1967 'cuda
Dropped on Head as a Baby
I'd owned my Duster for over a year before I realized it had a dash cap on it. I think they're the way to go unless you're doing a mega-buck restoration on a rare car.
1972 Duster Build
- Thread starter Jhenry70
- Start date
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Hey, on your steering box, if it is a manual unit, jack the front tires off the ground and turn the wheel back and forth about 20 times.
Clean all the grease from around the box off and let it set for a week or so.
You may find out the leak is gone, what happens is the oil separates from the grease causing a slight leak.
Clean all the grease from around the box off and let it set for a week or so.
You may find out the leak is gone, what happens is the oil separates from the grease causing a slight leak.
Jhenry70
Well-Known Member
Yeah they're the way to go. I tried to recover the pad with vinyl and failed miserably...
And this is a budget build for sure.
Jhenry70
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the info! I've replaced the seal and remounted the box, but I'm still at a loss for what lubricant to fill it back up with. There's a lot of opinions on here on what to use I'm still trying to get a good answer.
Jhenry70
Well-Known Member
Posted a question on dash bulbs and radio ground to the Electrical Forum:
http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?p=1970988514#post1970988514
http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?p=1970988514#post1970988514
Jhenry70
Well-Known Member
My Saturday afternoon view... Got the shop to myself, stereo blasting, tinkering...
Jhenry70
Well-Known Member
Saturday progress.... 
Jhenry70
Well-Known Member
So, I know I haven't updated in a while and I do need to get some fresh pictures up soon. But, I have been busy when I get a chance to get over to the shop to work on the Duster. So far I've got the motor and trans in place, radiator installed, all heater and radiator hoses on, and installed the remote dual oil filter system.
I've spent the last two weekends reading through wiring diagrams and going through the wiring harnesses wire by wire labeling and pulling out bad wires or bad splices and replacing with new wire, connectors and splicing.
I've also wired into the original harness the new ECU, four post ballast resistor, new starter/ignition solenoid, and voltage regulator as well did the Ammeter bypass (with some of my own mods). As far as wiring goes I still have to wire in the new electric fan (having to mount it on the front of the radiator due to lack of room between radiator and water pump) with relays for temp sensor and I'm wiring in a universal 6 position blade fuse holder on the inner fender near the battery for the relays that will work the fan and high/low beams on the headlights.
The under dash harness was in great shape, made some slight modifications and did some re-wrapping to tidy it up a bit. The dash is out of the car right now since it has been redone and I don't want to put it in until after paint is done. I will be bringing over my gauge cluster to plug into the harness to check for issues though. Will be working on the forward headlight/horn harness with upgrades for the headlight relays next.
Things left to do before I can turn the key and try and start the motor:
Fluids - Oil/anti-freeze
Valve cover gaskets
Header gaskets
install starter (have a mini starter but have to repair a wire inside solenoid that broke or install original starter)
Rebuild Carb
Install battery
Pray
only a few hours of work left, getting so close to starting her that I can taste it!
I've spent the last two weekends reading through wiring diagrams and going through the wiring harnesses wire by wire labeling and pulling out bad wires or bad splices and replacing with new wire, connectors and splicing.
I've also wired into the original harness the new ECU, four post ballast resistor, new starter/ignition solenoid, and voltage regulator as well did the Ammeter bypass (with some of my own mods). As far as wiring goes I still have to wire in the new electric fan (having to mount it on the front of the radiator due to lack of room between radiator and water pump) with relays for temp sensor and I'm wiring in a universal 6 position blade fuse holder on the inner fender near the battery for the relays that will work the fan and high/low beams on the headlights.
The under dash harness was in great shape, made some slight modifications and did some re-wrapping to tidy it up a bit. The dash is out of the car right now since it has been redone and I don't want to put it in until after paint is done. I will be bringing over my gauge cluster to plug into the harness to check for issues though. Will be working on the forward headlight/horn harness with upgrades for the headlight relays next.
