1972 Duster Project

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Divenut

Divenut

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Hi Everyone,

Thought I'd officially start my build thread. As some of you may know, I purchased my 72 Duster last week as a project for my daughter's and I to play with. Our plans are to put together a capable strip car that will also hit local cruises, shows etc. She has a 340, appears to have beem cammed at some point but have no clue as to the specs, reverse manual valvebody 727, what appears to be a 3200-3400ish stall, Torker intake (May ditch it depending on it's street manners). Hooker headers, MSD 6AL, Champion Radiator etc.

As is often the case, our "to-do" list is growing rapidly. Couple hot items have bubbled to the top of the list. Hoping some of you may be able to assist.

1. No wiper motor/linkage: Motors are no problem to find, but the under dash lingage/assembly is proving to be a challenge to track down with new pieces. Anyone know of a source? Also, planning on hitting some boneyards. Can anyone tell what, if any, other vehicles share the same assemblies?

2. 8 3/4 Rearend with Open 3:23's. - Any suggestions for a limited slip swap. Will "suregrip" pieces swap into the current pumpkin and if so any recommendations, i.e boneyard pieces vs aftermarket?

The girls and I love this car and are really excited about the project. We'll post updates as they are available.


Thanks in advance for all of you assistance.
 
sounds great, good luck with it, post some pictures for us all to see please.
 
hey please post some pics of your new car. I might be building a big block 72 duster my self. but on the linkage i thin k any abody will fit but not sure. but if you pay the shiping i will give you the linkage set up out of my 73 dodge dart.i am not useing it and if i keep my 74 duster and not get the 72 duster.you can have the wiper motor and linkage out of that.just let me know and good luck on the build.here is a pic of my 73 dart.thanks Mopar65
 

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mopar65 said:
hey please post some pics of your new car. I might be building a big block 72 duster my self. but on the linkage i thin k any abody will fit but not sure. but if you pay the shiping i will give you the linkage set up out of my 73 dodge dart.i am not useing it and if i keep my 74 duster and not get the 72 duster.you can have the wiper motor and linkage out of that.just let me know and good luck on the build.here is a pic of my 73 dart.thanks Mopar65
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Thanks Mopar 65, I would definitely be interested in the linkage set-up from your 73 Dart (Great looking ride by the way!) if it is interchangeable with my 72 Duster.
 
Now that the weather's finally cleared up, I pulled her out of the garage for a few pics.

Exterior:





 
Hi Folks,

Well, been busy on the Duster. Got the shifter sorted out, installed front seatbelts, checked/tightened everything underneath and sorted out more of the wiring issues. Also, accumulating the stuff needed to get her street legal again (thanks to FABO members, I am finding just about everything.)

Took her on her for a few test drives around town, and other than a boat load of play in the steering wheel, I could not be happier (my kids LOVED the power, sounds and looks/thumbs up we got). Suspension/Front end seems OK, so gonna look at possible adjustments to steering box.

In addition to stripping anything that did not improve 1/4 mile times, one of the PO's removed all the emblems & decals (probably prior to an old re-paint). Can anyone refer me to a source that would show the correct emblems/decals and placement of them? Have all the mounting holes in the sheetmetal, but not sure what I need to fill them.

Thanks as always!
Pat
 
Finally got my directionals working! It was a pain tracing all the hacked up wires back to their respective places. Turns out the PO cut out the flasher, so I had to cut another flasher & plug assembly from a spare wiring harness I picked up and am back in business. Also got the crazy amount of play in manual steering worked out. Replaced the gear oil and made a few adjustments. She goes where she's pointed now. :cheers:

Next task is pulling out the bird nest of wires the PO has all over the engine bay and re-wire it correctly. I think the MSD6LA is wired incorrectly...battery has been draining on me. I just love trouble shooting wiring/electrical issue. :banghead:

Will will posted up some "after pics" when I'm finished. Here's the "before"

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Dude! your Duster is sweet as well! I like the blackout treatment with that color yellow! Once you sort those wire out, a quick tape up job, or even a nice wiring loom over them will clean it up under the hood big time!

Have you found the info you need when it comes to the emblems, stripes yet?

Thanks for the comments on my thread, and its nice to see another "family" project! Its a trip for me to see my daughter get more into the car than my son is.:D
 
Rocker'sDuster said:
Dude! your Duster is sweet as well! I like the blackout treatment with that color yellow! Once you sort those wire out, a quick tape up job, or even a nice wiring loom over them will clean it up under the hood big time!

Have you found the info you need when it comes to the emblems, stripes yet?

Thanks for the comments on my thread, and its nice to see another "family" project! Its a trip for me to see my daughter get more into the car than my son is.:D
Click to expand...

Thanks Rocker. Definitely gonna get them wires cleaned up and loomed/bundled nicely..It's like a birdnest under the hood, but we'll get it done. Gotta replace the steering gearbox first, then onto the wiring. Good thing is winters are long in these parts.

Yes, a few of the other members helped me out with some info on the emblem placement. Hardest part now is sourcing the actual emblems LOL!

And I must say, it is very cool spinning wrenches with my daughters. They put most of the neighborhood boys to shame when it comes to knowing old school muscle. :cheers:

Now I gotta show them how to load and shoot the "Red Rider" BB guns Santa delivered this morning.

Merry Christmas,
Pat
 
Nice clean duster.
When you are cleaning the wiring up under the hood, please throw the rubber hold down for the battery away.
They are not much better than a bungie cord.
I had two of them break in less than a year on my camping trailer.

Year one will have all the emblems you need, expensive but nice.
 
