Dirty D - 73 Duster Street/Strip Build
Copied from my member intro:
"Picked up this car a little over a year ago from a friend who had owned it since the 90s and daily drove it throughout high school/college, but had stopped running for him and sat for at least the last 10-12 years. Prior to that it was originally purchased/owned by a little old lady out of South San Francisco.
73, originally rallye red, 225 automatic, space duster, bikini vinyl (rust)...that's about it....Oh and a tired single stage Viper Red Earl Scheib paint job. Nothing special, but a relatively rare find, even for California, where these will still rot in to the ground if left unattended. It does have some rust here and there, small bubbles in the paint, and some repaired crash damage so not worth restoring given it's a run-of-the-mill duster, but a great foundation for a fun street/strip car.
I was able to get it running as soon as I brought it home, but some collapsed front brake lines were incentive enough for me to start teardown. I've fully built a couple cars so far in my lifetime (datsuns), and I always strive to maintain a period correct look, but upgrading with "modern" mechanicals along the way. This build will be no different. I'm about half way through it now, just waiting on some $$$ for the motor/trans. I stripped it down to the body, repaired some rust along the way, installed an entirely new/rebuilt front subframe and a shortened 8.8 out of an explorer. Suspension upgrades include rear mono-leaf, caltracs knock off, double adj QA1 front and rear, tubular upper control arms, rebuilt LCA, QA1 tension rods, and some other stuff I forgot. I picked up a used 360/727, but after teardown they seem to be junk. They will make good cores."
They Day I picked it up from my friend:
Back at home:
The car was mechanically sound, but had stopped running for my friend. He started replacing parts without really diagnosing the issue and eventually gave up. I was left with a puzzle that needed putting back together. No big deal, it was just going to take some time. New fuel, fuel filter, and plugs for good measure. Here's the old fuel I siphoned out of the tank. No idea why it was black:
I was able to get the car to start but it ran like crap. Fuel was pouring out the vent tube of the carb, which I'm pretty sure meant stuck float, but rather than just fix the float, I rebuilt the whole thing. Finally got the car running, so I took it around the block. First drive in a decade. Felt good. Went to start the car the next morning, just for fun, and no start. No power was getting to the ignition relay. After a couple hours of head scratching, I inverted myself under the dash and found an aftermarket alarm. It had a "shock" sensor that was cutting power to the ignition relay. Another hour or so later I had the entire alarm removed and it started up no problem, but now I had another problem. I was seeing bits of rust in that clear fuel filter I installed. No bueno. I pulled it up to the lift to see what else needed to be done. The front wheels were difficult to rotate, a sure sign of collapsed front lines. The writing was on the wall...time to start the project.
Copied from my member intro:
"Picked up this car a little over a year ago from a friend who had owned it since the 90s and daily drove it throughout high school/college, but had stopped running for him and sat for at least the last 10-12 years. Prior to that it was originally purchased/owned by a little old lady out of South San Francisco.
73, originally rallye red, 225 automatic, space duster, bikini vinyl (rust)...that's about it....Oh and a tired single stage Viper Red Earl Scheib paint job. Nothing special, but a relatively rare find, even for California, where these will still rot in to the ground if left unattended. It does have some rust here and there, small bubbles in the paint, and some repaired crash damage so not worth restoring given it's a run-of-the-mill duster, but a great foundation for a fun street/strip car.
I was able to get it running as soon as I brought it home, but some collapsed front brake lines were incentive enough for me to start teardown. I've fully built a couple cars so far in my lifetime (datsuns), and I always strive to maintain a period correct look, but upgrading with "modern" mechanicals along the way. This build will be no different. I'm about half way through it now, just waiting on some $$$ for the motor/trans. I stripped it down to the body, repaired some rust along the way, installed an entirely new/rebuilt front subframe and a shortened 8.8 out of an explorer. Suspension upgrades include rear mono-leaf, caltracs knock off, double adj QA1 front and rear, tubular upper control arms, rebuilt LCA, QA1 tension rods, and some other stuff I forgot. I picked up a used 360/727, but after teardown they seem to be junk. They will make good cores."
They Day I picked it up from my friend:
Back at home:
The car was mechanically sound, but had stopped running for my friend. He started replacing parts without really diagnosing the issue and eventually gave up. I was left with a puzzle that needed putting back together. No big deal, it was just going to take some time. New fuel, fuel filter, and plugs for good measure. Here's the old fuel I siphoned out of the tank. No idea why it was black:
I was able to get the car to start but it ran like crap. Fuel was pouring out the vent tube of the carb, which I'm pretty sure meant stuck float, but rather than just fix the float, I rebuilt the whole thing. Finally got the car running, so I took it around the block. First drive in a decade. Felt good. Went to start the car the next morning, just for fun, and no start. No power was getting to the ignition relay. After a couple hours of head scratching, I inverted myself under the dash and found an aftermarket alarm. It had a "shock" sensor that was cutting power to the ignition relay. Another hour or so later I had the entire alarm removed and it started up no problem, but now I had another problem. I was seeing bits of rust in that clear fuel filter I installed. No bueno. I pulled it up to the lift to see what else needed to be done. The front wheels were difficult to rotate, a sure sign of collapsed front lines. The writing was on the wall...time to start the project.