Finally getting to it!!! 1970 Duster 340

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Damn Kevin I pinched mine in exactly the same spot, that was after I with the help of Scatpacker (Kevin) chased a mind bender in my dash that was self inflicted. I hate wiring! That baby of yours needs to get driven this summer, looking forward to seeing some pictures of it cruising.
 
Hi Danny. That's funny that we had the same problem. I originally put the horn on the lower mounting hole of the radiator support. Afterwards, I realized that the single horn should be mounted on the upper location. I'm just happy that I found the problem. I took her out for a spin around the block yesterday. She's running pretty good. I suspect that my original fan clutch is not working. I found a Hayden fan clutch at Pep Boys for $14.95! I think that I will send my original off to Florida for a rebuild.
I'm planning on driving the car out to Mike Ross in Ohio the end of this month. There are a couple body issues that need his attention before I consider her finished. I haven't heard anything back about my application for Carlisle. I'm wondering if the Chryslers at Carlisle will even take place this year.
 
Everything on mine was fine but I had to do a repair on my canister so I removed the horns to make the job easier and days later when I went to use the lights the right side was a all funky so I had to tap into what’s left of my logical brain and trace back what the hell I might have done last and the horns were the problem. I was both disappointed and bloody relieved! It’s looking kinda iffy on the car shows this year but I hope Carlisle happens for you.
 
I recruited my wife's niece to do a photo shoot of my car when I prepared my Chrysler's at Carlisle invitation application. She did a great job and I thought that I would post some professional pics of the car.

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Thanks guys. It was a labor of love with a huge learning curve. Little did I know that when I took the Duster off the road in 1983 that life would get in the way of working on the project for as long as it did. That time gave me plenty of opportunity to picture how I wanted the resto to go in my minds eye. It's not often in life when a vision and reality become one. This car turned out exactly how I envisioned it. Thanks to all the FABO members who helped me along the way. This forum has been an invaluable tool.
 
FJRdoc said:
The COVID-19 lockdown has given me time to wrap up some loose end here at home. I removed the fuel filler tube from the Duster yesterday and replaced it with a Detroit Muscle Technologies seal. I drove the old girl over to the local gas station and filled the tank. I'm happy to report that she did not spew gasoline all over the ground! I'm still trying to track down the source of my electric issue. When I turn the headlight switch on to the running light position, I keep blowing the 20A fuse. I believe that circuit includes the running lights and the cigar lighter. I disconnected the rear light harness, the front pigtails and the cigar lighter and I still blow the fuse. Looks like I'll need to cram my old man neck up under the dash.
I finished another side project over the weekend. I have my first motorcycle...1980 Harley Sportster that I've owned since 1987. Last summer, I rewired the handlebars and did some other things to her. This year, I had the gas tank cleaned, rebuilt the carb, installed new intake manifold gaskets, flushed the brakes, adjusted the clutch and chains. I took her for a ride yesterday. She runs like a champ! There's nothing like the vibrations of an old Ironhead Harley. I'm certain that all my dental fillings are firmly attached to my teeth!

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looks good, you may want to look into some aftermarket saddlebag supports (Drag Specialties Inc. usually around $55.00-$75.00) to get that bag off of the muffler.
 
FJRdoc said:
Well, I am happy to say that I solved the blown fuse mystery. I spent much time under the dash inspecting all wires.....found nothing. I then realized that my problems started to develop after I moved my horn from the lower mounting location up to the correct single horn location. The captive washer for the horn bolt pinched the wiring harness to the right front side marker light. Problem solved! I hate electrical Gremlins but it does feel good when you defeat the enemy.
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lol, and sometimes they are us.
 
FJRdoc said:
Thanks guys. It was a labor of love with a huge learning curve. Little did I know that when I took the Duster off the road in 1983 that life would get in the way of working on the project for as long as it did. That time gave me plenty of opportunity to picture how I wanted the resto to go in my minds eye. It's not often in life when a vision and reality become one. This car turned out exactly how I envisioned it. Thanks to all the FABO members who helped me along the way. This forum has been an invaluable tool.
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Stellar man !!
 
FJRdoc said:
The COVID-19 lockdown has given me time to wrap up some loose end here at home. I removed the fuel filler tube from the Duster yesterday and replaced it with a Detroit Muscle Technologies seal. I drove the old girl over to the local gas station and filled the tank. I'm happy to report that she did not spew gasoline all over the ground! I'm still trying to track down the source of my electric issue. When I turn the headlight switch on to the running light position, I keep blowing the 20A fuse. I believe that circuit includes the running lights and the cigar lighter. I disconnected the rear light harness, the front pigtails and the cigar lighter and I still blow the fuse. Looks like I'll need to cram my old man neck up under the dash.
I finished another side project over the weekend. I have my first motorcycle...1980 Harley Sportster that I've owned since 1987. Last summer, I rewired the handlebars and did some other things to her. This year, I had the gas tank cleaned, rebuilt the carb, installed new intake manifold gaskets, flushed the brakes, adjusted the clutch and chains. I took her for a ride yesterday. She runs like a champ! There's nothing like the vibrations of an old Ironhead Harley. I'm certain that all my dental fillings are firmly attached to my teeth!

