhaust Sam sent, it looks 1000 times better than it did originally! I'm gonna strip the exhaust and repaint it Metalizer Stainless Steel once I get it fit to the engine and chassis, it's gonna need a bit of modification to fit the Duster chassis right. Pretty bad looking exhaust pipe, right? Much better once it's opened up. Not the easiest thing to do, it requires a drill bit big enough to fit top to bottom, then you have to carve the sides out with an X-Acto knife to make it look like this. A real pain to pull off, but definitely worth it!

Sounds like it's gonna get involved here, I'm along for the ride, bring on the eye candy!

I'm with these guys, the popcorn is ready, let the hacking begin!

This should look great Frank, I'm waiting impatiently for my next fix!

Thanks guys, Tonio, I'm no master, I'm just a goober with some paint and glue, and a whole lotta imagination! Jeremiah, get back to that Camaro, since seeing the one that Tom's got, I want to see one done, it looks great with the Superbird nose on it! Alright, let's see if I can get this update in before the internet goes bye-bye again! I got the under-dash gauge sets that Sam sent made up, I started by polishing the faces up, bent them, then applied the gauges to the back side, A drop of Testors Clear Parts Cement to each gauge, and they'll look good. Next up, I polished the "T" bolts Sam sent for the valve covers...

Chuck, the Micky Thompsons I have are a smaller profile with treads, but I have no idea where Sam got them from. I'll pick his brain and let you know when I find out! Wayne, that looks wicked! I like the scoop myself, bringing it back to the windshield would only make it look better!

That was my idea Alyn, sorry! It does make ya wonder if they're even paying attention when they tool these things up, doesn't it?

Paul, I hate you, your build sucks, your paint is horrible...ah, who am I kidding, that thing is beautiful! If your first build looks this good, I can wait to see your stuff in about five years, it's gonna be incredible!

Don, it looks like an old Bass boat, I love it! Who needs subtle when you've got two monster motors!

And this brings the build up to it's current state, since I'm out of Primer/Sealer, I can't do much else at the moment. I got my fuel lines run from the fuel rail up to the carbs, which was really fun, you should all try it! Then I got my belt/pulley assembly painted, and looked at the white metal alternator that Sam sent with...it's a GM alternator! That just won't cut it, so it went back in the bag it came from, and the alternator from the '70 Coronet Pro Street kit was snatched and detail painted. Once I get back on this, I'll add some photo-etched brackets to the alternator and possibly the power steering pump. I have one that will fit, but there's not a whole lot of room around the power steering pump to attach a bracket, so I'm not sure if I'll add one, we'll see!

Next, I got the fuel rail attached, and fuel line all bent up nice and pretty, then attached the freshly painted and buffed valve covers... And a shot of the chassis with the rear end installed, The rear end was painted Metalizer Steel, the shocks were painted Chrysler Engine Red, and the coils were painted with Metalizer Aluminum Plate.

Now here's where a big issue popped up. Sam sent some resin valve covers he bought along with this kit, and they were horrible. Out of the three he sent, one had a huge void in it on the corner, another had a bad pinhole, and the third had most of the flange missing, along with the fact if was badly warped into an arc. I did my best, then the flange broke off of the second one, and I gave up and put 'em back in the bag. A quick search through my parts box yielded the same engine he sent (Apparently Sam robbed it from an AMT Challenger Convertible kit), so I stole it's valve covers and smoothed 'em out in preparation for the decals that came with the crappy resin ones. Problem #2, they fell apart as soon as they hit the water. So the valve covers were painted with Metalizer Titanium and buffed out. Whoever you got those valve covers from, lose their address, their stuff sucks! Nice pinhole, huh? Look at the missing flange on the two on the left, and that pretty void on the right hand one... And this guy charges for these? What a rip-off! The old AMT Valve covers, cleaned up and smoothed out.

And on to the part that took the longest, making a fitting for the fuel rail. I put a piece of sprue in the Dremel, and thinned it down to almost the diameter of the aluminum tube I used for the fuel rail. I carefully drilled a hole down through the center, then I made a crude hex-head shape with some careful sanding, cut a sliver of it off, and stuck it on a piece of 26 Gauge craft wire. I attached it to the fuel pump, and once the epoxy cures, I'll put a few more bends in it and attach the fuel rail to it!

And now we're on to the engine! I drilled the head for plug wires, drilled the carbs and fuel pump for fuel lines, and made a fuel rail to get the fuel line up to each carb. It may not be accurate, but it looks cool! I also painted the freeze plugs with some Metalizer Brass, and picked out other parts with Metalizer Aluminum Plate.

OK, I'm back at it, we'll bring it up to speed real quick tonight. Once the chassis was painted, I decided I needed to run a fuel line, why i don't think of this before I paint is beyond me. I carefully drilled some holes in the chassis to run the fuel line, you'll have to imagine a beautifully detailed, absolutely perfect fuel cell in the trunk, which does not open!

Thanks John, it may show up at a contest in SC sometime this year, we'll see! OK, I got a bit more done on the engine, since I'm out of Primer/Sealer, I can't do much else at the moment. I got my fuel lines run from the fuel rail up to the carbs, which was really fun, you should all try it! Then I got my belt/pulley assembly painted, and looked at the white metal alternator that Sam sent with...it's a GM alternator! That just won't cut it, so it went back in the bag it came from, and the alternator from the '70 Coronet Pro Street kit was snatched and detail painted. Once I get back on this, I'll add some photo-etched brackets to the alternator and possibly the power steering pump. I have one that will fit that is, there's not a whole lot of room around the power steering pump to attach a bracket, so I'm not sure if I'll add one, we'll see!

Thanks everyone, I should have some fresh pics this weekend with the color-matched mirrors, they really did make a difference!

Yes it does!

Jim, doing the spokes in aluminum really helped, along with the flat black hood, it looks much better! Is the side trim still across the doors? If so, painting it satin black would help break up the green a bit more, but I wouldn't do any more than that.

I'm heavily into Mopars, I was converted by buying a 1:1 '72 Charger! Great color on this one, and do you know what kit those rims came from, they're beautiful!

You have some killer Pro-Street builds going Steve! I've stolen the chassis and engine out of this kit may times, but never built one...I've gotta do that someday!

Another cool one Steve, great color choice too!

Steve, that is beautiful, the stance is just plain sinister looking too! I'd go with a body-colored hood myself, but the flat black could look cool too!

The CF looks great Gary, and that engine looks killer, I can't wait to see the rest!