72 Duster: You can lead a horse to water, but...

[Kern Dog]

You know the saying. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.
I have lived an example of that for many years.
It all started back in 2007. My Brother-in-law showed interest in owning a classic car. He liked the A body cars, especially the Duster and Demon models. I was thrilled to help him! I never had kids so this felt like a Father and Son project that I was never going to have otherwise. I searched here and there and finally got a call from a car club buddy that knew a guy....
February 15th 2007, he delivered this car to my home:

 

[Kern Dog]

1972 Gold Duster. 225 slant sick, a 3 speed manual, A/C and 9 inch drum brakes.
BIL was 22 and lived out of state. He also had zero experience with cars. (I'll call him Lipshitz just to protect the "innocent")
$1500 for the car, delivered to my house. I had a bunch of parts stockpiled from years of Junkyard hunting. Big bolt pattern front discs, a B body 8 3/4 axle, a 73 V8 K member, a good 904 and several other parts. The car didn't run and had some rust. The clutch and brake pedals were super stiff....essentially rusted solid.
I heard the enthusiasm in his voice and was encouraged to pour time and effort into this project. He made plans to come out every couple of months to join in.

 

[Kern Dog]

It had rust coming through on the lower quarters, the spare tire well and on the taillight panel from being parked against some bushes.

 

[Kern Dog]

None of that concerned me. Patch panels were available.

The gas tank was rusty too.

Look at the pile of flakes from the tank!

 

[Kern Dog]

I bought a 79 Dodge van to get the 360 4 barrel. I kept the 15" wheels, drive shaft and a few other tidbits. Lipshitz wanted to have a 4 speed so I found an overdrive 833 to use. For a few months, I kept the 3 speed column shift. The goal was to get the car up and running so the car could be mobile.
It was manual steering but later I converted it to P/S.

I put a Weiand action plus 4 barrel intake on the 360 along with the first of many Holley 600 carburetors.

 

[Kern Dog]

Lipshitz did make it out to do some things. In his first week, we stripped out the slant six and 7 1/4" axle, the drum brakes, K member and exhaust system. He cleaned nuts and bolts while I installed the V8 K member and front suspension. We both installed the rear axle and bled the brakes. Now the car could stop.

The van 360 was degreased and fitted with a car oil pan. We installed the engine and trans but Lipshitz had to get back home. About a week later, I had the drive shaft from the van shortened to fit the car. I had the car running and driving with a clean used gas tank. I didn't expect to see the BIL for several months so in the time between visits, I alternated between this car and my own.
I replaced the lower quarter panels....

The flux core MIG welder and my mediocre welding skills required more grinding than I should have had to do.

 

[Kern Dog]

The trunk floor had light surface rust so after I replaced the spare tire well, I used POR-15 on the floor.

The taillight panel was next.

My first attempt was to just cut out as little as possible and patch.

 

[Kern Dog]

It was a futile attempt. I kept burning through while welding since the rust was worse on the inside of the panel than the outside.

Sorry for the blurry pictures!

Although I did finally get the patches in and welded, the panel was wavy and looked bad. It would have taken a bunch of filler to level it all out. I decided to cut the entire panel out and weld in a good used one. BIL was out for another week and is stripping off the primer I sprayed on to cover the bare metal.

He asked me to weld over the trunk key hole since we put in a pull cable to open the trunk.

 

[fishmens67]

 

[Kern Dog]

While he was in town, he drove the car and decided that a manual transmission wasn't going to work for him. We found a center console and shifter locally and started the process of the changeover. He pulled the clutch and brake pedals to install a single brake pedal. I was impressed that even with limited experience, he seemed to understand basic mechanics quite well. He was good at pulling and replacing parts and seemed to enjoy the work. He cleaned the 904 trans I had in the shed and changed the filter.

He didn't like the dingy appearance of the stained transmission case so he painted it the color that the engine would be.
He cleaned the ATF cooler lines and other parts.

 

[Kern Dog]

Months later I got the transmission in by myself.

Note the crappy exhaust! This was just temporary!

 

[Kern Dog]

I took some 3x3x.120 steel and formed some subframe connectors....

These sit level with the bottom of the frame rails and hug the floor.

 

[Kern Dog]

Time went by....months without any progress. Lipshitz started to lose interest. His calls became less frequent and when I called, he didn't seem as interested. I went ahead and started bodywork.

Evercoat high build primer and guide coat.

Plus some of this:

 

[Kern Dog]

Once bodywork was close to being done, I pulled the engine and cleaned up the engine bay. Plenty of holes to weld up and smooth out.

