Plymouth Duster Restoration

[Xtrah]

Well, I've almost gotten the go-ahead to pick up a Plymouth Duster or two from a local junkyard. They only want around $500ish and Ive been looking for a project to work on, cause as of now my parents have said no to anything with the dakota, because I didnt pay for it myself. So I swung by the junkyard today and asked about buying a duster or 'cuda, and at the moment they didn't have any 'cudas. I havent got a look at them yet, so I cant answer any questions about them yet... but is there anything I should look out for specifically and ask about? Is there much different between the 6 years?

I cant wait to get one and Ill post a picture up as soon as I get one :P

[Xtrah]

[00 SLT T/A]

Well, I've almost gotten the go-ahead to pick up a Plymouth Duster or two from a local junkyard. They only want around $500ish and Ive been looking for a project to work on, cause as of now my parents have said no to anything with the dakota, because I didnt pay for it myself. So I swung by the junkyard today and asked about buying a duster or 'cuda, and at the moment they didn't have any 'cudas. I havent got a look at them yet, so I cant answer any questions about them yet... but is there anything I should look out for specifically and ask about? Is there much different between the 6 years?

I cant wait to get one and Ill post a picture up as soon as I get one :P

[Xtrah]
Rust, Rust, Rust, both the Duster and Cuda have problems around frames, trunk pan, floor pans. Same for Demon / Challenger.

It's all in what you like as for difference, on the Dusters, I like the first two years because the tail lights are smaller and look much more appealing to me personally.

I hope your luck is better in your area than mine, I can't find the right one for me. I've ben looking for a few years. The only good ones I have come across reasonably are six cyl.

Good luck keep us posted.

[Xtrah]

The six cyl thing, I was told the "majority" of the dusters they had were sixs. Though, I figure that I'm going to have to do one of two things. One, spend quite a bit getting the six cyl to run, but then put a supercharger on it if possible and get a ton of power out of it. Two, it will be too much work to get the six cyl in it to run, and just drop a 340/60/bigger crate engine in one. As for rust, I really dont have a lot of experience with it, but as long as the frame isnt rusted that bad, can't most of that be replaced/fixxed?

[Xtrah]

[00 SLT T/A]

The only thing about converting a six cyl car to a v-8 is dollar bills. You have to change the k member, rear end, upgrade brakes, etc.

There are many outlets for sheet metal these days, again the parts may be fair price, the labor to correctly perfrom the job can run into some money.

That has been my delima, it is almost cost effective to find a moderately restored, slightly modified, or original that will require very little work other than upgrades and modifications and pay the big bucks up front.

Recently at a show here in Mobile, I passed on a 340, 4 speed, 3.91 geared very nice and very strong, modified 71. The paint and interior was flawless, no rust anywhere. the undercariage was detailed. $5,800.

My wife would have shit, so I told her about it and got the reaction I knew I would get. Her suggestion, keep looking for a POS and build it.

So I gave her a budget of costs, I got the okay to buy the one I found,it was GONE!!!

I'll keep looking.

Thanks

[Xtrah]

Haha, I've really started to like the Dusters here lately, and still.. v6 or not, its going to be TONS faster than my 4 banger dak. The idea of just supercharging the v6 sounds pretty good really, itll be fast as hell haha The coolest part... my dads first car in highschool was a slant 6 Plymouth Duster :D Restoring a piece of history for him :)

[Xtrah]

[01SilverDak01]

Haha, I've really started to like the Dusters here lately, and still.. v6 or not, its going to be TONS faster than my 4 banger dak. The idea of just supercharging the v6 sounds pretty good really, itll be fast as hell haha The coolest part... my dads first car in highschool was a slant 6 Plymouth Duster :D Restoring a piece of history for him :)

[Xtrah]

The Older Dusters came with The "Leaning Tower Of Power" called the Slant 6, not a V6, you can actually swap in a V8 small block or B or RB engine without K-Member Swaps now......

Schumacher Creative Services offer affordable swap kits that make bolting a New Crate motor a Breeze!

www.engine-swaps.com is the link

These cars also came with the 8.25 Rear Diff and is more than able to handle a 400 HP 360 without much issue!

[Birddog]

The Older Dusters came with The "Leaning Tower Of Power" called the Slant 6, not a V6, you can actually swap in a V8 small block or B or RB engine without K-Member Swaps now......

Schumacher Creative Services offer affordable swap kits that make bolting a New Crate motor a Breeze!

www.engine-swaps.com is the link

These cars also came with the 8.25 Rear Diff and is more than able to handle a 400 HP 360 without much issue!


Beat me to it... Did a 440 swap with their mounts IIRC. Needed a little persuading but came out nice..

A guy on turbo mopar did a turbo Swinger not too long back toohttp://www.turbo-mopar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12642&highlight=turbo+swinger

[Xtrah]

Haha Im so pumped I cant sleep. I'm going out to the yard to look at the dusters and give them a good inspection to find which one is the perfect one. I've never done any body work myself, but we used to own a race car so we can do a lot of the engine work. Still, its going to be a huge learning experience. I have a friend who is in school for collision repair and another who is a certified welder of some sort, so they'll be able to help with some of the body work. I'll be saving up to put a HUGE engine in this sucker.. whatever I can force in will get in there.

