Weather permitting, and the car is still there, I'd like to tackle the grille replacement this weekend. It looks like I'd have to remove this bar to allow for easier removal of the hood ornament and access to the grille nuts. Am I right in that?
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- Thread starter Jack Meoff
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Mikes5thAve
Well-Known Member
No that makes more work. The hood ornament has to come off and there are some nuts around the edges of the grille. The strips under the headlights also have to come off.
AMC Diplomat
Well-Known Member
What I imagined is far different from reality
AMC Diplomat
Well-Known Member
MoparDan
Well-Known Member
Cool! My mom's first car was a used '70 Duster with a Slant 6 1bbl (slow but reliable) lasted a few years before the New England winters killed the undercarriage...(a few months before I was born)
Aspen500
Well-Known Member
Let me guess. Subframe rails rotted out and the t-bars tore out of the crossmember? That killed many a Duster, Dart, Valiant, etc around here and sent them to the scrapyard way before their time.
MoparDan
Well-Known Member
The body supposedly split when an oil change place put it on their lift! 12 years being driven in upstate NY and 3 more years in CT: 15 winters and road salt
That’s all this car is too. /6 & 904 on the column. My mom got it in ‘93 from the second owner, he got it from his parents. He was the bass player in a cover band with my, dad at the time and made them a deal on it when they needed a car.
It was the first car I got to start, warm up, rev; that I can remember anyway. Around ‘95, my parents needed cash and my uncle, having a love and understanding of the classic/muscle car market, made them a $3k cash offer, more than twice what they had paid for it and, a great price for someone looking for a ‘70 Duster or any original, numbers matching Mopar for that matter.
It sits factory stock. He’s rebuilt everything on the car that could be, engine and transmission aside, those are untouched. He drives it rarely on weekends around town and to get fresh gas and that’s about it.
He scored a deal on a ‘70 Nova a few years ago for $750, it got sold out of spite (a build between brother-in-laws turned sour), that’s when he decided that he would let me have it; just barley got around to calling me about it though, lmfao
MoparDan
Well-Known Member
Cool!
Yeah, after looking in the service manual, looks like I remove the turn signal bezel and maybe able to get to the nut holding the chrome strip beneath the bezel in place. I'll dig into it this weekend and see what I can see and decide from there whether to bust it out soon or wait till after it's driveable.
Mikes5thAve
Well-Known Member
You get to everything from under the hood. For the grille make sure you're on the nuts that hold the chrome border to the fiberglass nose, the ones holding the grille to the border don't need to be removed.
I bought a deep socket specifically for removing the hood ornament. You don't really need it but the nut is cornered in there and it makes it easier to get it off.
I bought a deep socket specifically for removing the hood ornament. You don't really need it but the nut is cornered in there and it makes it easier to get it off.
Lmfao welp, with the sure grip and 3.21 gears, I was able to reel in and dog walk a new Chevy Malibu/impala (whatever it was) who used the shoulder to do a rolling launch to pass me off a red light. Unfortunately, I at best, need to do a band adjutant, at worst, I just roasted 2nd gear; she’s shifting real soft now, lol.
AMC Diplomat
Well-Known Member
Now we're talking. I ain't got the FaceSpace though. If it runs then it's the right price. I figure that's about $375 in 1985 money. Worth it. I'd pay $375 for a running car. Shoot, sell the grill, strip the engine and transmission, and crush the rest and you'd be even. Maybe sell the hard to find bits on ebay
Sweet deal for anyone looking; and in NM/ the South West.
Link: Mopar 8.25” Rear Diff F,M,J Body 2.94 towing package
Link: Mopar 8.25” Rear Diff F,M,J Body 2.94 towing package
MoparDan
Well-Known Member
MoparDan
Well-Known Member
MoparDan
Well-Known Member
Aspen500
Well-Known Member
At work once in a while, we'd set a piece of bubble wrap on top of a back tire of the car a guy was working on. When he started backing out. BRRRAAAP! They'd just about sh*t! Yes I got pranked more than once also.
Off topic but, another good one was when a guy was starting a fresh engine. Soon as it fired, hit the trigger on an impact. Their eyes got as big as saucers.
One time a guy had a 302 apart doing rings. Engine back together and in the truck all hooked up, and someone set a rod bearing shell on his bench. The look on his face was classic, until the rest of us busted out laughing.
All in good fun and it kept thing fun and light in the shop.
Off topic but, another good one was when a guy was starting a fresh engine. Soon as it fired, hit the trigger on an impact. Their eyes got as big as saucers.
One time a guy had a 302 apart doing rings. Engine back together and in the truck all hooked up, and someone set a rod bearing shell on his bench. The look on his face was classic, until the rest of us busted out laughing.
All in good fun and it kept thing fun and light in the shop.