With the K member out, I welded up the seams, added gussets and reinforced the steering box mounts.

 

[Kern Dog]

Base coat Inferno Red Pearlcoat:

Clearcoat:

 

[Kern Dog]

Getting ready to set the engine back in.

Champion radiator, power steering, new bushings and ball joints. Reinforced lower control arms too.

 

[Kern Dog]

I set the engine back in and then the car sat for about a year. BIL had some interest but being out of state, he just seemed to have a lot LESS interest. At this point, it was around 2011-12.

I took the initiative and went forward anyway.

 

[Kern Dog]

The taillight panel had no keyhole so no aftermarket decal would work. I ended up masking and painting it. It isn't stock but to me, it looks like it could have been.

After a month or two, I sanded and buffed it out. BIL liked the look of the 1970 Cuda AAR strobe stripes so we ordered a set from Phoenix Graphics. I told him that HE was going to install them and I stood nearby to give advice. He did a great job!

 

[Kern Dog]

Then, the car sat.
And sat.
BIL rarely called and when we spoke, he never brought up the issue of the car.
2014. 2015. 2016.2017.

Every so often, I'd go out and tinker on it, start it up, drive it up and down the street. It runs great and peels out nicely. The 11" front discs and 10" manual brakes are amazing.
I parked it up the hill and put a car cover on it....If there was any more work to be done, I wasn't going to do it alone anymore.
2018. 2019. 2020.

 

[Car Nut]

Greg you do some awesome work and paint very well.

 

[Kern Dog]

For years, I was in denial that he lost interest completely. I worried that if I confronted him, I'd be disappointed. I used to drop hints and he'd claim that he was still interested. He said he wanted to somehow get it to his place in Arizona to finish at his own leisure.

Deep down I knew though.
Finally, just after Christmas 2020, I confronted him. He admitted that he liked the car but wasn't as interested in it as he once was.
I felt like a Dad.....A dad whose kid wanted to drop out of school or to drive a Prius !

 

[Car Nut]

You really should open up your own shop.

 

[Kern Dog]

I offered to buy him out for what he had into the car. For $4000, I have a running, driving, painted 1972 Duster that is actually in decent shape. Sitting dormant has done some harm though.

Mice and rats have left nuts and shells throughout the interior. The aftermarket seats reek of rodent piss.

They could be steam cleaned but I'm not going to keep them in the car. They were what he liked. I'll save them for another car.

Over the years, I have dealt with fuel system problems due to the Ethanol in the gas sitting for extended periods.

Even with me letting the carburetor run dry, I've had to rebuild the Holley twice. I replaced the gas tank and sender 2 years ago. I also did the ammeter bypass modification.

 

[Kern Dog]

......All of which brings me to current day.
I am to the point where I have time to work on it again. From 2019 to present, I've been working on these cars:

 

[Kern Dog]

The BIL liked the 1969 Valiant grille but I want to go back to a stock 70-72 grille.

The engine bay sure needs a good cleaning.

I pushed it down the hill and behind the shop, then tried to start it.
Nope. Even with a fresh 5 gallons in the tank, the fuel pump barely pushes any fuel. Why?

I pressurized the gas tank with an air hose.....this usually pushes fuel up the line to the filter and carburetor. The filter didn't fill up put it did push some gas in.

I filled the float bowls with gas and started it up. It ran rough and stalled easily. I had to keep it at a fast idle to stay running. I could see fuel dripping past the boosters, then it stalled out. It was flooded, then out of fuel because the pump wasn't working right.
Over the years, I've found that rubber hoses dry out and crack on the cars that sit a lot. My red '70 Charger never seems to have fuel problems but I do go out and start it frequently and I actually drive it a fair amount.

I put a known good Holley 600 from my '67 Dart in the Duster and it ran great....until it ran out of gas. Again, fuel delivery problems.
I'll dig in deeper tomorrow. It could be a dying fuel pump, a rubber fuel line with some cracks in it, (Allowing the pump to suck air instead of fuel) or maybe something clogged up in the sender or fuel line itself.
The carburetor is clean inside but still floods. The floats move freely. The needle valves aren't stuck.
Lesson to be learned here: Ethanol gas eats parts. Old cars using Ethanol can survive as long as they are driven. Fuel stabilizer may work for some people but it hasn't helped me.

I have a rebuilt ThermoQuad that I'm going to swap in. I have to change the intake manifold to do it though. The Thermoquad will have an operational choke so this is actually a nice upgrade.