1973 Duster "Running Resto."

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blackbomber

blackbomber

Raging Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2010
Messages
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Location
CT
I'm relatively new to FABO. For those who care to look, my intro thread: http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=96644


I'm taking a bit of liberty by calling this a “resto” but running restoration just sounds right. What this is in actuality is a budget refurbishing to produce a reliable, decent looking daily driver that I can take to cruise nights and be proud of. To help keep costs down, and also to be able to say “I did it,” I'll be doing everything myself. Literally – I have even mounted my own tires.


Here is my starting point. It is an original one-owner SoCal car with absoloutely no perferation anywhere. Obviously it is weathered, and the paint on the horizontal surfaces has burned away, resulting in surface rust. But looking past the ugly skin, it's a really good candidate.

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Cool, good looking save, have fun with it and we love PICS!!!!! the more the better lol great find and save have fun with it.
 
Against good advice, I wanted to drive this car as-is through at least part of the summer. They are only original once. Obviously I need to erradicate the rust, and get some protection on there ASAP, but I wanted to "show it off" as is for at least a few cruises. Therefore, my first order of business was to make the most of what I had. So with ample Strata 800 compound, a buffing wheel, and metal polish, I set out to make it shine the best I could. First pic is "in progress" to show the dramatic change from burnt crusty green to factory F8. The results were worth the effort:

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I'd take the acrs paint right down to netal where ever I could and lay down some weather resistant primer, not rattle can primer. And then go from there.
 
Thanks BKD, love your F8 Dart.
Rumblefish, thanks for the good advice. I have a gallon of TranStar catylized urethane epoxy primer, and the hardner sitting in my garage. In an unexpected turn of events, I have decided to move, and will be putting my house for sale in the next coming weeks. I need to focus on getting the house presentable right now, and once it's on the market, I don't think I'll be doing any car work there. So I might sand down the rust, then prime just those areas with a cheaper one part primer temporarilly. Then I'll take it all down to bare metal when I'm ready to focus on body work, and get the good stuff on there. Or I might move my tools to my mother's (huge) garage, and work on it there. I'll be painting it there anyhow, if I don't rent a booth. That will have the added benefit of making my tiny one bay garage look more spacious and appealing for the potential buyers.
 
I bought a set of used Rally mirrors. I got them pretty cheap, but the chrome is not too good. I intend to paint them when I paint the car. I installed them as-is for now, and they look great. Passenger side is pretty useless, except for parking. That was kind of a disapointment, but again, they look cool.

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So after Rally mirrors, what comes next is rather obvious. I picked up a set of 14 x 5.5 BBP rally wheels for $125 locally, with centercaps.
I'm pretty bad at photographing my progress, so that is why the shots seem so random. First is breaking the bead to dismount the tires that came on the rims. That is the $50.00 Harbor Freight tire mounter. Somehow I forgot to shoot the stripping process, and end result, but you can see priming and painting. In the spirit of low cost, I used Rustoleum at $7.00 per quart. I only needed 4oz each of primer and paint, so I have PLENTY left for other projects. As you can see, the "aluminum" color silver was WAY to harsh out of the can. I tinted it with some gloss black I had lying around, and got what I feel is a decent shade of silver. Again, this car will never see a show. In the light of my garage, the difference is subtle, but the centercaps and wheel on the left (in last pic) are straight from the can. The wheel on the right is after I tinted the silver. I have since reshot everything in that shade. Still less than 4oz of material laying down three coats with the Harbor Freight HVLP detail gun.

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Cool, good job on the rims looking good buddy. Oh and thanks for the complement on my Dart, it's a hole lotta GREEN!!! lol
 
Wow, that looks great!
I am doing a very similar restoration to my own Dart, and therefore I can appreciate your "I'm doing everything!" approach to the restoration.
I often get bashed for the car's "cruddy" appearance, but you know what, its mine and I'm not spending a fortune to restore it!
Where are you in CT?
 
Thanks for all the compliments.

BKD, I take it you have the green interior also.

72, they made a HUGE difference - transformed the car.

sneke eyez, I haven't been "bashed" (to my face, at least). I'm constantly getting "when are you going to paint it?" I know it looks bad, but I like the fact it's original. I need to get that surface rust addressed, but I'm really in no hurry to paint it. I'm going to address everything else (except for interior) first. If I get myself into a house with a good size garage by winter, I'll do it then. If not, it can wait. In the meantime, I'm driving. 60 miles round trip commute to work, and I'm loving it. And I'm in Waterbury.

Oh, and here it is with the rallys:

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Awesome. Great Job so far. Your car looks like a green /6 auto 74 duster I parted down earlier this year.

Those rallye's made a huge difference on the appearance.

I have a 74 duster 360 I am working on....so I am watching other 73-74 Duster builds as well.

