JCMini30's '76 Duster

[JCMini30]

Well figured I would start my Duster restoration page. Here goes nothing.

Bought the car that had several restorations going at once. He needed some cash to get his ac/heat system back from a restoration company. Feel like I got a fair price without riping him off. Car appeared to be mostly garage kept. He said he believed he was the second owner but wasnt sure, he had bought it from an older gentleman.

Here is what it looked like when I decided to buy it:

 

[JCMini30]

Tires and rims pictured weren't a part of the deal. Got a set of 14" American Racing Outlaw II mag wheels with some old tires. One of the tires had a bad spot... Replaced tires with some Hankooks my tire shop had at a reasonable price. Did some polishing on the rims and already seeing results.

Before

After

 

[JCMini30]

Had a bad exhaust leak from the start, well lets say several leaks. HAD to fix that.... Hooker comp headers, Thrush mufflers and had a local shop weld up the pipes. Also pulled the front bumperettes and fog lights off.

Mid header install:

 

[JCMini30]

My wife was awsome this Christmas and bought be a new carb and intake manifold... Both were needed in my opinion

Engine as purchased minus the aircleaner:

Looks like previous owner put a single plane Edelbrock on the thing with the factory carb. Also painted the valve covers with some cheap silver paint... Cant wait to get that off....

Minus the intake...

 

[70DartMike]

Looks good so far. What are your plans for it?

 

[Thunder]

Looks like a good solid base. Mod, restore, custom? good score.:coffee2:

 

[SleeperScamp]

Looking good.. What did you do with the fog lights? I may be interested in those for my old Power Wagon..

 

[JCMini30]

Looking good.. What did you do with the fog lights? I may be interested in those for my old Power Wagon..

Fog lights already gifted to my mechanic buddy that's helping me.

As for plans, putting Edelbrock Dual plane intake with performer Carb. I guess restomod best describes my long term plans. Nock on wood the tranny and rear end seem sound. Have the 903 with 8 1/4 combo. Need to see if it has sure grip. I think it does since I left about two feet of rubber with both tires the other day.

Keeping the 318 till I find a reasonably priced 360 block. Build it as I have time. Once I get the engine running well going to focus on the body. Already picked a junkyard fender to replace the crumpled passenger one. Planning on painting it something like Ford's Legend Lime. I know its not mopar but I like the color and going to paint it something I like.

 

[Dartnut]

Looks great, i sure wish you would keep it the original color, but then again, i'm a dark green kind of guy!
I will be watching this one!

 

[6pakattack]

Nice score !!Good idea leaving well enough alone unless you need to do otherwise !!!:cheers:

 

[383Duster]

Have fun..... You in the Denton area?

 

[JCMini30]

Have fun..... You in the Denton area?

West of there, out of Decatur. The car came from Wichita Falls then to Alvord now to me.

 

[JCMini30]

New intake is on and valve covers are cleaned and repainted. Now to figure out throttle and kickdown linkages for new carb.

 

[efriedrich]

Lookin purdy, let us now how it runs, are you putting in a cam.

 

[Thunder]

Valve covers cleaned up very nice. Kind of makes the rest look a little flat if ya know what I mean. I'm sure you'll change that. Looking good.:coffee2:

 

[LH23H2R]

Cool find :glasses7: !

Personally , I'd repaint its in its original colour (but , I do like your choice as well) ; I'd also slip a stock-appearing 360 in there (blue engine , including the intake manifold ; semi-gloss black air cleaner).

'76 A Bodies have a few items which are exclusive to their final year :

- Foot-operated parking brake
- Windshield-mounted interior rear view mirror
- Ambre-coloured parking lamp / turn signal lenses ('75 & earlier had clear lenses with 1156-A or 1157-A bulbs * see footnote )
- Duster / Valiant had a '76-only grille
- "Silver" Package for the Duster
- "Spirit of '76" for Dart Sport
- Feather Duster / Dart Lite packages
- 360 was available with any model Dart Sport / Duster
- "Certified" 120 MPH speedometre in A38 package
- A38 Police Package
- 360 models were sans catalytic converters (49 state ; Ca had single exhaust / cat con )

Keep up the good work and have lots of fun with it !

* = Ambre Bulbs used to be available in 2 styles : the "-A" part number meant clear bulb covered in an ambre coating ; and the "-NA" part suffix ( Natural Ambre ) wherein the bulb's glass is cast in ambre-coloured glass .
The "-A" number has superceded to "-NA".

 

[blue missile]

welcome to the site and if you are ever in Austin look me up.
Andrew

 

[JCMini30]

Well my buddy got it all buttoned up and running while I was taking care of some business. I organized some of the hoses and wires and snapped some pics. Getting some spark knock once I ran it down the road for about 30 minutes. The knock was on the driver's side of the motor and only happened at higher RPMs to begin with and then was doing it all the time except under idle. Couple of the plug wires don't hold on real tight so I think its a combination of the wires and engine heat. Going to step down to a 180 degree thermostat and put on some new plug wires. Probably need to rebuild the dizzy as well. Just not sure about undertaking that task as of yet...

 

[Jasonmiester]

Tires and rims pictured weren't a part of the deal. Got a set of 14" American Racing Outlaw II mag wheels with some old tires. One of the tires had a bad spot... Replaced tires with some Hankooks my tire shop had at a reasonable price. Did some polishing on the rims and already seeing results.

Before

After

What did you use to clean up the rims? I have some centerlines, has some pitting, trying to figure best way to restore. Thanks

 

[JCMini30]

What did you use to clean up the rims? I have some centerlines, has some pitting, trying to figure best way to restore. Thanks

Well I used a scuffing pad on a drill. Left some scratches that didnt polish out but they look better than the old ones. Plus my car will never be more than a driver so I was pleased.

 

[Thunder]

If you want to really make those rims shine get a good polishing pad that will mount on a 7 or 8" grinder. Get some jewelers rouge bars. Red, green and white. Start with the red, work out the scratches, then green. Finish with the white on a soft pad. About 30 minutes and you'll have one rim that will make the other 3 jealous as hell.Well worth the effort and not a lot of money.:coffee2:

 

[LH23H2R]

I envy the idea that you reside in a locale which is devoid of smog inspections :cry: ...

... or at least "I/M" inspections ( Calif style ).

 

[JCMini30]

I envy the idea that you reside in a locale which is devoid of smog inspections :cry: ...

... or at least "I/M" inspections ( Calif style ).

Yup its very nice. The counties to the east and south of me have smog regulations for newer vehicles but not ones as old as our A-Bodies. I'm sure its just a matter of time before we have to start getting checked though. Plus I'm fortunate enough to have a shop that "inspects" vehicles by sitting on their stool and just filling out the tag. I didn't have wipers and my headers leaded like a seive and I still got the sticker. Guys like Slant Six Dan would have a cow if he walked into this place. If we ever go to smog inspections I'm sure the place would stop doing inspections. Prob couldn't afford the equipment.

 

[JCMini30]

Well the knock I was hearing is somthing worse than we had first hoped.... It has gotten worse and is coming from deep it sounds like.... Oil pressure is good so not sure why its knocking. Im afraid im losing a bearing... May be time for a 360 now. Just not looking forward to pulling the engine right now.

 

[SleeperScamp]

360 Sounds good to me....