threewood
Well-Known Member
Jim, great work by you and your daughter!
1972 Duster Build with my Daughter
- Thread starter Jim Kueneman
- Start date
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Last two weeks have been weekend in the mountains and both hers and my birthdays so the work on the Duster was spotty. Mo disassembled the left door on her own and I documented how it is assembled.
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More door photos
Today was finishing stripping the items from the firewall and start prepping for epoxy primer on the floorboard and the under carriage. There a few small pin holes in the left rear floor board but I will just fill them with primer, no real reason to do anything with them.
Lastly we pulled the hinges off so this the the correct way they are assembled and installed (won't tell you why I am documenting this). Ordered the quality hinge rebuild kit from Resto Rick along with hood hinge clips.
We also got our new side glass mounting kit and TopCat Wiskers from MoParts in the Surprise Az and a kit of new door lock rod clips off eBay this week.
We also got our new side glass mounting kit and TopCat Wiskers from MoParts in the Surprise Az and a kit of new door lock rod clips off eBay this week.
I am getting old, I could barely get out of bed this morning after running the grinder all day yesterday... another reason I love air tools better but the electric have so more more torque to get the basic job done.
I know the feeling. I have a fear of overdosing on ibuprofen the day after wrenching on my cars.
For what its worth,there is airtools that are awesome,but they tend to use more air than most homecompressors can supply and they are certainly not cheap. If you run into some real industrialgrade airtools and get the right consumable tools for your work at the right price if some shop is closing or something similar,jump on it if you have an airsupply that can handle it. Where i work with grinding and polishing stainless steel i use Atlas Copco airtools and some Pherd and they are seriously good,im using 3 machines and they last about a year before they start loosing speed(that is running them hard for 8 hours a day),have also tried 3M but they are far from as smoothrunning and makes more noise.
Sick of laying on my back eating undercoating and rust dust. Harbor Freight had a 20% off weekend and I bought 2 heavy duty engine stands and welded up some steel. About $250 in this "rotisserie". It is not balanced well and I need to drill through the pin on the rotation stop so the stop bolt goes through both ends of the tube, I just picture shearing off the pin in the single wall....
I do have some jack stands under it just a fraction of an inch below the frame.... just in case... will take some time to get comfortable that my welds will hold
I do have some jack stands under it just a fraction of an inch below the frame.... just in case... will take some time to get comfortable that my welds will hold
Ok all i can say is you gotta have a rotisserie to do a restoration. The elcheapo one I built will get it to a 45 degree angle and even that makes a ton of difference, taking it to 90 would make it even better but the difference would not even come close to the first 45 degrees of rotation!
This is a partial days work including taking my daughter to town at lunchtime. All I need to do is roll it the other way and get the other wheel well and the opposite sides of bumps and bulges. 2 days and we will have the under body stripped ready for sanding and epoxy primer. I won't even guess how many nights I laid on my back covered in dust and grime on the Coronet and this one is going to be done much better than the Coronet.... Sorry old girl....
Also being able to roll this thing outside to strip the undercoating, wire brush the rust and clean the garage is worth all $250 or so I have invested. It will also make fixing the trunk and quarter panels so much easier.
This is a partial days work including taking my daughter to town at lunchtime. All I need to do is roll it the other way and get the other wheel well and the opposite sides of bumps and bulges. 2 days and we will have the under body stripped ready for sanding and epoxy primer. I won't even guess how many nights I laid on my back covered in dust and grime on the Coronet and this one is going to be done much better than the Coronet.... Sorry old girl....
Also being able to roll this thing outside to strip the undercoating, wire brush the rust and clean the garage is worth all $250 or so I have invested. It will also make fixing the trunk and quarter panels so much easier.
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Moparbrad
You don’t know me
Good first post! Now pops knows you’re watching him.
Good first post! Now pops knows you’re watching him.
Hey I get verbal authorization for what I do when she is off doing girl stuff!
Congrats you two on great work!!
Been dreading this but we had some time tonight and it seemed like the time was just right. The disk brakes use a different pattern for the hose so we needed to grind off the hose holders from the frame. They are sort of behind the UCA so I was sure we needed to take them off again and I was not looking forward to it. We sucked it up and now have the brackets ready for the Duster....
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Good days work today. We started on the trunk and finished removing the undercoating. Here is the left side that has not been sand blasted. The auto supply store recommend coal slag for something that just rips everything off fast, they were right. Rust has no chance....
