72 duster Build progress

-
well guys, the weather has been pretty decent lately. And as promised.....I have been at it on the duster again! feels good!.

I first had to charge up the battery because its been sitting awhile...but once I let it charge for about 15 minutes she fired right up!. let it run for a bit. And then back it out of the garage so that I could spiff the garage up since its been used as a catch all for most of last fall and this winter.

Then I pulled it back in, jacked up the rear end and took the wheels off in preparation of truing up the rear end and installing new u joints (still havent replaced them since I exploded them last summer on a test run lol).

and thats about as far as I have got on that before I got side tracked lol....I ended up taking the grille out and grinding V's into all the cracks I found in it (wasnt to bad...had one large crack across the upper face of the grille and it had 5 cracked fins). I had a spare ford grille sitting in the shed that I cannibalised some tabs of plastic from. I then took out my soldering iron and melted all the grooves that I had cut and then added plastic from the tabs I had from the ford grille and used that melted plastic as a filler to flatten it back out. I then tested all the cracks and it all worked really well. I tried bending,twisting and prying on them all and they are just as strong as factory.

I then took my drill with a sanding disc and sanded all the work down nice and flat. once that was done I applied a smear of filler on the spots that I worked out. Then sanded the spots down and did some spot priming.

Its coming out really nice. I am about finished with it now. tomorrow I plan on trying to finish up all the body work on it and depending on how fast I get the work done and how ambitious I am feeling. I may go ahead and repaint it all tomorrow also.

so be sure to stay tuned because the updates will be coming again!!!

Also today....I finally got the Duster insured for the road ( thats how close she is to being ready lol). Got a really good deal through grundy insurance for $160.00 a year for full coverage with a $20k agreed value.

so anyhow...basically...the grille should be done soon,then I need to polish the chrome trim that goes on it, then need to polish the head light bezels and then mask off the centers and respray them. Then I need to mount headlights, finish mounting in hood latch assembly. I need to do a fresh oil change, maybe some plugs since its had alot of idle time and alot of carb tweaking done on these plugs so I am sure they are probably pretty sooty. I need to fix an upper radiator hose that keeps leaking at the water outlet. I am probably going to run all new fuel line since I have a new spool of aluminized sitting on the shelf anyhow. I may down size gears in the rear because I think the 4.56's might be a bit to much for what im looking for.
Ive got to get a new kick down cable and install it, need to install new u-joints and true up rear end, I will probably put all new bearings in the rear and axles if/when I do gears. I need to put new bumper bolts in. a couple little interior peices. And I need to buff out the top of the car still where we didnt get around to it after paint.

so there is still quite the "to do list" but most of it is odds and ends and hopefully wont take alot of time.

sorry for the long post guys but its been awhile since I really got to post anything of interest and im just excited to share it with you all. Almost 4 years since I bought the duster and im just now nearing the completion ( Ill always be able to pick things on it apart and find something else that needs done of course lol. but for the most part it will be complete).

Heres some pictures for you guys for right now. stay tuned!

before pictures







after carving out the crack


missing tab


another crack


another crack


replaced the missing tab


corner of this tab was missing, so i made my own.


back side of the worste crack after I did a bit of plastic filling on it.


another tab that was missing, so I made my own and patched it in.


the visible side of the worst crack just after I did some plastic filling


some of the fin supports that had cracks after I plastic welded them


one of the cracks on the top after I did some plastic filling


sorry guys, I forgot to take pictures during the sanding of the plastic and of applying the body filler.

But as you can see " CRACK BE GONE" LOL....this is where the worste crack was.It went all the way through the front,back,and through the lowest fin.



and heres a closer picture of it



I still have to sand the primer down along with the rest of the grille when I prep it for paint...but it should all come out looking really nice. dont let the "before" pictures fool you lol. I know some of it might look ugly. but just you wait and see lol.

And here is a couple of pictures of the duster when I first backed it out of the garage (its dusty) but sure is purdy lol.




stay tuned guys and dont be shy to chime in!
 
oh and also , I think I have decided to keep the rallye wheels. I was talking about switching to cragars. But I just like the Rallyes to much. They have a nice 70's look to them,they look clean and racey. Not to mention when I looked into different wheels it was proving to be a headache that I didnt want to mess with. I really like the stance/size/offset of my current wheels so i wanted something about the same or close if I was to get different rims. But being that I have small bolt pattern my options were limited. unless I wanted to swap out axles in the rear and change out front end parts in the front and I just cant swing the cash for something like that.

