Finally getting to it!!! 1970 Duster 340

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Thanks JD. I drove the New Yorker to our Miller reunion today. My aunts and uncles had nice memories of the car and my father. It brought a smile to my mom's face to see it on the road again. Got lots of stares from people on the drive to and fro.
My body man said that they sent a Challenger bumper to Tri-City a couple years ago. They welded up the bumperette holes and slots. He will call them this week. I will report back on the thread what Tri-City says.
 
Great to see the shop is still making progress Kevin, wish I could work on mine more then mostly just the weekends the pace would be like yours, quick!

Dan
 
Dan
You're making great progress on your Swinger. The new shop is making very good progress. I wish that I would have know about the local shop before I got screwed by the other. Bankruptcy proceedings continue and the other body man has a court date of Tuesday of this week. It will be interesting to see how things shake out with the court Trustee.
 
Stopped by the shop today. The wheel tubs. rear section of the quarter panels, tail panel and trunk gutters are now welded on. Steve and I decided on the positioning of the tail lights. He will weld the brackets on later.
Steve checked with Tri-City and they do not recommend welding in the bumper slots. They have concerns about the chrome blistering in the repair area. At this point, I will either wait for Tri-City to source a good bumper or I will try to track down a 1970 core.

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I'm sure that's not the news you wanted to hear about the bumper slots. I'll try to get in touch with a friend who has a bunch of Dusters and parts cars, and see if he has a good rear bumper core. If so, I'll PM you his info to hook you up. The way your car is progressing....I'm predicting red paint before cold weather! :)
 
Thanks for your help John. I am disappointed about the bumper but at least Steve could get the rear together using the core you loaned him. Things are coming together nicely.
 
Received a call from Tri-City this AM. They have another 1970 rear bumper to send me. We will double check the bumper for straightness after it arrives. The Tr-City folks have been very polite and easy to deal with.
 
It is the same car. That picture of me and the Duster was taken when I was a senior in high school in 1979 by my best friend. Life seemed so much simplier and stress free back then.
 
You are very lucky that you still have it AND have pictures of it. I dont even have pics of my first cars anymore. Must be extra fun to rebuild your original teen car.
 
It has been fun restoring this car, despite some of the monetary setbacks. I have fond memories of working on the car with my brother and father. Here's one of the few color pics that I have.
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Stopped by the shop today to check on progress. I also brought my rear bumper along that Tri-City sent as a replacement. Things are coming along nicely. Steve had to repair the front windshield channel. It appears that the previous body man simply welded through rust holes to "repair" this area. New metal now fills the areas that had rusted through. Additional work will need to be done on the right inner fender that was installed by the previous shop. The inner fender is 5/16" high near the radiator support. This not only makes the fender high at this point but also screws up the front fender to door gap. Steve will probably correct this situation by cutting lengthwise through the upper portion of the inner fender and welding the inner fender in a corrected position. I'm still being haunted by the ghost of body shop past!!!
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I've been having fun driving around in the New Yorker. Got some mixed paint today to touch up some stone chips. Plan on doing a tune-up to get her running in tip top shape.
 
I dropped off the stainless trim for the roof gutter today and had a chance to look at my car. Steve welded in donor roof sections to repair the FUBAR mess I was left with. Steve expects that the car will be ready to come off the jig sometime this week......then onto the rotisserie.
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The body man told me the other day that the Duster is now off of the jig! All major metal work has been completed. I'm hoping to get over to the shop sometime this week and check things out. I'll post pics afterwards.
 
Amazing resto going on here. I just read the whole thread tonight! I saw your engine removal from bottom on youtube a good while ago as I am wanting to do the same with my 70 Duster 340. I have never been to Carlisle and live closer to it. I am holding out to see your car when it is done. Someday I would like to restore my Fathers 1970 Duster 340 4speed. Impressed with all the work you have done to each part and enjoyed all the photos!!!!
 
Thanks for the compliment coair73x. You should make the trip to Carlisle. My brother and I make it an annual event. It is the best place to track down new and used parts for our Mopars.
Removing the engine from the bottom was very easy. I would recommend that you use the technique when the time comes for you to disassemble your car. I will be posting more pictures in the future as soon as the body is completed and back to my house for re-assembly.
 
I need to get an idea on what to put the Kmember and tranny on. I have seen some great dollys built and have no idea how to build one. I have a lift so the car is not the problem. I am doing it this way to replace my trans and do some front end work. I would need a dolly where one could remove the 727. I found this photo on this site and this dolly looks nice!

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That's a nice looking dolly. When I started this restoration, I didn't have welding skills. I made my dolly out of 2 Harbor Freight moving dollies. I simply added wood to areas that made contact with the K-member, tranny and tranny tail. It isn't fancy but it got the job done. Now that I have a welder and more experience, I probably would try my hand at fabricating one.
 
FJRdoc said:
That's a nice looking dolly. When I started this restoration, I didn't have welding skills. I made my dolly out of 2 Harbor Freight moving dollies. I simply added wood to areas that made contact with the K-member, tranny and tranny tail. It isn't fancy but it got the job done. Now that I have a welder and more experience, I probably would try my hand at fabricating one.
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I was thinking the same thing with the harbor freight dollys and some wood. I would like to fabricate a dolly like the one pictured but not sure how many times I would use it. Thanks again for the ideas and info.
 
I saw the Duster at the shop yesterday. She has been taken off the jig and is now on dollies. The quarter panel EDP was removed and they have been primered. The hood and deck lid will be going off to get media blaster just to make sure nothing was missed or screwed up by the previous shop. The bodywork will begin soon.
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