Here is the right side and the spare well after blasting! This took me no more than 15 minute with a small cheap HF blaster and my 80 gallon compressor. After I blasted we thought about cutting out the trunk of the Dart and decided it was not worth it. All the Duster needs is a couple of patches where the cardboard was and it is almost good as new..
We cut out the spots that were thin and it is really not that much work. There are a few pinholes here and there but the metal is solid so all we are going to do is kill the rust with the blaster and epoxy prime it. It will last another 50 years as long as we ensure the trunk does not leak.
We left the hole so the new patch panel can be marked where the hole is and cut out. When done that tab will be cut flush and new metal will be in its place. We will weld a few strips along the bottom where the strengthening ribs use to be to give it some strength.
The upper patch was cut from a template I made by covering the hole with blue tape then cutting out the shape with a razor then sticking the template to a piece of replacement steel bought at Ace back when I was restoring the Coronet and cut out to almost the perfect shape the first time.
Well as it always goes when you live 50 miles from the nearest store I ran out of gas for the welder as I finished welding in the first patch. My daughter did the grinding to get it fairly flat, this is under the floor mat so it is not critical.
Here is the right side and the spare well after blasting! This took me no more than 15 minute with a small cheap HF blaster and my 80 gallon compressor. After I blasted we thought about cutting out the trunk of the Dart and decided it was not worth it. All the Duster needs is a couple of patches where the cardboard was and it is almost good as new..
We cut out the spots that were thin and it is really not that much work. There are a few pinholes here and there but the metal is solid so all we are going to do is kill the rust with the blaster and epoxy prime it. It will last another 50 years as long as we ensure the trunk does not leak.
We left the hole so the new patch panel can be marked where the hole is and cut out. When done that tab will be cut flush and new metal will be in its place. We will weld a few strips along the bottom where the strengthening ribs use to be to give it some strength.
The upper patch was cut from a template I made by covering the hole with blue tape then cutting out the shape with a razor then sticking the template to a piece of replacement steel bought at Ace back when I was restoring the Coronet and cut out to almost the perfect shape the first time.
Well as it always goes when you live 50 miles from the nearest store I ran out of gas for the welder as I finished welding in the first patch. My daughter did the grinding to get it fairly flat, this is under the floor mat so it is not critical.
A little glitch in the effort today, I ended up grinding the back of my hand. Like I tell the daughter to always.... I mean NEVER run a power tool without the guards on! I did get the trunk stripped this morning before the incident. It happened while I was grinding down the spot welds I did long ago on the front inner fenders.... That said with the bandage I did not want to and blast and get it full of grit and crap.
This afternoon we decided to strip the doors and the rest of the hood. I spray on a coat of stripper with the undercoating gun and wrap it up in plastic for a while. The paint just falls off. Hit it with a wire brush and a cup wire brush on a die grinder for the stubborn stuff. Piece of cake then just roll up the plastic and mess is cleaned up.
Hit it with a high pressure power washer and let it dry and you done.
This afternoon we decided to strip the doors and the rest of the hood. I spray on a coat of stripper with the undercoating gun and wrap it up in plastic for a while. The paint just falls off. Hit it with a wire brush and a cup wire brush on a die grinder for the stubborn stuff. Piece of cake then just roll up the plastic and mess is cleaned up.
Hit it with a high pressure power washer and let it dry and you done.
Hood is done and just need to strip the trunk. Should be a piece of cake.
It has been raining almost every afternoon and they are trying and experiment at school so when I get home either Kaelyn has a mountain of homework or it is raining and I don't want to put the Coronet outside to work on the Duster. We busted it this weekend. Saturday we got busy with with the DA sander and Blackhawk Strip Disks. Man do those thing rip the paint off!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01B8GQ0BW/?tag=fabo03-20
We also finishing welding in the spare wheel well patch so the trunk is done other than finishing blasting. Kaelyn also sanded off the Duster Dude on the back panel.... I could not bring myself to do that.
Lastly we finishing removing the rear trim and the wing windows.... What a puzzle they were until you figured them out then they are a piece of cake.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01B8GQ0BW/?tag=fabo03-20
We also finishing welding in the spare wheel well patch so the trunk is done other than finishing blasting. Kaelyn also sanded off the Duster Dude on the back panel.... I could not bring myself to do that.