Divenut said:
Note to self...don't rename Photobucket pics after adding them to threads. :banghead:
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+1 on this. I wish Photobucket had an easy way to fix "broken" links. Your car is beautiful. Just love the Yellow & black combo.
 
sireland67 said:
Nice clean duster.
When you are cleaning the wiring up under the hood, please throw the rubber hold down for the battery away.
They are not much better than a bungie cord.
I had two of them break in less than a year on my camping trailer.

Year one will have all the emblems you need, expensive but nice.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the battery hold down tip. Much appreciated :thumblef: And yes, Year One is pricey as heck on the emblems. Hope to srounge them up over time from swap meets, boneyards etc. I know it's a crap shoot, but if worse come to worse, I will have to pop for the Year One pieces.



OwdKasd said:
+1 on this. I wish Photobucket had an easy way to fix "broken" links. Your car is beautiful. Just love the Yellow & black combo.
Click to expand...


Agreed, the funny thing is, I knew better and still screwed up...sucks to get old LOL!
:wack:
 
Well after 2 weeks of penetrating oil, breaker bars and torching I finally got the last header bolt loosened up. The old Hooker "Competition" design only allowed a straight shot (socket with extension) on 4 of the 12 bolts. The remaining 7 required the use of a variety of boxend combo wrenches with breaker bar persuasion. As is often the case, the first 11 came loose without problems after soaking in penetrating oil for a few days. But that last one, the driver's side rear really sucked.

This one:

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This mother required repeated applications of penetrating oil, and 3 treatments with the torch. It started to round off when using the 12 point combo wrench, so I picked up a 6 point one. That did the trick. Thankfully I did not break any of the bolts. Those of you that have know just how fun that is...Not!

Sooo...I can finally get back on track and start digging into the steering gearbox replacement. Will post pics of my progress, trials and tribulations for your amusement. LOL!

Pat
 
Been awhile since I updated my thread so here it is. Nothing real photoworthy bu tprgess none the less. :cheers:

1. Got the wiper system installed and working. Had to source every nut and bolt. But FABO members came through in a big way and provided much of the parts I needed linkage, pivot arms, motor. Found bushing, gaskets etc on line. Also, the write-up I found via seaches here at FABO were a huge help. A BIG Thank You!! to those that assisted me.

2. Souced everything I need to replace my shot steering gearbox and will post up pics as I start pulling stuff off. While I am at it, gonna replace my oil pan (dented/pin leak) and hit my headers with POR-15 exhaust manifold paint.

3. Pulled out my gauge cluster (Thanks again to those of you that replied to my request for info with helpful tips.) haven't tracked down the cause of my dash light problem, but will keep digging.

4. Continued my project of traces wires to their source and cleaning them up.

Again, not much, but my every bit helps. :blob:

Pat
 
Just posting a quick update. Finally found the correct Speedo cable..woo hoo! Began pulling stuff off to get to my steering gear box. Gonna dig into the headers this week so I can get to the bolts on the gear box. In preparation, we pulled the steering linkage last weekend. Got the car up on stands front & back, and removed the steering coupler last night. Got a coupler rebuild kit and fresh gearbox ready to go. Need to order some tie rod end duster covers and ARP header bolts. Picked up a new oil pan and FelPro gasket set to replace my damaged pan since I figured might as well do it while everything's apart. Here's a few pictures of my helper cleaning and painting some parts. She insists that we make anything we remove/replace look better than when we pulled it off the car...Guess I can't argue with that logic. :thumblef:

Will post more updates as we progress.

Pat

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I pulled the 340 out of my Duster for a rebuild. I'm looking for some advice. I planned on putting Edelbrock aluminum heads on the car but a fellow MOPAR club member has offered to sell me his 70 X Heads ( they have had an $800.00 polish/port job) for $350.00 for the pair. The heads have about 4K miles on them. That would save me a grand versus the Edelbrock heads. I know I'm sacrificing some power but I am on a tight budget and saving a grand sure would help a lot. But I also live by the rule of "you get what you pay for" so I'm concerned that I may be jumping over a dollar to grab a quarter. Your thoughts please. Thanks...Doug.
 
doug16403 said:
I pulled the 340 out of my Duster for a rebuild. I'm looking for some advice. I planned on putting Edelbrock aluminum heads on the car but a fellow MOPAR club member has offered to sell me his 70 X Heads ( they have had an $800.00 polish/port job) for $350.00 for the pair. The heads have about 4K miles on them. That would save me a grand versus the Edelbrock heads. I know I'm sacrificing some power but I am on a tight budget and saving a grand sure would help a lot. But I also live by the rule of "you get what you pay for" so I'm concerned that I may be jumping over a dollar to grab a quarter. Your thoughts please. Thanks...Doug.
Click to expand...

Hi Doug,

I'm just running stock "J" Heads on my 340. While I'd love a nice set of aluminum heads, like you, I'm on a shoe string budget. Depending on your set up, cleaned up X heads may be just fine. For an all out monster, a good set on aluminum heads might be the ticket. Down the road, if/when funds allow I'd like to pull my motor and set her up with a nice 416 Stroker kit. At that time, I might consider a set of high flowing aluminum heads. Until then, I am happy with the old iron heads I have. But you know what they say, $$$=HP. Let me know whatyou end up going with, and how you like it.

Pat
 
Got the steering gearbox out of the car today. Also removed the starter, driver side header (passenger side loose but need to remove the oils filter mount to drop it out). Will be replacing the gearbox, installing a new oil pan and may pop for a new "mini" starter. Will update as things progress....

Pat

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