Cinnamon 75 Duster \

[zkx14]

Just starting the thread, but have had the car for a little over 4 years. So will be a few posts to bring up to date.

End of August 2008
We were looking for a first car for my son. He saw the Duster for sale and wanted to check it out. So we did. Slant 6 with 73,578 miles. It ran good, but had a broken torsion bar, so we could not drive it. After looking it over, I knew it would take a good bit work. The obvious was replace the T-bar (seller already had a replacement, just hadn’t changed it), lower rear quarters, patch the floor pans. Anyway, I bought it. I forget the exact amount I ended up paying – so I’ll just say ‘too much’ .

 

[zkx14]

First week of September 2008
The guy I bought it from trailered it to my house, so that simplified things a bit. I put the torsion bar in without any major problems. I did have to get an adjuster at a local salvage yard. Took it for a ride around the house. Tranny seemed OK – at least as fast as I have had it moving on my property, which to this day is maybe 15-20MPH -so the jury is still out on that. Brakes were less than convincing, but functional at low speed.
So now it’s time to figure out just how bad the rust is…

 

[zkx14]

September ‘08 Week 2

I really never planned to do a ‘quality’ repair job. Like I said it was going to be a first car. First cars often end up in junk yards… I had envisioned patching a few holes in the fashion I did many years earlier. Slap a piece of sheet metal in with rivets and some caulk for the floors. Quick bondo job on quarters and drive…

This is where it gets ugly. After pulling carpet up I found that it would definitely require both front pans and then some. After probing around the quarters I realized the bottom of the trunk extensions were pretty much gone, replaced years before with extreme quantities of bondo and now rusted beyond that. The frame was ‘all there’and structurally solid , but had some questionable areas that I suspected would get flagged on inspection. Trunk floor had a few holes but did not look too bad at first. A little wire brushing showed there was a lot more work needed.
There was no question about it, this was going to need a lot of welding to be roadworthy. Getting someone else to do the welding was out of the question from cost perspective, so it was time to decide how far I wanted to go with it.

 

[zkx14]

Mid Sept through Oct 2008

Obviously I decided to go for it since I’m here.

From the beginning I wanted to keep the car original. So at this point I decided I was going for a good ‘driver ‘ restoration. Same color, vinyl top, slant 6. I may eventually rebuild the motor and try to get a few extra HP, but not looking to change much.

Next priority was to get a welder. I had welded at work before, but mostly stick. I only used the MIG a couple times, but was pretty sure I’d do fine with some practice. After a few days of research and price checking I settled on a Hobart 140 on ebay. I bought a bottle, wire, helmet, gloves, and pliers locally from GTS. I already had a respirator mask.

I ordered the front pans, but decided to make everything else. I bought a 3 x 8 ft sheet of 20 gauge for $110 nearby at Anderson Metals, and they threw in a couple large ‘scraps’ of 14 and 18ga at no charge.
I had upgraded my house electric service to 200A earlier that year so adding a dedicated 20A circuit was no problem. I already had a spare breaker, just had to get a roll of 12/3 and an outlet. I mounted that right by the garage door so it was handy to use in or out of the garage. My garage is connected to the house and open to the attic crawlspace, so I do most of my welding outside or with the door open. Got a 50ft 12 gauge ext so I could reach to where the car is just outside, and power was ready.

I made my cart mostly from scrap parts of old pallet racks and had the casters already, The only thing I think I needed to buy was the chain clips and paint. So cost almost nothing to build and got some good practice before trying thin sheet metal. By this time it was getting to be winter weather, so that was pretty much all for ’08.

 

[zkx14]

Spring of 2009

Well a lot changed over ‘winter break’. For years we had discussed the possibility of adding either an addition, deck or both to the back of the house. Having done woodworking and industrial maintenance for many years, I am pretty handy in a lot of trades, but the addition was a little beyond a 'do it yourself'. Funny how things affect each other… The guy that delivered the car to me was also a general contractor. While he was there I told him what I wanted to do. He quoted the addition. In the meantime I worked on deck design. Well, we ended up scratching the addition idea and I built a deck…. That took most of the summer.
Just so you know I wasn't goofing off... before and after pics.