Lastly we finishing removing the rear trim and the wing windows.... What a puzzle they were until you figured them out then they are a piece of cake.
"Ding dong the rust is dead, the rust is dead, the rust is dead. Ding dong the rust is really dead!"
I dreaded it but I broke out the sand blaster and spent the day blasting the areas that I could not get with the DA that had rust and the finished the trunk. The humidity of monsoon season compounding the blasting as the compressor was blowing water all day. Kaelyn blasted for a while but she could not get the hang of keeping it from plugging because of the water vapor so she finished stripping the body! All that is left is the use aircraft stripper on the door jambs and trunk and we are DONE!
I can almost smell the SPI epoxy primer over the holiday weekend! I am not sure what the attitude she has lately at the end of the day
The flash really make the flash rust look worse than it is but it is just flash rust that the SPI epoxy will neutralize.
I dreaded it but I broke out the sand blaster and spent the day blasting the areas that I could not get with the DA that had rust and the finished the trunk. The humidity of monsoon season compounding the blasting as the compressor was blowing water all day. Kaelyn blasted for a while but she could not get the hang of keeping it from plugging because of the water vapor so she finished stripping the body! All that is left is the use aircraft stripper on the door jambs and trunk and we are DONE!
I can almost smell the SPI epoxy primer over the holiday weekend! I am not sure what the attitude she has lately at the end of the day
The flash really make the flash rust look worse than it is but it is just flash rust that the SPI epoxy will neutralize.
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JDMopar
Well-Known Member
The flash rust will come off pretty easy with a maroon or gray scuff pad and white vinegar. Come behind that with SPI metal prep, and then the Epoxy. Keep up the good work......y'all are killin it!
John_Lemon
Well-Known Member
Holy $hit Jim, that is a ton of work. Sorry it took me so long to get over here and check out the progress. Have had my spare time buried in our 72.
You guys are certainly doing it right.
That is some nasty, tough work...glad to see she still has a smile on her face. That's one tough young lady you have there.
Very nice.
You guys are certainly doing it right.
That is some nasty, tough work...glad to see she still has a smile on her face. That's one tough young lady you have there.
Very nice.
Got the ok to work on the Duster today while Kaelyn was in school. Finished grinding the welds on the inner fender fenders without grinding any skin away today.... Done.
Cut off the drum brake hose brackets and got the area prepared so Kaelyn can weld on the disk brake hose brackets tomorrow.
I spent a few hours DA sanding the driver side top and bottom. Getting close to primer time. Got bored with that and pulled out the stud puller to fix a dent in the rear quarter panel...
That is about as good as I am at fixing dents. Time for some filler after epoxy primer.
Cut off the drum brake hose brackets and got the area prepared so Kaelyn can weld on the disk brake hose brackets tomorrow.
I spent a few hours DA sanding the driver side top and bottom. Getting close to primer time. Got bored with that and pulled out the stud puller to fix a dent in the rear quarter panel...
That is about as good as I am at fixing dents. Time for some filler after epoxy primer.
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I then cut the last patch and welded it in... I use a Dremel to fine tune the fitment...
After Kaelyn came home we decided to do something that we could feel like we had an accomplishment. Out came the RestoRick door hinge rebuild kit. I used the car as a vice to work on the hinges..
Kaelyn hammers out the upper hinge pin installed the new brass bushings and hammered in the new pin. She is not an expert at precision heavy hammering so I helped.
Ready for the lower hinge.
I had the reamer from RestoRick from my Coronet so it was a piece of cake.
Replacing the spring is easy.
Use a pry bar to twist the spring from its notch and tap the bottom with a hammer to slide it up and out of the notch
Make sure you get the new one in the right orientation.
After Kaelyn came home we decided to do something that we could feel like we had an accomplishment. Out came the RestoRick door hinge rebuild kit. I used the car as a vice to work on the hinges..
Kaelyn hammers out the upper hinge pin installed the new brass bushings and hammered in the new pin. She is not an expert at precision heavy hammering so I helped.
Ready for the lower hinge.
I had the reamer from RestoRick from my Coronet so it was a piece of cake.
Replacing the spring is easy.
Use a pry bar to twist the spring from its notch and tap the bottom with a hammer to slide it up and out of the notch
Make sure you get the new one in the right orientation.
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