1971 Plymouth Duster project

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jippek

jippek

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Since I've already introduced myself in the Welcome Wagon, let's go into project right away.

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2896/14398577968_99f3a0e7b7_c.jpg

I've done almost a full C-body resto project and wanted now something that does not have
to be original and something with performance and attitude. This '71 Duster just happened
to come available and I did not think more than 2 days and went and bought it :)
The car is without the engine and transmission.

It took a few days to arrange the transportation for the car, but now it is home and I have
been able to do some investigation on it. Fender tag says following:

VL29:
Plymouth Valiant,Duster
Low
2 Door Sports Hardtop

G1E: 318 230HP 1-2BBL 8 CYL
1971
Los Angeles, CA, USA

104397: Sequence number

E44: 318 cid 2 barrel V8 230hp
D31: A904 3-Speed Auto Trans.
GF3: Medium Green Metallic (Dodge), Amber Sherwood Metallic (Plymouth, Chrysler & Imperial) Exterior Color
L4F7: Trim - Low, Vinyl Split Bench Seat, Green
GF7: Dark Green Metallic (Dodge), Sherwood Green Metallic (Plymouth) Int. Door Frames
908: Build Date: September 08
042321: Order number

GF3: Medium Green Metallic (Dodge), Amber Sherwood Metallic (Plymouth, Chrysler & Imperial) Top Color
U: USA Specifications
G31: OS RH Manual Standard Mirror
G33: LH Remote Racing Mirror
N51: Maximum Engine Cooling
M25: Wide sill moldings

N95: Emissions Control
R11: Radio Solid State AM (2 Watts)
V5X: Body Side Stripes, Black
END: End of Sales Codes

The car was loaded with parts and there should have been most of that parts inside:
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3916/14427772778_254be5ca87_c.jpg

The paint job with matt black looks OK from distant, but some weird has happened :D:
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5491/14613857852_f089d30151_c.jpg

It seems that all doors, both fenders, the hood and the deck lid are not original. Could be a collided car, since the frame and body are not that rusty.

Left door, notice the door opening handle:
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3853/14427814759_059b648e42_c.jpg

And the right door, from different year? Which one is the original for 1971?
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3861/14468052370_0df26795dd_c.jpg

General photos:

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3871/14427769088_746962bdf6_c.jpg

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3898/14427768928_117524c5b8_c.jpg

We had a little accident when trying to get the car onto the trailer. The front wheels
jammed and when we pushed the car with another car, it started to move sideways and
landed on the right lower corner:
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3878/14612328844_d7991eae18_c.jpg

Positive thing is that it seems to be solid metal under the paint :D

The reason for the front wheels jamming was the too big brake calibers with 13" wheels. After getting the car home, I took these away just so that I can move the car.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5521/14468301357_f1694f438e_c.jpg
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3839/14631757176_cbf8a786d3_c.jpg

Even though the fender tag does not say anything about the disc brakes, the discs would
seem original? Is it because of the 318 engine? The calibers are from somewhere else, the brake lines have been cut so that the original calibers are gone and lines left. But are these similar to originals or some heavy duty calibers?

The floors are in pretty good shape. There were some small holes and someone had put coins on them??? :D Never seen that before. One of the previous owners had tried to do some welding (unfortunately) in the trunk, those just need to be redone:
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3883/14591367526_63673d959c_c.jpg

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3890/14427797649_2301ccc1f1_c.jpg

This is also a new part to me, perhaps something to do with the emission control?
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2932/14651492161_45eeed5b8d_c.jpg

Under the rear fender there is this kind of part too, any ideas?

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2911/14612308934_030e83ccbc_c.jpg

These seem to be some inner fender stuff, but don't know if they are from this car or from
some other?
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3837/14614377205_2c7b9c6207_c.jpg

The lower control arm bushing is "done":
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5515/14613856942_4d4fb80b8b_c.jpg

It would look like the control arm is already worn itself, but that remains to be seen when
I drop the whole front down. All bushings and joints will need to be replaced.

This project will take several years, don't know exactly yet what to do with it, but now it
is started. The missing parts list is long, from front lights to front seats and a lot of smaller stuff.
 
Looks like a good project. The gizmo under rear fender appears to be an abandoned air shock filler. The weird paint at the handle is a 2 second tape job.
 
Those are very valuable disc brakes. May not have been original to the car due to it being an option. They are kelsey hayes dual piston brakes.
 
Nice Project!
The right door (passenger side) is a '73 and later unit and incorrect for the car if you are restoring the car to original.
 
Thanks guys for the information.

There was also an extra 8 3/4 rear end case and the axels:
https://flic.kr/p/oiJXR3

Is there a ready package of differentials which would include
everything somewhere? I tried to look from summitracing, but
did not find (perhaps didn't know what to look for...)