 

[zkx14]

Fall 2009

Another thing that was on the house to do list was central heat and AC. So, about the time I was finishing the deck I get talking to my HVAC guy who was replacing a rooftop unit for me at work.. He tells me about the rebates and low interest loans the state had going…. I had them size everything out and deliver. I installed. There goes the rest of the year.

The car was no longer going to be the kids car. The wife got a new Dodge Journey and he got her 93 Regal. Through this time I was starting to acquire stuff. Air comp, tools parts. I did manage to get a little time on the car in between projects. There were some old repairs at the back corners of both inner fenders. What I found was they had tack welded patches over rust . Of course over time the rust ate everything under the patch. I got those cut out and set patches in with a pneumatic flange tool (one of many things I got from harbor freight). Through this entire project I did cleanup with wire brushes on drill and various sanding and grinding tools. I have used Rustoleum on a lot of other projects before and found it to hold up to weather, so used that to finish. I found a color that is not metallic, but very close to original appearance to use as a temporary finish till I repaint when all repairs are complete. Used that and their primer on everything I repaired. I did learn about weld through primer and encapsulator products along the way, Used the weld through on all of the later repairs, but stuck with the Rustoleum coatings. Everything is holding up well so far, but if I ever do another one I will probably step up to blasting and encapsulating.

 

[zkx14]

2010
I got nothing done on the car.
My wife had several surgeries. My company was under new ownership, I was working crazy hours. My son graduated High school and was doing ‘his own thing’. The pic is his grad party with Halestorm. See the car behind the shed? That’s where it sat for over a year

 

[zkx14]

July 2011
I cut the old drivers pan out first. The frame underneath was not real bad, but was definitely weakened by rust from years of water getting through floor pan holes. (I now know that was coming from wiper pivots and windshield leaks, which still need to be fixed, but I keep a tarp on it). I added metal to the inside of the frame for extra strength before putting the new pans in. I considered replacing the frame or sections of it, but I am keeping the 6cyl, so not adding weight , torque etc. It’s probably stronger now than it was new. The floor rust went forward beyond the new pan on both sides so made patches for that. I did have pics of the frame work , but all I can find now are the ones that were taken on my phone. I think my computer ate a whole folder of car pics.

 

[zkx14]

August 2011

Got front passenger pan in and pulled the back seat. More ugly issues. The seat belt mounting area was being held together by the undercoating in the wheelhouse. More cut and patch would be needed.

I did find the build sheet!

 

[zkx14]

Fall 2011
After cutting away the rot, I had to rebuild not only the wheel house area, but the whole back end of the rocker. Just built it up one layer at a time… Passenger side was not as bad. I Just did the wheel/seat belt part so far, still need to patch that outside skin. I plan to do all the body filler at once, after all of the outside metalwork is done. At this point that is in the plan for this year (2013). So by the end of 2011 the passenger compartment was sealed. I duct taped the holes in the trunk. Sorry mice, you will have to live somewhere else this winter…..

 

[mwls73duster360]

Progress is progress looks good that will be a nice car when your done! I've seen people fix way worse on here lol

 

[zkx14]

Spring of 2012
Didn’t get to do any real work till late summer. Busy at work and had a couple issues with my Magnum daily driver. I replaced the clock spring (return tab for turn signal broke) and my gages all stopped working, so had to get a new cluster.
I did pull the heater box in the Duster. This was not planned. It was a warm day in June and I hadn’t run the AC for a while (yes the original AC still works) Anyway, I start the car and turn the blower on. Next thing I know it is pumping smoke from under the dash. I’m thinking its wires shorted. I shut the car off and the smoke decreased, but I had the heater box open and out while it was still smoldering. Turned out the blower speed coil was buried in leaves and stuff inside the box. Someday I’ll have to put that back together…
Sorry, I was kinda busy and didn’t get any pics while it was burning

 

[zkx14]

Actually I did lots of other stuff along the way. Small patches, cleaning, sealing, painting, undercoating.