Things left to do before I can turn the key and try and start the motor:
Fluids - Oil/anti-freeze
Valve cover gaskets
Header gaskets
install starter (have a mini starter but have to repair a wire inside solenoid that broke or install original starter)
Rebuild Carb
Install battery
Pray
only a few hours of work left, getting so close to starting her that I can taste it!
Jhenry70
Well-Known Member
It was a good day. Drove up to Chico, CA about an hour away to check out a 70 Valiant in a pick n pull. Didn't have the stuff I was really looking for but I came away with a second horn, a complete antennae assembly and a complete grill with all chrome, good tabs and hardware and an extra set of headlight buckets for $33.00. A good day indeed!
Jhenry70
Well-Known Member
Oops double posted
Good score, there are no A-Bodies in boneyards around here in New Jersey...
Jhenry70
Well-Known Member
It's usually like that around here as well. I had a friend who lived just a few miles from this yard stop in and take pictures of it for me yesterday around noon. It was pretty much a complete car minus the hood. Got up there today around 1:30pm and the gauges, arm rests, wiper motor and front suspension was already gone! Believe it or not this little four door had the factory KH Disc set up on it, someone scored big!
Jhenry70
Well-Known Member
So i had heard from two different sources each not connected and about six months apart that there was a yard just under two hours from me with some pretty old iron. I didn't get an exact location just a general area. After using Google earth and looking at aerial images I found a place that was about six acres in size and loaded with vehicles.
Turns out that they were only open during the week, so a buddy and I took half a day off and went treasure hunting. Man! We walked the place for two hours just to get a lay of the land and probably only saw 60% of what was there. We mapped out a handful of A-bodies, B-bodies, and e-bodies with good potential. Found a 72 Gold Duster just like mine except it was a factory floor shift model (drivetrain was gone) I got my wiper switch, my armrests bases and pads and the Duster badging for the inside top of the door for $35.
Going back for the hood and trim later... Met the owner and got his cell phone number, he offered to open up for us on a weekend if we just call in advance to make sure he isn't doing honey do's for his wife that day.
Totally worth scrambling through mud, Star Thistle and blackberry vines all day!!!
Turns out that they were only open during the week, so a buddy and I took half a day off and went treasure hunting. Man! We walked the place for two hours just to get a lay of the land and probably only saw 60% of what was there. We mapped out a handful of A-bodies, B-bodies, and e-bodies with good potential. Found a 72 Gold Duster just like mine except it was a factory floor shift model (drivetrain was gone) I got my wiper switch, my armrests bases and pads and the Duster badging for the inside top of the door for $35.
Going back for the hood and trim later... Met the owner and got his cell phone number, he offered to open up for us on a weekend if we just call in advance to make sure he isn't doing honey do's for his wife that day.
Totally worth scrambling through mud, Star Thistle and blackberry vines all day!!!
1967 'cuda
Dropped on Head as a Baby
Going through a salvage yard always feels like a vacation to me. You never know what thrill you'll find each time you turn a corner. Congrats on the finds.
Jhenry70
Well-Known Member
We half-jokingly asked if there was a place we could pitch a tent out in the yard so we could spend a weekend exploring! The owner told us we weren't the first to ask. We were like kids in Disneyland...
Jhenry70
Well-Known Member
Well December didnt see much Duster time but I stayed busy in the shop. My shop buddies and I built a 12x20 mezzanine at the back of the shop and moved out the Challenger which gave us so Much more room and we were able to get a little bit organized.
Got some car time here and there but the last two weekends were pretty productive. Got the carb rebuilt and cleaned up the new grill I picked up. Also picked up a set of Cooper Cobra GT 275/60/15's and mounted them on a set of Black 15x10 D window steelies.
