1972 Duster Build with my Daughter

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Finished up the base today! Long path but it is done.... Black is drying under plastic to keep the dust out as today is windy.... I hate wind.... Finally a short work day on the weekend. Kaylen was a huge help today with all the masking we had to to. Five coats of clear on the hood, cowl and tail panel tomorrow and it is all over but the cutting/buffing!

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Your looking at the body base color! The car was B1 Exterior and B5 interior and Kaelyn wanted it to be original colors. Would not have been my choice but it is her car and for sure it will be unique, I have never seen a B1 car before. In the sun it looks grey with a hint of blue. At night under artificial lights the blue stands out more.
I know, that's why I asked. I was going off of post #1 and didn't read it carefully. I thought the B5 pic said "This is what she is wanting to build" I missed the "at first" part.
 
I know, that's why I asked. I was going off of post #1 and didn't read it carefully. I thought the B5 pic said "This is what she is wanting to build" I missed the "at first" part.

I updated it. The change back to B1 happened a few pages in.
 
Disassembled and rebuilt one of the rear wing windows while we were waiting for the flash time between the clear coats. This was a Detroit Muscle Technology kit that gives you everything. You have to drill out a rivet to get the glass out. We put the chrome on the buffing wheel and it shined up nicely. We will document the other one to show how to do it. The hood is screwed up, I sanded it smooth and will order some SPI black tomorrow then redo it sometime later. We installed the doors and trunk for good. We needed a trunk cylinder and as expected the aftermarket is crap. They did not crimp the chrome enough so it would not go in enough to get the clip on with the gasket on it. A rag over a socket for cushioning and a punch crimped the more so it would set deeper in the tail panel.

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One side is ready for decals! Should be getting a lot done next week.

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Finished wet sanding the clear. Here is the process. I use 500 grit wet to get the orange peal out. Notice I missed some here so I went after it with the 500 again...

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Now go after it with 1000 grit wet use at least one piece per panel it stops cutting very quickly..

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Lastly hit it with 1500 wet... and it is ready to buff.

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Finished up the rest of the side. The door was already buffed but I missed a few orange peel craters so I hit it with 500 grit wet again to get them out. Then 1000 and 1500 wet.

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By that time Kaelyn had most of the right door window hardware bead blasted. We freed up the mechanisms and greased them so they worked freely. Then we hit them with some Seymours Stainless Steel paint to protect them. We ordered a window rebuild kit and linkage clip kit so the brittle parts were replaced. It took a while to remember how all this went together. Much of the chrome shined up nicely but I need to buy the trim pieces behind the arm rests and screws.

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Window tracks painted and out to dry.


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Door handle and lock in and functional!

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Someone is proud of the days accomplishment.

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Original door panels are brittle but cleaned up nicely. Need to paint the trim on the Duster emblem silver, it was long faded away. This door handled has a lot of rust pitting and need to be replaced. Also the glass is really scratched... It will be replaced before we are done I can feel it....

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Looking good Jim. Did you put new door hinges on?
Looks like that striker could come up about 1/8"

Rebuilt them. Not going to spend time adjusting doors till I get it off the engine stands. I am sure there is a bow in the body holding it like I am.
 
Ended up working on the drivers door. Since I figured it out on the right side I let Kaelyn put this side together. The felt in the window tracks on this side just disintegrated so we are stopped on the doors until I can find replacements... :(

Also had a bit of a struggle with the drivers door cylinder... I know how to pull one apart and loose tumblers... Lucky the Dart is still in the weeds.... Recoded and working sort of. The key is worn out.

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Get some new door handles they are not to expensive and really nice- Authentic Reproduction
 
Washer overflowed today so spent time cleaning up the flood. Lost my enthusiasm so we just mocked up what she is going to look like! I am liking it.

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Thought the Classic Industries delivery today would finish up the doors. Not to be with the need to replace the track slider. I still have not found replacements but Steel Rubber has universal rubber backed flock that look like I can make what I need. It will be here next week.

I had to play with the new chrome trim on the door we had together!

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I also went to the auto paint store and restocked on buffing supplies. She is done except for the hood and cowl!

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