8) Keep rollin'
 
blackbomber said:
sneke eyez, I haven't been "bashed" (to my face, at least). I'm constantly getting "when are you going to paint it?" I know it looks bad, but I like the fact it's original. I need to get that surface rust addressed, but I'm really in no hurry to paint it. I'm going to address everything else (except for interior) first. If I get myself into a house with a good size garage by winter, I'll do it then. If not, it can wait. In the meantime, I'm driving. 60 miles round trip commute to work, and I'm loving it. And I'm in Waterbury.

Oh, and here it is with the rallys:
Click to expand...

Yeah, I get the "when are you going to paint it?" as well, usually from the people who are too nice to bash it.
Like you, though, I get over the crappy looks of the body because I'm addressing everything else first.
Right now I'm on bodywork, and once that is done, which it won't be for a while, I'll be ready to lay the paint on the car myself.
I've got a friend who lives in Waterbury with one sweet 500+ horsepower 05 Mustang GT that looks like Elenore. You'd know it if you saw it.

And I do love the rallys on there.
I chose to go a different route for wheels on my Dart, but they are a good classic look!
 
awesome Duster!:cheers:
Looks great with the rallies
I want to join the "cruddy lookin" club if I can,lol.Mine looks rough also,but Im focused more on how it runs right now,ill eventually paint it soon.
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There's nothing wrong with driving the car as is!
The rallyes and tires made a huge difference as well as the buff job and mirrors.
I would rather see a work in progress driving around instead of a $25,000 show queen anytime.
But that's me.
Enjoy it and keep us posted.
I love the green, i hope you keep it green!
Tom.
 
Man Oh Man does that ever look CHERRY with those rims Sweet Sweet Sweet, yep Green Green Green. BLAH I hate my green car want Plum Crazy but I love my car though just not the color. LOL
 
I absolutely love the color.I would repaint the same color and accent it with black 340 or 440 stripes and Add a touch of black accent on the hood .Thats me,normally I have so much fun with a bodies I have owned I never get around to painting them.Car looks real solid.
 
LOTs or great potential there! I'm glad to see that you have all of the rubber 'bumperetts" front and rear. Seriously, you do NOT want to know what it is like trying to find replacements for those!

/6 Abodies make great daily drivers. They get good milage, handle well for their class and even do well in the snow.

Nice find!
 
Just one shot of interior here at work and a couple of Engine-Bay. /6 2bbl

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Thank you all for the great and encouraging responses! First of all, to those that asked, the F8 Green will be the final color. I like it, and I really don't like deviating from original that much. I am giving the car some 340 flavor, and might go with a black interior.

Prine, a later model wasn't my first choice. It's growing on me, though. I'm glad to see there is increasing interest in the later cars.

Sneke, I definitely thought about going mod with some 17" or 18" wheels. It's a great look, but I decided I really want a stock appearing car.

1Bad, when I was in high school, it was all too common to see cars like ours on the road as transportation. It wasn't common for broke kids to have multiple cars then, and that is the way it was done. Yeah, I have a daily, but I don't want to take my Duster off the road any longer than necessary.

mguner, I like your collection. Lots of people can claim to have owned a similar variety of cars over the years. But how many have them all at once?

turbodart68, I'm keeping the plates as part of the car's history. I actually have it registered with those plates in my name, and intend to keep it that way for as long as I can get away with it.

Dartnut, judged shows bore me, and I see no reason to build to that level if I never intend to show it. I do hope to have a great looking car when I'm done, but I'd like to be able to run into the store for a gallon of milk, and not be paranoid about rain or bird droppings.

BKD, your car is too nice to repaint. I happen to like it in the green. I know it kind of gives it a granny flavor (maybe more so in a Dart), but it's very '70's, which is cool. Your car looks to be original.

horsehead, as already stated, the green is staying. I'm not even jambing it or painting the inside of the trunk lid, because I want to leave as much of the car original as possible. I know that sounds corny, but it's something. As for the stripe, I'm up in the air. A flat black 340 stripe (without the numbers, since it's a 318 ) would look awesome if I go with the black interior. I have plenty of time to decide on that. I also thought about a twin snorkle an go-wing. Hmm, decisions decisions. I really don't want to make a 340 clone, just give it the attitude of a 340. Taking off the rubstrip, and adding the mirrors, wheels, and RWL tires is doing it for me right now. It's only going to get better if I go to a black interior and Tuff wheel. I can add the other goodies anytime if I get bored of the look.

Lone Yankee, I'm keeping the bumperettes, but have removed them (and am glad with my decision). I think it looks cleaner without. But I'm saving them, since they are original to the car. Also saving the hubcaps (worth nothing anyhow) and the round mirror. Oh, the /6 A bodies are great drivers. My '67 Dart was a 225, and I drove it year round. The pizza cutter 13" all seasons went right through the snow. Bonus is that in the snow, it felt like power steering, ha ha. This car is a 318, however.
 
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