72 Duster Resurrection

[Duster Captain]

Get with one of the moderators on the site, and ask them to move it for you.

Will do, thanks.

 

[memike]

Moved it and if Duster Captain would like me to change the name of this thread just let me know

 

[moparmat2000]

If you decide on those rotors i got, i can clean , inspect, and repack the bearings on em for you if you like. All you need to bring to the party is the new dust seals for the back side

 

[moparmat2000]

Been really busy but I am still here.

Appreciate the info on the control arm stuff. That all sounds good to me. I will probably re-use my original 72 LCAs.

View attachment 1715101777
Parts have been arriving steadily in the mail. I now have all the parts I need to rebuild the front end and front brakes.

I removed the old master cylinder. I think it must have been leaking at its connection to the firewall based on the extra rusted paint all around and below it.
View attachment 1715101778

View attachment 1715101779
What is this thin plastic washer thing? I'm not sure if my new master cylinder came with one..


View attachment 1715101780
I finally won the battle with the ball joints on the draglink and got it out of the car. It was a spirited struggle with the pickle fork and sledge. I broke the ball joints then removed the pitman and idler arm.

Now I need to start cleaning everything and putting it all back in with new parts. Stay tuned.

Looks like your brake pushrod is shot. The o ring groove should be square. I think theres somebody selling a btake pushrod on fabo for a few dollars. If i had a spare i'd sell it to you. Your new master cylinder should come with the black rubber O ring for the pushrod end that fits into the master cylinder.

 

[moparmat2000]

Figure out which one you need length wise. Look at the o ring grooved end. Yours should look like this. He still has them. In brakes and wheels and tires for sale section.

 

[Duster Captain]

Moved it and if Duster Captain would like me to change the name of this thread just let me know

Thanks for the help, everything looks good now!

If you decide on those rotors i got, i can clean , inspect, and repack the bearings on em for you if you like. All you need to bring to the party is the new dust seals for the back side

Thank for the offer, but I already bought new races and seals for my rotors and found a local place who can turn then for cheap. Im gonna try that route first, I'd like to learn. I'll let you know what happens.

Looks like your brake pushrod is shot. The o ring groove should be square.

What do you mean by "square groove"? Looks like all new pushrods that are sold have a regular round o-ring groove:

Figure out which one you need length wise. Look at the o ring grooved end. Yours should look like this. He still has them. In brakes and wheels and tires for sale section.

View attachment 1715118180

Thanks for looking that up for me. I think I'll remove mine from the duster and have a look at it, then decide what to do.

 

[moparmat2000]

Yep square groove. Your new master cylinder should have come w a black rubber piece that fits into it. Looks like a 1/4" long cut piece of large vacuum tubing

 

[moparmat2000]

Wheres the captain been?
Any new updates to show us?
The rotors i had finally sold.

 

[Duster Captain]

Im still alive, sorry for going dark.

Insane weather swings in Houston have slowed all Duster work. We had a record week of sub-freezing temperatures followed by heavy rain. Weather is getting better, so I plan on making a big push on the project soon.

Additionally, there have been a few disappointing setbacks that have had an impact on project morale. Go ahead and pour an extra beer for the Captain, settle into your chair, and read on:

- Heartburn #1: Upper Control Arm Disaster-
​

The upper control arms I purchased from a local mopar guy (pic in post #134) were a mix of one LBJ and one SBJ. This was a problem because who is going to sell me just one LBJ UCA?

I hit the FOBA market and found a member who had a set of good condition LBJ UCA's for $100 shipped. Not bad.

However, I decided to try and press the old bushings out myself and rented a bushing press kit from the auto parts store. This thing:

I put the best fitting "socket" on each side of the UCA, put my impact wrench on the big c-clamp and fired. Long story short, the bushing started to move but the flat metal around the bushing on the UCA was deformed into a permanent cup shape which means the new UCA bushings would be mis-aligned. The UCA was junk. I will try and upload a pic later.

