Hopefully coming out of the barn soon.

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kybishop

kybishop

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Been too long. Thought I was going to get it out 10 years ago... life happens.

This was my best friends grandmother's car. According to her son she drove it to church and the liquor store. That was it. It has 48,800 original miles...and change.

It is a 1972 Duster. It has the original reptile pattern top. It is the very common tan color, top is kind of greenish taupe of some sort...it should all clean up real nice.

Slant six, really nice car. Has had some rust repair on a quarter and the tail light panel. My dad bought it from my friends dad, he drove it for a bit. It started to run a bit too warm so dad parked it and intended to fix it. That was several decades ago. Dad passed away a year and a half ago.

Plan is to get it out and running. Move it to our other barn with all the other vehicles. Fix the rust with some new panels, tail light and quarters. Paint on just the repairs to match original paint and then just drive it.

I have a set of Mopar rallye wheels that are 15x7. They are 5x4.5 bolt pattern and the Duster is 5x4.0. I saw a thread on here where you can buy the axles with the 4.5 bult pattern. Is there a thread that goes through swapping a Duster over to the 4.5 pattern? What all is needed for the back axle, drums etc. What all is needed for the front hubs.

Thanks everyone. I will post some pictures when we pull it out and some when we clean it up.

We also just pulled out dads 1993 1st gen club cab cummins diesel 4 speed. My 1978 Ramcharger as well. The Cummins runs great, needs the Killer dowel pin replaced. Ramcharger I am currently putting a new fuel pump and new fuel line and filter.

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This is my Ramcharger I recently pulled out. Very solid Ramcharger, very little rust. It came from Guatemala, gauges are in kilometers. Has Guatamalan stickers from past service. A veterinarian sticker, found Guatemalan coins in it when I first cleaned it out years ago.

Anyway, will post Duster updates as we move forward. Thanks again.

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Here is the Cummins dad bought new. Just over 100,000 miles. Real nice truck. 4 speed Getrag.

He was quite the collector. Mostly Power Wagons, M37s etc. He hauled many home with this truck. This was just after we pulled it out and gave it a quick hosing off.

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I'd clean that duster up and do mechanical work to make it road worthy, but I would NOT cut it for panel replacement or paint work! Survivor type cars are the absolute BEST
 
Dang, I'm jealous - those are three excellent vehicles! To help with a couple of questions... Going to 5x4.5 bolt pattern is easiest doing a front disc brake upgrade using 73+ parts. It's easy-peasy and there are many threads on the process. The rear end depends on what you have. It's probably a 7.25 which I believe can source LBP axles from a later A or F body. If you replace the entire axle an 8.75 is nice but spendy and is overkill for a slant. An 8.25 would fill the bill cheaper and work nicely.

Good luck with these projects, you have some really nice stuff to work on.
 
NC Engine Builder said:
I'd clean that duster up and do mechanical work to make it road worthy, but I would NOT cut it for panel replacement or paint work! Survivor type cars are the absolute BEST
Click to expand...
I can appreciate that, I like original cars, original paint and keeping drive train and all original myself.

It has already been cut and bondo and paint on those panels once years ago. Just the tail light panel and the lower quarter. Before we had it. Only repair on it. I cant remember if it was for rust or minor accident.

I prefer original cars and old patina but you can see the bondo popping off on the right tail light in the one photo if you look close. Also popping off on the lower quarter panel. If you dont repair at least those and repair them correctly then they just keep eating metal... it would be left all original otherwise and new tail light panel as this one is a lot of bondo and some sort of caulk like material around tail lights with paint over the caulking.
 
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halfafish said:
Dang, I'm jealous - those are three excellent vehicles! To help with a couple of questions... Going to 5x4.5 bolt pattern is easiest doing a front disc brake upgrade using 73+ parts. It's easy-peasy and there are many threads on the process. The rear end depends on what you have. It's probably a 7.25 which I believe can source LBP axles from a later A or F body. If you replace the entire axle an 8.75 is nice but spendy and is overkill for a slant. An 8.25 would fill the bill cheaper and work nicely.

Good luck with these projects, you have some really nice stuff to work on.
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Thanks! I appreciate that info.

