My 1970 Duster 340 FM3 project

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Got the passenger floor welded in today :)

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Next step, clean up the welds a little and then primer and paint the floors & trunk. That will be an awesome day very soon. Can't wait to put a little color back on her! Might use some tinted bed liner for the floors for it's durability and sound insulating properties.
 
And then HAD to lay down a little color :) Used tinted bed-liner on the floors and inner quarters. I had just enough to do the job. Now I am seriously thinking about painted the trunk floor, just because...

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What did you use for tint and are you going with single or two stage paint ?
 
You tint it with any urethane paint. I used single stage. Most likely going to use single stage on the whole car although I may use a little integrated clear. Not sure yet. The trunk and jambs will all be single stage.
 
And decided to keep going for today. NOW I feel like I have accomplished something on this car! Probably premature to spray the trunk but I just had to do it.

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Let me just say I am madly in love with your car!! I appreciate the meticulous work you're doing with it, and realize you are not striving for a concours restoration, but a reasonable revitalization. That said, I am madly in love with your car and what you're doing with it! Nice work!!
 
Gary you are doing a very nice job, thanks for the inspiration!.... can you tell us what brand of bed liner that you used? last question.. why did you favor the bedliner on the quarters over a traditional undercoat? i will be doing this soon and not sure what product i will be useing... thanks again Rich
 
mad dog said:
Gary you are doing a very nice job, thanks for the inspiration!.... can you tell us what brand of bed liner that you used? last question.. why did you favor the bedliner on the quarters over a traditional undercoat? i will be doing this soon and not sure what product i will be useing... thanks again Rich
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Rich, Thank you for the kind words. As far as the bed-liner paint goes, I generally use USC Dominator. It's super easy to mix and spray. As to why I prefer bed-liner paint to traditional undercoat, I like the way you can achieve the look you want plus have the added benefit of mush easier cleaning once you start putting miles on the car. Also, if you want the painted undercarriage look but still want to actually drive and enjoy the car without worrying about the undercarriage chipping, this is a great way to have your cake and eat it too. Think trailer queen without the need to trailer it. The other benefit is should it actually chip, you can just dab a little paint on the chip and it is invisible. Plus, instead of it being a two step process of spraying the paint and undercoat, you get it all done at once. Believe it or not, I have even used it on a few of my boat decks with a little non-skid additive to liven up the deck and still have it be worrying free (does not chip when you accidentally drop lead on it). Fish blood and guts is easily hosed off even after it dries. AND it costs way less than traditional boat gelcoat.

The only down side I have found is that with certain colors, such as deep charcoal grey metallic, the results are kind of murky looking. I think that is why they do not recommend it be used with heavy metallic colors. I have used it for Black, FE5 Red, Ek2 Hemi-Orange, EV2 Go-Mango, and Q5 Turquoise all with great results.
 
Thanks Gary, i guess my concern has always been with all the nooks and crannys that the bed-liner creates it would attract dirt that would be hard to clean.. im not looking for a trailer queen but with my OCD i like to keep the underside clean as i can.. Rich
 
mad dog said:
Thanks Gary, i guess my concern has always been with all the nooks and crannys that the bed-liner creates it would attract dirt that would be hard to clean.. im not looking for a trailer queen but with my OCD i like to keep the underside clean as i can.. Rich
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Actually, because the bed-liner paint I use is a urethane based material rather than a rubber based one, it is amazingly easy to clean. WAY easier than traditional soundener/undercoating. It cleans off with a regular low pressure hose - that's why I originally tried it out on one of my boats about 10 years ago. I found out that I actually had to add a little bit of non-skid to it because it was pretty slick without it.
 
You have to laugh at the things done in that period.
I always felt like sunroofs not from the factory ruined cars.
 
75slant6 said:
I hope you can come up with the funds and be able to keep the car. That said, I completely understand not wanting to borrow the money.
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Sold my boat so that I would not have to sell the car. Hated selling my boat as I used it pretty frequently. Oh well, gives me more time to work on the Dusters :)
 
75slant6 said:
Two Duster’s is still less of a money pit than one boat. :D
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Not for me it wasn't. Sold for $16.5K. Didn't have much more than that in it and used the heck out of it for 3 years. It was my therapy after the heart attack in 2018. I needed to learn how to relax and I valued every minute out on my boat. Once the house stuff is done and my wife's surgery is taken care of, I will be looking for another boat once I have enough in the budget.

I am sure I will have a LOT more money into either Duster. But these cars are not about money for me anymore. I used to do that quite a bit. Have owned over 50 Mopars through the years and money always was part of the equation. I would buy one, fix it up, sell to buy another and start the cycle all over again. Now I just want to build one (or two) for myself.
 
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