So at this point I had bought: UCA Pair 1 (not both LBJ) , and UCA Pair 2 (destroyed trying to press out the bushings at home).

Time for the big guns.

I made an executive decision and sprung for a set of tubular QA1 UCAs to the tune of around $300. Emotion was a factor on that purchase but I've moved on. They are awesome and have the bushings already installed.

-Heartburn #2: Rear Drum Brake Debacle-
​

I decided to rebuild the rear drum brakes because the parts are cheap and Im rebuilding the rest of the break system anyways.

Measured original front drums to be 9", assumed rear drums were also 9", and ordered everything for 9" drums.

Parts arrive and it turns out the existing rear drums are bigger than 9". Research told me that 9" and 10" drums are the size options.

I grab my tape and verify they are 10". I ordered 10" shoes and hardware, no big deal, its not expensive stuff.

The parts arrive......and are still not the right size.

Turns out there are 10" X 1-ish" and 10" X 2.5" drums....

I now have the 10"X2.5" hardware and shoes, 2 other sets of useless shoes and hardware, and I dont want to talk about it.

Anyways, the rear brakes are done:

Before:

After:

​

Next Steps:

- Replace old LCA bushings with new ones (sure hopes this goes better than the UCAs)
- Get front disk rotors turned (I found a local shop who can do it)
- Re-install complete front suspension
- Put all wheels back on (might need new tires...sorry wallet)
- Install and hookup new brake master cylinder (apparently I have a shaft o-ring to find)
- Bleed and fill brake system
- Test drive (also ensure medical insurance is current)
- Big list of engine/electrical work after that (fluids, lights, fuel gage, etc)

Stay tuned, I'm still in this thing

-The Captain

 

[Duster Captain]

The rotors i had finally sold.

Thanks for the update, I'm going to get mine turned and rebuild the bearings. We'll see how it goes.

 

[moparmat2000]

Not to add insult to injury, but, you shoulda called or texted me bro. Always measure diameter of the drum, and width of the shoe.

As far as the upper arms, these bushings woulda been the way to go. Burn out the rubber, and leave the outer shells intact. No press kit needed.

Prothane makes a lower control arm bushing kit like this too, leaving the outer shells intact.

 

[Duster Captain]

Not to add insult to injury, but, you shoulda called or texted me bro. Always measure diameter of the drum, and width of the shoe.

As far as the upper arms, these bushings woulda been the way to go. Burn out the rubber, and leave the outer shells intact. No press kit needed.

Prothane makes a lower control arm bushing kit like this too, leaving the outer shells intact.

View attachment 1715133722

View attachment 1715133724

The drum thing was a lesson learned, they're not very expensive so no big deal.

The rubber-only UCA bushings were not an option because the initial set of UCA's I bought already had the metal sleeves removed. The second UCA set I bought still had the metal sleeves, but I wanted to use the sleeved prothane bushings I already bought. Another lesson learned.

I do have the rubber-only LCA bushing set. I plan to burn out the originals as you mentioned.

 

[moparmat2000]

Where did you get the brake pads? Rockauto? If so return them. Or post em for sale on fabo. BTW i got a 2001 xploder 8.8 rear with 3.73s, a locker and rear disc brakes. Found it on FB trader. Now i need the time to mod it to fit under an A body

 

[Duster Captain]

Where did you get the brake pads? Rockauto? If so return them. Or post em for sale on fabo.

All from rock auto. They take the return shipping out of your return credit, which would have only recovered a few bucks. Not worth my time. I'll hang onto them, got some other old mopar projects in mind....

BTW i got a 2001 xploder 8.8 rear with 3.73s, a locker and rear disc brakes. Found it on FB trader. Now i need the time to mod it to fit under an A body

Nice. That will be something I will consider way down the line if/when I go v8 with the Duster.

I feel you on the time aspect, always hard to find the time.

 

[Duster Captain]

Life and weather finally started cooperating and I have made Duster progress.

