My 1972 Duster build

[69dodgedart360]

So a brief backstory on how this came to be was I wanted something to have as a street and strip ride and was looking for an A-body. I came across a friend who was going to unload a 440 for 100 bucks so I came home with it and didnt tell my dad. When he did find out he thought it was funny that I came home with the engine for a non-existing car. The next day at work, he jokingly told his friend and co-worker about my master plan and the co-worker had said "well why dont you two take my car?" The co-worker has a 72 duster that has been in his garage for a little while and had chosen to give it to someone to finish it (my dad and me) with the exception that if we ever were to sell we would give it back to him minus the drive train, and then the car came home to us in 2009. Almost a full 3 years later it has come a long way and i can't wait to finish it. It is mostly complete and the drive train needs a radiator, a driveshaft, a few interior pieces, a hood and paint. I am a student so I don't have lots of cash for the car so slowly I have been throwing money at it and it is where it is at now. All of the work has been done by me and my dad. I built my first complete motor by myself as well as hot tanking the block and doing the heads at school. With my dads supervision I overhauled my first torqueflite as well as learned to weld on the inner fenders along with everything else under my dads supervision. Feel free to ask anything and I realized I have A LOT of photos so I will only add a few.

 

[69DARTS]

very cool

 

[69dodgedart360]

Here are some more photos...

 

[69dodgedart360]

and more..

 

[69dodgedart360]

last batch for now i promise

 

[dmoore]

Keep up the good work! Love hearing stories about son's learning from their dad's...he must be proud of ya!

 

[smlveightis]

Damn, nice work!

 

[383Duster]

Good job.........keep plugging away.

 

[mopar7172]

Here are some more photos...

what engine mounts are u using? schmauker or the transdepot mounts?

 

[69dodgedart360]

Thanks for all of the kind words everyone. I ordered a radiator and will be here on saturday so I can't wait for that! I used the schumacher motor mounts for a v8 k-member for the 440 B/Rb swap, Real nice stuff. I also used a melling hv oil pump and attached a photo of what I grinded away for pump clearance. I could have left a little more on the mounting pad but just wanted to be sure so I grinded away.

 

[mopar7172]

nice build i'm building a 72 duster also i'm puttin a 383hp in it. i have 71 dart with a 440 in it. u got a deal on that 440. i got my 440 with a 727 trans for 300 it need to be all rebuilt tho. are u takin that roll bar out?

 

[THEWHITEZOMBIE]

hey i remember that car ;) looks good man cant wait to see the blue in person. I love that color!

 

[69dodgedart360]

Mopar7172 yeah I have a 383 I was initially going to use but decided to go big and got the 440 for the nice price. Well I plan on making this car eventually a 10.90 car so the roll bar is going to stay in for now. Haha, whats up MIKE! yeah man remember when I came over your house for the first time and I think it was you or Sean that opened the door for me and let me sit in it. None of this would be possible without your family and I can't wait to finish it so I can drive it to your house and hand the keys to your dad to give it a test run and see if we did it right. Me too man, the blue turned out better than I thought, cant wait to spray it on the car.

 

[chuckwagon2004]

Subscribed - Nice car man and I really like the way the blue pops!!!!

 

[Paladin06]

Very nice. Keep the pics coming..

 

[THEWHITEZOMBIE]

Haha, whats up MIKE! yeah man remember when I came over your house for the first time and I think it was you or Sean that opened the door for me and let me sit in it. None of this would be possible without your family and I can't wait to finish it so I can drive it to your house and hand the keys to your dad to give it a test run and see if we did it right. Me too man, the blue turned out better than I thought, cant wait to spray it on the car.

Im going to paint my F250 the same color even thou its a ford, Mopar runs deep in my blood. Really makes me miss my dart:violent1: some day ill bring her back out! 10.90's will be just fine :burnout:My goal for my dart was 10 flat on meth haha not to far off with my build up but way off with the money :violent1: Damn kids[-(

 

[smartken22]

Looking good! Nice work!

 

[HemiDenny]

nice job !

 

[69dodgedart360]

So i got some extra time and money to put towards the car and here is what we accomplished. We ran into a few snags but probably going to be able to work on it next week as long as it stays dry. Did a some sanding and added some primer which turned out a lot nicer then I thought it would. Also played around with the fitment of the fiberglass headlight buckets and re-used old parts off of the original fenders and some headlight adjusters to make it work. Also the picture of the trunk cut out is that the car had a fuel cell in the trunk and we are going to go back to using the stock gas tank but the problem we had run into was that when a section of the spare tire wheel well was cut out it had also taken out the hooks for the gas tank to strap into. So we went to the junkyard cut one out of a valiant and just for now cut out the one in the car and put this in with some sheet metal screws. My new radiator finally came in too which was really nice, recommend it for sure to anyone. Here is the latest.

 

[69dodgedart360]

More photos, once again the radiator fitment was perfect, it actually matched up for the top bolts on the mount and I had drilled two holes on each side for the bottom and voila, it was in.

 

[THEWHITEZOMBIE]

Looking good! Ill for sure be snaging the rad. when its time for my car. Your dad talked me into it haha

 

[69dodgedart360]

Definitely money well spent on the radiator, i recommend it to anyone. Wow I can't believe a month has passed since I have posted on this page. This is what happens when life takes over i guess, it sucks! lol I have not had a lot of time to work on the car but finally scored a hood at a junkyard, sanded it down added a little filler to clean it up and fill a couple dents. I also got the aluminum fuel tubing and fittings along with my electric fan for the radiator. Sorry for the crappy cell phone pictures. My birthday is coming up and I have a few days off for that and I am finally getting the car home so I don't have to drive 30 miles to work on it anymore. Fingers crossed progress will be made!

 

[69dodgedart360]

A lot of things have happened since my last post, the wiring is all done for the alternator,starter, and distributor. I also have working headlights,taillights, reverse lights, turn signals, and brake lights. I am waiting on some fuel tube to route the fuel line and wire up the fuel pump. Also have cut out the spare tire wheel well and replaced it from a donor one. After that, all that is left is to remove the inner valve springs for the initial cam break in. Wish me luck!

 

[petreed150]

Nice build!What cam you gonna run!

 

[unknownsnake]

you are just moving right alone. Looks good