For post number 1000 I thought I'd share a pic of my 72 Duster. I bought it January 25th and got a long ways to go but I'm getting things done very little by very little lol! any questions or comments welcome!enjoy!!
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For post number 1000 I thought I'd share a pic of my 72 Duster. I bought it January 25th and got a long ways to go but I'm getting things done very little by very little lol! any questions or comments welcome!
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My 1st car was a '72 Duster so I have a weakness for them. The 70-72 Dusters are among my favorite mopars. I had another 72 and a 70 some years later and now I regret selling them. Maybe someday I will get another one...... Good luck with your project!
I agree take your time and things will turn out great. I got mine about 4 years ago and I am still finding parts to make it look better. I look and look through different forums and other reading matterial to find out what others are doing then I find parts. It's the little things that make it all worth it, keeps us posted with lots of pictures.
I piddled on the Duster a little today, dropped the tank and found.........no build sheet there either... :angry2:
Did have rust in the tank tho...
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Also picked up a trunk pan today for $150. It's definitely no AMD piece but I might can make it work for that price!
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looks like a good project! check this bad boy I found in a yard that has been close for over 20 years! Still good right?! lol
Sure Sal!! With enough time and a fat enough wallet any things still good
Got the rearend buttoned up tonight and fill with fluid! It's finally sittin on its own suspension for the first time in a few months! Just need to change the freeze plugs in the back of the block and install the trans and I can fire it up again!! Gonna be awesome hearing it rumble again! Needa get me an auto column (or manually shift it by reaching through the hole in the floor... Lol)
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I ended up buying a floor shifter to put in the car, its a Mr. Gasket Daytona part #7668. Looks ALOT like a 4 speed!
Anywho, I rolled the Duster outside today and rinsed out the rear freeze plug holes and pushed it back in the shop. Tmrw night I'm hopin to get the holes all cleaned up and get the plugs put in and who knows, if I'm feeling ambitious I might just start puttin the trans in!
Here's a pic I took of the car outside. I just realized tonight that this is the first time the Duster has been on Kentucky soil!!
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Thanks a lot Geof! Yea it looks pretty good settin outside!! Hopefully by next week I'll be able to back it out n drive it in on its own power!! We'll see!
And tonight I got the trans in!!!first time there's been a transmission in this car in years!! I still need to fill the trans, install the driveshaft, change the engine oil and filter, refill the cooling system, drop in a battery and it should fire up!! Then I need to install the shifter and kickdown, finish the brakes and fuel system and I should be able to drive it! Only short distances due to the terrible tires but still!!
Got the starter installed, change the engine oil and put the driveshaft in last night. Drive shaft is about 2-3" short so I'm gonna have to see about gettin another one. Still need to do something about the transmission cooler lines (don't have any) then put fluid in the trans and I think I should be able to start it again!! Then a few more things b4 I can see if it'll move herself.
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Well ladies and gents, it's been quit awhile since I've updated my build. For those of you that were following my thread "Mopar nationals or bust" well, I busted.... Since then we've temporarily moved into dads basement and are helping them with their chicken house till our chicken houses are up and going.
Anyway, a few days ago I got the engine finished painted other than the fan and the carb/air cleaner are just sitting on the engine for now. Here's pics of that.
Oh, just reading through the comments here and saw I never updated on my gas tank, I found a used tank and new 3/8 sending unit and a good filler tube grommet in CO for $25. Had my bro ship it to me for $40 and now I have a good tank. Also bought new 3/8s fuel lines a few weeks back.
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Tonight I scuffed and shot some paint on the fan, LCA's and one UCA (gotta get a balljoint socket to get the other balljoint out)
Got the k-member and strut rods painted today.
Also boogered up the paint on the one LCA trying to get the outter shell of the bushing out. Said "screw it" and bought a 1 3/8" tap on eBay for $18 shipped so soon as that comes I'll press out the other LCA outter bushing. Also bought a used snap-on ball joint socket on eBay for $18 shipped so when that gets here I'll get the UCAs rebuilt!!
Anyway, here's pics of today's progress!
Well, she's gettin closer. Got the k-member, lower control arms, center link, steering box and headers put on and put oil in it. Gotta get the spindles, caliper brackets and upper control arms blasted, painted, rebuilt and installed yet then I can finish the steering/suspension part of it.
I ordered a oil pump priming tool (probably wouldn't NEED to prime the pump since the engine wasn't rebuilt but figured it as a precaution), piston stop and a bunch of parts the last few days so as soon as I get some of those and get the engine primed and get the balancer checked and the distributor set I'll put everything on a cart, install the flywheel, bellhousing and trans then it'll be ready to put in!! Then I gotta get a custom upper and lower transmission crossmembers made to fit the 5 speed.