Finally leveled the car up on some stands and yanked the 7.25 rear out from under the car. We spent a ton of time measuring, measuring, measuring, and measuring some more until we got the 8.8 squared up and centered where it needed to be and heavy tacked the ladder bar and shock mounts on it. I still have to cut off one of the upper shock mount tabs on each side and move the out about a 1/4". The mounts that were on the cross bar were already on the car when I got it and my upper shock mount and coil retainer clip are a bit too wide to fit properly.
But I at least have the car sitting at a really nice ride height and stance and it least mean! I am going to increase my back spacing on the 15x10 Rallyes I'm getting to 5.5 which will pull them in enough to tuck under and drop it nice and level if I want to. I still have sooo much empty space in those tubs.
Speaking of tubs, I was able to modify a set of stock deck lid hinges so I can get clearance from the top of the tubs and still allow plenty of lift. This way I don't have to move them inboard and reengineer the mounts. I need to add some side straps, a bottom plate, and profile grind everything so it's strengthened and looks good. I also need to extend the hinge mount plate down to the top of the tubs to stiffen them up and provide some support for the package tray.
Looking forward to finishing the shock mount tabs so I can get it sitting on its own weight and be a real roller. I can the star working on the rest of the cage, fuel cell mounts and the rest of the sheet metal work...
My wife's going in for spinal fusion surgery on her neck on the first so I'm expecting not to get back to it for a couple weeks or so afterwards. Making sure she's comfortable and healing correctly is gonna be number one priority!
I'll post a few pics from the last couple weeks, enjoy!
Got some car time here and there but the last two weekends were pretty productive. Got the carb rebuilt and cleaned up the new grill I picked up. Also picked up a set of Cooper Cobra GT 275/60/15's and mounted them on a set of Black 15x10 D window steelies.
Finally leveled the car up on some stands and yanked the 7.25 rear out from under the car. We spent a ton of time measuring, measuring, measuring, and measuring some more until we got the 8.8 squared up and centered where it needed to be and heavy tacked the ladder bar and shock mounts on it. I still have to cut off one of the upper shock mount tabs on each side and move the out about a 1/4". The mounts that were on the cross bar were already on the car when I got it and my upper shock mount and coil retainer clip are a bit too wide to fit properly.
But I at least have the car sitting at a really nice ride height and stance and it least mean! I am going to increase my back spacing on the 15x10 Rallyes I'm getting to 5.5 which will pull them in enough to tuck under and drop it nice and level if I want to. I still have sooo much empty space in those tubs.
Speaking of tubs, I was able to modify a set of stock deck lid hinges so I can get clearance from the top of the tubs and still allow plenty of lift. This way I don't have to move them inboard and reengineer the mounts. I need to add some side straps, a bottom plate, and profile grind everything so it's strengthened and looks good. I also need to extend the hinge mount plate down to the top of the tubs to stiffen them up and provide some support for the package tray.
Looking forward to finishing the shock mount tabs so I can get it sitting on its own weight and be a real roller. I can the star working on the rest of the cage, fuel cell mounts and the rest of the sheet metal work...
My wife's going in for spinal fusion surgery on her neck on the first so I'm expecting not to get back to it for a couple weeks or so afterwards. Making sure she's comfortable and healing correctly is gonna be number one priority!
I'll post a few pics from the last couple weeks, enjoy!
Jhenry70
Well-Known Member
Mocking up the hinges
Jhenry70
Well-Known Member
Pic1
Jhenry70
Well-Known Member
This picture shows the one rust area I have to deal with on the car. That lower rear panel is going to need to come off I believe. You can actually see the mesh that was used in an earlier repair.
Jhenry70
Well-Known Member
Pic3
Jhenry70
Well-Known Member
Pic4
Jhenry70
Well-Known Member
Took my twisted up bumpers to a local chrome guy and he stripped them down to the nickel and straightened them up for me. Gonna weld up the Jack slots and do some body work to get them ready for paint.
Jhenry70
Well-Known Member
Love the new shoes....
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