Ryan & Dione's 1974 Gold Duster 318

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1974PlymouthDuster

1974PlymouthDuster

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Hello all - I finally got around to beginning the Gold Duster Restoration Page.

Here's the oldest picture I could find.

Project by project updates to follow.

Background: My wife's dad purchased this car for her, while she was in high school, as her first car. This was around year 1999/2000.

He did the dash (Just Dashes), seats and a bunch of other stuff I wasn't involved in.

When he passed away, and Dione and I purchased our first home, we moved it in to the garage.

Her mom gave us only 1 instruction when moving to our house: do not sell it.
 
Hi Shanson30 - In between my timeline, my wife's brother was driving the car up until through the time it had the ORIGINAL snakeskin top.

It began to tear and got a hole right in the middle of the roof, so he decided to rip whole thing off, and shove a bunch of bondo in the A-pillar crease. I think he tried to paint with brick-colored rustoleum.

When we took back possession, I hit it with a quick and dirty two coats of flat black rustoleum. I have a current pic of the roof somewhere.

I intend on the correct restoration, so I have received a sample of the SMS Auto Fabric for this reproduction snakeskin top. The material is $500~ alone, and I will go with a pro for install to ensure it comes out right.

Thanks!
 
Hi Keith - I had some other more topical postings about the engine recently. I got a rebuild core for $100 on craigslist (so I could drive/move car during rebuild)

This was my first engine rebuild / engine swap. I learned A LOT.

I took the block to CarQuest in Northridge, and couldn't give Harlen any more praise for a job well done. 030 over on a thin-wall casting.

I took the cylinder heads to a more specific cyl head shop in Northridge as well, I severely overpaid for the shop's reputation, and didn't do anything I wanted to do the cyl heads (the series of 318 hipo build articles in Mopar magazines were guiding the build)

I know I left a lot of power on the table by not doing the heads right....

Other than running a little hotter than I would like, engine is going strong. Definitely way more pep than blown out old 318 I took out (bent pushrods, stock internals)

Will get pics up asap. Thanks!
 
Hi Keith - I had some other more topical postings about the engine recently. I got a rebuild core for $100 on craigslist (so I could drive/move car during rebuild)

This was my first engine rebuild / engine swap. I learned A LOT.

I took the block to CarQuest in Northridge, and couldn't give Harlen any more praise for a job well done. 030 over on a thin-wall casting.

I took the cylinder heads to a more specific cyl head shop in Northridge as well, I severely overpaid for the shop's reputation, and didn't do anything I wanted to do the cyl heads (the series of 318 hipo build articles in Mopar magazines were guiding the build)

I know I left a lot of power on the table by not doing the heads right....

Other than running a little hotter than I would like, engine is going strong. Definitely way more pep than blown out old 318 I took out (bent pushrods, stock internals)

Will get pics up asap. Thanks!
 
Morning Keith - More pics are posted. I didnt do any captions, as many of them are self-explanatory, but let me know if you have any questions.

This has all been the typical "backyard engine swap" except for machine work on block and heads.

I went with the Hemi Orange Engine Enamel, as I read somewhere Police 318's had this color from factory. I may be incorrectly researched on that, but it my favorite color anyway =)

Typical first engine build, I missed some parts I should have painted, such as some bolts, harmonic balancer, some brackets.
 
That motor is a thing of beauty, it looks right at home in there!! Nice build so far!! Watching!! Geof
 
Update on the rear option panel. The car has had 2x 6x9's on the rear deck since I have started messing with it. One of the first projects I remember on this was switching to some decent Infinity 3way speakers.

At some point when it was living in North Hollywood (first mistake), those speakers must have looked appealing to someone, and they broke in to the car and tried to rip them out of the panel. They were bolted in to the metal rear deck, and all they succeeded in doing was messing up rear panel (the fiberboard thing)

Dione's dad found this panel somewhere, and purchased a reproduction piece. It always looked good, so with my new found time lately, I decided to finally tackle this.

The main problem was the panel had no oval holes for speakers. So I rounded up the jigsaw and dremel and went to work.

I took out the upper and lower back seats, and used the old ripped up panel for a template. Sketched some ovals, and cut them out.

Went to stick the repro panel back in, and its too wide. So much so, that it pushed the interior plastic panels behind the rear side windows enough to crack the plastic. Didn't help my cause that these are very brittle after 40 years.

I pull it back out carefully, and measure against old one.

The old panel is 54 1/4" wide.

The repro panel is 55 1/4" wide.

So I'm now pist - I look up the sitcker on the back to confirm fitment (alleged) and it matches: DST-101 from 70-76 Duster Package Tray.

The panels have finished sides with the color matched vinyl trim, so I cant cut off 1/2" from left and right.

Only other option I could think of was cutting 1" out of the middle,but then I'm left with a seam.

I decide to ditch the old panel, especially after seeing online that it was only $20-30.

I hit the Home Depot and look for a replacement material. I find a 4'x8' piece of fiberboard that matches this material perfectly: $15.

Sketch a outline of OLD panel, 54 1/4", and cut it with speaker ovals.

As I'm laying the cut one in, I realize I will have the same problem with appealing aftermarket speakers, so I begin looking in to fabric. At first, I was going to cover only the ovals, but then opt to cover entire panel. Wife and I hit Joanns and find some gold (*GOLD Duster) burlap for $3.99 per yard.

Pics at https://plus.google.com/photos/1036...ms/5984189745400238865?authkey=COS3-cDT9aT0fw
 
new Infinity 3way 6x9's installed, repro jute laid, and fabbed burlap-wrapped panel installed.

Google Album updated.

Time to put rear seats back together.
 
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