My 'baby' going to the body shop

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M

mtn_jake

73-340 Duster Hemi Orange
Joined
Dec 29, 2005
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Location
Virginia
Well it's finally time to get the long awaited body & paint job on my baby (73 Duster) ......that's what my wife calls it :burnout: I'm really looking forward to getting it done so I can get back to driving it again. I hurts to see all the other old mopars & other brands going up & down by my office on a pretty day enjoying a cruise while mine has been waiting for it's turn at getting a face lift in a hundred pieces:help:

I'll try to keep everyone posted as to it's progress.

:happy6::happy6: I even get to assist the body man in doing a little of the work that I'm able to do. I'm glad that he said that wasn't a problem cause I wanted to be able to say that I helped :prayer:

I'll post current progress on my website which I've included below.

http://armentroutsurveying.com/1973Duster/Restoration/
 
Congrats, Keep us involved in your progress. It will be a great experience working with a good bodyman. I hope it goes quickly and smoothly. Some folks have horror stories from months and sometimes years in the painting stage. How about some details on your Duster?
Bob
 
It's hard to give 'some' details...........but my Duster is a long awaited dream that I finally found in March of 2004. It is another one of those 'ebay' stories where the car was listed much better than it really ended up being (a whole nother story in itself).
After purchasing the car, I had major (unforseen) problems to address. The 1st & most important one was that the car was sold as a 340 car & it wasn't!!.....it was a 318 car & I had purchased it to be a 340......needless to say, I just had to find a 340 motor now (a second 'nother' story in itself!!).......cause everywhere I went (with the 340 stripes on the car), everyone would ask "hey, has it got a real 340 in that?" I'd have to say no.....well, my heart was sadden cause I had always wanted another 340.
Well.....now after about 3 1/2 years of driving a rusty but cool car, I've finally gotten the funds to get the body work done......I just can't wait!!!
Some of the specs of my Duster is:
1972 340 high performance engine (450-475 hp)
.......built utilizing the edelbrock tested performance for a 340 engine but I added a few more 'bells & whistles' to boost the HP more.
904 tranny with shift kit
added frame connectors (2007)
8 3/4 rearend with 3.55 posi gears
the interior upholstery is being redone by a highly recommend lady here in town.
the dash area was redone by yours truely.....me.
the whole interior was that wonderful yellow/tan that was put in so many mopars of the time now it's black and looks (in my opinion) very sharp!!

the link to some of the pictures of this 'SAGA' is posted here:
http://armentroutsurveying.com/1973Duster/
and of the beginning restoration posted here:
http://armentroutsurveying.com/1973Duster/Restoration/

I really hope that my 'body man' does a good job with my 'baby'.
It's a hard thing to do..........just let some person take your 'baby' & tear into it. I think it's going to be rough watching some of the things that he will do to it but it has to be done to be right & turn out to be a really nice looking classic Mopar that will turn heads as it goes down the road.
Greg
 
Don't worry, have faith. Just keep your nose into whats happening and you'll feel better I'm sure.

Unbelievable story with the ebog, seems some people are just born to scam. Hope you were able to eke out some sort of compensation on your deal. Not that it's in the same league, but my first experience was an eye opener too. Was looking for Duster headlight bezels, and found a set. After talking to seller, he said he had a few, including some NOS (of course priced higher). Always thought NOS stood for New Old Stock, but apparently it now means Nice Old S**t. He asked whether I wanted the black or silver ones, so I told him I preferred silver for the Sharky. I'm not too sure what type of paint Chrysler used, but that stuff was still reeking of solvent after 20+ years when I got them :)

Grant
 
I finally got a little compensation from the sellor.......after he denied everything........The worst part is that he is a chief of police of a certain county that i won't mention......since he finally did make it right.
 
You're telling me......!! I was shocked when I found that out from the man that sold it to him. Anyway, all is good now.
By the way, my body man came and got my car and started in on doing some spot checking for bondo.........then started on removing the driver quarter panel...........man that really hurt watching him cutting into it. Some pictures of the progress is at:
http://armentroutsurveying.com/1973Duster/Restoration/
The pictures listed as ###_small are the ones of the progress today.
Maybe in the near future, I'll be back on the road.....!?!?!?!?
Later to all.
Greg
 
A few more updated pics of the 'face lift' of my Duster.......

http://armentroutsurveying.com/1973Duster/Restoration/

Slowly but surely things are shaping up to look like it (someday soon I hope) will finally make it to the paint room for the new paint.......I must be patient!!!
But it's hard to.
More updates later in the week.
Greg.........mtn_jake
 
