73 Gold Duster /6 - Tucson Style

[JamesKPolk]

Hi All,

I thought I would start a thread for my project Duster. It's a 1973 Gold Duster with a slant 6. It has original mist green paint with dark green interior. It's all stock (I believe) with a 3 speed auto transmission. A little rust on the passenger floorboards and in the spare tire well.
Find some older pictures of it here: http://www.oldparkedcars.com/2013/03/1973-plymouth-gold-duster-coupe.html
and I will upload more pictures soon.

My goal for this project is to restore the car mostly to stock, but I have no real plans for making it a show car. I would like to make a few modifications to give it a bit more power and improve drive-ability. I'm thinking of "upgrading" the intake/carb/exhaust to something a bit bigger, maybe a Super Six intake + carb and dual exhaust headers. I want upgrade to disc brakes and maybe add sway bars. I have some desire to add A/C to this, though it did not have it previously.

The issues (in no particular order):

• Rough idle
• Worn motor mounts
• Air cleaner housing rusty, bent, old
• Possible gunk in gas tank
• Tranny a little late when shifting
• Chipped/faded paint
• No headliner
• No carpet
• A little rust in floor, trunk
• Missing glovebox
• Power issues (radio, dome light, dash lights do not work) - really only the right turn indicator and glove box light works
• Jumpy speedo
• Slow oil leak - partially fixed
• Lots of play in steering - bushings seem really worn
• Seatbelts stick a bit, might upgrade to single piece, 3-point belt
• Small dent by driver side tail light, bent chrome trim around light
• Battery tray is all but rusted away
• Passenger wiper blade not moving
• driver side armrest is crushed
• Horn not working
• Headlight knob is loose, but works
• Missing rear chrome trim for vinyl top
• Small leak in windsheld/cowl by driver's feet (but it doesn't rain much in T-town)
• Shocks/Struts seem worn out
• Hood does not sit level, seems unsupported on passenger side (rubber bumper is crushed on that side
• Trunk light broken
• Rear right turn signal not working (can't seem to get light socket out of housing)
• Side lights not working, rear passenger is missing the reflector/cover)
• Driver door does not stay open (never 'settles' in open position)
• E-Brake light and/or sensor is broken

So I guess I have a few things to work on, right?!

Any help or advice would be appreciated and I will post updates and more specific questions soon.

 

[JamesKPolk]

So I had a bit of time earlier and investigated some of the issues, so... updates:

Passenger wiper blade not moving - missing bushing and E-clip, ordered
Battery tray is all but rusted away - ordered and installed
Slow oil leak - partially fixed, replaced oil sender, seems to be holding
Missing glovebox - ordered, I think I will need to take a part the dash to install, so I will wait until I can tackle the whole dash issue (lights, speedo)


So these issues were not very big problems to begin with, so I thought I would get them ordered.

The big thing I want resolved is my idle issues/general engine maintenance. I changed the oil with sender and flushed the coolant (and installed an overflow bottle). I will next pull the plugs, see how they look and run a compression test - just to check out the cylinders. I will focus on cleaning/evaluating the carb next, as it looks like a bit of fuel seeps out of it, not sure where.

Another small bit that is bothering me is the hood not being level, it sags to the passenger side. You can kind of see the sag on in the image above. When opening and shutting the hood, it feels like there is only resistance on the driver side, with the passenger side able to wobble up and down freely, only limited by the flexing of the hood. Has anybody seen this? Could the coil spring be broken on the passenger side? Also, I imagine that the fender has to come off to check this out, correct?

 

[JamesKPolk]

Sorry its been so long without any updates, I have a parallel thread at slantsix.org as I started with working on the motor. Any way the motor is running fairly well, so now that it is a bit colder in tucson I am working on refreshing the interior. I pulled the seats, remnants of carpet, all the panels, and the space-duster trunk door. I POR15'd the floor, applied Dynomat, and now am working on installing some insulation. I have the carpet ordered and have a used ABS headliner. All that should go in this weekend I hope.

Here is a album of most of my progress. I'll try to update more often!
http://imgur.com/a/DuTT0

 

[JamesKPolk]

So I did not get as much done this weekend as I was hoping, I blame being very hung-over on Saturday, but I soldiered on.

I got the headliner installed with essential assistance of my buddy. The headliner I have was a used ABS one that had already been in a duster, so the holes were already all there. It's not a great fit, but it was only $50, so I think it's fine for now, maybe later I will re-cover this with green.
http://i.imgur.com/L6tL297

Next I attacked my package tray. The old one was rotted, cracked and torn.
http://i.imgur.com/JoJtidp
http://i.imgur.com/3rWC8nO

So I traced the old press board onto 1/4 inch MDF and cut out the shape with a jigsaw. I put it in the car and marked up where it didn't fit right. I marked the mounting holes (where the old one had spring clips). I drilled the holes, inserted a bolt, and glued some extra carpet (I ordered 2 extra yards of the same color).

This is before I put the bolts in:
http://i.imgur.com/oNIWwcT
I glued the carpet down and put some weight on top, left it over night.
http://i.imgur.com/0BZbUjp

Sunday morning I trimmed some of the carpet, added pleats, and after pulling each "tab" tight I used my air-stapler and tacked it down.
http://i.imgur.com/2pE9uSV
http://i.imgur.com/cQ7UTqZ

I looked good!
http://i.imgur.com/78MVphl
Then I measured 3 pieces of approximately color matched vinyl (not ideal color, but I want to get this done, I don't think people will notice.
I stapled the vinyl surface down alone the perimeter. I wanted to use a thick piece of leather cut as a 1/2 inch strip as a tack strip, but it was too think for my staples. Instead I used more staples and tried to make a nice hard line in the vinyl. I folded the long center strip over on itself at its edge and laid the 2 side pieces over it, and finished stapling it. Then I just fold the vinyl over the staples and get a nice seam.
http://i.imgur.com/35PuRYo
http://i.imgur.com/v5thlBN

I installed the 2 rear sail panels, then installed my new package tray. The vinyl will be wrapped around the frame and then attached using clips just like the old one.
http://i.imgur.com/vfTdVxl
http://i.imgur.com/5VKqOAb

This picture I have one clip installed:
http://i.imgur.com/MnUNgDA

Next time I will add all the clips, and trim the excess material. I will also used a heat gun to ease any creases in the vinyl.

Here are some more pictures.
http://i.imgur.com/BEkZjzK
http://i.imgur.com/4Oy0SHr

This week I will finished the space duster fold down door area and then get that carpet in.