The previous owner must have had these wheels custom made (15"x12" with 5.5" offset....because the largest rallye wheels I could find for small bolt patter has been a 15"x8" with a 4.675" offset.

which another reason I want to keep these wheels because it a nice beefy set of factory style wheels that not everyone will have ( especially locally).

anyhow. I just wanted to mention that because awhile back I had mentioned that my current wheels may be for sale. however. my 4.56 gears may be up for grabs here really soon if anyone is interested ( 8 3/4 rear with 742 center section). recently had the center section out because I sealed up a slow leak that developed from sitting in the garage the past couple years.and added new gear oil and adjusted the axles etc...etc... and while I had it apart I inspected it all and the ring and pinion looked in excellent condition! ...And If I recall I remember there being an aftermarket performance brand name stamped in the side of the ring gear but I cant remember off the top of my head what the name was....richmond?,yukon?....not sure.

if anyone has any interest then let me know.
 
Glad to see your back to work on the Duster.. cant wait to see how that grille turns out.. and man does she look SWEET out in the sun..
 
Thanks Bill!

Yeah it feels good to finally get to tinker with it. Havent really even touched it since last fall. Now I need to finish up the to do list of things that need done. And then hopefully I can get some driving time in so I can work out any bugs that there may be and then I should be able to get to drive it the majority of the summer.

The last few years have been rough...knowing I have a hot rod....but cant drive it. Its been a long wait lol. Im ready to be done with it, my family is ready for it to be done. Id like to take it to a couple shows and see how it does (hopefully it will do well). Not to mention I am tired of being razed by friends that keep cracking jokes like " it wont be done until 2017" or "you will probably get it done in time for your kids prom" lol.

Ill keep the updates coming so keep tabs on the thread Bill. I have been watching your thread and hope to see you doing some more things to the buggy and posting pictures. your build has been a great one and I have enjoyed following it since you started.
 
DusterDude72 said:
Thanks Bill!

Yeah it feels good to finally get to tinker with it. Havent really even touched it since last fall. Now I need to finish up the to do list of things that need done. And then hopefully I can get some driving time in so I can work out any bugs that there may be and then I should be able to get to drive it the majority of the summer.

The last few years have been rough...knowing I have a hot rod....but cant drive it. Its been a long wait lol. Im ready to be done with it, my family is ready for it to be done. Id like to take it to a couple shows and see how it does (hopefully it will do well). Not to mention I am tired of being razed by friends that keep cracking jokes like " it wont be done until 2017" or "you will probably get it done in time for your kids prom" lol.

Ill keep the updates coming so keep tabs on the thread Bill. I have been watching your thread and hope to see you doing some more things to the buggy and posting pictures. your build has been a great one and I have enjoyed following it since you started.
Click to expand...


Yea, I used to get all the jokes about what 'year' the Dart would finally be done LOL .. and I know all to well where your at now.. the Dart was in my buddies garage for 2 solid years.. with deadlines that would be set... then we'd go way past them.. There were times it got so frustrating that it felt like the end was never coming.. lol..

I will also be keeping tabs on your thread as well, as I always have (Thank you for keeping up with mine) I have enjoyed your build very much.. That Duster is a beauty! no doubt.. I look forward to pics and videos, and big smiles as you drive your car.. Hope you and the family enjoy it.. You earned it!
 
well guys, I didnt get as much done today as I had hoped to.

I woke up this morning and went to hop in the shower.........no hot water (CRAP).... went and checked the water heater and pilot was out....so I tried getting the pilot going and I could get it to light but not stay lit. So I thought it was most likely a bad thermal coupler. I got ahold of my dad and he said he has a new one in the package still. So I went about my day dinking around with the duster and then tonight went to install the part and still nothing. its been sitting in the package for probably 10 years though and had a little bit of green corrosion on the feed line to the probe. so I am thinking it may also have been bad. so in the morning I have to go pick up a new one and come back and get it all installed and hopefully that fixes that and THEN I can get back into full swing on the duster lol.

anyhow....all that mumbo jumbo aside. I did finish the repairs on the grille and the body work on the grille. I got a couple coats of paint on before I ran out of paint. so I had to go pick up some more so I can finish it up tomorrow hopefully ( I still have to do atleast one more coat on the grille and I still have to do the bezels). But its coming out nice. Once I am done laying the black on (same stuff I used to paint my scoops and spoiler. I will mask off the fins and I will be doing them in argent silver.

