Barn find 72 340 duster

[65dartcharger]

It's like the old saying " if I have to explain why we do it,you wouldn't understand" We do car restorations for lots of reasons, to make money is very far down on the list for most of us.

Tim, you can't be more right! To create something and pretty soon see the result or I have done this myself. Either way it's a great hobby and the FABO family is a source of knowledge beyond your wildest dreams.

What are the focus on now? Did the magazine show up?

 

[va58]

No Ulf, I haven't seen it...

 

[65dartcharger]

Tim! Great news! I know that my mail man searched me some time ago re a package that was damaged! Since I got the info yesterday that you hadn't recieved the magazine yet I vent and talked with him. He was going to his work for another thing so I joined him. We had a nice chat and when we got there I found your magazine with only my name on it!!!

The magazine however was still in great shape but I have now repacked it and added some plastic over the name tag so I wouldn't get lost!

Hope it gets to you in short order. It will leave Sweden tomorrow. Let me know when it shows up.

 

[va58]

Well, it's back to work tomorrow but I did make some progress on removing the rusty metal on the back end of the car. Had hoped to get away with no rust repairs on wheelhouses, but they will need a little repair. Will also replace the taillight brackets and the rearmost support that welds to each trunk drop. I thought i might reuse it but there is some damage to it.
Red primer is just to hold surface rust down until I can get back to it. On to the front of the car to remove the radiator support and inner fenders.

 

[Mojack]

The inside of the frame rails look great, but will you be treating them with anything while they are open?

 

[va58]

I will. Before the trunk floor goes back in I will seal with por 15...

 

[4spdragtop]

Wow Tim, ya been busy!! Lookin good and some nice progress!

 

[65dartcharger]

Great progress Tim! Has the magazine showed up yet?

 

[dmoore]

Good progress Tim! Por-15 good choice:happy1:

 

[va58]

Great progress Tim! Has the magazine showed up yet?

Not yet Ulf, Guess they are still reading at the post office..

 

[va58]

It just dawned on me why the inside of the frame rails looked so cleaned. I should have snaped a picture of it but after I got the trunk floor out is was packed with acorn shells. Mice were using the frame rails to store acorns. The holes where the rear bumper mounts up was a straight shot to their acorn storage.Husked shells of any kind are super dry and kept the moisture out keeping the inside of the frame rails mint.......

 

[va58]

Here is a few pics of the exhaust hangers from the Duster. a few things of interest here. First is the 10,000 day calender date which is 99201. If I have interpreted this correctly it would be 12/31/69. Both are the same date code. Very early for a 72 model year. Few other details are black phosphate bolt and natural finish on the bracket itself. The other thing is the undercoating on it. This were installed before the undercoating of the wheel wells. My car is not a full undercoat car, only the wheel wells and what over spray that is seen on the bottom of car from that application. A little more investigation will be in order before I can tell what other items were installed on car under body prior to application of the undercoating. These show signs of pre-undercoat installation. Hard lines, brake and gas, exhaust hangers, and rubber brake lines.

 

[Mojack]

That's good investigative work. Does that mean that the dealer applied the undercoating or did the different assembly plants have different procedures?

 

[davescuda]

the repaired area looks rough and is but it is super strong and firm as the grille itself. It will take hours of sanding from here to smooth the visible areas before primer. the tabs are always the broken areas of these grilles and the most difficult area to repair. The only thing going for me is the hours of sanding will be a little easier because the chrome trim will cover part of the repair. The repair is very strong and the results are very good. also use a Popsicle stick to fill and strengthen all the hairline cracks on the face of the grille.

Just a little tip. If you clean off the paint and use the same color plastic. After sanded just rub a little acetone on the rough areas and smooth it. Let it sit and it will look like new. You will not even have to paint the plastic part that don't get painted, it will look that good. I have been doing this for years. I will say this is the best way but a lot of work. I have been posting this for years and helping people out. Just do it in a good ventilated area.

great work

 

[va58]

That's good investigative work. Does that mean that the dealer applied the undercoating or did the different assembly plants have different procedures?

Well the factory always applied the undercoating in the wheel wells at the factory. You could also have the whole under body done at the factory the code was j55? That's off the top of my head and might not be the right code. Anyway, that option included full under coat and an insulated hood pad. you could also have it done at the dealership and this is always easy to tell because under body is coated heavy and over spray on all undercarriage items and there is no code on fender tag or broadcast sheet. My Duster just had the standard under coat in the wheel wells but this is done quickly with little concern by the employee that it is blown over other parts of the car. The front inner fenders are done with the most perfect pattern but the rear on the passenger side was blown over the side of the spare tire well but not much on the driver's side of the spare tire well.
Once i get the sheetmetal repairs done will get the car on body roller and will better be able to tell what items were installed before the factory sprayed the wheel wells so i can duplicate the over spray patterns...

 

[va58]

Just a little tip. If you clean off the paint and use the same color plastic. After sanded just rub a little acetone on the rough areas and smooth it. Let it sit and it will look like new. You will not even have to paint the plastic part that don't get painted, it will look that good. I have been doing this for years. I will say this is the best way but a lot of work. I have been posting this for years and helping people out. Just do it in a good ventilated area.

great work

Thanks for the tip. I will try this and see how it works for me. I do know that i couldn't be happier with how it turn out and after much sanding a test fit of the upper and lower trim and the headlight bezel tells me I am very close to priming grille to look for final imperfections.

 

[65dartcharger]

Tim! I might have a rear hanger for the exhaust system for you! I will check closer when I get back home tonight.

 

[va58]

Well it was a great day to make a little progress on the Duster today. Received the trunk floor pan truck freight back a few days ago and have been working on mocking all the pieces up after fabricating a few small pieces to repair some damage cause by removing the rusty trunk floor.

 

[va58]

Was having the most difficult time getting the trunk floor to fit in the pass. corner. I keep messing with it and was cussing the repo trunk floor pan when I stopped to investigate further and found what is was that was causing the problem. You can see in the photo that the spot welded trunk floor was off at the factory and of course the pan was welded in anyhow. Might be hard to tell but the corner is off about a 1/4 of an inch. the area that is highlighted in white paint should be even so would would not be able to put any paint there. So all the cussing AMD got this afternoon about ill fitting sheet metal was undeserved. I did get most of the replacement sheet metal mocked-up and am very happy with the fit. Ran out of daylight and time before I could get the trunk drops into place but could not be happier with the fit.

 

[Mojack]

Nice, it's good to hear that AMD's stampings fit well. That takes a lot of the hassle out of the work.

 

[dmoore]

Glad it's working out thus far Tim..bet you can't wait till all that sheet metal is welded in place! AMD seems to have their chit together.... :thumrigh::thumrigh:

 

[340sFastback]

Great work!

 

[65dartcharger]

Tim! Super great work you have performed. Keep it up!

 

[va58]

Little more progress made on the Duster. stripped both doors I am using and and blasted hinge areas. after that was finished, etch primed both.

 

[va58]

Snow still on the ground but temps were nice today. Got the body out and blasted the firewall area and the windshield seating area. Wanted too get more of both side and the frame rail but was experiencing some technical difficulties with the sand blaster this afternoon. Primed the areas that were blasted and got the body back into the garage just as it started too rain..