72 duster Build progress

-
I like the 69 Valiant grill (I prefer them, :thumrigh:).
About your vise grip modification, Necessity :sign7: is the mother of invention.
Very nice looking work, you just might be missing your calling.
 
Very nice! One body work tip though.. You will get everything a lot flatter if you just hand sand it with a long block. At the body shop I worked at we only used power tools to strip. once we started to get it straight it was all hand sanding. Kinda isn't the most fun thing in the world, but the results are worth it. Otherwise, looking great keep up the good work.
 
Way ahead of you!

you must have missed the pictures I posted of my big ole file board I use?

I use my D/A for knocking down old paint and high spots and general shape forming and I use my file board for big long stretch's of flat panel and I use various blocks for tighter ares and in some contoured areas I have flexible blocks I use and in tight ares I do a bit of hand sanding.
 
I have been procrastinating LOL

have not done much at all compared to the streak of work I was doing for the last couple weeks.

biggest reasons are .....I have been spending time with my family.

and this freaking HEAT!!!

we have been in the 80's and 90's and with all the rain we have been having ...the humidity SUCKS!.

so the last couple days I have gone out to ATTEMPT working on the duster......quickly get discouraged and decided to say screw it and go canoeing and fishing instead .

I have done a little bit but no where near enough to feel like progress is blazing along or anything.

so hard to keep at it when doing it all by myself as it feels like such a big task to get the car finished.

I am pretty confident I can reach my goal of having it in primer and on the road by august or so ( I hope ).......but it would be nice to get it to that point a little ahead of schedule.

I need some more motivation and just kick some *** on it for a week or 2 straight and I can get alot done.....its just a matter of finding that motivation right now lol.
 
nothing wrong with some canoeing and fishing :thumbup:

I cant wait to get some money build up, get hold of my old classmates car when he moves back to taiwan and then tear my front suspension and intake manifold apart, if I can find time for it. In the meantime you must keep doing some work to keep us motivated :toothy1:
 
sorry for not having much updates guys.

its been hot non stop here in michigan for about a week, 90's almost everyday (if I lived in florida and was used to it than it wouldnt bug me near as bad but being that here in michigan temps can go from the 40's one day to the 80's or 90's the next.....it really messes with you lol).

That and I don't have the funds right now to finish getting a few things I need before I can make a little more progress.

my wife is still laid off because of the stuff in Japan and what I get per month is just enough to keep a roof over our heads .
BUT my wife has decided to take advantage of her lay off and is going to be going back to school this summer to become a CNA so hopefully things will get better for our family in the near furture! .

I did get a LITTLE work done a few days ago on the duster but not enough progress worth posting pictures so I will probably save all the pictures until this portion of the project is finished and drop them all into this thread at once (started on the other quarter panel.....have the old one just about cut all the way out...still need to grind a few spot welds out in the wheel well, and I cleaned out the trunk and soaked the trunk floor in muratic acid to eat through the rust scale,then cleaned it all out and ground it down and I have a few soft spots on the passenger side near the trunk extension.....so I have to get some more metal so I can make a partial floor replacement aswell as make a new trunk floor extension like I did on the other side).

and then I need to pick up a quart of rust stopping paint to lather on the floor and I have to put new seam sealer in all the joints.

so that's where things stand here.....hopefully someone buys something from my for sale thread here on FABO and I can make a couple bucks to finish up what I need to get done and then I can focus on finish body work!!!
 
Im sure things will pick up for you and your family soon dude.. The buggy project has kind of ground to a halt as well, for alot of the same reasons.. my wife too is laid off, and my salary is barely keeping us housed and fed.. I do believe our trip to the Nats this year may be in jeapordy. But.. we're doing what we can.. I still look forward to seeing what you get done next.. I have some materials bought and ready, so I do believe we will be starting some body work on the Dart this week.. keep your fingers crossed.. and I will be doing the same for you my friend..
 
Thanks buddy we appreciate the kind words.

Best of luck to you and yours too!

Ill be keeping tabs on your thread aswell to see what you got going on!
 
Thanks buddy we appreciate the kind words.

Best of luck to you and yours too!

Ill be keeping tabs on your thread aswell to see what you got going on!

Your most welcome dude, and many thanks to you and yours as well..
 
I have been procrastinating LOL

have not done much at all compared to the streak of work I was doing for the last couple weeks.

biggest reasons are .....I have been spending time with my family.

and this freaking HEAT!!!

we have been in the 80's and 90's and with all the rain we have been having ...the humidity SUCKS!.

so the last couple days I have gone out to ATTEMPT working on the duster......quickly get discouraged and decided to say screw it and go canoeing and fishing instead .

I have done a little bit but no where near enough to feel like progress is blazing along or anything.

so hard to keep at it when doing it all by myself as it feels like such a big task to get the car finished.

I am pretty confident I can reach my goal of having it in primer and on the road by august or so ( I hope ).......but it would be nice to get it to that point a little ahead of schedule.

I need some more motivation and just kick some *** on it for a week or 2 straight and I can get alot done.....its just a matter of finding that motivation right now lol.

I think that the biggest challenge during a restoration is time. To make a restoration like you do takes a lot of energy, planning, time for searching parts and time to put the car back to the condition you like. But, the family needs some time too and the car is just a hobby. So yes, it is really frustrated! So far I think you are doing really well. Hope you have it ready in August. Good luck and keep up the good work.
 
Thanks!

yes it can be a very frustrating thing.