I also started polishing up the grille trim top and bottom ( but of course it was anodized aluminum) so all of the anodize looked like crap and when I tried polishing it....it just looked like shiny crap lol. so I took some easy off oven cleaner and sprayed them down (removes the anodizing).....then hammered and dollied out a few dings in the trim....then did some wet sanding and polishing on them and still have to finish the rest up tomorrow maybe.

once the headlight bezels are polished up. I will then mask them off and repaint the centers in the black to match the grille.

so thats the plan and all of that should get the grille looking like brand new again!.

stay tuned because there is more to come!

After sanding it all down




during paint

















 
yet another day that I didnt get as much done as planned. Got ahold of my heating and cooling guy,told him I needed a new gas valve ...he said "yup I got one, so I got the new gas valve,came home and drained the tank,removed all the old parts,installed the new valve, went to hook it all up and of course my burner pipe fitting is a reverse thread and the one he gave me is a standard thread.

so now I have to take it all back apart and call him in the morning and try and get the right part this time and THEN hopefully I can get the hot water working again....cold showers suck lol.

anyways....all of that crap aside. I did manage to get some stuff done to the grille today. I got a few more coats of black on the grille ,got it all masked off and ready to paint the fins tomorrow. and I also finished stripping the anodizing off the chrome top and bottom grille trim. I polished one of them up and its done and I still have to finish polishing the other one tomorrow and then it will be done.

here are some before and after pics of the trim.















and some pictures i took while i was doing so tedious masking around the fins lol (forgot to take pictures of it completely masked off but I will take some tomorrow and post them)





 
SpeedracerX said:
I hated masking off my grille and headlight bezels...
Click to expand...

wouldnt have been such a hassle but there were so many contours to contend with and I had to maintain a certain gap all the way around the border.

1972DusterPaul said:
Your grille is looking great...another first-class job on your part!

Paul
Click to expand...

Thank you!

I should be working on it some more in a bit and then ill be sure to post updates for everyone. Right now im sticking around home waiting for the part to get my hot water going and then im going to get back to work on the duster.

stay tuned guys.
 
Good news, or a new burner assembly that matches the new valve and now my water heater is back up and running.

AND, I just finished restoring the many section of the grille!. Now just have to finish polishing the trim and reprint the headlight bezels and the grille should be done and then I can move onto another portion of the project!.

null_zpsaa2e1ad6.jpg


null_zps2a56a3f1.jpg


null_zps8e767760.jpg


I dusted the back of the fins to like factory did to keep it looking "correct"
null_zpsa9f16e76.jpg


null_zps999fbc76.jpg


null_zps0c0f6081.jpg


null_zps54199695.jpg


null_zps59997c09.jpg


I've got more pictures of the grille but right now I'm still working on stuff and trying to post all this from my phone which is a slow process. So I'll do more pictures later when I'm home again. So check back in for more updates later. Let me know what you think so far guys?
 
Grille is now done other than I still have to paint the headlight bezels and get new parking lenses. Other wise it looks like a brand new 41 year old grille.

Will be working on the duster again tomorrow too so check back into the thread for progress updates. And feel free to chime in guys. The comments help to keep me motivated a lot of the time. And I hope that the work I have done throughout building the duster was of some inspiration for others and I hope people have got some usefull tips and ideas for their own projects.

Here's some more pictures of the grille.

Wet sanded the remaining chunk of trim
null_zps70d36f6e.jpg


null_zpscad9c2ec.jpg


Hand polished the lense bezels and got them looking nice and new again, still have to reprint a little. It of black where the bezels meet the lenses from the factory

null_zps3d2a3ef9.jpg


null_zps89f8f6e8.jpg


null_zpsaf136109.jpg


A glimpse of what the grille will look like all together ( with parking lense bezel) and some with headlight bezels and polished trim in place ( all just sat together for a quick photo op lol).

null_zps6b4f0957.jpg


null_zps41270f06.jpg


null_zpsc4c6906b.jpg


Let me know what ya think guys
 
I see my threads getting around atleast 100 views a day....but not very many comments....come on lurkers dont be shy to chime in haha.

