1972 Duster Build

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I was able to squeeze in a couple hours yesterday to work on the Duster. The windshield was way more easier than I thought. Turns out it looks like the seal had been replaced it was in really great shape and there really wasn't any adhesive in and around it, it popped in about 2 minutes!
 

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I can't stress how grateful I am that I have a clean virtually rot free car! Look at that window channel, other than a couple of trim clips and screws that I'll need to extract, it's clean and rust free! I feel lucky....
 

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Pulled the dash out. Now I know why the window seal looked so new. The dash has been removed before and painted the black that it is now. The original color was like a metallic olive color.
 

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Got a couple of hours to work on the car tonight. Finished wire wheeling the floor boards and inner firewall. Coated everything with Rust Converter. Waiting on my heater box rebuild kit and firewall gasket set... Hope to get a chance to block sand the outer firewall and engine bay soon so I can shoot the Sassy Grass on it and start reassembling the under dash components.
 
I ended up talking with the local high school auto shop teacher at my kids open house a few weeks ago. After seeing that they had a few long blocks to work with and only one other complete engine. I asked him if he would be interested in my Slant Six out of the Duster. It was complete from oil pan to air breather as well as the three speed standard transmission. He was totally excited with the possibility of the kids having another rebuild able engine to work with. Dropped it off today, the kids were smiling from ear to ear when hoisting it out of the truck. They're already planning to build a run stand for it!

Also got some time to clean up my heater box, replace the pop rivets on the fresh air box doors, test the blower motor, clean up all the surface rust on the hardware and replace the heater core. Got a gasket set from DMT to rebuild the entire box, hopefully get that done this week. Also, finished stripping the 8.8 rear and chopping 3 inches out of the long tube side. Have a friend that's going to mill a tube to slip into the axle tube as backing to weld to and help with alignment. Hope to get it welded up and ready to put under the car in a couple weeks.
 
Made a trip to the blaster this afternoon. Dropped off the hood and deck lid hinges, pedal assembly, battery tray, a few brackets And my dash. Should get them back in a day or two. Got a chance to run by our shop and help my buddy strip the dash from his Ram Charger, gonna drop it off at the blaster in the morning and add it to my order.

Haven't decided if I want to powder coat the dash yet or just lay some paint on it. All depends on how much I have to straighten it and how much filler I might need.
 
Picked up all the parts from the blaster yesterday. Cleaned them up and shot some primer on them to keep the flash rust at bay. Got my new radiator and all my brake calipers delivered. Installed the fronts. Temporarily installed the radiator to check fit and set the hood on her for the first time... Perma grin!

Started tearing my 318 apart yesterday as well. Bottom end looks tired, little bit of a lip on the top of the cylinder walls, not too bad and some wear on the cam lobes. Had newer gaskets on the heads and intake, looks like the heads may be in decent shape maybe gone through recently. Was hoping the bottom would look a bit more promising. Talked with a local shop this morning, one of the builders is a member here on A Bodies... Thinking we can get her done with a mild build under $1500.
 
The wind died down and we had a nice calm warm day finally. I was able to spray some color on the engine bay tonight after work! Not too bad for a driveway rattle can job. Like I've said, she ain't no show girl!
 

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Looks nice,love Limelight/Sublime. Doesn't it feel good, to lay down some color?
 
Thanks, yes it feels good. It's actually Sassy Grass, I think it looks a bit lighter because of the sun on it and my crappy camera. Can't wait to start putting the firewall together, I have a nice 318 with 360 heads, roller rockers, custom grind cam, edelbrock intake and carb with headman headers ready to come out of a friends Dart and drop into the Duster.

My Competition Engineering Coil Over Kit and Diagonal Link bar should be arriving today.
 
Looking good, haven't decided if I'm keeping my engine bay black or converting it to match the sublime green body.
 
Making some progress. Master cylinder and pedal assembly mounted, wiper motor and wiper arms back in, fresh air box on driver side remounted. All with new gasket seals from DMT.
Got my coil over kit and diagonal link delivered this week too!
 

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Tinkering a bit today. Got the throttle pedal and cable back in, emergency brake cable back in, remounted the firewall insulation and connected the heater control lines back to the levers and box. Mounted the heater box to firewall and cowl with new seals and gaskets. Previously rebuilt the heater box with new core. Mounted the battery tray as well.
 

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