Thanks for all your help :) Ill let yall know some more tomorrow, with some pictures of my car to be.

[Xtrah]

[Li'lBlackTruck]

Thought I'd throw up some /6 performance sites,

http://www.slantsix.org/

http://www.cliffordperformance.net/

[newtz]

http://www.newtzrockerracing.com/DSC_0978.jpgDusters are cool

[400hp4cyl]

Heres my Valiant. It's for sale and only a few minor rust problems.
http://dakota-durango.com/forum/showthread.php?t=39021

[Superdart]

Here is the end-all-be-all of A-body websites. It is a forum totally dedicated to Darts, Dusters, Valients, Barracudas and Demons.

http://www.forabodiesonly.com

I have been on the site for a few years, and it is a great place to get A-body info.:bow:

[Evilsizer]

just wanted to ask any of you guys heard of a "feather" duster?

been reading about the good ole /6, funny how it started out as a 4cly then the added 2 more... great engines ran from 1960 up till 1988 or 1989....

[Cmucky]

The Older Dusters came with The "Leaning Tower Of Power" called the Slant 6, not a V6, you can actually swap in a V8 small block or B or RB engine without K-Member Swaps now......

Schumacher Creative Services offer affordable swap kits that make bolting a New Crate motor a Breeze!

www.engine-swaps.com is the link

These cars also came with the 8.25 Rear Diff and is more than able to handle a 400 HP 360 without much issue!

Never heard it called the leaning tower of power, Always called it the hillside hemi, hahahah

[jmaack727]

Never heard it called the leaning tower of power, Always called it the hillside hemi, hahahah

I like hillside hemi, wish i still had my old 85 /6 ram
I want another one and put a bed stripe on it with this inside like the superbee ones have http://i8.ebayimg.com/04/i/000/ce/b9/680d_1.JPG

[oldracecar]

"just wanted to ask any of you guys heard of a "feather" duster?"


Yep they were made in about 76-77 ish time frame to be good on gas..... If I remember correctly it had a lot of light weight parts on it..... and would be a strip o special..... I think it might be kind of rare.... leaning tower of course...

Cheers

[Evilsizer]

well i was lucky enough to find one back in high school. got it for $1400 in 98-99ish timeframe, did looking on it not long after only 3500 were made in 1976, thats according to allpar.com. i just wanted to know if anyone ever heard of one.. i am going to restore it as best i can. a few things are that i cant seem to find are a hood. the car seems to have been wrecked on the front at some point as the hood is steel braced. as the feather duster has ALU braced trunk and hood, with rubber bumper mounts. i have about 3k a side, first thing it needs is body work. dunno how much that might run, since i dont want to use bondo at all for body repair. im tring to find a place that was specializing in mopar restorations, some place in TN from a mopar mag. i know i have the mag but havent found it yet. :(

[DakFreak]

yup I've heard and have seen many feather dusters,all slant 6,alumn manual overdrive trans,lightened front bumper and mounts,and alumn hood support,i'm not sure about the trunk lid, marketed for fuel mileage,pretty rare car today good luck with the project

[Evilsizer]

thanks!

the plan is to use a super six manifold with a MPI for the restore. maybe "tweak" the slant six for more power. got a mopar mag where they took the slant six 225 to 231 with 2bbl/super six setup making 237FHP. looking into a 4spd auto with OD, means i need to replace the stock rearend for the added power.

[Matt Cramer]

The 4 speed auto swap will be pretty complicated with a slant six, for two reasons. One, Chrysler never made a 4 speed auto for the slant six, and the V8 bolt pattern is different. Two, the Mopar 4 speed requires some transmission tunnel surgery.

However, there are a couple of slant six to GM adapters if you want to put a 700R4 in there. Regrettably, it's easier to put GM parts in to make this swap happen.

[Evilsizer]

thats not complety true there Matt. i have dont lots of reading and its only minor tunnel surgery as the there is a hump on the A500 OD trans. 2) the slant six was used up till 1989 and came with 4 spd auto/manual trans. the bell housing used on the passenger cars have both bolt pattererns on them.
the big thing to watch out for though is the tail length on the trans. as they come in 2 different lengths really thats not a biggie to get a shorter drive shaft.

though i plan on sticking with the A904 and installing a GV unit for the OD. as well im not going for more power with this duster, im going to keep it as stock as possible. then after a while move the /6 to a MPI setup, when money allows it.

places of interest to read about 3spd to 4spd A-body swaps. www.forabodies.com and for slant six's www.slantsix.org

[Matt Cramer]

I've known about the 4 speed manual available behind a slant six, but I'm pretty certain the A500 only came behind a smallblock. It seems there are some adapters out there to make it fit. They're not currently in production AFAIK.

P.S. You may wish to check just where that first link you posted really goes. ;) The real link is http://www.forabodiesonly.com instead.