I am planning to do now an excercise that I will do rust proofing for
the bottom of the car and sandblast the engine bay after that. Then
we'll fix the holes in the trunk and fix the accident dent.

Then it is pretty much done from the body wise, the next
thing to do is to start building the engine and look for the
tranny etc.
 
Hello, an update after the years change.

I've been mainly collecting bits and pieces for the Duster and have not been working with the car too much. Since the last update I did some rust prevention to the bottom of the car. Just yesterday I dropped the rear end off. You can see the rust preventative material as black in the picture, I left e.g. the bottom of the spare tire unhandled because that needs to be replaced totally.





The parking brake cables seemed very short, I don't know if this rear end has been
ever in use in this car.



The u-bolts are pretty shot and on the both sides, also self manufactured:




Nevertheless, now that is detached and I can check whether
the 8.75 rear end fits. Here are some of the components I've been
collecting.

New intake manifold and the hood to match it:


First I found one empty 489 case:


But very soon after I found a complete center section, unfortunately
with open differential... and I also found a drivetrain.



I was planning to put these 14" wheels on it, but have already
agreed to buy Gragar SST wheels, getting them next week.


And I have also the engine ready for total overhaulin:


And 904 tranny.
 
Nice! And straight to biz! LOL! I like this guy! Nice project.
 
OK, now I got the wheels, missing only the rear tires. They seem to be in very good shape, requires some polishing but nothing else. And the rear wheel is wide enough.





And also got the SBP brake plates, already sandblasted and epoxed.



Let's see if I will be able to try them out this weekend, would be nice to check that all these rear end parts fit.
 
Yeah, I was able to spend some hours at the carage.

I was checking out my 489 center section and noticed that the
Pinion is broken, so I need to start looking for a new one.





The 8 3/4 rear end seems to sit pretty well, it would look like it leans a bit more backwards
than it should, but hopefully that is not a problem.





And it is there and there whether the wheels will be able to roll, little difficult to tell without the tires or any weight on the car.



Front end looks great :)

 
The 8 3/4 rearend will work fine. Looking at those wide rims, I would look at putting in a spring relocation kit so you can run a 275 tire or larger. The max you will get without the relocation is a 245. Ask me how I know! Get a angle finder to verify the pinion angle of the rearend. Now is the time to cut the perches and re-adjust if needed. Let me know if you need help with anything. Its looking good!
 
smartken22 said:
The 8 3/4 rearend will work fine. Looking at those wide rims, I would look at putting in a spring relocation kit so you can run a 275 tire or larger. The max you will get without the relocation is a 245. Ask me how I know! Get a angle finder to verify the pinion angle of the rearend. Now is the time to cut the perches and re-adjust if needed. Let me know if you need help with anything. Its looking good!
Click to expand...

Thanks, I never even knew such angle finder exists, so it is something like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/pinion-engi...Parts_Accessories&hash=item3f442570d8&vxp=mtr

Let's see, at least here in Finland it is almost impossible to get even 230 wide 14" tires, so I might be happy with even those. Although I might be tempted to do that relocation kit, those shackles need to be renewd anyway :)
 
limegreen70 said:
this car is going to be pretty kick *** what intake is that?
Click to expand...

thanks :) The intake is Weiand tunnel ram. Currently with two 650 cfm Holleys,
but for my engine they are way too big, going for 390 holleys instead.
 
That is a pretty good tech read. You can do it by using shims or if you are going to do a relocation kit, you will be cutting off the old perches and welding new ones on. You can set the angle before the final welding.

jippek said:
For myself and anyone interested, here is a link to reference for
the pinion angle.

http://www.moparts.org/Tech/Archive/axle/8.html

From the pictures how it looks, I would guess the rear end requires
some work...
Click to expand...
 
smartken22 said:
That is a pretty good tech read. You can do it by using shims or if you are going to do a relocation kit, you will be cutting off the old perches and welding new ones on. You can set the angle before the final welding.
Click to expand...

So I could put shims between the perch and the spring and adjust the angle with that?

I think I will leave the relocation at least for now, I have the 14" wheels and as I decided to still stay with the small bolt pattern, I am not immediately going for bigger (and wider) tires.
 
I have 275/60/15's on a 15 inch rim and NO relocation kit.
Back space currently unknown.
 

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same for me I have 275 and no rubbing

close but it doesnt tuch

for the yoke is it a coarse or a fine spline you need
fine spline could be find pretty easily between 60 to 80$

but coarse with large u joint cost more
 
Yes, here is a link to what I am talking about.

http://www.manciniracing.com/moprearaxshi.html

jippek said:
So I could put shims between the perch and the spring and adjust the angle with that?

I think I will leave the relocation at least for now, I have the 14" wheels and as I decided to still stay with the small bolt pattern, I am not immediately going for bigger (and wider) tires.
Click to expand...
 
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