Second chance 70 Duster

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mr.stix

mr.stix

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So some of you may know me from my 68 Valiant project that I posted here a while back. Well long story short is the Valiant went back to my dad and is staying in the family and I acquired a blank slate of a Duster. The reason I'm calling this my second chance is because my very first car was a Lime Light Green 1970 Duster. That car eventually sat too long and rusted out to the point where I had to pass it along through my dad to another Mopar lover which is how I acquired the Valiant, its a long weird story.

Enough of the past lets look at now! Here's a few pictures of the car the day it came home:


So far I decided to work on the interior first. Probably not the most common way to start a project but it needed to be done first cause it stank! I have a 360 torn apart and ready to be tanked and I'm going to build it into something crazy. Other that that it's not going to be a resto as much as a street/strip car. More updates later.
 
Cool story and pretty decent looking body on the Duster but, brother, you don't know stank!

You should check out my project "Biohazard"...lotta good info on stench mitigation but biggest and best lesson I learned is that ammonia...awesome cleaner and doesn't corrode your metal but great for getting that junkyard car funk under control.
 
Well it is pretty solid I didn't put the pictures of the rusty quarters or lower fender rust. But over all she is solid as a rock. From what I gather it was in a barn for most of its life, not sure that's totally true or not but I'm inclined to believe it. The thing that amazes me about it is how solid the wiring and connectors are, it's like new under that dash.

I bet you all have come across some stanky mopars too. So far I think the stink is in the seats and the vinyl floor mat. So the more I remove the less funky it gets. Anybody know for sure what the color and stripe code are? If I remember it's light gold poly but I wanted to double check, for being kinda plain Jane I'm really digging the color and stripe.
 
mr.stix said:
Well it is pretty solid I didn't put the pictures of the rusty quarters or lower fender rust. But over all she is solid as a rock. From what I gather it was in a barn for most of its life, not sure that's totally true or not but I'm inclined to believe it. The thing that amazes me about it is how solid the wiring and connectors are, it's like new under that dash.

I bet you all have come across some stanky mopars too. So far I think the stink is in the seats and the vinyl floor mat. So the more I remove the less funky it gets. Anybody know for sure what the color and stripe code are? If I remember it's light gold poly but I wanted to double check, for being kinda plain Jane I'm really digging the color and stripe.
Click to expand...
Well,with mine,the stank was from mildew and the moisture that built up in it from leaks.The trunk was even worse because of a bad trunk lid weatherstripping.The spare tire had mold on it and so did the mat which I had no choice but to throw away.I think pretty much every older car I've had has had that smell to it.I had to scrub almost every part of it and had the seats shampooed.Still has a bit of that old car scent but not a stank like before .
 
No dice, Fort Collins. Pretty much everything on my car NOT made of metal got tossed. I may have been able to salvage the black plastic rings that go under the window cranks. Sure my situation's different but shampooing wasn't gonna cut it and never would have worked anyhow. Hopefully, she'll smell like nothing more than the wind coming in thru the vent glass.
 
Well I've managed to eliminate most of the funky smell from the car, I think most of the smell was in the seats. Now I'm turning my focus to the dash and steering column. Somehow I'm going to have to fix this hack job, it's going to put my welding skills to the test.

I also got the dash pad off and I'm debating about a full replacement or just the cheap plastic cap that slips over it. This pad it kinda done for.
 
Well I haven't had a ton of time to work on the Duster lately but I did get the steering column rebuilt and a new ignition switch installed on it. I also bought a dash cap and a carpet kit that I can install when I get the floor fixed.
Parts!!!

Column in fresh paint

Before

After

Assembled, minus a new wheel
 
Let everybody know how the dash cap fits, mine factory had a tiny crack in the corner, my fault I put the crack in it, grabbing it pulling myself out from under the dash.

Put a re-po dash pad in it, it fit horrible, studs on the dash were about 1/4" too short.
Vendor told me they are are all like that, to grind the foam down under it.
BS put longer studs in it is what I told them.
 
sireland67 said:
Let everybody know how the dash cap fits, mine factory had a tiny crack in the corner, my fault I put the crack in it, grabbing it pulling myself out from under the dash.

Put a re-po dash pad in it, it fit horrible, studs on the dash were about 1/4" too short.
Vendor told me they are are all like that, to grind the foam down under it.
BS put longer studs in it is what I told them.
Click to expand...

Hey, so far the dash cap is great and it fit really well. I had to trim a bit of the old foam and vinyl to make it fit and had to clamp it in a couple places to get the rtv to stick to the pad and the cap but I would definitely buy another one for future builds.
 
Awesome! My first car was a 1974 Duster. I am thrilled to be building another Duster, I am sure you have an awesome time with yours!!!
 
Update, small but none the less it's an update. I finally got around to cleaning my instrument cluster and I also documented the rust and general body damage to this thing. I needed to document it so I couldn't ignore the fact that it is there.





Finished product.

Here's all the rust and body damage, it looks as if I will be pulling the front window and repairing the cowl panel.










 
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