Also got the clutch master cylinder mocked up. Gonna put it through the hole where the clutch linkage originally went through, I didn't just wanna bolt it to the firewall so I got this bracket made out of 11 gauge aluminum that will go between the inside of the firewall and the steering column bracket that bolts to the floor and the master cylinder will bolt to the aluminum plate. I'm also gonna get a wedge shaped plate made for the outside of the firewall to angle the master a little more to line the pushrod/master up a little more. I'll post pics of the master setup once it's all installed. That's about it for now.
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Got some more done yesterday... Got the engine primed, put a distributor in (either gonna use the one I put in and Trailbeast's HEI kit or the "ready to run" distributor from ebay) and put a few remaining fittings/plugs in the intake. Still need to run the brake line from the distribution block to the rearend then I THINK I'll be ready to put the engine/trans/k member on a cart and I'll roll it under the car!!
There's still gonna be odds and ends to buy but I'd made a list a few months ago of parts I need to buy to car running and the only think left on the "to buy" list is tires!! The "parts to install" list is a little longer tho... Lol
The dash lights haven't worked since I got the car so last night I took an extra cluster I had, painted the inside of the bezel "chrome" cleaned up all the contact points on the board, installed new bulbs and sockets (shoulda gotten LEDs right away) and a few months ago I'd read where someone (I think Del) said something about adding short pieces of wire between the ground screws so I did that as well as added a wire to ground the bezel to the dash frame since the lack of ground was the reason the lights weren't coming on.
Well looky here! I was laying in bed when I wrote that last "no progress" post and it motivates me to get my ass out in the shop and I got my spindles, caliper brackets and calipers painted!!
So today was a HUGE day!! For me anyway... I had a notion to go get new bolts to swap out the weak, factory, intake bolts (that I had WAY over torqued) so I got those, swapped em out, got 3" grade 8 bolts and nuts to bolt my LBJ's to the spindles.
I then decided to put a rotor and caliper on the spindle and put one of the Bullitt wheels on to see how it looked... It looked awesome so I decided to set the whole assembly "in place" in the front wheel well to see what it'll look like... WIN!!!
Well that really got my juices flowing so I ran over to dads, got my 1" spacers/5x4 to 5x4.5 adapters for the rear and his floor jack and I put the rear wheels on! Let me tell you, I am STOKED about how this car looks/is gonna look!!! I'm so crazy in love with this car and I can't wait to get back and work on it more and get it on the road!!
I sent Kegan a few pics of it and he said "Can we just clear the car?!" and I also sent pics to my brothers and my oldest Bro John said "What is the body like on the other side? If it looks like that, and you have a hood to match, you're crazy to paint it. Clear it and be done. I would rechrome the bumpers, polish out the hardware and ad some custom, hand painted pinstripes and clear it."
So, my goal now is to get the car running/driving good, repair any rust that can't be seen from outside the car (trunk pan, trunk extensions, etc.) and leave the rest and possibly shoot some satin clear on it.
The car officially has a name now... The Ruster!!
I also got a few small brackets painted and got the rear soft brake line installed and hooked up to the rear axle hardlines so now I just gotta run a new brake line from the distribution block to the rear soft line and install the MC.
Hoping to have the back half of the car (shocks, gas tank) done within the next week and if I can find someone with a good double flare tool that I can use, hopefully I can have the brakes done in a few weeks... If I can't find one I'll have to shell out the $215 for one, but then I'll have it. I also need to take my rotors to a machine shop and have them turn the hub down to fit in the mustang wheels.
Hopefully more progress to come sooner than last time!!
Before (passenger side)
After
Rear shot
I did install the drivers side, rear exhaust hanger today as well but since the exhaust isn't bolted to anything up front, it's hanging all crooked... The passenger side exhaust hanger is another thing I need to do next time I'm at the shop.
One of my favorite shots
So I've been getting something's done this week on the car.
I got the brake system complete, filled and bled and got the car sitting on its own for the first time since April 7, 2015!!
Hopefully Monday I'll roll the car outside and power wash it, inside and out and clean up the shop. Then roll the car back in for the engine trans install. Sure would be nice if I had a buddy within 4 hrs to come help me drop the K and install the engine and trans Tuesday.
Oops... Guess I should've added pics.
Theres only a bench seat and a 92 firebird rear seat and dash and column in the interior, and the gas tank is sitting in the trunk but there's no gas in it so once I get more interior stuff (sound deadening, carpet, etc) and a full tank of gas in it the back should drop down a little more.
