My 75 Finally Gets The Attention It Deserves(This Could Take a While)

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H22A4 said:
Might be worth checking eBay for the dash bezel/facias. Might not be able to get all 3 in one auction but good condition ones pop up from time to time. I found a NOS radio/HVAC bezel on eBay years ago which was the only one I needed. Saved needing to try putting on the woodgrain overlays and fiddling with chrome pens myself. The gauge cluster bezel might be the toughest considering 75 was the only year with the two idiot lights and woodgrain (76 they had the two idiot lights but went with black covering instead of woodgrain).
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My Duster has a 76 model year instrument bezel. My original was badly warped by the heat of the central Texas summertime sun. When I ordered a new one from the Dodge dealership in Glendale to replace it that's what they gave me, and to be honest I liked it much better than the wood grain version. As for eBay, I'm already actively searching. Sitting for thirty five years outside, especially after the weatherstripping began to fail, was extremely hard on everything in the interior. I could kick myself for not paying more attention or getting to this sooner. I had the resources, I just wasn't thinking about it.
 
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Tanker said:
My Duster has a 76 model year instrument bezel. My original was badly warped by the heat of the central Texas summertime sun. When I ordered a new one from the Dodge dealership in Glendale to replace it that's what they gave me, and to be honest I liked it much better than the wood grain version. As for eBay, I'm already actively searching. Sitting for thirty five years outside, especially after the weatherstripping began to fail, was extremely hard on everything in the interior. I could kick myself for not paying more attention are getting to this sooner. I had the resources, I just wasn't thinking about it.
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Ugh, heat and UV does a great job killing plastic.

Yours is a 75 correct? Was it a late build 75, like in June or July 1975? Perhaps they started using some 76 parts already in the late 75? Clear or orange parking light lenses in the front grille? Does yours have a foot operated parking brake?
 
H22A4 said:
Ugh, heat and UV does a great job killing plastic.

Yours is a 75 correct? Was it a late build 75, like in June or July 1975? Perhaps they started using some 76 parts already in the late 75? Clear or orange parking light lenses in the front grille? Does yours have a foot operated parking brake?
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I’m not sure how I could determine the build date. The drivers door data tag has only blank spaces where the info should appear. I had a wood grain instrument bezel originally, my parking lights are clear, and I have a hand operated parking brake.
 
As for production date, the last 6 digits of your VIN can give you a rough idea. Low numbers are early production, while high numbers are late production.
 
mpgmike said:
As for production date, the last 6 digits of your VIN can give you a rough idea. Low numbers are early production, while high numbers are late production.
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Does 153404 tell you anything?
 
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My guess is mid- to late-production. How many '75 Dusters were made? Yours is your VIN number of total production. Just a rough guess.
 
Tanker said:
I’m not sure how I could determine the build date. The drivers door data tag has only blank spaces where the info should appear. I had a wood grain instrument bezel originally, my parking lights are clear, and I have a hand operated parking brake.
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Does your car still have the fender tag? It’s an embossed metal plate on the drivers side inner fender in front of the windshield washer bottle. It will have a bunch of codes (two and three character codes) on it. One of them is a scheduled production/build date. If it starts with a A, B or C then it was built in October, November or December 1974. Second and third characters are the day of the month.
 
H22A4 said:
Does your car still have the fender tag? It’s an embossed metal plate on the drivers side inner fender in front of the windshield washer bottle. It will have a bunch of codes (two and three character codes) on it. One of them is a scheduled production/build date. If it starts with a A, B or C then it was built in October, November or December 1974. Second and third characters are the day of the month.
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I'll try to remember to have a look tomorrow.
 
Tanker said:
Dose 153404 tell you anything?
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That would be somewhat early in the production run at that assembly plant; likely in the Fall of ‘74. The first car off the line was 100001 so yours was the 53404th off the line for the 75 model year. The production date on the fender tag is on the second row from the bottom, last set of three characters on the right (there will be a set of six characters on the far right which is the order number).
 
H22A4 said:
That would be somewhat early in the production run at that assembly plant; likely in the Fall of ‘74. The first car off the line was 100001 so yours was the 53404th off the line for the 75 model year. The production date on the fender tag is on the second row from the bottom, last set of three characters on the right (there will be a set of six characters on the far right which is the order number).
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It says 930.
 
