1972 Duster Project - Back From The Pasture

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John_Lemon said:
LMAO
Is the albino pheasant still around?
Good to see you following this thread.
You of all people know what we started with.
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lol Actually he is! I bought to 73 dart sport with the factory moon roof that you decoded the fender tag for john last week. I was having a midlife crisis and really regretting selling my last 2 A bodies. You have definitely brought it back from the dead!
 
I love this. Talk about savin one from the eternal death. Coolness.
 
dodgefreak8 said:
lol Actually he is! I bought to 73 dart sport with the factory moon roof that you decoded the fender tag for john last week. I was having a midlife crisis and really regretting selling my last 2 A bodies. You have definitely brought it back from the dead!
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****, he didn't say it was for you, he just said a "friend". He probably figured an old guy wouldn't remember.

We'll be out there on the 9th for Jay's service. We can catch up then if you're there.
 
John_Lemon said:
****, he didn't say it was for you, he just said a "friend". He probably figured an old guy wouldn't remember.

We'll be out there on the 9th for Jay's service. We can catch up then if you're there.
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lol yeah probably. Ill be bound for disney world on the 9th but would love to swap knowledge later. keep up the good work!
 
RustyRatRod said:
I love this. Talk about savin one from the eternal death. Coolness.
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That's one hell of a compliment coming from you Rusty.
I know this sounds weird but of all the restores of cars I have done, that had been driving directly before the restore, this car has fought us less than any of them and it has been parked in a pasture for 23 years.
It's as if it wants to be restored. It wants to live again. Everything comes apart with little to no hassle and goes back together even easier. Delicate parts seem to want to be cleaned and put back in place.
It's more of a survivor than being brought back from the dead.
 
Hey gents, got the doors on this weekend, all new gaskets. I am having trouble getting the driver's side door adjusted along the back edge. The front edge fits well but the back is out about 1/8" and the striker is in all the way. Any thoughts? Tricks? I'm out of options at this point and it's driving me nuts.
 
I'm not a body guy...but i've always been shown to align doors to quarter and fenders to doors. Reason being, the quarters are stationary and non adjustable. They is were they is. If you get good door alignment and gaps at the quarters, rockers and A piller/cowl, then you can get the fenders on the front to line up much easier.

IMO,
Keith
 
Keith is correct, the doors should be aligned to the B pillar (quarter panel) assuming the quarter hasn't been damaged in the past. Then the fenders aligned to the doors. If it's wonky, then door hinge pillar is out of alignment. Hopefully you can shim it as needed to make up the gap.
 
Yea, that's my point. I can't get the back of the door aligned with the quarter. The car has never been hit. Up and down is fine it's the "in" which is just shy, on the top of the door only. As you go down to the rocker it mates up well. The fender to cowl and hood is as far out as I dare go. The fender is where it needs to be.

I was looking at it this evening after a re-boot I noticed the top hinge is just a bit outside with the fender. I think if if I roll that in a touch it should do the trick. I've just never dealt with a striker being bottomed out.
We're working with 16ths here but I hate mis-aligned panels, it's the first thing I look at when I look at other guys cars.

Thanks for the responses.
 
I changed doors on my Duster, and had a heck of a time getting them to align with the 1/4's.
I could not get them to go in far enough.
I ended up moving the striker, when I put 1/4's on the car.
It is aligned now, maybe not the correct way.
It seriously gave me fits, hinges rebuilt, old doors fit fine, but rusted, replacement doors came off a low mileage car that had been hit in the rear at about 65 mph by a jeep while at a complete stop on I95.
Maybe the rear end, twisted the replacement doors slightly.
 
John_Lemon said:
Yea, that's my point. I can't get the back of the door aligned with the quarter. The car has never been hit. Up and down is fine it's the "in" which is just shy, on the top of the door only. As you go down to the rocker it mates up well. The fender to cowl and hood is as far out as I dare go. The fender is where it needs to be.

I was looking at it this evening after a re-boot I noticed the top hinge is just a bit outside with the fender. I think if if I roll that in a touch it should do the trick. I've just never dealt with a striker being bottomed out.
We're working with 16ths here but I hate mis-aligned panels, it's the first thing I look at when I look at other guys cars.

Thanks for the responses.
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I'm no where near being a bodyman, but what if you put a come-along at the top 1/4 window body slot, anchoring the other end down low on the other side. you only need to pull it a 1/4" or so. Just do it very, very gradually, maybe in direct sunlight, to reduce the chance of the paint cracking. Just a suggestion. At least measure it against some other similar bodies, to see how it compares, maybe that will point you which direction to go.
 
Tolerances on these beauties were not something to behold in the first place. Gaps were bad straight from the line.
 
rustyfish said:
Tolerances on these beauties were not something to behold in the first place. Gaps were bad straight from the line.
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Thanks for pointing that out. It's a true statement. Attention to the fine detail was not high on Ma Mopar's list.
We'll get it "Close enough".
Thanks for the input fellas.
 
