My 71 Duster work in progress

[b-body-bob]

Got it. Debating if it's worth taking it all back out to paint one piece. The 16 gauge and standing on bolts makes it a little bit bendy if you get carried away with it, but not bad.




Need to trim the carpet and install the rear hold down trim, kick panel, and sill plate, then seats and on to the next mess.

 

[Dr.Jass]

Got it. Debating if it's worth taking it all back out to paint one piece.

I was originally going to say, "Only if it continually draws your eye and irks you," because to me it's not a giant eyesore... it just sortal looks like part of the shifter. Then I realized it's probably steel and have hence changed my answer to "If it can rust, it should probaby be painted." Obviously that won't happen overnight, but it'll start to discolor and develop tiny spots fairly quickly.

The 16 gauge and standing on bolts makes it a little bit bendy if you get carried away with it, but not bad.

Cool, collected cucumber that you are, I wouldn't expect that to be an issue... unless you're the simian previous owner of my shifter, in which case I'd suggest you increase the bolt diameter and use grade 8.

 

[b-body-bob]

I was originally going to say, "Only if it continually draws your eye and irks you," because to me it's not a giant eyesore... it just sortal looks like part of the shifter. Then I realized it's probably steel and have hence changed my answer to "If it can rust, it should probaby be painted." Obviously that won't happen overnight, but it'll start to discolor and develop tiny spots fairly quickly.

I guess another answer is how long is going to be in there anyway. The previous setup had a cruder unpainted piece of sheet metal over the shifter hole and it was rusty as heck but it took who knows how long to get to that point. OTOH, one drop of sweat and it's insta-rust. It might come down to if I take it apart I'm going to figure out a way to cut the holes/slots more precisely and then make a new one out of a heavier gauge.

Cool, collected cucumber that you are, I wouldn't expect that to be an issue... unless you're the simian previous owner of my shifter, in which case I'd suggest you increase the bolt diameter and use grade 8.

See prior comment about heavier gauge steel, and also note that if you look at it close, the back more-than-half of the shifter isn't supported on the bolts too. That could have been tied in better.

 

[69.5CUDA]

might i make a recomendation?...get some thin ABS sheet and make a cover for it, or even a loose carpet cover for it...of course like you said...how longs it going to be there
even painted, unless the hardware is painted too its gunna stand out

 

[b-body-bob]

might i make a recomendation?...get some thin ABS sheet and make a cover for it, or even a loose carpet cover for it...of course like you said...how longs it going to be there
even painted, unless the hardware is painted too its gunna stand out

Yeah that's true

I moved on to trimming carpet etc. The passenger side rear carpet hold down broke, the little extension that the sill plate screws to broke off. It seemed like it had been bent hard and was ready to snap off to begin with so it didn't last. I'm hoping to get by without having to hunt down another one.

I also realized that if I was going to put a driveshaft loop in it I'm a few steps beyond that now. The dragstrip here is closed so I'm thinking if I tear out a U-joint on the street it's my own stupid fault so the loop isn't necessary. (There's one already in my road runner.) Am also skeptical that this 400 has enough juice to break one anyway.

 

[69.5CUDA]

ive broke and chucked enough joints to basicly swear by loops, i carried all the tools and broken joints in the trunk of my fish all thru HS as id break or toss one weekly...all i takes is torque and grip

 

[b-body-bob]

FWIW I looked and honestly don't think I could put a driveshaft loop on the car if I had to.

The exhaust is tucked in tight on the driveshaft and is actually a little up in the tunnel above floor level most of the way back. If I could get the "straps" on it out to the floor, I couldn't get the loop to fit between the exhaust pipes.

 

[69.5CUDA]

imo if i were lookin to loop i would be looking at the 12inches or so in front of the rear axle, as ive NEVER seen a trans side joint fail on the street, and i was snappin em like candy all thru HS, its the combination of the axle trying to roll under hard load with grip that causes the bind up

i got so good at fixing them i could go thru my box of broken parts and toss something together to get me home in 5mins or less in the middle of the street where it happened...often times those broken mismashes lasted longer than new ones

heck all the joints i blew in my ramcharger were also axles side as well...all but 1 was front axle...low 4 street launches on 33inch mud tires makes for fun sounds crazy hookup and something that mudstain next to you will never forget

 

[b-body-bob]

TBH I'm no fan of burnouts in an automatic anyway and that plays into my lack of worry too.

Also, TBH, I only remember tossing one driveshaft, and IIRC I had forgotten to put the C-clips on the rear U-joint. I've broken a couple of sure-grips though.

 

[69.5CUDA]

oh most of mine were NOT burnouts just hard launches, more often than not out of a driveway to get across the hwy, ie leaving fastfood places etc, i think i only ever broke one on a burnout, burnouts imo are easier on the ujoints as the tires are not hooked and the chassis isnt really "moving/working" over a road, while a hard stress pin it n git it has a habbit of alot of humps bumps n dips in the road to put that joint in weird angles

 

[b-body-bob]

The interior's in with the exception of the seat belts.

