Well finally!

[MoPar_Jamie]

Well folks,

I FINALLY got to get started on my '79 Volare Duster project. Today was kind of productive, got the motor ready to come out (junk Slant Six, hole in block!), also stripped down the '79 Aspen V8 K-member that I want to use. The car it came from was wrecked in the back but it drove pretty straight and didnt wanter a bit. BUT, I decided the heck with it and am going to completely re-do that whole frontend.

I'm going to add cop bars (different rubber bushings), a cop box, and some HD tie-rod ends. For the brakes I want to add some 11.75 rotors and some 11 inchers out back.

I also want to eliminate the rubber bushings that isolate the K-member from the chassis.

For the rear suspension I'm going to add some cop springs (out of that same ill-fated '88 Dippy) and probably an 8 1/4. I want to eliminate the isolators as well.

Next step is to get the engine out and take the car to the carwash, along with the subframe. Then I'll park the car in the shop and go to work. Want to detail/rebuild the suspension over next week if I can.

For now I want to use an '86 318 with a better cam and a 998 trans. Definitely will get a 4-v setup and probably a 600 carb.

Lotta work but I've been wanting to do this one for awhile. Here is a crappy pic of the car taken when I got it:

 

[MoPar_Jamie]

Welp folks, the motor and trans are OUT. The Slant didnt want to go quietly though. It IS a PITA to yank a Slant without a manifold setup on it. I'd usually wrap the chain around the #6 runner and go to the alternator bracket. First I tried the rearmost intake hole and the bracket, no go.

I ended up using the trans bolt near the starter (facing front, at the top), and STILL had to jack the trans up on the left side pan to get it to come out of the mount.

Otherwise, it slid right out.

Next task at hand is to get the car to the carwash with some Super Clean degreaser and go to work. I'll also take the K-member with me and clean that up as well so I can get to work on the suspension. On that note I'm going to tear the individual componets down so I can blast them and paint them.

a Buddy of mine sugggested getting the paint shop to match my color and then put it in a spray-bomb for the enginebay. Thats not a bad option if there are areas to be touched up (probably).

No pics yet of the car but I'll have some soon!

 

[moparguy]

those "paint matched rattle cans" arent very good, at least at the auto paint store around here. the cans i used didnt match at all. I wouldnt do it that way.