I had 2 Dodge Challengers in the 80s. My first cars. Sold them to buy a house in mid 90s... Anyway, that is where I got the Rallye wheels from. They are actually 14" wheels off a 1974 Rallye Challenger.

We have a lot of vehicles. Mostly flat fender Power Wagons but a mix...
 
kybishop said:
I can appreciate that, I like original cars, original paint and keeping drive train and all original myself.

It has already been cut and bondo and paint on those panels once years ago. Just the tail light panel and the lower quarter. Before we had it. Only repair on it. I cant remember if it was for rust or minor accident.

I prefer original cars and old patina but you can see the bondo popping off on the right tail light in the one photo if you look close. Also popping off on the lower quarter panel. If you dont repair at least those and repair them correctly then they just keep eating metal... it would be left all original otherwise and new tail light panel as this one is a lot of bondo and some sort of caulk like material around tail lights with paint over the caulking.
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Totally understand, and in that case I would repair the old repairs.
 

Does anyone have any recommendations for the best body panels? Quality and fitment? Tail light panel and rear quarters.

Used oem would be nice but be hard pressed to find the tail light section. Known for rusting out on these.

Thanks.
 
kybishop said:
Does anyone have any recommendations for the best body panels? Quality and fitment? Tail light panel and rear quarters.

Used oem would be nice but be hard pressed to find the tail light section. Known for rusting out on these.

Thanks.
Click to expand...
Nice Duster with a great story! The first thing I would do is get it out in the sun and clean it from top to bottom. Get rid of that mold so that it's safe to work on later. Be sure to post some pictures of the whole process because we like to follow along.

As far as panels, I would post a WANTED thread looking for the tail panel. Lots of guys here cutting up cars. It looks like Summit has patch panels for the quarters here. Good luck!
 
AMD sells the best reproduction quarters, and they also sell the 72 Tail panel. Your best bet would be to get them from Stephens Performance and then pick them up at The Mopar Nationals in Columbus Ohio. They set up a huge Mopar sheet metal spot at The Nats.
 
man that duster is a gem, hope you keep it as a nice old lady driver.. wish i had done that with my car at this point :)
 
I'd just clean up that Duster best I could.....mechanically get it going reliably.....I would NOT change the rims and hubcaps.....and then I'd just enjoy it and drive it as is. perfect as is.

but I do have some small bolt pattern rallye rims in 14" from a Dart Swinger 340. need some work on the lug nut holes (torqued down too tight at one point). I'll probably be going to Moparty this year and can bring them their if your interested. Would be a lot less work and easier then all the parts needed to do large bolt pattern rallye on that car.

Hell, if you want to get nutso butso with it....I got a full front K member with torsion bars, kelsey hayes disc brakes, and steering box from a 70 340 swinger.....suspension and all still connected.....a 727 from same car that needs a rebuild and probably torque converter checked with driveshaft (lost 3rd gear before the TKX install....and the torque converter seems to jamb up the starter).....A full complete 340 motor that ran fine when taken apart....just needs to be put back together. (block has a couple of sleeves and is 30 over, but no ring ridge to speak of and should go right back together.) All this is from a 70 Swinger 340, so not sure if it will work for a 72 duster.. (block is not numbers matching to the swinger....was replaced at some point....727 is numbers matching to Dart, but I'm never taking out the TKX.)

was saving all this for a slant car swap over, but pft....I doubt I'll get around to all that and my Dart is plenty now and where I want it. plus....slant car prices are stupid now if you ask me.
 
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I have a '93 D250 Cummins Club Cab w/295K miles. Great truck. Had Cummins "Serviced" at Cummins Ocala just before I bought it, so I need to call them with serial #s to see if they did the timing cover death pin update.
Yours in all black, including grill is a great looking truck.
Presently finishing up rear brake job. Had to put Speedi-Sleeve on left side, so I had to make a 3" pvc driver to install it.
Needs rear trans bushing and seal, and driveshaft carrier bearing. It's never had the bearing mount shim update done.
(7/16 thick spacer to drop bearing down), and its worn bearing and bushing and maybe slider spline.
 
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