I had to make a repair to that rear sill plate - made a piece to replace the broken tab and gorilla glued it to the underside of the part it originally broke from. Miraculously all the screws lined up. I thought I might need to rivet them together, but the glue worked.

Now to find a good set of seat belts. It only has half of one belt in the back and the belts on the front floor came from who knows where, the one I looked at had a 73 date on it.

 

[69.5CUDA]

belts is EASY even truck belts will work and look fine in there, my personal preferance is a-100/108 belts due to the cool factor in style(they have a double loop latch), if life wasnt all twisted up right now id dig out my 3 huge belt boxes and sell ya some belts

 

[b-body-bob]

We looked closer and all the belts are 73 except for the one that was in the rear and that one's a 71

I really don't understand how this car came to be, with all these stray parts. At first I had the feeling someone had a nice 4-speed car, totaled it, and put all the good parts on this body. But things like the seat belts makes it seem like this car might have been in a junkyard and partially parted out at one point.

PS either the battery is low again, or the starter's going out. I got one click out of the starter, but the battery has 12.5 v in it. It's pretty much the same thing it did when I thought the battery cable had corroded to death. There's no other corrosion that I can see.

The stupid thing just loves to keep the thought of "how the hell do I get that starter out without puling the engine" fresh in my mind. When it clicked I just shut the door and disconnected the battery again.

Trying not to dwell on that, so I suspect it's the NSS, and will throw the charger on it today and try looking at that. The shifter handle might just need a little shaking around to get it in the right place for it to start.

 

[Dr.Jass]

Isn't forensic automotive archeology fun?

I'm not sure why anyone would swap the belts since, to my knowledge, the 1971 and '73 belts are essentially identical. The shoulder belt is a separate piece that clips to the lap belt via a keyhole on the former and stud on the latter. The unitized lap/shoulder belts didn't appear until 1974, as part of the government-mandated safety improvements that included the God-forsaken seat belt ignition interlock. Both styles were included with my car. I plan to use the early ones since that's what my '73 had. If you've got belts marked '73 with lap/shoulder belts, they're probably 1974 parts and have a short wiring pigtail coming out of the retractor mechanism. The interlock law didn't even last the whole year, so later '74 parts don't have the pigtail.

If you get a click when you turn the key, it's not the NSS. The NSS grounds the relay, so if something clicked it was either the starter relay or the starter itself activating which means the NSS is fine. Connect the alligator clip of your test light to the large power stud on the relay and put the pointy bit in the bolt gap of the negative battery terminal. When you twist the key, it should light up. If not, replace the relay. If so you may be looking at a starter but double-check all your connections first. If jiggling the shifter seems to help, readjust your cable because the car's probably not fully in Park. The detent plate in the transmission that activates that switch inside the transmission isn't likely to provide iffy switch operation, and those switches aren't really failure-prone.

Have you checked the water level in the battery? I've tested lots of batteries with 12.5-12.7V and lowcranking amps. You can get a good voltage reading with half the acid gone. Remove the caps and make sure the lead plates are completely submerged in acid. If they're not, fill the battery to approximately 1/8" below the bottom edge of the "filler neck" for each hole. Then, drop half an aspirin (actual aspirin, preferably not safety-coated) down each hole and let the battery sit for 25-30 minutes, maybe a bit more if you used coated aspirin. At that point the battery should be charged enough to start the car, and yes I'm 100% serious. Any parts store worth half a damn should be able to test it for you.

If the battery sits a lot and you're not keeping a trickle charger (Battery Tender) on it, it may have sulfated. You can undo that you don't mind spending the time (the link is well worth the read). For the little one costs ($40-$50) Battery Tenders are worth their weight in gold. Ask Stretch; the battery in his Charger sits idle more than half the year. It's at least 10 years old, possibly closer to 15... we're not sure because he removed the all the decals, including the production date, when he bought it. He uses the least-expensive Battery Tender available. I keep using the specific brand name because that's what I've sold for 30+ years and they work... every single one. I've never had to return one for defect.

Your interior looks really sharp... nice work.

 

[b-body-bob]

I fixed the starter problem, it was a bad ground at the battery. I could see it arc when I hit the key.

Remember the clanking that I heard shaking the car around, and you (Jass) suggested Gina help? Well she did and I found it sounded like it was coming from the spindle on the passenger side and I figured the wheel bearing needed adjustment. Today I checked that, no play, but when I turn the wheel forward, it clicks cyclically. When I turn it backwards, it doesn't. This happens for both sides. I suspect the brake pads. There was a note showing to punch them so they fit tighter, but I did a half ass job of it no doubt.

So, once I got past that I tried to start it again. Crank crank crank until I got a positive pressure test on the new oil line I installed. But no start. So I got out, gave the throttle a pump, and saw no fuel. The gauge at the carb had fuel pressure, and I took the sight plug out to confirm the front bowl is full. So, unless there could be something else, dried up fuel or a piece of crap has clogged the squirter circuit. (It's kind of odd that the front and back weren't working, I expected they would on a double pumper.)

It hasn't been that long since it was started and I don't think it should be causing problems like this so soon. At least I bought a kit for it when I ordered the fuel pump.

