'70 Duster - First MOPAR Build

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jonn6464

jonn6464

1970 Duster
Joined
Mar 29, 2017
Messages
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Location
Weatherford, TX
I've been on this forum for about a month now, and I have to say it's pretty awesome! There is so much info here and members have been quick to reply to any questions.

So, now I thought I'd start a thread for my resto.

As the title says, 1970 Duster... originally a /6 car, 904 trans, bench seat, manual steer, manual brakes. I'm taking her down to bare metal and will build it back up from there. My plan is a 408 Stroker, 4 speed, bucket seats, sure grip rear, disk brakes, power steering (not completely sold on that yet), and all of the common upgrades that go along with this type of build.

Just to be up front, I may be doing some things that are not "factory" with this car, so I hope the purists can find some forgiveness for me.

I've only got one pic so far, so I'll post it next...
 
20170325_151046.jpg
 
timmy.1953 said:
this was a 6 cyl at birth now 408 stroker
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Awesome. Do you mind me asking if you built the 408 or went with a crate? 2 years ago I swapped my '70 Firebird from the original 350 to a 455. I sourced the parts and built it myself and it came in about $2000 over the cost of a crate motor. So, now I'm torn on how to proceed with the 408. I hate leaving the fate of the engine in the hands of someone I don't know, but saving some money is never bad.
Thanks
 
Don't worry about the purists. Those straw hat pocket pencil holders can get over it. It's your car do as you want. They just get mad, then you and I can make fun. Lol!
 
cuda620 said:
Don't worry about the purists. Those straw hat pocket pencil holders can get over it. It's your car do as you want. They just get mad, then you and I can make fun. Lol!
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That's kind of what I'm thinking too. Believe me, I'm all for restoring cars back to original... when you have a complete #'s matching car to start with. But, this is going to be customized to my likes. Thanks for the support!
 
I have a numbers matching really nice 67 Cuda. 318/904/7.25,,,But it's not staying that way. Dunno if I'm goin 451,408 or even LS 6.2. I'd keep everything to put it back stock as should you,imo. I'd consider a 340 6pac but these 340 guys think their gold. NOT.....
 
When I took the grill out, it was pretty beat up but I had no idea how bad until I removed the upper & lower trim. It literally fell apart into 5 pieces! Here it is after the plastic welds, waiting for me to finish the custom grill insert...
20170601_181655.jpg
 
Here it is with the new insert... still a couple of more small pieces to finish (clips, etc)... I'm doing carbon fiber accents on the car (mostly interior) so I thought it might look good to do the upper & lower trim pieces

20170703_191425.jpg


20170703_191542.jpg
 
it would be great if you could find someone's old mopars to take a drive in to see if prefer the PS or Manual steering. the PS of that era lacks road feel most would say, depends if city driving or country driving as to what you might like??. me I have always preferred MANUAL even in big block cars..
I think we all pretty much agree it is your car. you need not apologize to anyone do what you like with it. some will see you work and love it, others not. so is life!!
 
barbee6043 said:
it would be great if you could find someone's old mopars to take a drive in to see if prefer the PS or Manual steering. the PS of that era lacks road feel most would say, depends if city driving or country driving as to what you might like??. me I have always preferred MANUAL even in big block cars..
I think we all pretty much agree it is your car. you need not apologize to anyone do what you like with it. some will see you work and love it, others not. so is life!!
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Yeah my dart has power steering and it definitely lacks road feel, the wheel just spins effortlessly I thought something was wrong with it! I'm thinking I'm going to switch to manual steering!
 
Borgeson steering I've heard is more compact and more road feel.
 
Floor sandblasted, only repair needed was some rust removed from passenger floor pan, about 4"x4". Decided to just weld in a completely new floor pan anyway. Rest of the floor is rust free
Floor.jpg
 
floor looks great. in your pic, it looks like some rust holes around the door striker? a common trouble spot on drivers side where it gets shut a lot.
snad blasting will find thin spots in metal!!
 
barbee6043 said:
floor looks great. in your pic, it looks like some rust holes around the door striker? a common trouble spot on drivers side where it gets shut a lot.
snad blasting will find thin spots in metal!!
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Yes, good eye. I've got a nice metal plate to go in there, probably this weekend. It's pretty thin.
 
I'm having no luck finding anyone who wants the suspension parts that came off the vehicle. I'd hate to just throw them away, but I don't need to keep them laying around either.
 
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