Father-Son 1974 Duster Project

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When I got my windshield installed, I ordered the rubber off Ebay but my glass installer told me he could get the exact one overnight. Contact a local auto glass guy.

Cley
 
When I got my windshield installed, I ordered the rubber off Ebay but my glass installer told me he could get the exact one overnight. Contact a local auto glass guy.

Cley
The fella I got some of my body panels from is local to me here in NJ. He has a Tinted widshield from a 74 AC car for me! We had a new windshield intalled in out Jeep Wrangler last year. The guy who did it was old school and he will be my first call to request install and a fresh gasket.
 
Tonight I was able to get trans lines connected, dipstick installed, and pump to carb fuel line set up.
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Also set up this starter cable. Going to use this because it has a #8 gauge auxiliary lead. I think it's important to have something bigger than a 12 gauge wire to run everything beside the starter that's in the car. I got this piece from Summit. They sell it as a big block starter harness. I'm going to take advantage of the extra length of the auxiliary lead and tuck a master 40 amp kill switch under the battery tray so I don't need to remove a battery cable when the car is not being used....
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I not sure if 40 amp switch is enough.
I use this style on the negative post of all my old cars.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/mor-74103/overview/
That's cool. This 40 amp switch in a black box tucked in under the battery tray will be fine. A switch like this is rated for contact at 40 amps. Since it will only break the circuit when the car is not running the switch will never be exposed to stress. I could run 70 to 80 amps through that switch once it's in the on position forever and never have an issue....
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Aaron and I sat in the car and test fit the abs headliner and I grasp how the install goes. The back edge tucks under the rear window gasket.
Need to go look in my box of interior panels to see how the trim pieces over the top of the door work.
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I need to find a larger easy out to extract this manifold plug I had to drill out after discovering it's frozen in the tapping. Need this spot for the mechanical temp gauge sensor.
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I have a set of 205/70r15's on a set of Cordoba 15 x 6 chrome wheels....... They fit great with no rubbing at stock height..... I had a set of cop car wheels on my 73 Swinger years ago with 205/65r15's on them. Barely cleared the fenders because of the wheel offset.......
 
I have a set of 205/70r15's on a set of Cordoba 15 x 6 chrome wheels....... They fit great with no rubbing at stock height..... I had a set of cop car wheels on my 73 Swinger years ago with 205/65r15's on them. Barely cleared the fenders because of the wheel offset.......
Yeah it's the cop wheels that are the unknown to me on the front of the car. Thanks for the info. A few people tell me a 225/60/15 on on cop wheel is the max diameter and width for a Duster, but Cooper cobras don't come in 225/60/15
So front tire selection will be a process.
 
Wanted to ask y'all what you would use to glue this sail panel?
I'm going to run fiberglass reinforcing mesh on the back. I think eurethane over the fiberglass tape would be strong.
Latex filler to dress up and fill as needed on the finished side.
Let's hear suggestions.
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I used two part epoxy on mine. Just filed a v on the back side of mine and filled it in. Worked good for me.
 
Wanted to ask y'all what you would use to glue this sail panel?
I'm going to run fiberglass reinforcing mesh on the back. I think eurethane over the fiberglass tape would be strong.
Latex filler to dress up and fill as needed on the finished side.
Let's hear suggestions.
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I tried something like that on passenger side plastic top of the door panel and the cracks opened up again. I think I used plastic epoxy :( :BangHead:
 
Yeah I did mine twice. First time I just tried glueing them together with the epoxy no go. So I used a Dremal and notched them on the back side. Then used some rough grit sand paper to give the epoxy something to grip and made a goopy mass on the back side. I used the slow cure epoxy. Lots of tape to hold it together while it set up. So far nock on wood it has stayed together. It was on the sail panels. Had to be extra gentle when putting them in they were so brittle.
 
So here is how I'll fix the sail panels. One of them has a chunk missing where it meets the door so I made a metal patch and JB welded it in place
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I'll fill it and apply the texture with a piece of vinyl pressed into wet body glaze putty.
For the cracks I JB welded the edges of the cracks and held the surface perfectly flat and matched with duct foil tape.
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Now everyone knows that the JB weld won't cut it on it's own on the damaged edges. So I used 18 gauge by 2-1/2" stainless steel trim nails as gussets or some would say splints. I left one unglued in this pic to show how thin they are, yet they are very strong.
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One side had a piece break off so I JB'd it together and added the splints
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After this stuff cures, I'm going to lay this fiber tape over the repair and coat it with JB weld. This isn't coming apart.
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Once all is dry the foil tape can come off and the face of the repair can be filled with latex if need be.
 
Yeah I did mine twice. First time I just tried glueing them together with the epoxy no go. So I used a Dremal and notched them on the back side. Then used some rough grit sand paper to give the epoxy something to grip and made a goopy mass on the back side. I used the slow cure epoxy. Lots of tape to hold it together while it set up. So far knock on wood it has stayed together. It was on the sail panels. Had to be extra gentle when putting them in they were so brittle.
Brittle is the understatement of the year. I almost think a couple good coats of paint will be the best thing for these artifacts...
 
Looks like yours should not move with the bracing you did. I did paint mine with the plastic spay paint. Used the same stuff on my kick panels, window pillar, and sill tops. It looks pretty good considering how old the pieces are. Best of luck!
 
Fiberglass mesh laid over the fractures and coated with JB weld.
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Filler over the metal patch where a chunk was missing from the passenger side sail panel.
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How are you going to put the texture back in the panel?
Bondo or paint on a paint roller?
 
How are you going to put the texture back in the panel?
Bondo or paint on a paint roller?
The guy doing my seat has mirror reverse snakeskin. I'm going to put red spot putty on the areaspoge it smooth and thin. When it's nearly set I'll press the fabric on it. I tried it on my dash pad before I re-covered it. It worked pretty good. I think high build primer gone over with a dry sponge roller would be pretty close too.
 
I pickup up the windshield tonight. I has some minor discoloration near the top passenger side. Looks like it's between the glass. Anyone have a tip to clear that up somehow? CLR in a syringe maybe? Nah!
Push comes to shove I can apply an interior and exterior tint band to hide it for the time being.
Maybe do a thin black band like 3/8" past the gasket. Need to see what it looks like in the gasket in the hole. Cant complain for $40....
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The guy doing my seat has mirror reverse snakeskin. I'm going to put red spot putty on the areaspoge it smooth and thin. When it's nearly set I'll press the fabric on it. I tried it on my dash pad before I re-covered it. It worked pretty good. I think high build primer gone over with a dry sponge roller would be pretty close too.

You know spot putty takes a long time to dry, and shrinks as it cures.
I absolutely refuse to use the stuff.
 
You know spot putty takes a long time to dry, and shrinks as it cures.
I absolutely refuse to use the stuff.
I didn't know that. I didn't use any on the rest of the car. I'll use the gif build primer and let you know how it goes.
 
I used some Rustoleum universal automotive primer and the then some Rustoleum custom Shop Matt Black as a top coat on the sail panels. One looks pretty good, but the other still shows the repaired crack too much for my liking. So I'll be working further on that one getting it to look more like it's mate
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