Evening folks. A new poster here, glad to have found y'all. After a long patient search I have found a '72 Duster with a fairly straight body in need of an engineand transmission. I hope to do a mild restify on this. A newer motor (magnum V6 or 318)and transmission (auto), disc brakes and some few other upgrades. My goal is to make it a nice reliable daily driver. My daughter may end up with it...
Anyhow, looking for any advise y'all can share on where to start. I've got Mopar Chasiss Secrets and a new Schumacher catalog on the way. Other web sites or A body specific forums?

FWIW, my son and I are completing a ground up restoration of my old '67 Firebird which will be his. We should be finished this spring at which time I want to go all out on the Duster. My daily driver is a '99 Dakota which my daughter is claiming...
Thanks!
Cal

 

yeah have fun with that. its an experience let me tell ya.i own a 72 duster n im in the process of restorin the body n puttin a built 360 in it. its best if u can find someone with a duster so u can swap/buy parts from. worst part though is that most parts for a 72 will have to come from a 72 or ordered n specifically 72 style. a disc brake conversion kit is goin to be the most expensive single item u will have to get, but its worth it i guess, i am yet to buy mine but i cant find one under 900$. if u want to keep the motor small go with a 318 n dont mess with a v6, if possible get a 340 bc then u can have a lil extra muscle for the fun of it. but hey if u have any questions or find something i havent that'd help let me know.. later

 

Front disc is easy and cheep if you know the secrets! The easiest method is stripping a 73 and up A body disc brake set up, Upper control arms,spindels,rotors,calipers,master cylinder,and brake proportioning valve will all swap right in. You can also use 73 and up disc brake ball joints to convert your original control arms to disc,all you need then is to order the 73 and up spindel,rotors and caliper.

 

the 73 and up also have the popular 4 1/2 in bolt pattern,72 and down are 4 in and hard to find wheels for. As far as the rearend goes,I would pull the axles and send them to Strange engineering to have them re drilled for 4 1/2 in bolt pattern,had mine done some years back,i think it cost about 80 bucks,money well spent! Rear heavy duty brakes in 4.5in are all over the junk yards,look for station wagons and New Yorkers,huge brakes that will stand an A body on its nose!