But one I missed that I thought needed a before and after... When I pulled the fenders I found this. The flanges were half gone. I bent new ones and replaced so not visable from engine bay.

 

[zkx14]

Sept 2012
Begin trunk repair. Dropped the tank and cut away the rust. Once the bumper was off found the crossmember needed repair too. I replaced from the mount hole out (about 9 inches wide behind the spring box) on both sides. Did a few repairs to the leaf spring mount areas, but not bad considering the mess I removed above them. With that done I patched the area above them. I decided to leave the bottom of the trunk out till last to let the junk fall through. Easier to keep things clean while working. Weather was getting colder. Thought I was done for the year...

View attachment 1714586052

 

[zkx14]

October 2012
It warmed up outside and I decided to get the quarters done… the metal work anyway. As mentioned previously, I hope to do finishing this summer..

 

[zkx14]

Thanksgiving – first week of Dec 2012
And I was thankful for more warm weather. Finished the spare well, replaced the gas tank, and re-did the entire brake system. I had bought the lines from Inline a year earlier. Replaced all hydraulics except the prop valve. I got a second one on ebay and made one good one out of them. I replace the rotors , which looked good, but were under size. I took everything apart on the rear. Shoes had full pads on them. Cleaned up, painted and reassembled with new springs. I did need an intermediate cable which I found OEM on ebay. I am going to need to do something to the calipers and master cyl in the spring. I thought they were supposed to come with a coating on them, but they are already rusting..
The original tank had a big dent in it, so found a nice replacement from salvage. It came with good straps and bolts. I cleaned it up and painted it. Tried cold galv first, but did not like the look. Repainted it with Krylon stainless steel, and topcoated with clear Rustoleum Engine paint. I replaced the tank pad with rubber cut to original shape

 

[zkx14]

Ok, so it's nothin big, but it's more than nothin...
FInally some nice weather. Had to get the tarp off yesterday and get back at it. So I get under the hood and see the master cylinder I just put in is now completely rusted. Ran to the store and got a can of Rustoleum caliper paint (The calipers are as bad or worse, but that will be another day) I don't know that caliper paint is any better on the MC than reg Rustoleum, but figured it would work and should be enough to still do the calipers. I decided to do it in place, but wanted to be thorough. So, I removed the nuts and got it loose so i could get around it with a wire brush and steel wool. Once I had it pretty clean, I got some thin cardboard behind it. I left the cap on so i would not chance any fluid runs. Masked off the cap, bale, fitting and lines. Got a couple good coats on. All dry and back in place.

 

[Woods74]

I dig this build, keep it going full steam!

 

[QuintinMotorCompany]

X2 ^^ great build

 

[txstang84]

Nice progress-looks like you've had your work cut out for you patching up all the sheetmetal. Don't stop now, it's coming along well.

 

[zkx14]

Thanks for the comments guys. Looks like winter is finally losing it's grip. So,
should be getting back at it soon.

 

[Otateral]

Really liking this build. Love the down to earth builds in driveways. LOL

 

[txstang84]

I can't recall if you mentioned it or not in the front end of the build, but do you plan on keeping it /6, or going V8? Any performance mods in mind?

 

[zkx14]

Keeping the slant. I want to keep it pretty close to 'as built' - driver. I haven't done anything to the motor yet. That's a ways in the future. Need to take care of some waterleaks , needs front glass (a little fogged around edges), fuel gauge, and other functional stuff first. May try to pick up a few HP, but nothing major. I will probably add a front sway bar when I get around to rebuilding suspension. Just simple changes to make it more drivable.

 

[txstang84]

Right on-reliability and functionality upgrades. I hope there's a good body/glass shop near you. The one around here said they could drop in the glass no problem, but they weren't proficient installing the clips and moldings or dealing with older cars with one piece gaskets...

As for the suspension upgrades, a sway bar would be a great addition-if you don't currently have one, I know your pain...mine rolls like a mule-drawn plow in turns. I think there are folks on here that have installed aftermarket ones from Hellwig, or Hotchkis with good results.