 

[b-body-bob]

Never mind ... I went out and fiddled around with the pump and got it to squirt and start.

 

[b-body-bob]

I went ahead and double-checked everything front and rear. I wasn't able to spin the rotor fast enough to get it to click It definitely looks like the noise I noticed while spinning the front tire is the brake pad. I wasn't able to get it tight enough the first time so I didn't even bother this time. We'll see if I can even hear it with the engine running (no).

I emptied out the trunk and cleaned the existing interior some more. Have you ever noticed how filthy the rubber trim around the inside back window in a duster gets? Holy cow I can still go out there and rub black crud off it. There is a couple of places, one per side, where there was some kind of reaction or something that caused a build up of brownish-yellow crap. The window hasn't leaked or anything so it seems likely they all have that.

I also realized that I have a CD-player in the dash and 2 6x9s in the back, but I had unwired all that mess and didn't run speaker wires from front to back while I had the interior apart. So if they go back they'll just be pushed up under the edges of the kickpanel and sill plates until it gets under the back seat.

I'm going to add some gas and work up to driving it around the hood a little this weekend if it doesn't rain. I also need to move it next door because I'm hoping to make my way to the cop shop and schedule my VIN verification. I don't want them in my garage or around my house. Over there it's just a helluva mess in a big basement, nothing for him to complain or ask about. Once it's moved I can shove the A12 into the middle of the garage and start unpacking it to get the wiring hooked up and figure out where I left off on the metal work.

 

[b-body-bob]

I didn't go far but it served the purpose. First drive, lots of snap crackle pop of things setting in. The brakes just stink. Unsure if they just need worn in or a different MC or if that's just the way it is. Probably just the way it is, and since I'm used to driving a GTI with huge discs front and rear that stops like a road race car doesn't help either.

The thing shifts like a mule kicking. In D, 1-2 shifts chirp the tires. That makes me concerned about the small yoke on the rear end, a little bit anyway. Also, the thing does not want to accelerate like I think it should from a stop. After a bit it catches up and takes off, so I think the torque converter is to blame. Not surprised, shift kits are cheap, torque converters are not. But I have a spare one that came out of the A12 when I put a PTC in it. So that's a possibility, but unlikely due to elephant ears complicating things, and I'm just about too old and tired to go through that hell laying on my back. I'll try tuning the carb and timing to get it to respond first.

Finally, at a certain speed the car starts to make a noise that seems to be related to the drive shaft. It kinda sorta sounds like something is rubbing on it, but I know it's not. It was borderline too long to begin with, so that could be it. Somewhere in this thread I posted the shaft length so I will revisit that comparing it to the factory length for a Plymouth A body with 727 and 8-3/4. IIRC it was 1/4 to 1/2 longer than that spec and matched the Dodge spec.

If I knew someone here trustworthy to pull the rear yoke and replace it with a big Mopar I'd go ahead and replace that and the shaft at the same time. But I don't know anyone I trust to crush the sleeve (489 rear) and get it back together without trouble. I'm not doing it unless I have to and if I do it I'll switch to a solid spacer and shims, and eliminate that headache. I'm not going to have a new shaft built with a small mopar U-joint so cutting this one down is a possibility. There's a local reputable place that can do that.

I also think the fuel gauge doesn't work. I'm not sure how to isolate the wire and ring it out at this point, but I checked resistance on the sender at one point and IIRC it wasn't in the range of empty so it seemed like it was working. I'm going to have the car back on stands soon enough and will try to remember to look into that while it's easier to get to.

 

[b-body-bob]

Since I remembered having little clearance between the tires and leaf springs, I checked that they aren't causing the noise. No sign of the tires rubbing anything.

As for what seems like slow revving, I don't know if there are lighter springs for this distributor, but they look just a little heavy to me.



I need to get a better shot of the tag so I can start googling the part number to find tuning tips. There was an argument I mean a thread at moparts recently about these things. They apparently made them for decades so maybe someone has written up part numbers etc to help me out here.

Worst case I buy one of the newish Mopar distrubutors that parts and info are available for. I've got one made by Mallory in the A12 that has adjustable advance etc but I'd rather leave that right where it is.

 

[Dr.Jass]

Those internals are straight-up Chrylser production bits. Even the notch for the pickup wiring looks like it's for the stock grommet. I'm surprised the advance springs are that heavy--they literally look like 318 parts. Mr. Gasket's 925B advance spring kit will drop right in. In this case, an OE electronic distributor would be a huge improvement for the vacuum advance alone. It doesn't look like you need the tach drive, so there's really no reason to use that distributor. It's no better than the stock part, except possibly the lower collar being metal rather than plastic (if it is).

The first thing that comes to mind with "slow revving" is an intake leak... so I'll preach my standard sermon: Use the tin turkey pan only, with no gasket facings. Use Permatex High-Tack spray on manifold-to-head surfaces of the gasket and black silicone on the ends. Everyone uses those gasket facings (except Chrysler) and everyone (but Chrysler) has issues. No, it doesn't matter whether the manifold is aluminum or iron. Throw the facings in the trash can.