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Small world! My '77 XLCH has been keeping me off working on my '72 Duster 340. Got it in '89 and I'm wrapping up my second restore on it. Took it all the way down to here-

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And here it is, "finished" (because they're never really finished...):

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It's the same TX9 as the Duster. After putting some miles on it I found the rear tire hits the seat bolt on the bigger bumps so this winter's project was to pull the fender, weld shut the old holes and cut some new ones in it. It's only about 3/4" higher but now I can even reach inside and access all that mounting hardware so I'm sure it'll be high enough.

Thinking I might prime today and hopefully I can find a paint shop still open in the next couple of weeks to spray some paint for me as I can't paint here.
 
Hi WymanV. Nice looking Sporty I'm glad that I didn't have to do a resto on my Harley. She basically is a survivor with 25,000 miles on the odometer. You're bike looks great I suppose that I could buy some saddlebag supports for my Harley but the bags have been on her since I bought her in 1987. They seem to be molded to the exhaust pipe by now.
I've been tweaking the Duster and taking her out for some drives around the block. I'm getting things dialed in pretty nicely. Originally, she had a lot of pinging with acceleration. I dialed back some the distributor advance and that seems to be pretty good. I still have to tweak the carb a little more. Also, I need to dial in the kickdown linkage just to fine tune thinks.
I've had a blast driving the Duster around town. It's nice to see people smile during these gloomy days.
 
FJRdoc said:
Hi WymanV. Nice looking Sporty I'm glad that I didn't have to do a resto on my Harley. She basically is a survivor with 25,000 miles on the odometer. You're bike looks great I suppose that I could buy some saddlebag supports for my Harley but the bags have been on her since I bought her in 1987. They seem to be molded to the exhaust pipe by now.
I've been tweaking the Duster and taking her out for some drives around the block. I'm getting things dialed in pretty nicely. Originally, she had a lot of pinging with acceleration. I dialed back some the distributor advance and that seems to be pretty good. I still have to tweak the carb a little more. Also, I need to dial in the kickdown linkage just to fine tune thinks.
I've had a blast driving the Duster around town. It's nice to see people smile during these gloomy days.
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Kevin you did a fantastic job! Your making me want to get back into the Duster scene! Ha!
 
Thanks Pauly. I got a couple little annoying issues taken care of today. My steering wheel had a bothersome squeak when turning the wheels left or right. I originally thought that it was the upper column bearing.....even though I had replaced it when I restored the column. I removed the steering wheel and Tuff Wheel can today to take a look. turning the wheels without the can and steering wheel didn't make a sound. I decided to smooth down the inside of the column that overlaps the Tuff can. I had sprayed a little of the textured pain in the inside of the housing. I also applied dielectric grease on the copper horn surface. Bolted everything back together and no more squeak!!
The other issue that I was having was that the key in the ignition switch worked sporadically. I know that most of us who grew up with these Mopars back in the day usually yanked those obnoxious little buzzers shortly after getting the car, but I just needed to know why it didn't work all the time. I found out that the wire that went into the harness was partially broken. I popped the pin out of the connector and replaced it with another pin out of my old harness. Now, the obnoxious buzzy sound reverberates throughout the Duster's interior. :lol:
 
Thanks dahggedaht. I hope that there is a Chrysler's at Carlisle this year. I'm working on getting rid of the last gremlins just in case the show goes on.
 
Holy cow. I read through most of the posts in all 45 pages of this thread. I am impressed on the attention to detail with your car and the hell you went through with that shyster bodyman and never gave up. I wish I could get back to Carlisle again but living in California it's hard. I'd go to Chryslers at Carlisle just to see your car. I have only been to Spring and Fall Carlisle and one GM show there. Great work.
 
FJRdoc said:
Thanks Dave. How are you doing? I hope that all is well.
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All is good down here! One of the few to still be working! Hopefully Carlisle will happen so I can get a personalized tour of all your hard work these last years! Stay safe, happy & healthy Kev!
 
I spent the last couple days trying to get the Duster in good tune. I was having problems with pinging with acceleration. I got some input from fellow FABO members on another thread. I also purchased new springs and a limiter plate for my Prestolite dizzy. I spoke to Don at FBO and he gave me some suggestions about initial modifications. I installed the middle tension springs and set the limiter to 18. Got the cars idle and timing set and dialed in the carb with an O2 gauge. The test run had just slight pinging under heavy acceleration. Don suggested dialing back the advance a couple of degrees. The car is running great now. I'm very happy. Can't say enough about how helpful Don was at FBO. Another great Mopar vendor we should support.
 
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