I actually forgot to put my original number in my car, but I kept the piece in case there was ever any issue with the DMV.
1972 Duster Build with my Daughter
- Thread starter Jim Kueneman
- Start date
-
There’s a high probability I’ll probably drill out the rest of the spot welds and switch the upper radiator support so it will look like the original 72 at first glance. I just left it connected for now to ensure the side radiator supports weee square and spaced properly. Get it all aligned in tact in the way it is then switch it
moparmat2000
Well-Known Member
Thats really the best way to do that.
The vin sequence number stamping on the body started in 1969, along with sequence numbers on engine block and transmission side pan rail. All those numbers matching is great on a "numbers matching" restoration especially on high dollar muscle cars. It was originally done for anti theft purposes, or for police to help identify stolen cars or their main parts
On cars like yours the engine and trans numbers matching the body doesnt matter since it was not a desireable combination as originally built. State authorities dont care about that either because at this age the possibility the driveline has been swapped out is very high by now.
The body numbers however are pretty important that they match if at all possible. Sometimes when these vehicles were newer they might have had fender benders and needed core supports replaced. New ones were blank. Production body shops treating it as a collision repair would just toss the old one.
In your case if ever selling the car, somebody looking at the core support numbers and seeing them different than the vin on the dash would prob throw up the red flag even if you could show the swapped support, after it goes thru a few owners that bit of info gets lost.
moparmat2000
Well-Known Member
Put the dart support back with the dart. I say that because as these cars get harder to find somebody down the line may want to resurrect the dart your using as a parts car.
When i bought my 69 cuda it was a half stripped car. Dash frame was gone, but seller handed me the vin. He had the foresight to drill it off the dash frame before sending the dash frame to parts unknown. I verified the vin sequence number matching the body numbers in those 2 locations and bought the car. I have the correct vin rivets with the vin and paperwork for the shell sitting in my safe. Once my replacement dash is restored the vin will go right back on.
Federal motor vehicle law allows for this in their statutes providing the vins go back on the vehicle they were removed from because of repair to the vehicle required their removal to do the work. In my case replacing a dash frame. Moving vins to a different vehicle for fraudulent reasons such as theft or an attempt to misrepresent the vehicle is concidered a federal crime. I have read the statutes forward and backwards about vin removal, and when its ok, and not ok. Even had people argue with me over it right on this website LOL
When i bought my 69 cuda it was a half stripped car. Dash frame was gone, but seller handed me the vin. He had the foresight to drill it off the dash frame before sending the dash frame to parts unknown. I verified the vin sequence number matching the body numbers in those 2 locations and bought the car. I have the correct vin rivets with the vin and paperwork for the shell sitting in my safe. Once my replacement dash is restored the vin will go right back on.
Federal motor vehicle law allows for this in their statutes providing the vins go back on the vehicle they were removed from because of repair to the vehicle required their removal to do the work. In my case replacing a dash frame. Moving vins to a different vehicle for fraudulent reasons such as theft or an attempt to misrepresent the vehicle is concidered a federal crime. I have read the statutes forward and backwards about vin removal, and when its ok, and not ok. Even had people argue with me over it right on this website LOL
Last edited:
Yea that is the next head scratcher.... Use the Dart dash and swap the vin tags or leave the Duster dash... I like the Dart dash better....
some people make a big *** deal out of it to the point where they sound ridiculous. Buy some vin rivets from either ebay or FABO member cuda junction (they are not cheap) and then put your dash of choice in and rivet your vin back on.
easy, No boogie man will come and take your car and there is nothing illegal about it provided you keep the same vin number on the same car. You can not use a dart vin number or any other number. Make sure the vin tag that came on your duster stays on your duster. easy as that.
I have a 68 dart and I swapped in a 68 Barracuda dash. I did exactly what I am describing and the original tag that came with my dart stayed on my dart. Except now I have a rally dash. Its now several years after the fact and my car is still is still in my driveway and no FBI or boogie men have come looking for it.
Both the real gaskets and the Mr Gasket Hi Temp 77 material came. I traced the new gaskets onto the Mr Gasket Material for future usage 
OMG new gaskets, fresh oil change she is working better than I can ever remember it working! Air Tools Rule! So much quieter and it builds to 150 psi in a matter of a few minutes now! The new gaskets seem like much different material than the old.... Hope they last longer...
We have a '73 Dart Roller with a /6 and Drum brakes... ? How did that happen!
Bruce Toth is going to make the 318 BREATH with his ported Aluminum heads! One is done and he is working on the other one! Intake arrived and he will gasket match that then ship it out to me!
OMG new gaskets, fresh oil change she is working better than I can ever remember it working! Air Tools Rule! So much quieter and it builds to 150 psi in a matter of a few minutes now! The new gaskets seem like much different material than the old.... Hope they last longer...We have a '73 Dart Roller with a /6 and Drum brakes... ? How did that happen!
Bruce Toth is going to make the 318 BREATH with his ported Aluminum heads! One is done and he is working on the other one! Intake arrived and he will gasket match that then ship it out to me!
I agree, I read the Az legal code about this and it state for fraudulent purposes. We will see once we get the Dart dash out and make a decision.
moparmat2000
Well-Known Member
I agree dash frame doesnt matter, the vin plate matching the body its off of is what does matter.
