73 Duster Restoration

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I cant wait till the weather warms up so I can get back to work on this thing. Hoping to get the suspension and brakes done this year and maybe pick up a new engine harness to replace the junk used one I got screwed on.
 
AdamR said:
I cant wait till the weather warms up so I can get back to work on this thing. Hoping to get the suspension and brakes done this year and maybe pick up a new engine harness to replace the junk used one I got screwed on.
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Yeah, we're all chomping at the bit here waiting for spring!
Sadly, it won't be for a couple of months though.......
Can't wait for updates on your build though. :cheers:
 
AdamR said:
I cant wait till the weather warms up so I can get back to work on this thing.
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What? Come on it's not that cold!!

I can usually stay out in the garage for an hour or two before I realize that I'm starting to get frostbite.
 
No its not the cold part, Its the no extra cash this time of year. The car is in my heated shop. I need it to warm up so others come get their cars clean.
 
rmchrgr said:
What? Come on it's not that cold!!

I can usually stay out in the garage for an hour or two before I realize that I'm starting to get frostbite.
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Guys no need to freeze in the winter, cheap heat buy a MR. Heater radiant heater that bolts on the top of a propane gas grill bottle $50.00 it makes things comfy.
If you want the shop to heat fast use their 60,000 btu propane torpeto heater which works on the same gas grill bottle. $108 when I bought it from Lowes on sale.

Just leave a crack in a door / window for some ventalitation.

It has been in the -0 degree numbers this winter, and I can keep my old shack at 80 degrees any time I want.

Propane runs me about 17 bucks every 2 weeks, but it is worth it to play with the old car for a couple of hours every night.
 
Some update photos. Trunk is pretty much complete. Some goodies bolted together in the engine compartment.









The paint is nice and cured so I gave it a coat of Gtechniq C1 Crystal Lacquer and 2 coats of Gtechniq Exo Hybrid coating., Also coated the Glass with Gtechniq G1 Smart Glass replant. Not that I plan on driving it in the rain but it will help keep the car clean and seeing I own a Detail shop I should have something that is clean, LOL









 
Wow, looks great Adam.

Are you going to re-do the front end/under car stuff at all? Would be a breeze to do with the motor out.
 
The front suspension is next. Its all coming out. Every bushing in the car is dried out. I also have all new pre bent brake lines and will probably do the fuel lines. I also wont to change it to manual steering.
 
AdamR said:
The front suspension is next. Its all coming out. Every bushing in the car is dried out. I also have all new pre bent brake lines and will probably do the fuel lines. I also wont to change it to manual steering.
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Good deal. Again, should take about 5 minutes to remove the whole front end while the engine is out. Get the t-bars out, unbolt the UCAs and the whole thing should come out as a unit with the K frame. Lot easier to deal with like that.

Good choice on the pre-bent lines. I actually bent my own front lines. What a hassle.
 
Looking clean green and mean.
Detail the front end, make it safe, right the first time.
That car has a clean body.
 
rmchrgr said:
Good deal. Again, should take about 5 minutes to remove the whole front end while the engine is out. Get the t-bars out, unbolt the UCAs and the whole thing should come out as a unit with the K frame. Lot easier to deal with like that.

Good choice on the pre-bent lines. I actually bent my own front lines. What a hassle.
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Yeah Ive gotten pretty good at yanking the complete K frame out. Sure beats redoing the suspension with the motor in. I hate bending lines, I always waste a bunch before getting them right.

Johnny Dart said:
Dam...That car looks good at every angle. :glasses7:
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Im very happy with how straight I got the car. I did miss a few dings that didnt show the 100 times I blocked it but it came out really good, especially for dark color. I have a few sanding scratches that show in my shop, Ill wait to see if they are noticeable out side before I decide if I need to do a bit more wet sanding.
 
Spent some time cleaning years worth of grease of some parts. Now they need a bath in some Evapo Rust. Most of them seemed to have been bare metal so they will get coated in some RPM. Started cleaning off the front suspension looking for paint marks and found a few on the centerlink and a few in the inner wheel wells. Also picked up a few missing interior parts.
 

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Part number snapped on water pump pulley
 

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The white decals look great on the green background. I love watching a restoration in progress!
 
That's the way to do it. There are many things on my car that got the Evaoprust/RPM treatment. Pretty much every single bare metal part is coated with it. I kept finding more things to clean and coat, took forever. So far so good though, no rust on any of the parts that were treated.

I did like you - clean off major grease/grime and loose dirt; clean it some more and soak in Evaoprust overnight. Then rinse, wire wheel, prep and coat bare metal parts with RPM. I killed my $13 HF heat gun doing that.

The RPM is a little easier to work with if you heat it first then brush it on while it's in a more liquid state. I melt it in the tin.

Keep it up!
 
Waiting for the flat bed to come pick the car up from my shop and move it back to my house. Front suspension time.
 

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So the Duster is back in my garage. I had some time to work on it to work on it today. Pull the front suspension and started cleaning up the wheel wells.
 

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I just made my way through this thread Adam, and as with many other threads, it has given me inspiration to keep on pressing forward to assemble the 200 or so parts in my garage into a whole 1974 Plymouth Duster. Thank you!
 
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