1972 440 Duster

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Frank
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Location: Stevensville, ON
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1972 440 Duster

Post by Frank »

I still have the 1978 Chrysler New Yorker that I bought in 1988. I have it parked in a field behind my house. By the time I had taken it off the road in 1995, it was in pretty rough shape. In fact, it is now so rough that I think it would not survive a tow to the junkyard. However, I always planned to put the engine in a small car like a Duster someday. A year before I got married in 1993, I found a 1972 340 Duster that someone had campaigned in North Carolina as a big block drag car. Being a southern car, the body was in great condition. The engine was absent when I found it and this made it the perfect car for my project. Shortly after buying the Duster, I came across another later model Duster (75?) with bucket seats and console. It was in really rough shape but the interior was complete. I gave the owner $100 and stripped the car down as much as I could.

Not knowing any better, I figured that I would have the Duster on the road in no time. We ended up moving shortly after we got married and I lost my workshop in the process. Children came along and my big plans for the Duster got put on the back burner. Now that we have a new house, I can build a proper workshop. We installed the foundation last fall and, with luck, will build the rest of workshop this year.

Once the workshop is completed, I will be moving the Duster in and pulling the engine from the New Yorker. I plan to continue running it on straight propane using an Impco CA425 mixer. A friend had pulled the propane system from his car when he sold it years ago and offered me the in-trunk propane tank. It is a manifolded tank designed to fit over the axle hump in the trunk. To make it legal, I had it recertified and fitted with a sealed box over the fittings. Since the spare tire well is in rough condition due to a rear window leak, I will deepen it since I will no longer need the gas tank.

The 440 in the New Yorker seemed to run out of steam pretty early so I will see what I can do to the CA425 mixer to make it work better with that engine. I might have to put in a dual carb manifold for some extra flow capacity if I find that the engine still seems slow in the Duster.

Now if I can only the other jobs out of the way so I can start making some progress on the shop!

Frank
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Joined: Wed Feb 25, 2004 2:17 pm
Location: Stevensville, ON
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Got some photos!

Post by Frank »

While I was moving my winter car out of the field and up to the house so I can work on it, I also took some photos of the Duster.

I put the car up on blocks and tried to protect as much as possible from the weather. With luck, there haven't been a lot of mice moving in yet. As you can see, the cover has seen better days. I hope to have my workshop built soon so I can move it in there.
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The engine and anything I can salvage will come from my first propane car, a 1978 Chrysler New Yorker.
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sleepybu
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Location: BC Canada

Post by sleepybu »

it's been a year and a haff since you posted them pic's...anyprogress :?:

Frank
Site Admin
Posts: 887
Joined: Wed Feb 25, 2004 2:17 pm
Location: Stevensville, ON
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Post by Frank »

Thanks for the interest. I have made a little progress since my last posting but I've had to put the Duster on a back burner for a while.

I was able to put up the walls and roof my garage. It didn't take long to fill it up with cars and junk:
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A better shot of the Duster:
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I was able to move the New Yorker to a dryer part of the field but ended up ripping off the rear bumper in the process. A broken torsion bar and leaf spring anchors made the car sit on the ground and my tractor could barely pull it. It seems that time is catching up with it and it is slowly returning to its natural state:
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The transmission mount must have let go so now rear of the engine has dropped:
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I found a parts car out in Tennesee last fall and brought it back but totalled my van and car dolly in the process. At least I'll have some ice-cold AC when I'm done:
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Besides having to do some spring cleaning, I want to put a floor in the garage and run some electricity out to it. Besides needing to get some house projects out of the way for my wife, I also need to do some more work to get my alternative fuel business established. Every day is a new adventure!

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