Tanker said:
It says 930.
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Your Duster was built on or around September 30, 1974. They would have started building the 75 model year Dusters in August so yours was built early in the run.
 
A '75 with 318 3 spd on floor fold down rear seat that car is very rare and great color too. Super cool car great you held onto it cause you would never find another like it. Headers and traction bars someone was having a lot of fun years ago.
 
340sFastback said:
A '75 with 318 3 spd on floor fold down rear seat that car is very rare and great color too. Super cool car great you held onto it cause you would never find another like it. Headers and traction bars someone was having a lot of fun years ago.
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There's no denying this was a really fun car to drive, which is why I held on to it. I always imagined I'd get it back on the road at some point, I just didn't realize I'd be sixty by then.
 
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Tanker said:
There's no denying this was a really fun car to drive, which is why I held on to it. I always imagined I'd get it back on the road at some point, I just didn't realize I'd sixty by then.
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When it took me 10 years to finally put a lift in my garage that was built for a lift my buddy said "slow plan better then no plan".

I had rust in floor of my '69 Barracuda since 1980 and now at 62 years old finally replaced the entire floor many decades later. Like you I held onto that car through the rough choppy waters of life....
 
I was out in California for my nephew's wedding this past week and stopped by Just Dashes in Van Nuys to see what they could do for my Duster. I'm glad I did because I learned something critical about their dash pad repair process. They try to replicate the original shape of a dash pad based on the shapes they see in the cracked up dried out pad that's sent in. My dash pad is so completely collapsed and shapeless that there's no point sending it to them since they won't have any idea what it's supposed to look like. I read a comment from another member here about the pad they got back from Just Dashes and they mentioned that while it looked nice the shape wasn't quite right. I think this is why. So I need to find another source for the pad that knows what they're supposed to look like.
 
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Tanker said:
I was out in California for my nephew's wedding this past week and stopped by Just Dashes in Van Nuys to see what they could do for my Duster. I'm glad I did because I learned something critical about their dash pad repair process. They try to replicate the original shape of a dash pad based on the shapes they see in the cracked up dried out pad that's sent in. My dash pad is so completely collapsed and shapeless that there's no point sending it to them since they won't have any idea what it's supposed to look like. I read a comment from another member here about the pad they got back from Just Dashes and they mentioned that while it looked nice the shape wasn't quite right. I think this is why. So I need to find another source for the pad that knows what they're supposed to look like.
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Crazy given '69 - '76 dash pads all shaped the same, these cars are common, yet they have no idea what to do with a sun baked pad?
 
340sFastback said:
Crazy given '69 - '76 dash pads all shaped the same, these cars are common, yet they have no idea what to do with a sun baked pad?
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That's exactly what I was thinking as they explained the process to me. I know there are other shops out there that redo the dash pads and I can buy one they have on the shelf and send my steel core in for a discount, or I believe some of those shops will rebuild a proper pad around my core. I just need to go through the archives here and see what people are recommending the most.

And Neil, that's not a bad idea and it would probably work, but I'd be adding the cost of a dash cap to the overall price so I think I'll just go with a different shop.
 
I finished sanding down the right side of the body this weekend and found another problem. I can't find any off the shelf patch panels for this area so hopefully something can be fabricated without too much trouble. I'd really like these repairs to be done properly so that they don't need to be repeated. I'm a little puzzled by that second screw hole for the tail end of the chrome trim strip. I had the strips off the last time I painted the car in the mid eighties. I sure hope I didn't do that.
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Tanker said:
I finished sanding down the right side of the body this weekend and found another problem. I can't find any off the shelf patch panels for this area so hopefully something can be fabricated without too much trouble. I'd really like these repairs to be done properly so that they don't need to be repeated. I'm a little puzzled by that second screw hole for the tail end of the chrome trim strip. I had the strips off the last time I painted the car in the mid eighties. I sure hope I didn't do that.
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Odd there’s that second hole there…. It’s not like the chrome strip shrunk over the years!


I’m not sure if patch panels exist for that area only. Might have to buy the entire quarter panel skin to get that area.
 
That would be a pretty easy patch to make, there is no way I would buy a whole panel for those tiny spots.
 
On the dash pad, I bought one from classic industries, it looks nice.
Install was a little rough the studs are a little on the short side.
 
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