Been cranking away here. New shocks, rims and tires, u-joints, tail shaft seal and exhaust system in. We took it for a mild test drive on Father's day. We'll take it for the VIN inspection next week then strip the bumpers and rims off then finish the body work, disc break conversion / steering re-build.
The engine pulls very hard but there is a fairly loud whine coming from the tranny only under load. A-230. It was flushed and refilled. The old fluid looked normal and there was plenty in it. Originally I thought it was the throughout bearing but it stops when the clutch is depressed. Any thoughts? Input shaft bearing?
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It’s comming along nice, keep up rather hard work.
 
Hi! Parallel Universe down here in Arizona! I am a FBBO member with my Coronet but my 16 year old daughter wants to build a Duster and we found a '72 so I am learning and a crossover too! Looking good and I am subscribed. The stock underhood photos are what I have been searching for, thanks! Ours is a roller and we are using a '73 Dart as a parts car to get the 318 and disk brakes.

Here is our adventure that started about a month ago!
1972 Duster Build with my Daughter
 
Jim Kueneman said:
Hi! Parallel Universe down here in Arizona! I am a FBBO member with my Coronet but my 16 year old daughter wants to build a Duster and we found a '72 so I am learning and a crossover too! Looking good and I am subscribed. The stock underhood photos are what I have been searching for, thanks! Ours is a roller and we are using a '73 Dart as a parts car to get the 318 and disk brakes.

Here is our adventure that started about a month ago!
1972 Duster Build with my Daughter
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God does that all look familiar. Your trunk is in worse shape than ours but your floor pans look pretty good. We could have put a softball through each side of ours.
That's way cool that you have a daughter that's into it. Even a more rare breed than a boy in this day and age.

It looks like you're putting a little more effort into it than we are. We're skipping a few things that he can do later. I need to get back to my Bird!
 
For those of you still following this, we're coming down to the wire. This year has flown by.
Too tired at this point to give a lengthy description of what has transpired since the last update. Forgive me if I repeat some details.
Once we finish the body work on the tail end I have an old friend that owns a couple of body shops lined up to shoot it.
  • Front end totally rebuilt (bushings, joints, torsion bars, everything)
  • Disc brake conversion installed (SBP)
  • Speedo pulled (again) and serviced by a 70 year old guy up the road (works like new)
  • Cleaned up some details in the interior
  • Alignment
  • Several test drives around town and several thumbs up
  • Tightened up the steering box
  • Drives like new (Need to get the front sway bar in)
  • Cut lower rear quarters out (rust and other damage)
  • Slooowly welding in the quarter patch panels over the next few days
  • Additional Rallye rim hardware showed up
Again sorry if I missed anything, it's been a blur.
We pretty much just need to install the front sway bar, replace the door glass, install interior door panels, wrap up the body work, paint, side graphics, and Jr. is free to take care of it and do what he wants with it for the rest of his life.

I need to get back to my Bird.

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Looking great! Nice work there.......and lots of it. Nice job on the quarter and extension. I have been watching, picked one up myself........eerily similar!

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gdrill said:
Looking great! Nice work there.......and lots of it. Nice job on the quarter and extension. I have been watching, picked one up myself........eerily similar!

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Thanks GD.
We made the extension out of good steel from the portion of the quarter that we cut out. I like to keep as much native steel as possible. The other side was done in a similar fashion just not as much.
What the hell is it with rusted out white Dusters? Did the Crop Duster start a fad?:thumbsup:
Love the beer can on the hood. LMAO, Classic.
 
rustycowll69 said:
I really like the color of the dash and jambs. I can't wait to see the body painted to match.
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Thanks Rusty, us too.
Every time I get to shoot B5 blue I get excited. Very fun color to spray. Probably one of the best colors Ma Mopar ever developed.
The fact that you see late model Challys and Chargers sporting B5 today is a testament to the fact that they got it right.
 
John_Lemon said:
For those of you still following this, we're coming down to the wire. This year has flown by.
Too tired at this point to give a lengthy description of what has transpired since the last update. Forgive me if I repeat some details.
Once we finish the body work on the tail end I have an old friend that owns a couple of body shops lined up to shoot it.
  • Front end totally rebuilt (bushings, joints, torsion bars, everything)
  • Disc brake conversion installed (SBP)
  • Speedo pulled (again) and serviced by a 70 year old guy up the road (works like new)
  • Cleaned up some details in the interior
  • Alignment
  • Several test drives around town and several thumbs up
  • Tightened up the steering box
  • Drives like new (Need to get the front sway bar in)
  • Cut lower rear quarters out (rust and other damage)
  • Slooowly welding in the quarter patch panels over the next few days
  • Additional Rallye rim hardware showed up
Again sorry if I missed anything, it's been a blur.
We pretty much just need to install the front sway bar, replace the door glass, install interior door panels, wrap up the body work, paint, side graphics, and Jr. is free to take care of it and do what he wants with it for the rest of his life.

I need to get back to my Bird.

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Putting a flange on the panel is the easiest way to do them.
 
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