I had the same thing happen to me i bought a 72 duster which like you was alot of years in the making, i'd say i searched for about 5 or 6 years. Well the guy told me it had a 340 727 trans and an 8 3/4 rear, he even had an appraisle form to confirm this info hence why i belived it. turned out it was a 318 727 and a 7 1/4 rear. i called him back told him the problem and that i just wanted the money back, he said sure thing and what not that he just had to arrange the money. he never called me back so i called again this time his wife answers says he's not home etc... so i said for him to call, same thing happens so i call again and his wife said we weren't getting our money back so we said that we were goin to sue. unfortunately after i talked to a lawyer i realized it would cost so much it wouldn't be worth it. I just tell myself what goes around comes around!
 
A lot of progress so far and it looks like quality work! A couple of questions if you don't mind. What did you use to seal the tail light housings to the lens? And I noticed your subframe connectors, what brand are they? Keep up the good work.
Bob
 
Thanks Gerty........
I purchased some seals for the tail lights from ebay but the people that sell them are located at: http://www.DetroitMuscleTechnologies.com
These gaskets or seals look great and feel like just like orginal....but they go between the lense and the tail panel. I've not used anything yet to seal the lense to the housing.........you have any suggestions???
The subframe connectors came from Year One (#SFM72 for about $200.00..... http://www.yearone.com/serverfiles/fbshopmain2.asp?input=sfm72&SM=1&SC=&GO.x=11&GO.y=6) I'm really looking forward to driving the car to see how it handles with the connectors installed. They weren't too bad to install but as you saw in the pictures, the bottom of the car was cleaned, primed & painted (by me under the car sitting on jack stands) just because of the connectors. When I started to drill the holes and fit them under there, I told myself........self, it's a shame to put these nice shiney pieces on the bottom of this rusty, greasy mess......so I commenced to cleaning!!! What a bear!! But, it looks a whole lot better now.

A comment to 72_Durstya......
I had talked to a local attorney and he said with making such a purchase on or thru ebay, it's buyer beware.!! Well that didn't sit too well with me, so I went to talk to our local town police, the chief here is a long time friend and he just told me to find out......in that state, find out who does the hiring & firing, so I did..........their local town council. I found their website and now I was armed with information that I could confront the sellor with.......even after 'I think about 3 months' I kept getting the run around.....but once I let the cat out of the bag that I would make a complaint to his town council if I hadn't heard anything by the weekend (that was on a thursday I think) my phone rang..........!!!!!! We got it all worked out and recieved the difference of $1000.00 which was the difference in the 'blue book' for a 318 car vs a 340 car.
O......well, live and learn.
Greg.......mtn_jake
 
Well..........it's looking better and better.
A lot of work has been done to the body to get rid of all the rust that was under the existing paint.......hidden......until you took to sanding or grinding.
For some shots of the progress of my Duster restoration, click on the link below:

http://www.armentroutsurveying.com/1973duster/restoration

More pics to come as my car gets more work done to her.

Greg.............mtn_jake
 
Well the restoration of my 73 Duster is moving along very nicely!! The shell of the car got it's new coat of 69 Hemi Orange basecoat & then the clearcoat.....It really looks good even if I must say so myself!! =D>
Soon my ride will be out on the streets again!! :burnout:
Can't wait!!!!!
Link to the updated pictures is:

http://www.armentroutsurveying.com/1973Duster/Restoration

mtn_jake...........greg
 
You will be on the streets in no time .
Congradgalations Jake:happy2:
 
I just love the color.........it's kinda got a pearl frost to it when you look along the edges of the turns on the body. Should be back on the road by mid Sept.!!!!!
Haven't drove the car since December '06.
Final pictures of the exterior should be coming soon.
The interior is also looking great with an orange cord running in the seat to accent the car's color. Will post some pics of the interior when the pieces are finished.
Greg........mtn_jake
 
Looking killer. Hope to be in the same position and color very soon myself. Congrats!
 
excellent looking work, and good job documenting it, someting I have failed on to this point.... lol

look like its going to be well worth the efforts...

-RPM
 
Really enjoyed the information you put together on your site. All looks great. Hope to see more as it goes along.
Wish I had taken some videos of mine but didn't really think about it.
Greg........mtn_jake
 
I think you did a good job selecting a body shop because WOW that really looks good!!
 
It's just a matter of about 1 more week before I'll be crusing around again.
I've added a few more pictures of the developments on the project. The fenders have been installed but I've not been able to get pictures of them yet. But things are moving along well.
To view my slideshow click on the link below:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mtnjake/1973DusterRestoration
Greg...........mtn_jake
 
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