What is this?

^^^^^^
Get rid of that puppy! And while you're at it remove the control box and all the excess wiring related to it under the seats and the dash. It's a rat's nest which opens up room under the dash when working on other items. We pulled it out of our 74 B-body and I couldn't believe how much crap was associated with that system. Like 67 says, if the system malfunctioned you had to pop the hood and push the reset button to start the car. On our 74 it was all still in place but had been bypassed by somebody. After I removed it, I cracked open the control box to see what was in it. There were a couple blackened resisters.

Do you have a factory wiring diagram for the Duster? If not, get a factory service manual with the diagrams included. You can find them on a CD and then print out the wiring diagrams. When you bypass and/or remove wiring, make notes on the diagrams such as highlighting removed wiring with a certain color highlighter. Make detailed notes on the diagram where you bypass. Keep it in a folder for future reference when working on the car.