72 Duster Resurrection

moparmat2000 said
Yep tell em 1972 A body
1974 upper and lower ball joints if your using those BBJ upper arms.

Ok I will report back with their recommendations. Gonna try PST first.

moparmat2000 said
Kits come with idler and pitman arms too. They will ask if power or manual steering. It does make a difference. Spline count and shaft diameter on steering boxes are different from power to manual.

Manual steering on the duster. I'll keep that in mind.

moparmat2000 said
Yes the lower ball joints are also the steering arm. Its a mopar fact of life.

Thats what I figured, good to know

moparmat2000 said
Sway bar, its up to you, but it will help with handling greatly, even more once you add 200 lbs of V8 into the front of the car. If your lower arms are tabbed for a swaybar that helps a lot. The swaybar kits include bolt on/weld in place tabs just in case your arms are not equipped.

Hmm, I think I will hold off for now, use the LCAs with the tabs during my rebuild, and possibly add a sway bar using a kit when I go V8. No reason I cant add a sway bar later right? Does not look like I will need to disassemble the front end to add one.

moparmat2000 said
Also is your duster a factory A/C car? If it is, it will or should have heavier duty torsion bars. Typically i believe mopar put 318 bars in slantys with factory A/C, and thicker 340 bars in 318 cars with factory A/C

I have factory AC. Its a huge, hardcore looking compressor that will eventually need attention and probably replacement.

moparmat2000 said
If you swap them left to right, right to left, the internal effect on the bar is to untwist it. They will break. The part number is stamped on the back hex end of each bar. Along with an L or R denoting which side it belongs on. Also make sure not to put nicks or gouges in them since it will become a stress point that will weaken the bar to failure.

There is a tool to remove the bars, but there is a different way to remove them if pulling the front end apart for rebuild that only requires a 2x4 wood block and a mini sledge once you dissassemble certain things..

First thing you do after the car is jacked, under stands, and chocked w parking brake set, you take the tension off the torsion bars by backing out the adjusters in the lower arms, remove the upper control arms, and old drum brake assemblies, what will be left is the lower control arm, the strut rod going into the K frame, and the torsion bar.

You remove the snap rings the hold the torsion bars in at the back of the trans crossmember, unbolt the strut rods at the K frame, and where the rods bolt to the lower control arms. With the strut rods loosened and disconnected, and the torsion bar snap rings removed at the crossmember, undo and remove the 2 nuts in the K frame that hold the lower control arms in place. Place the wood 2x4 against the front side of the lower control arm, and smack it back towards the rear of the car with the mini sledge. This will push the arm out along with the torsion bar. No torsion bar removal tool needed.

Great info, thanks. Its all going in the mental file for when I get to that point. I will probably just disconnect them and leave them in the car while I work.

Finally, what are your thoughts on replacing the shocks while I'm down there? Just do it? Would I need 72 or 74 shocks? Brand recommendation?