Brakes

-Both of the front disk brakes are completely broken down and freshly turned for $15/ea at a local shop. Forgot pictures, more later.

-The rear drum brakes are now fully reassembled and waiting for wheels to go back on.


Suspension

I cooked the old LCA bushing rubber with a propane torch and scraped it out with a screwdriver until the pins came out. I lubed up the new poly bushings and pressed them in by hand. It was pretty painless. (thanks
@moparmat2000)

I gave the LCAs a quick wire brush and a coat of Rustoleum Pro Primer. I hope to fully disassemble the car and do everything for real with powdercoating when I get to the body and paint work. I'll just coat with black enamel gloss rattle can for now.

Ready for paint

Primed

Rustoleum Pro rattle can does not look half bad

I also installed new rubber UCA bump stops and one of my QA1 tubular UCA's.

Had a little clearance problem here. The car frame bracket was hitting the UCA, stopping it from having a full swing.

A little angle grinder work convinced it to see things my way

Thats it for now. Major things left:

-finish front suspension (UCAs, LCAs, Shocks, torsion bars, draglink, etc)
-attach all front brake lines
-fill and bleed brakes
-add wheels (tires may be shot)
-drive!

Im getting close, stay tuned for more soon.

-The Captain

 

[Duster Captain]

Also, I'm just eyeballing the camber bolt positions based on where they were originally.

Will an alignment shop know what to do with these once I get it on the road?

 

[moparmat2000]

Yep they will know what to do. Nothings changed because theres now tubular uppers.

On your end, you need to get everything very close by eyeball including toe in, pump every joint with a zerk fitting up with grease, then drive it right to the alignment shop.

I'm assuming your disc brakes are installed. Share your pix with us.

 

[moparmat2000]

Make sure you lube up the the hexes for the torsion bars on both ends really good with wheel bearing grease before installing the bars. This will keep water out of them, and prevent the bars hexes from corroding. I usually put grease on the bars hexes, and in the hex sockets.

 

[Duster Captain]

Yep they will know what to do. Nothings changed because theres now tubular uppers.

On your end, you need to get everything very close by eyeball including toe in, pump every joint with a zerk fitting up with grease, then drive it right to the alignment shop.

I'm assuming your disc brakes are installed. Share your pix with us.

Sounds good on the alignment and grease.

I have not assembled the disk brakes yet, will upload pics when I get there.

Make sure you lube up the the hexes for the torsion bars on both ends really good with wheel bearing grease before installing the bars. This will keep water out of them, and prevent the bars hexes from corroding. I usually put grease on the bars hexes, and in the hex sockets.

I remember you mentioned this before. Sounds like a good idea to me, will do.

 

[jonn6464]

Hey man, small world, I almost bought this car about a year ago. I'm currently rebuilding a 1970 Duster and I picked up a Moser 8 3/4 rear end from Danny (the guy who sold you the car). We talked about me buying the '72, but I really only needed some parts from it. He wanted $2500 for it! I told him I'd do $1000, but he said it wasn't enough.

You got it for $500?!?!? That son of a....

Anyway, glad you scored a good deal on it. I live in Richmond, so I travel Hwy 359 often, and I remember the day I drove by and saw the car was gone.

Have fun with your project.
I hope you don't have a real close attachment to your money, because it goes away quickly!

'70 Duster - First MOPAR Build

 

[moparmat2000]

MoPar always = MoMoney lol.

You cant take it with you, might as well spend it. My dad, a life long mopar nut always told me a mopar is a rich mans car. I could never figure out what he meant by that. I was going to redo another 68 charger like the one i had in the 80s, but was shocked by what they were going for as basket cases back in 2008. I decided on a 67 barracuda as a cheaper alternative, then bought a 69 barracuda for me to fix up with my son for him. How wrong i was on that cheaper alternative theory. Well not quite, the initial buy in was way cheaper than a charger, but the parts certainly arent cheap lol.