I saw a barracuda fastback on evilbay one time. Dash with vin was changed at some time in its life. Somebody screwed up on this one. Vin read BH23 for the first 4 digits. A BH23 is a notchback coupe. The fastbacks vin should have started out as a BH29 fastback. Somebody swapped the vin and or dash and either it was done fraudulently or somebody swapped a dash frame during a restoration because that vin is what they had a title for. No matter the point is that was a car i wouldent touch with a 10 foot pole. Something very wrong because vin is incorrect for its body.
I saw a barracuda fastback on evilbay one time. Dash with vin was changed at some time in its life. Somebody screwed up on this one. Vin read BH23 for the first 4 digits. A BH23 is a notchback coupe. The fastbacks vin should have started out as a BH29 fastback. Somebody swapped the vin and or dash and either it was done fraudulently or somebody swapped a dash frame during a restoration because that vin is what they had a title for. No matter the point is that was a car i wouldent touch with a 10 foot pole. Something very wrong because vin is incorrect for its body.
A 73 dart dash and the 72 duster dash are very similar, same basic layout but there are some big differences.
Look at the heater controls. I personally like the 67-72 style of heater controllers because they are easier to find if a replacement is needed.
The 73 - 76 tend to get brittle and the plastic likes to crumble, especially when living in a very dry climate. When a replacement is needed, the non A/C controllers are quite hard to find. Finding one that isn't brittle is a challenge. I am still looking for one for my 75 duster.
Look at the heater controls. I personally like the 67-72 style of heater controllers because they are easier to find if a replacement is needed.
The 73 - 76 tend to get brittle and the plastic likes to crumble, especially when living in a very dry climate. When a replacement is needed, the non A/C controllers are quite hard to find. Finding one that isn't brittle is a challenge. I am still looking for one for my 75 duster.
moparmat2000
Well-Known Member
73 was a crossover year. Lots of slantys in 73 came with SBP and 4 wheel drums. Prob trying to get rid of assembly line inventory before discs became standard in 1974. That was pretty common practice back then. I have seen 67 parts on early build 68s, and 68 parts on early build 69s.
moparmat2000
Well-Known Member
Heck i'd put a rallye dash in it
You know for some reason the rally dashes don't do a thing for me. I like my base dash in my Coronet and the simplicity of the base dash in the Duster.
moparmat2000
Well-Known Member
Check out "recently submitted how to articles". How to do a custom dash. They put nice aftermarket gages in a stock dart duster gage bucket.
Also the Duster had cheap window film that kept out the UVs. The Duster cluster once I got the dusty plastic lens off was like new. There is virtually no fading of the faces of the gauges at all. I wet sanded the lens and buffed it crystal clear. All I need to do is get the speedometer fixed in Phoenix (there is a plastic bushing that dries out and cracks causing the needle to stick) and it will be like new. The woodgrain bezel is another story......
I have a 68 coronet wagon that now has a 68 charger rally dash. The only thing I can say about that swap is that it was easy but very expensive. Looking back, there are a lot more productive ways I could have thrown my money out the window LOL
moparmat2000
Well-Known Member
Check w jim at DMT detroit muscle technologies. He is one of the fabo vendors. He makes a diecut woodgrain applique for the duster dash gage bucket
You will quickly find that the first part of my life I was a GM mechanic and the last 23 years an electrical engineer and between those 2 careers I have a strong bias toward OEM parts ONLY on my cars, even if they are 46 years old.... I will find overpriced NOS before I will buy many aftermarket parts. That will become apparent as this thread progresses.... I get a lot of flack but my Coronet has 10k trouble free miles on it will my friends fight problems with their aftermarket "upgrades".
He does! Excellent. We conversed a lot with my Coronet as its AC box was lined with fiberglass insulation and he had never seen that before and it had a seal on the heater door that he had never seen before. Not sure if he upgraded his kit for the seal or not. Great guy to deal with.
moparmat2000
Well-Known Member
I also bypassed the ammeter. Converted it to volts. GM runs their output back to the battery. Mopar runs it thru the firewall to ammeter gage first then to battery. This becomes a problem. So much so that chrysler used to bypass the bulkhead connector at the factory on police cars w bigger alternators.
Yup, I left it alone on the Coronet. I bought all new M&H harnesses so I knew the connections where first rate and I rebuild the original 38A alternator. The connectors are rated for a bit over 50A (again if clean and tight) so I was not worried about it in the Coronet. The Duster has a '76 date coded alternator, I have not done to research to see what size it is but I will likely just rebuild it and the Duster will get new M&H wiring inside and out too so I may or may not do that upgrade. If I do I will likely just use an unused socket and run a parallel wire through the connector itself, on the Coronet I used 2 unused sockets to run my fuel pump power for my FiTech.
moparmat2000
Well-Known Member
I have new M&H harness for both cudas. Bypassed my 67. Will bypass the 69 too. Just piece of mind to take that load off the firewall connector.
My gosh it is hot in Arizona..... We did a little clean up tonight and moved the Duster into the garage and the Dart out, broke sweat doing nothing. Tomorrow 109 in Tucson and 100 in Sonoita... we don't have many days over 90 in Sonoita so this really wears us out in the garage. Have the column out of the Dart and almost had the dash out before I needed to pack it in and move it out of the way to bring the Coronet in for the night. Kaelyn got the hang of the air scraper and started working on getting the old dried out under coating off the front inner fender area...
moparmat2000
Well-Known Member
Wow that Az sun really tortures dash pads. A dash capper wont fix that lol.
That is one word for it! No dash pad left standing in the Az sun that is for sure!
-
