I have been into 1970 Dusters since I was young, when I was growing up we had an orange 70 duster. My parents sold it in the early 90s. Nov 2020 My dad bought a 70 duster we built together right after my mom passed away.. He sold it Last summer. On Saturday my 1970 Duster project car arrived. This is a very Longterm project for me, but definitely a project I look forward to tackling. Not aiming for perfect, show or even restored. Plan is to make it solid and the mechanicals sound and go from there. The car my Dad owned the vin last 4 are 0557. The car I bought Vin Last 4 are 0584 both cars were bult at the same plant about 10k cars apart from each other.
1970 Duster Rebuild
- Thread starter Big.J.007
- Start date
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Wow! That is close. Fun project- just don’t sell when done or you will be doing it again. lol!
It will not be for sale, this is a keeper!
Been working on the duster. Both doors swapped out both upper and lower hinges changed on the drivers side. Front Fenders are loosely installed, side trim removed. And got most of the dent knocked out on passenger quarter. Still lots left to do, but happy to see progress.
My floors currently. I was waiting till I had all pieces in hand before cutting and prepping. I also have a good used cowl to marry in and a passenger lower quarter on the way. That should take care of the big issues to making my Duster solid again.
A-Body III
Well-Known Member
I have a soft spot for Dusters also. The B-5 one in my avatar pic there was my first new car. Don't start doing the math...yea, I'm old. Don't want to come across as a smart A, but that quarter panel patch you have is not really correct for a 1970. There is no "turn in" forming the bumper pocket. I ran into that problem on a 1970 that we are restoring. It can be used by patching in cutouts from correct quarters.
Thankfully it's just this lower section on both sides.. I'm finding out companies AMD included are only now repopping the 72-76 duster quarters. I guess there's more market for them and the 70 and 71 guys have to improvise.
This weekends episode of what the hell is Big.J working on is brought to you by spot welds and cowl panels. This upper Cowl Panel and lower A pillars were painstakingly removed for my 1970 Duster project.
A-Body III
Well-Known Member
Some serious work going on there! Looking good. 
This weekend's episode of what the hell is big J working on is brought to you by floor pans and rust repair. I kicked around the idea of getting the complete AMD pan and decided to go this route. The Fronts are nearly complete. They need a little more before welding can start, but I'm glad to see it solid. I used self etching primer on the crossmembers and bottoms of pans it has enough zinc to double as weld through primer.
With some careful eBay searching I was able to find a very nice factory dark green 1970 non ralley uncut dash shell. This came with the original ashtray, and I added the factory green glove box lid from another Ebay find. This will be a great addition to my Duster rebuild as the original dash frame was hacked up prior to me getting it.
I took a road trip last night after work and scored a nos pair of Direct Connection Big Block Torsion bars. I bought them from a guy who purchased over 20 years ago for his project and never used them. They still have the zinc dicromate finish on them and will be a great addition to my Duster build. I haven't mic'd them yet.. He stated they measured 1" in diameter. Made in Canada!! Much better than the offshore bars that are out there now.
The same guy I bought torsion bars from dug through his stash and was able to find this nearly complete front end rebuilt kit. All made in USA stuff too!! From research TRW manufacturered this tread saver line, and it later went to federal mogul which made moog for many years. I still need to get the upper control arm bushings and upper ball joints. I'll check to see if I need tie rod sleeves, but this is 1 hell of a good Start.
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On this weekend's episode of what the hell is big J working on. I had the original Fenders from my Duster that previous owners butchered and let rust to ****, I thought that would be a good test piece to practice welding on. They sliced up the wheel well so I gradually dolly and hammered it back then welded it up. I don't know **** about welding.. but took my time on it. It ain't perfect, but it's decent after grinding down a little.
mygasser
Well-Known Member
practice makes perfect
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