I named all my mopars HD. Not for heavy duty either.Everything for em at minimum is a Hundred Dollars

DusterCaptain we're not trying to scare you off, just pointing out the absurdity of the parts costs on these things compared to Chivvy and Furd. Regardless of all that, i wouldnt trade either cuda for any Crapmaro, or Chivelle. Those are bellybutton muscle cars. You see them at every car show. Usually painted bright red with black skunk stripes on them. Yawn, boring.

 

[Duster Captain]

Hey man, small world, I almost bought this car about a year ago. I'm currently rebuilding a 1970 Duster and I picked up a Moser 8 3/4 rear end from Danny (the guy who sold you the car). We talked about me buying the '72, but I really only needed some parts from it. He wanted $2500 for it! I told him I'd do $1000, but he said it wasn't enough.

You got it for $500?!?!? That son of a....

Anyway, glad you scored a good deal on it. I live in Richmond, so I travel Hwy 359 often, and I remember the day I drove by and saw the car was gone.

Have fun with your project.
I hope you don't have a real close attachment to your money, because it goes away quickly!

'70 Duster - First MOPAR Build

Wow, this is crazy, definitely small world!

Sounds like Danny finally wanted the duster out of his yard bad enough to lower the price that much!

Guess I lucked out on the timing! I responded to his Craigslist post within a few minutes of him posting it. I also got his 71 Dart from him as well, but thats another project...

Your 70 Duster build thread is very nice! Lots of nice shiny QA1 hardware in there, Im excited to see the final result.

My Duster build is somewhere between "throw it all together to tool around in" and "full upgrade and restore". As we all know, the budget usually dictates what happens.

Glad to have you on board to watch my build, let me know if you see any Duster quirks I should watch out for.

MoPar always = MoMoney lol.

You cant take it with you, might as well spend it. My dad, a life long mopar nut always told me a mopar is a rich mans car. I could never figure out what he meant by that. I was going to redo another 68 charger like the one i had in the 80s, but was shocked by what they were going for as basket cases back in 2008. I decided on a 67 barracuda as a cheaper alternative, then bought a 69 barracuda for me to fix up with my son for him. How wrong i was on that cheaper alternative theory. Well not quite, the initial buy in was way cheaper than a charger, but the parts certainly arent cheap lol.

I named all my mopars HD. Not for heavy duty either.Everything for em at minimum is a Hundred Dollars

DusterCaptain we're not trying to scare you off, just pointing out the absurdity of the parts costs on these things compared to Chivvy and Furd. Regardless of all that, i wouldnt trade either cuda for any Crapmaro, or Chivelle. Those are bellybutton muscle cars. You see them at every car show. Usually painted bright red with black skunk stripes on them. Yawn, boring.

Yep, I've done some light car projects before but never a full on project like this Duster. I keep a spreadsheet of all the expenses and it is pretty depressing to look at...definitely more expensive than Chevy parts. The Duster is a "HD" car for sure.

But its worth it, Im having fun. When I get done I could sell her and move on to something else. We'll see. I definitely like having something different than a more "standard" muscle car for sure.

 

[moparmat2000]

Your best bet is to never keep any reciepts, it will depress you. I dont keep any of mine, i just dont want to know. I dont really have much build time. Work, and home life with small children kills that, but the boxes of parts keep coming in, the list keeps getting checked off, as the pile of boxes on the shelves and in the loft grows. Eventually i will have more time. When that happens, i will probably put a cot, coffee pot, and microwave out in the shop next to the fridge and live out there like Krass and Bernie until my 67 is done.

 

[knote72]

Your best bet is to never keep any reciepts

Unless if you can use em for a tax write-off.......

 

[moparmat2000]

Youtube "Juanita and the kids" by Ray Stevens. You will laugh your *** off. Anybody know thow to link that youtube vid to this thread?

But seriously dustercaptain, you are prob getting more help and advice with fixing a MoPar than you prob ever got working on any brand X vehicle. We sure are a dedicated bunch, and think outside the box.