My 1973 Duster Project 440/727

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RustyDusty

RustyDusty

Rabid Cross-eyed Opossum!
Joined
Jul 26, 2010
Messages
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Location
Columbus, OH
This is my 1973 Duster project that I purchased for $750:
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This restore is going to be done on a lower budget. I'll do my best to let you all know what tips, tricks, and places to purchase parts I find along my way to save you money. I know not all of us have the deepest of pockets, but still love wrenching and restoring. I'll do my best in this restore to cater to you guys (because I am one to!), and still end up with a great looking final product!

I've got a fair amount to do. There are a few spots on the frame that have severe rust. The passenger side rear sub frame, torq box, and shackle mount are nearly missing. I'm planning to fix that with safeTCaps.
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Here's the Leaf Spring saying HEY! to the interior of the trunk:
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Most all of the body panels will have to go, except the doors.
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The slant 6 surprisingly runs! It will be replaced with a 440 though.
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Here is what the final restore will hopefully look like:
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Cheers to these forums, they're great! I've found a new home.

Drake
 
I will be tackling the frame fixing in the next few weeks. Right now I am working on polishing up the aluminum Bezels, grill, and trim. I will have photos posted soon on the polishing progress.
 
Sorry life hit me. The real restore is beginning now. I'm purchasing this duster from 1972Swinger this Sunday.
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The gold duster will be used as the frame for the project. I will be pulling all the trim bumpers, interior, etc. from the blue Duster. I will begin yanking the interior from the blue duster tomorrow. I'll get some pictures for you as well.

Once I get the Gold duster the first thing I will do is begin installing the new interior.
 
Cant wait too see your progress :cheers:its too bad the blue Duster has so much rust.Will you be able to use the front fenders from the blue Duster for the gold one?
 
I'm just young and stupid! Not brave nor skilled!

She really doesn't want to give up her dash:

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No time for belly achin', I'm back to work!
 
ouch man be carefull it may Be love but were a GLOVE
 
I have them uploaded to Facebook and am using those links. I've looked on a few computers and I don't see any X's, the photos load OK.
 
Alright, so todays goal was to remove the existing dash. Accomplished :cheers:!

I found a roach (not the bug) tucked back behind the glove box. Someone liked a tokin! Speaking of bugs, I found a Black Widow!

The dash came out fairly easily. Gotta love old cars, about 10 screws! The wiring harness is in poor shape. A few spots have rubbed the insulation over the years to reveal bare wire. I'll be cleaning up and painting the dash over the next few days. I'll keep you posted.

Rust SUCKS.
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Got it out finally. With only minimal stitches!

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Ever get the feeling you're over your head? We'll here's the point that it hit me:

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Maybe. It had hour glass and all. First time I have ever seen one. It was dead. This car has had 9 owners before me. So it may have picked it up along the way.
 
1BadDodge71 said:
Cant wait too see your progress :cheers:its too bad the blue Duster has so much rust.Will you be able to use the front fenders from the blue Duster for the gold one?
Click to expand...

No, the blue duster's fenders are 99.99999% Bondo. The only thing good on the Blue Duster is the doors.
 
It's 8 hours between coats for this paint, so it's taking a while. Here's a hint of the finished product. The Sublime Green needs coated again, but I was too excited to wait to post a photo.

(all of the gold on the dash that you see in the before photo will be sublime green)

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No so well actually. I took a 2.5 hour drive down to get 1972swinger's gold duster. He told me that there was NO rust holes in the rear frame rails, or floor board. I got there, over half the divers side torq box was missing due to rust, a hole in the floor board you could fit your fist through. The entire underside of this car was rotted out. When I tried to move the seatbelt the lower seatbelt bracket fell out and left a huge rust hole. A bit irritated about that. So I'm back to looking for a good shell.
 
That sucks dude :angry7:What about that Feather Duster behind it?Or is he keeping that.Hopefully you can find a good rust free car somewhere.Preferably one not in the rust belt.
 
Thanks Sublime Green! I appreciate it. The feather duster had just as many issues. The only thing in good condition on either of those cars was the deck lid on the feather. I asked how much he wanted for it, "It's not for sale". Anything that was good on either of the cars was, "not for sale". Kind of wonder what he's talking about when "parting them out". It seems to be only the rusted useless stuff.
 
Today I made the Gauge Lenses. They were surprisingly easy, just a hacksaw, plexi, heat gun, and a heated hex key for melting the holes. All the dash parts were finished with their base-coat of flat black as well. I will be adding the Sublime Green accents tomorrow. I'll be replacing all the light bulbs in the dash tomorrow as well. Oh, the dash and headlight bezels got painted a mean flat black as well today. I'm looking for a good solid '73 shell. Let me know if you have one.
 
I used duplicolor adhesion promoter as the primer. Then I used rustoleum ENAMEL. Make sure it's enamel, it's much more tough than latex etc. The sublime green was made at Sherwin Williams and is Enamel base as well.
 
yes - the dash looks sweet. dont get discouraged. you will find everything you need for the car. just takes time. Best, FP
 
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