My first build in years, a 73 Duster
Hello everyone, I am from North Dakota as you can see in my handle lol. It has been several years since I have worked on muscle cars from this era. I used to run Fords but always had a liking for Mopars. My mother had a 73 Duster when I was young and I had wanted the car real bad. However, my dad sold it before I was of age to drive. Long story short I was in the oilfield working this summer when I saw an advertisement for a 73 Duster with a 318. It looked very neglected but it had a solid body.
Here are the pictures from the add.
I worked out a deal with the previous owner and a buddy of mine came with and helped me load it up. Homeward bound we went.
It was pretty dirty from the years of tree sap and dirt on it.
A little cleaning and it looked much better.
I decided to start in the front and work rearward with the project. Since it had been banged up some, I ordered new fenders from AMD, sourced a NOS bumper trim piece, and a set of fiberglass bumpers. I also found a hood and hinges in good condition locally.
We started to strip the front end down to clean up the frame, engine bay, rebuild the suspension and convert it to 73 disk brakes.
Due to some front end damage I had an acquaintance of mine who runs a frame shop look it over. He advised me to continue with the build and install the new body panels. Once finished with that it will go to him for the frame repair. He said by going this route he can make sure when finished everything including panel alignment will be correct.
Here is the drivers side cleaned up, painted, and the upper A arm partially installed.
We rebuilt the entire front end, including torsion bars, ball joints, and all bushings. It is amazing how worn out the parts were. No wonder people complain of Dusters handling poorly if they don't rebuild them, bushings and all.
Here is the drivers side rebuilt, and the new brakes installed. Only thing left is to install is the dust cap.
I bought a new set of steel wheels from wheel vintique, a good set of hub caps and a set of M&H radial drag front runners for it. (The brown in the picture is not rust coming through the new paint lol. It was some crappy undercoating I bought and later removed.)
A test fit of the rim and cap.
With the tire installed!
Next comes the floor pan and sub frame connector install this weekend. This will be followed up by my installation of a set of SS springs, offset hangers, and a Dana 60 (all of which I have). With some careful planning and wheel well lip trimming I hope to run a set of 10 in M&H DOT radial slicks in the rear.
This will be a street/strip car when completed. There will be no rotisserie style restoration for this car. It is a solid platform, minus the very bottom of the drivers rear quarter and the floor pans from the heater box being removed. Due to sitting outside uncovered it pooled water through the heater box openings and rusted in the front portions. My plan is to totally rebuild the suspension front and back. So far I have completed the front end rebuild as you have seen. I am going to hire the remaining body work out as I have never been good at painting. I plan to have it painted in Mopar anvil gray with a flat black hood with dual snorkel scoop, and Dixco hood tach. It will also have a flat black custom black stripe down the side. I hope to send it out for paint in a couple months.
I am going to convert the car over to a 4 speed. I have sourced most of the parts for this aspect. I have a 400 I am going to stroke to a 500 using the 440 Source stroker kit. I also have a set of Schumacher headers, engine mounts, and a set of 440 six pack carbs. I am not sure of the cam and heads yet. I am doing some reading on the subject and will likely ask more questions here once I get a handle on it. The engine build will take place this spring through summer. If all goes well I may be able to drive it next fall. Thanks for checking it out.
Hello everyone, I am from North Dakota as you can see in my handle lol. It has been several years since I have worked on muscle cars from this era. I used to run Fords but always had a liking for Mopars. My mother had a 73 Duster when I was young and I had wanted the car real bad. However, my dad sold it before I was of age to drive. Long story short I was in the oilfield working this summer when I saw an advertisement for a 73 Duster with a 318. It looked very neglected but it had a solid body.
Here are the pictures from the add.
I worked out a deal with the previous owner and a buddy of mine came with and helped me load it up. Homeward bound we went.
It was pretty dirty from the years of tree sap and dirt on it.
A little cleaning and it looked much better.
I decided to start in the front and work rearward with the project. Since it had been banged up some, I ordered new fenders from AMD, sourced a NOS bumper trim piece, and a set of fiberglass bumpers. I also found a hood and hinges in good condition locally.
We started to strip the front end down to clean up the frame, engine bay, rebuild the suspension and convert it to 73 disk brakes.
Due to some front end damage I had an acquaintance of mine who runs a frame shop look it over. He advised me to continue with the build and install the new body panels. Once finished with that it will go to him for the frame repair. He said by going this route he can make sure when finished everything including panel alignment will be correct.
Here is the drivers side cleaned up, painted, and the upper A arm partially installed.
We rebuilt the entire front end, including torsion bars, ball joints, and all bushings. It is amazing how worn out the parts were. No wonder people complain of Dusters handling poorly if they don't rebuild them, bushings and all.
Here is the drivers side rebuilt, and the new brakes installed. Only thing left is to install is the dust cap.
I bought a new set of steel wheels from wheel vintique, a good set of hub caps and a set of M&H radial drag front runners for it. (The brown in the picture is not rust coming through the new paint lol. It was some crappy undercoating I bought and later removed.)
A test fit of the rim and cap.
With the tire installed!
Next comes the floor pan and sub frame connector install this weekend. This will be followed up by my installation of a set of SS springs, offset hangers, and a Dana 60 (all of which I have). With some careful planning and wheel well lip trimming I hope to run a set of 10 in M&H DOT radial slicks in the rear.
This will be a street/strip car when completed. There will be no rotisserie style restoration for this car. It is a solid platform, minus the very bottom of the drivers rear quarter and the floor pans from the heater box being removed. Due to sitting outside uncovered it pooled water through the heater box openings and rusted in the front portions. My plan is to totally rebuild the suspension front and back. So far I have completed the front end rebuild as you have seen. I am going to hire the remaining body work out as I have never been good at painting. I plan to have it painted in Mopar anvil gray with a flat black hood with dual snorkel scoop, and Dixco hood tach. It will also have a flat black custom black stripe down the side. I hope to send it out for paint in a couple months.
I am going to convert the car over to a 4 speed. I have sourced most of the parts for this aspect. I have a 400 I am going to stroke to a 500 using the 440 Source stroker kit. I also have a set of Schumacher headers, engine mounts, and a set of 440 six pack carbs. I am not sure of the cam and heads yet. I am doing some reading on the subject and will likely ask more questions here once I get a handle on it. The engine build will take place this spring through summer. If all goes well I may be able to drive it next fall. Thanks for checking it out.