I am sure I can get it done.....it just becomes frustrating not being able to get it done as soon as I would like.

between taking it on all by myself for the most part, money issues, time issues,weather issues,making time for family,trouble finding parts I need, having to make parts I can not find or buying used and refurbishing them because new ones are not available or are to expensive.

alot of factors go into it.

sure, if I had good steady cash flow and a 3 man crew or more and a nice sized garage/ shop,all tools at my disposal and so on.....I could do the entire car from start to finish in no time.....however..that is not the case.

my mood swings with this car, some days I feel like I can tackel it all and I get a huge burst of motivation and I can knock out a bunch of work....other days I think of how long the list of things to do still is and I and up taking a few steps back and not getting anything done.

I still "think" I can pull it off by august or so ( body work done and in primer and pretty much road worthy)......all depends on finances and time and all the other factors....but one can hope lol
 
I just found your thread again; What Amazing Work you do, very Inspirational!

Keep plugging away and you will be on the road in no time.

Myself I am just clearing out my last project for someone else and then my Duster project will be started. It will be much like yours; difficult with such little cash available.
 
Thanks!

and good luck on yours.....be sure to post up a thread for it. Ill follow....I always enjoy seeing what others are up to on their projects.

Plus I get ideas and motivation from looking at resto threads lol.
 
I should be finishing up the metal work but I have been procrastinating LOL ......Ill get to it eventually.

however....I have been getting some stuff done anyhow.

I poured muratic acid on the trunk floor and let it dissolve some of the rust scale on the metal where the previous owner had removed the spare tire well and put in flat sheet steel.

cleaned everything up,hit everything with the grinder and wire brush. I found a few soft spots on the passenger side of the trunk floor that I am going to have to build a patch for but its not to big of a deal.

whipped out the torch bottle and made easy work of getting the old seam sealer out of the nooks and crannies.

IMG_20110602_212858.jpg

IMG_20110608_164225.jpg


then I hit it all with a heavy coat of rust stopper
this I used a crappy brush to put it on so its not the best fir an finish job but I was not looking to make it perfect....just protect the metal....I am going to be doing a finished carpeted trunk anyhow .

IMG_20110608_190048.jpg


Then I pulled out my seam sealer and smeared down all the seams and welds and what not.
I did not paint or seam seal the section of the trunk floor yet that I need to make a patch panel for....I will after I make and install the patch, I just wanted to keep the metal protected until I get around to it because after stripping it down to bare steel it will flash new rust in no time.

also after the entire thing is coated in rust stopper and seam sealed I think I am going to paint over all of it with a old school spackle paint or something of that sort.

IMG_20110609_202228.jpg

IMG_20110609_202250.jpg


then after I did that.....I was looking around my garage and noticed I had bought everything to dye my backseat a few months back and I figured it was about time I got that done and out of the way.

so I set my 2 sections of back seat aside,poured soapy water in a bucket, pulled out a scotch bright pad (used it as my scrubber.....it lightly scuffs the surface for better adhesion all the while scrubbing any dirt and grime away), then I wiped the seats down with a dry rag, let the seats dry,then pulled out another rag and soaked it in surface prep (wax and grease remover) then scrubbed the seats down again, then wipred dry, then let air dry. Then I used a can of adhesion promoter clear primer and layed a few coats down. let that all dry, then pulled out the cans of vinyl dye and went to work on it. let it all dry, installed them....and they look GREAT!. now my interior is about 90% or more done.

I forgot to take some pictures of the seats prior to getting to work on them but you get the idea of the transformation.

IMG_20110609_184031.jpg

I know some people do not like using this stuff and prefer using SEM brand....but I have honestly had great luck with this stuff.....its all about the prep work you put into what you are dying.
IMG_20110609_184045.jpg


IMG_20110609_184011.jpg

IMG_20110609_184003.jpg

IMG_20110609_163013.jpg

IMG_20110609_163023.jpg

IMG_20110609_163034.jpg

IMG_20110609_163048.jpg

IMG_20110609_163101.jpg

IMG_20110609_193835.jpg

IMG_20110609_194324.jpg

IMG_20110609_194311.jpg



not in really any particular order....and sorry for the cell phone pics....hope you guys get the idea of what I have been up to.

hope you guys like the progress.
 
I used that same paint on the rear seats in my Duster. Was four or five years ago, they still look as good as the day i painted them.
 
Yup....its good stuff.

just got to make sure you do the prep work to allow it to last as long as it can.

back out to the garage I go!
 
seats look awesome!

I missed that there was a reply on the thread.

thanks, it came out looking good!.

been plugging away at metal work the last few days, just finished up the trunk floor, now I need to build the trunk extension and my quarter patch can go in and I will basically be done with metal work finally!.
 
Looks good.

I wish I had known you had a white seat; I would have brought you my black one and traded it for the white one. I want white but all my cars are either Harvest Gold or Black interiors.

I have no progress on mine but I did build a 4.0 for a Jeep this weekend.
 
I missed that there was a reply on the thread.

thanks, it came out looking good!.

been plugging away at metal work the last few days, just finished up the trunk floor, now I need to build the trunk extension and my quarter patch can go in and I will basically be done with metal work finally!.

being done with metal work is always a good thing lol
 
Looks good.

I wish I had known you had a white seat; I would have brought you my black one and traded it for the white one. I want white but all my cars are either Harvest Gold or Black interiors.

I have no progress on mine but I did build a 4.0 for a Jeep this weekend.
wasn't white.....was more of a cream/khaki color.....I had it up for trade for a black one awhile ago but with no luck.
thanks for the offer anyhow.

being done with metal work is always a good thing lol

that it is lol....Im getting closer.
 
-
Back
Top