1972 Duster Build with my Daughter

[Jim Kueneman]

So here are the slider that hold the front channel felt in. They were all broken.... I decided to try to use the new ones that came with the DMT kit.... knowing what I was getting into..

This seal was rock hard and even with the heat gun it was a STRUGGLE getting it out..

Clean off the thick foam seal on the top channel.

We fixed a dent in the trim. Here is all you need. Dolly it VERY carefully then file lightly to find high spots and dolly some more. Repeat until flat. Sand with 220 wet, then 800 wet then 1500 wet and then head for the buffer.

She really likes buffing.

Here is what is left of the felt......

The DMT kit gives you everything you need. Jim is working on a TRUE replacement for the felt that has a factory arc to it. These straight ones are a pain and buckle/tear easy...

Here is what I was saying. The replacement guides are WAY to thick and if you try to jamb them in you will immediately tear the felt... don't do it...

 

[dcl68]

I used the original guides because we realized the new ones don't fit also.

 

[Jim Kueneman]

So you have to get some sand paper and sand them down so they are the same as the original. This ends up being so far that you sand enough material that the pins will come through the back. This is not a problem.

Now get a paper punch and punch holes in the felt where the window has holes. As far in as you can...

The guides clamp in the felt, note this is before I knew I had to sand it down far enough to expose the pin.

Cut the ends a bit more than flush... I found this was a bit too long, cut them shorter.

I bent the edges of the channel corners out just a bit so they were less likely to snag the felt while sliding it in. I also did not have the sliders sanded enough here. I pushed hard and screwed up the felt. We recovered and sanded it down more. Lesson is the window should slide is easily all the way or you will crush the felt.

Success. You can see the ragged edge in the bottom inside here. We can live with it.

Time to rivet it up.

 

[Jim Kueneman]

The new weatherstrip is on. It was a bit of a challenge but just use some dish soap and windex as lube.

Kaelyn polished up the hardware and installed it.

Put on the foam just like the original

The white foam does on the bottom rail and the Butyl strips go over the latch.

Some 4mm x 20 mm rivets were installed then a hammer peened over the blob on the back so it was nice and flat.

After that we slid them in and bolted them down!

The door weatherstrip was next...

Note that in the front upper corner is this locking tab. You have to cut slide a hole so it can come through and then you bend it over. This helps hold the corner that could easily be pulled out.

 

[Jim Kueneman]

We acetone the rear panels and painted them with Herb's Mopar Bright Blue Spray Dye. I really like that stuff...

This is before we painted and I forgot to get a direct comparison... sorry....

We put some 3M strip caulk on the rear opening and slapped on some 6 mil plastic from Lowes that I used on the Coronet and cut it to shape.. Sorry I swore I took pictures of Kaelyn cutting it to size.... oh well. This is for the plastic vapor barrier. I will get some photos when we do the front door.... Problem is I ran out so it won't be this weekend.

After a lot of swearing the inner panels are all on and the rear is almost done..

The plastic push pins for the door seals are the wrong size. Need to call Steele Rubber on Monday..

Could not help myself....

 

[Jim Kueneman]

 

[dcl68]

Also will add when sliding glass into channel I sprayed silicone in it and with one person holding the frame the other can guide the glass in it easier not crushing the over priced felt strips. We also used channel locks with tape on the jaws to squeeze the rubber seal into the channel. I only have one good hand so this worked great and didn't hurt the seal. The work you are doing is excellent, keep it going!

 

[dcl68]

Yes the black push pins don't fit, I ended up at NAPA and they had a display book of different retainers. I found some a size bigger and they worked good.

 

[dcl68]

Jim, when you have time do you have any pointers on installing the drip rail trim. I still have not put mine on for fear of wrecking the paint or trim. Where to start and tools. Thanks in advance. Dave

 

[Jim Kueneman]

Jim, when you have time do you have any pointers on installing the drip rail trim. I still have not put mine on for fear of wrecking the paint or trim. Where to start and tools. Thanks in advance. Dave

Just like this guy....



There is a feel for how much pressure you can put on the trim before you will leave 2 little indentations from the edges of the churchkey... To put them on I hook the top edge then use the key to put some downward pressure (and rolling inward pressure as well) then use the palm of my hand other to smack near the key to roll it on. Some complain they dent it taking it off but if you use a heat gun it will soften things enough to just roll off as easy as this guy shows. Again the trick is knowing where stop with the pressure so you don't dent the moulding. It can be fixed with the tools I show above (I dented my Coronet while in the learning process but fixed it like I said above and you can't tell).

To add on the drivers side I forgot to mask off the drip rail when spraying the top glue. The sticky glue made that rail not want to roll under and I got bruises on my palm. I took it partially off, sanded and then wiped with Acetone to remove the glue and it rolled right on.

 

[TF360]

Yea, those rubber push pins don't fit right. I had the same problem, and I think I used Metro brand rubber

 

[Jim Kueneman]

Let's start out by apologizing. I have no idea what happened to the camera but a lot of the photos I took were not on the SD card.....

I installed NOS bushing and rubber standoffs on the wiper motor. Had photos there too that are gone. The rubber standoffs are a BEAR to get on but they will go with some effort.

To start with the blower motor wires where rock hard so I cut them off at the internal windings a and soldered on new wire with heat shrink tubing... I have no idea what happened to the photos of me doing that... here is where they start. Front cover on with brushes back in along with the rotor....

I cut the end off that grounds to the wiper motor and put a new GM style Packard connector on the green wire. It will plug right into the harness...

The grommet was crumbling. I used a single grommet from the HF kit and I will use Plasti-dip over that once the wires are set in their final place.