Well, I got her rolled out today and got it down on a concrete pad I have beside a hydrant so hopefully tmrw or Friday I'll get back down there and wash it out real good and get my shop clean out and organized finally! I had it all cleaned up at one point but it's a royal mess now!!
The farther along this car comes the more I love how it's turning out! Every time I walked out of sight of it today and then walked back within sight of it I’d get a big smile on my face!! I think it looks badass and I'm PSYCHED!!!
Well, she's gettin closer!! I dropped the front suspension back out today and get the engine and trans bolted up to the K-member!
The 143t flywheel and bellhousing moved the starter out a little causing me to need to dent/bend the one header tube but I got it done and got about 1/8" clearance.
Was gonna roll it back under the car but the little wheels on the cheap harbor freight moving dolly aren't wanting to roll on the rough concrete. It's sorta strange tho seeing how this is how I pull the 318/904.....
So this morning I got to the shop early, around 6-6:30 and I made a fair amount of progress! I got the engine, trans, suspension all back in!!! Next I need to come up with/make a transmission mount and then hopefully get it running next week sometime!
Yup it's getting closer!! And I'm definitely not giving up! Just had an off night that night I guess.
As for tonight, after I cooled down a bit I went back and decided to put the front shocks on but didn't like how gaudy the yellow shocks looked so I painted em black Humidity was high so the paint turned out kinda flat andsince I didn't sand em first some of the paint scraped off when I installed em.
After the shocks I laid under the car for an hour or so, measuring and brainfarting about how I'm gonna make the transmission mount... I came up with an idea that I think will work good, crawled out from under the car and scribbled some drawings on the white box my distributor came in.
FYI, I haven't lost my mind... The drawings make sense to me it's just kinda hard for me to get all the details on "paper" Lol.
As you can see in this pic I literally scribbled ideas into the grime on the bottom of the floor pan until I came up with something I liked.
The "end view" would be looking at the mount from the passenger side. The end view probably makes the least sense to you guys... Lol
Even tried my hand at drawing it in 3D, turned out much better than I figured!! Still didn't catch all the details but it'll all make sense once it's done. Hopefully the final product doesn't look like crap! Lol
Well, my plug wire crimpers came today so I went to the shop, cut my wires to length, crimped the ends on and got all the wires in place!! First time I did it and it wasn't half bad!!
I then messed around trying to figure out where I want to mount the e-coil. I thought about putting it on the firewall between the wiper motor and the heater hoses but with the heat sink/mounting bracket around it its just too big to mount there. Then I figured I'd put it on the passenger inner fender where people normally mount a fuel regulator but the supplied wiring harness might not be long enough to reach that far. So here in the pic I just set it on the drivers inner fender where I might mount it. What do y'all think?
Lastly, I brought dads little 110 welder over to my shop and practiced some welding. Here was a practice bead on 3/16 or 1/4 stuff.
After being content with the penetration I was getting on the practice pieces I decided to try my luck at redoing the AX15 gear shift. With the original full length shifter, the knob was way too high and was like shifting a semi so I cut 6-8" out of the shifter to shorten it up. Here's a pic I got online to show what the shifter looked like. I cut it at the red arrows and took the center section out.
Here's it is, shortened and welded
Not too bad for the first time I've successfully welded something together.
After grinding the welds
Here's the shifter in the car. I bought the shift knob off eBay. When I fold down the center arm rest, the shifter is in the perfect location!! Easy to reach in all gears!!
Next on the list is the transmission mount. I'll either need to buy me an abrasive saw next week or see if I can borrow my landlords for a day or 2
Well, landlord isn't back from Florida yet and I don't have the money to go buy a cutoff saw so I've been working on other stuff.
Last night I got the seat bolted in, tightened the shifter ball and got the steering column bolted in place. Doesn't sound like much but now I can sit in the car, row gears, and turn the wheel without everything flopping around! Lol
I also got the engine shimmed up and all the way to the passenger side and now the header JUST clears the steering column but now the steering center link rubs the header near full lock when turning right, may have to dent a tube.
Last night I also started fiddling with the hei swap and had some questions so I didn't start cutting any wires, good thing I didn't too cause I woulda cut the wrong stuff off!! Thanks to TrailBeast and Bill Grissom I got everything figured out and I worked on wiring all night tonight. First time I ever really messed with wiring but it wasn't too bad. I did learn a few things though... 1. Crimping is easier than soldering and 2. A soldering iron will burn the piss outta your finger if you touch it!!! I did solder 2 joints then crimped the rest, I pulled pretty hard on all the connections and non of them budged so I feel pretty good about em.
