1971 Duster 340

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Joined
Apr 10, 2023
Messages
21
Reaction score
58
Location
South Carolina
I'm new around here and first want to thank everyone for having me and the warm welcome. I've recently embarked on finishing my grandfather's Duster. He purchased this car mid restoration in the mid to late 90's and for various reasons has been unable to complete it. He tried to convince me to sell it for him but I refused and he relented and agreed to let me finish it. It's been covered in his garage in this condition for around 20 years. I started with some simple assembly this past fall and recently. I wanted it to regain it's identity so in November I installed the front grille and lamps and the front bumper. Still need to do the final alignment on the bumper and grille. The grille is in need of replacement eventually but for now it will suffice as I'm trying to complete this quickly, he'll turn 91 this year. This past weekend we installed the rear bumper and tail lamps. Next up will be installation of the body wiring. Thankfully he has original factory service manuals and I hope it will go smoothly. From there we'll reinstall the remainder of the interior and start on the trim work, have the glass installed and give it a thorough mechanical check over. It was a running driving car when he started but I imagine some gaskets, hoses, belts, and fluids will need to be addressed after sitting. I don't expect this to be a concours build for now, but mainly trying to get to a point where we can enjoy it together while he still has time. I'm sure I'll have questions, so thanks in advance for any advice!

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Wise that you didn’t sell it. Great plan he will enjoy it back together.
 
You're Grandfather has a very nice Grandson and 340 Duster, build it together, you'll forever enjoy those memories! 65'
 
Enjoy the journey that both of you will have once she's completed.:)
 
Found a little heartbreak today. I feel like the only thing worse than not finding a broadcast sheet is finding one that's destroyed.

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Thats ok, you don't need that buildsheet you have the fender tag… more or less.
Most of those things are missing, people try to remove them and why when you can read it the way it was installed !??
Looks great!!!
Very cool story too behind the car with your Gramps!
Stripe?
 
Thats ok, you don't need that buildsheet you have the fender tag… more or less.
Most of those things are missing, people try to remove them and why when you can read it the way it was installed !??
Looks great!!!
Very cool story too behind the car with your Gramps!
Stripe?
Yes it did have the black longitudinal and black transverse stripes. I'll be ordering those soon. Thank!
 
Nice Car. Take the rear bumper pads off. Two phillips screws per side . Clean the paint off of them and reinstall. Also lift the front bumper up its to low.
 
Nice car. Don't give up. Like was said already the memories of working on the car with your grandfather is priceless. Looks like you have a lot already accomplished.
 
Nice Car. Take the rear bumper pads off. Two phillips screws per side . Clean the paint off of them and reinstall. Also lift the front bumper up its to low.
Thanks for the advice! The front bumper is still loose. I didn’t have an extra set of hands to line it up. I didn’t know the rear pads shouldn’t be white, I really appreciate it!
 
Thanks for the suggestion, The dash and glovebox have been out for some time and he doesn't have it with any of the paperwork he located.
 
Sounds like a fun project and the memories you get from driving him around will be priceless. Good luck!
 
White with black accents (stripe kit) is a great color combination.

...and still the original Thermoquad, I presume....very good.
 
Thanks for the suggestion, The dash and glovebox have been out for some time and he doesn't have it with any of the paperwork he located.
That's too bad, it was worth a shot. Still, it's a great story and a fun project.
 
It's been a while since I posted an update. We had a major scare in August that halted any progress. We had a pretty severe storm with some strong straight line winds that dropped a tree on the garage. Thankfully there was no damage to the car, but it took about 4 months for the insurance process and repairs to the garage. I'll post progress since then below.

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The last couple weeks have been productive. We're getting the interior back in the car, I'll wait to install the front seats until the work on the dash has been completed. The carpet being in has made it a much easier working surface on my knees and back working on the dash. I plan to start on the cluster and remaining dash components this weekend. The plan is to get that completed, have the front and rear windshields installed next month and then move on to exterior trim. From there we'll tow it to my friends shop to use his 2-post lift to go through all the mechanicals, fluids and such. Really the only thing I know that needs to be addressed is the brake booster. I'll be taking it off to send in for a rebuild soon.

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Looking good! Beautiful Duster. Use that Priming Tool, and run some fresh oil through that engine
 
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