Now I moved to the heater box. Put the rear grommet washers on then install the motor and there are top grommet washers before the nuts go on..

Put the squirrel cage on and bolt it in.

Now the scary part. The '72 does not have the inner bracket to hold the AC box so the dash stud was not in the Duster. I got a wet sheet and layed it in over the box and to keep sparks from flying behind the box into the insulation... Nerve-wracking to say the least....

But we made it (again more photos missing...) nice and sturdy..

Now that was in place real R134 o-rings and oil and the AC lines are coming together.

 

[Jim Kueneman]

All done and the ground wire is installed just like the '73 Dart had it for the AC blower.

Next moved to the wipers. DMT kit to seal it and bolt in the transmission...

Pulled out the antenna parts and buffed and bead blasted then nice. The antenna is still good so it all got buffed up and installed..

Then the downer. Started installing the RamMan booster kit. Well... again a ton of missing photos but I had to modify and reposition the braces and then come to realize the lines in the master cylinder have different fitting sizes and the rod to the brake is too long.... Guess I have to dig through the parts that came with it and figure out what needs to be done... Should have sent him the factory booster and bought a NOS cylinder and put in a new piston assembly and I would have been done now.. hate aftermarket... think I have mentioned that once or twice before...

 

[Jim Kueneman]

Had to file the slots out to fit 3/8" clearance drill bit to fit on the new booster bolts.

 

[Jim Kueneman]

Sometimes it is just the simple things that fascinate me. I was bead blasting the bench seat tracks and one of them fell apart. Once apart I pulled it all the way apart and the design was fascinating. I cleaned up the old dried out grease and blasted everything clean. Shooting it with black epoxy today. I will take photos of the assembly.

The Dart original booster is off to Booster Dewey (I used RamMan for the Coronet but that place has communication problems. Call Booster Dewey and he answered the phone on the 3rd ring! You never get to do that with the RamMan)....

NOS master cylinder coming from Brad's NOS Parts and a Raybestos rebuild kit is on its way (50 year old rubber is too old for a safety item).

I have a RamMan Booster/Mastercylinder/Proportioning Valve with brackets, fittings, etc that I will be selling for a smoking deal once I get it together and some photos. If someone gave me $400 I would take it ($570 from RamMan).

 

[Jim Kueneman]

Ok the photos magically reappeared..... Here is the NOS wiper bushings... They were BUGGER.... my fingers went numb..... And the blower motor replacing the wires...

 

[Jim Kueneman]

More blower motor.....

Fast forward to today.. The tail lights were in rough shape. I dremeled grooves in the broken tabs and cracks then taped the broken tabs on ready for JB Weld.

The dremeled grooves in the cracks
....

Laid in JB weld with a popsicle stick on EVERY tab to give it some strength..

Tape built dams for rebuilding missing plastic.

Here are the old somebody drilled for a hack light. Tape on the inside and filled with JB Weld.

Ready to put aside to dry..

The hole fill kept running so I put tape over this side to hold it in.. I have to sand it anyway so I will just sand the tape away when dry...

This is the LH tail light I restored yesterday. I know know it should be Argent but holding this up to the tail panel with the Twister stripes Black is the way to go. The RH side is cracked horrible. I JB Welded it but found a decent lens only on eBay for $35. I ordered it.

 

[Jim Kueneman]

Epoxy primed the last of the odds and ends parts between the wind gusts today. I think I am done painting other than the rear axle!

The rear decal is off and we have the replacements. Tomorrow we are going to either work the interior or the rear bumper. Up to Kaelyn....

 

[Jim Kueneman]

Everytime I look at the Duster Vinyl top that we used the steamer on and my Coronet I want to rip the Coronet's top off and redo it.... again..... I need to build another garage to put the Coronet somewhere else....

 

[Revhendo]

I need to build another garage to put the Coronet somewhere else....

In your spare time?

 

[khuebner250]

Jim, when you have time do you have any pointers on installing the drip rail trim. I still have not put mine on for fear of wrecking the paint or trim. Where to start and tools. Thanks in advance. Dave

Here's what I did little brush and some bearing grease. Started at top lip and clicked it down onto the rail.

 

[Jim Kueneman]

The JB Weld was hard this morning and Kaelyn was ready to go. Worked all day on a variety of projects....

The tape pulled right off! No sticking at all. Perfect...

I used a file to flatten the areas where the bolts and then some 320 paper by hand.

Started with 80 grit. Be very careful you don't dig the plastic too hard. I would start with 180 next time to reduce the amount of sanding to fix these scratches..

Then 180 grit to finish it off.

Mixed up so filler I had left over from the body work and filled it.

180 - 320 - 800 grit and it was all smooth. I then put it in the bead blast cabinet and blasted it all to a consistent sheen.

Kaelyn spread the reflectors with Krylon Chrome paint.

SEM satin black on the backside and the Left one is done. The right I am waiting for the new lens before putting it in for good. It is just finger tight right now.

 

[dcl68]

Very nice!

 

[Jim Kueneman]

Bought push screws for the weatherstrip at the auto paint store Friday. Here are the ones that fit perfectly..

We installed all the glass and got it aligned. Kaelyn installed the vapor barrier, we forgot the left side but not till after we popped the door panel in with JB Weld to hold a few clips that had broken out the fiber board. Can't do anything until the JB Weld dries..

Polished and installed the dome light

Installed the trunk light

Body Plug installed

And installed the carpet. The sill plates are in bad shape and the polishing can only do so much.... looks like new one if they are available... Kick panels are cleaned and dyed. Need to reassemble the seat tracks and get the front seats back together.

 

[Jim Kueneman]

The RH front window is SO SO SO scratched up I can't leave it that way. We need new glass for the front doors.... sigh it never ends...