At some point in this cars life the main big wires that go through the bulkhead got hot and the red one melted the connector so a previous owner cut the wire and punch a hole in the firewall and reconnected the red wire using 14 or 16 gauge wire and just twisted them together... No wire nuts, not electrical tape, nothing. So I figured will I was doing wiring I'll drill holes in the bulkhead connectors and run 10 gauge through and do it right. You can see the Orange splice wire going through the big hole to the left of the mc.
I have a few wires over at the alternator to replace/clean up, looks like they might've gotten hot at one point.
I did patch a few wires here and there where the insulation was cracked, broken or completely gone. Once I was done splicing everything I rewrapped most of the harness with electrical tape.
Small crap like this is hardly picture worthy but we all know threads without pics are worthless so I try my best. Lol. Here's just sorta showing the finished product. The coil isn't bolted down yet and the harness isn't all in place but heres where I'm at. Hopefully fire her up this week! We'll see!
Well, tonight was pretty productive! I got the crossmember all cut and welded together!!! I went WAY overkill on metal thickness!! I could've probably done it with 1/8" channel but I used all 1/4" channel. The new crossmember only weighs about 13 pounds more than the original!! LOL!! But I shouldn't have to worry about any lack of strength even with the upper loop of the torsion bar crossmember being gone. Beings I was using 1/4" stuff I turned the power way up on the welder and turned the wire speed down but for the first I had it too slow and the welds didn't turn out the nicest but a few passes with the welder and grinder and it all turned out pretty decent for a noob!!
I'm gonna cut the 2x5" channel down some yet, drill a few holes and clean up the slots where the bolts for the trans mount go. I used a common GM700r4 transmission mount. I saw an energy suspension one at autozone that looked like it'd work so I went on eBay and bought a rubber one for like $12 shipped, had to elongate the one hole in the transmission a little and it bolted right up. Should have it all bolted in Monday night and have the car off the ramps and jack stands and back on her wheels!!!
Remember when you were a kid and you were gonna go on vacation the next day and you just. couldn't. wait!!!?? Well, that's how I felt last night and today!! Except my car is my vacation!! Lol
Well tonight I got the rest of the holes drilled, took longer than it should've because all three of my cheap harbor freight step bits (bought yesterday) would drill great until the 3/8" step then they wouldn't drill, reem the holes with the 5/16 step till the 3/8 slipped through and it drilled great again!! Anyway.... I got the holes all drilled and got the crossmember put in, the 5.9 and 5 speed are officially in place!!
I haven't painted the crossmember yet so it'll be coming back out for some clean up and paint. When I take it out I'll replace the stacks of washers with some something else like 2 1/4" plates or something. Also, when I lowered the transmission in place the mount sagged just a bit, I'm thinking about welding a piece of 3/4x1" channel to the bottom of the crossmember to take the flex out of it. What do y'all think? Sorta like a back brace on a rearend.
I also got my hood pins put in and got the e-coil bolted down and put my alternator on. Got a few wiring splices to make under the dash, a few wires to clean up by the alternator and the plug wires and battery to put back in. Could all probably be done in an afternoon. Might fire it up this year yet!! Lol
One area of concern I have is your cross member clearance for your exhaust. This was an oversight when I built my car and didn't know if you had a plan yet cause it's really going to hang low......
Well... Much to my disdain, I had to leave the shop at 11:50 tonight... Could've stayed and kept working till 2am at least but life and chores will carry on same time in the morning...
Tonight I dropped the crossmember back out to clean it up and paint it. I then bolted my scoops down and worked on wiring the rest of the night! I got the bulkhead connector bypass done, gonna do the ammeter bypass when I swap out clusters. I also did a wiring mod that slantsixdan recommended, ran 2 10 gauge wires with 50 amp fuses at each end from the alternator to the + post on the starter relay. Don't worry, the yellow yip ties are temporary. Lol
I'm also gonna clean up some of that too small and broken wiring around the starter relay.
I set the radiator down on the lower radiator support and put a clump of playdo on the cap and shut the hood, I have about 3/4-1" clearance to play with but my lower radiator support is bent up in the middle some so I should be able to beat it down and get a little more clearance. First time I put the radiator in I thought it was gonna hit the battery tray so I cut the corner out of the tray, put everything in and it wouldve cleared after all. Oh well, the tray was rusted through in 2 spots anyway. It'll work until I move the battery to the trunk.
I then finished out the night by repairing all the wiring that hooks to the alternator.
Got a busy day at the farm tomorrow but hopefully I'll be able to get the crossmember cleaned, painted and put back in. A few more small electrical stuff and then install the radiator and put in coolant and I should be ready for fire up.
You can run a bigger alternator and it bypasses all the smaller factory wiring. Also goes straight to the battery instead of going through the bulkhead connector, ammeter and other splices/connections under the dash.
Here's a screenshot of what he said