I got the grille done today other than I still need to get some new parking light lenses.....but the headlight bezels are repainted and I repainted the insides of the parking light bezels.

I was going to start on installing the grille but right now I have the car about a foot away from the front garage wall (no room to work on the front right now) and its up on jack stands. So I decided I was finally going to swap in the new u joints so that I could get it back down on 4 wheels and back it up....but.....when I took the old u joints out (or what was left of one of them anyways lol)...I went to install the new moogs and found that they gave me the wrong ones back when I bought them last fall ...so now I have to wait until monday before I can get the right ones for it. which means I have to wait until atleast then before i can get to work on installing the grille.

so im going to have to find some other stuff to keep me busy until then.

anyways, heres a few pictures of some of the stuff for you guys.

heres my u joint (or pretty much what was left of it lol)






parking bezels





Took a picture during masking to show what the bezels looked like before I sanded them and painted them


Headlight bezels done













 
SpeedracerX said:
I'd say that U-joint was toast! lol... those bezels look sweet...
Click to expand...


Yeah, one on the cups must have exploded and then dropped the retaining clip and let the cup drop out and then it beat the hell out of the other cup and the u joint and straps.

And thanks....I cant wait to see it all back together and in the car.
 
DusterDude72 said:
I see my threads getting around atleast 100 views a day....but not very many comments....come on lurkers dont be shy to chime in haha.

I got the grille done today other than I still need to get some new parking light lenses.....but the headlight bezels are repainted and I repainted the insides of the parking light bezels.

I was going to start on installing the grille but right now I have the car about a foot away from the front garage wall (no room to work on the front right now) and its up on jack stands. So I decided I was finally going to swap in the new u joints so that I could get it back down on 4 wheels and back it up....but.....when I took the old u joints out (or what was left of one of them anyways lol)...I went to install the new moogs and found that they gave me the wrong ones back when I bought them last fall ...so now I have to wait until monday before I can get the right ones for it. which means I have to wait until atleast then before i can get to work on installing the grille.

so im going to have to find some other stuff to keep me busy until then.

anyways, heres a few pictures of some of the stuff for you guys.

heres my u joint (or pretty much what was left of it lol)






parking bezels





Took a picture during masking to show what the bezels looked like before I sanded them and painted them


Headlight bezels done













Click to expand...

looks great man. what color and brand of paint did you use to do the grill? i have a 73 duster that i will be turning into a 72. i bought a really nice 71 duster frill for it at mokan for 25 dollars and i want to paint it up like yours.mine is going to be flat back for now until i get the money to paint it. keep up the great work. mopar65
 
mopar65 said:
looks great man. what color and brand of paint did you use to do the grill? i have a 73 duster that i will be turning into a 72. i bought a really nice 71 duster frill for it at mokan for 25 dollars and i want to paint it up like yours.mine is going to be flat back for now until i get the money to paint it. keep up the great work. mopar65
Click to expand...

Duplicolor trim black is what I used for the black of the grille and my spoiler and hood scoops. its $7.00 a can. Covers really well and holds up really nice and is almost fool proof to spray. comes out with a great factory looking texture/sheen.

as for the silver I used for the fins, that is duplicolor silver wheel paint (which is almost an exact match to the argent silver that mopar used from the factory). It also lays down with a nice factory looking texture and dries with a matte/satin finish and looks factory. Also was about $7.00 a can.

I used not quite 2 cans of black for the grille and headlight bezels. And not quite a half a can of silver for the fins. all and all just around $20.00 into paint supplies to do the grille. Hope that helps.
 
Just an update guys,

just waiting on all the new grille install hardware and headlight mounting hardware to arrive in the mail and I should have everything to get the grille all put in the duster.

And I should be getting the right u-joints tomorrow...so that should be taken care of soon aswell.

will keep you all posted as I go.
 
The paints you mention Jerrod, do they come rattle can or do you have to shoot them with a paint gun?.....and yes I am one of the lurkers and I have been in ahhh looking at your work. Fantasteekoh...(fantastic) :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top