1976 Plymouth Feather Duster

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Nothing special other than making sure all the unique/special parts are present, & that it is in good condition per the asking price. Search Feather Duster & Dart Lite, wiki, allpar etc. For details.
 
First impression is a "quickie" paint job. Rust is often a problem and considering the dents and rust popping through in other locations, I'd be very cautious. Feather Dusters only came with a special slant 6, so someone dropped in a V-8. Can't tell if brakes & rear end were upgraded to handle the extra power & weight and no road test doesn't help things. Missing lug nut. Block casting numbers would need to be checked to see if it's a real 340 or actually a 318. Too many unknowns for me without closer inspections for me, just in my opinion.
 
Locomotion said:
First impression is a "quickie" paint job. Rust is often a problem and considering the dents and rust popping through in other locations, I'd be very cautious. Feather Dusters only came with a special slant 6, so someone dropped in a V-8. Can't tell if brakes & rear end were upgraded to handle the extra power & weight and no road test doesn't help things. Missing lug nut. Block casting numbers would need to be checked to see if it's a real 340 or actually a 318. Too many unknowns for me without closer inspections for me, just in my opinion.
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Pretty sure you could get a Feather with a 318.
 
2021 is only 2 months ago.
 
Jarlaxle said:
Pretty sure you could get a Feather with a 318.
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Don't have time to look up the articles at work, but I guarantee that V-8's were not an option from the factory. Feather Duster and Dart Lite were a complete, optional package with special tuned /6, auto or 4 speed O.D. stick, special gearing & aluminum bracing under the hood, trunk & behind the bumpers.
 
Just went through all 129 pictures.

Based on the pictures and the rust, chips and cracks, I would guess the repaint was quite a while ago. So I kind of doubt there are many surprises left to find under the paint. But it was definitely a quickie paint job. And definitely some rust that will need to be dealt with at some point in time.

The K-frame was changed to a biscuit mount one, and the rear appears to be an 8 3/4". The DS exhaust manifold could be the 340 freeflow, but I don't think the PS manifold is. Seems very possible that the engine/trans/diff is a drop out from a '72 340 Duster. Not a guarantee by any means, could be a 318, or even a 360, but doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility.

Kind of looks like they kept the later disk brakes, which is good.
 
DionR said:
Just went through all 129 pictures.

Based on the pictures and the rust, chips and cracks, I would guess the repaint was quite a while ago. So I kind of doubt there are many surprises left to find under the paint. But it was definitely a quickie paint job. And definitely some rust that will need to be dealt with at some point in time.

The K-frame was changed to a biscuit mount one, and the rear appears to be an 8 3/4". The DS exhaust manifold could be the 340 freeflow, but I don't think the PS manifold is. Seems very possible that the engine/trans/diff is a drop out from a '72 340 Duster. Not a guarantee by any means, could be a 318, or even a 360, but doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility.

Kind of looks like they kept the later disk brakes, which is good.
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That's weird, because if they did that, the lug pattern wouldn't match unless the 72 axle was swapped to B-body brakes and LBP axles. FWIW, it has the later master cylinder.

This is a scary car. Unknown-quality body work, rat's nest wiring, totally unknown engine internals.
 
They want $14-18K for it

Odd, I only see one beaker, for that price l, I'd expect two
 
Jarlaxle said:
That's weird, because if they did that, the lug pattern wouldn't match unless the 72 axle was swapped to B-body brakes and LBP axles. FWIW, it has the later master cylinder.

This is a scary car. Unknown-quality body work, rat's nest wiring, totally unknown engine internals.
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Good point, I didn’t think about the difference in bolt patterns.
 
DionR said:
Good point, I didn’t think about the difference in bolt patterns.
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It DOES look like an 8.75", definitely not an 8.25". Not sure how it was done...but looking at the car, I'd want to check before driving it.
 
Locomotion said:
Don't have time to look up the articles at work, but I guarantee that V-8's were not an option from the factory. Feather Duster and Dart Lite were a complete, optional package with special tuned /6, auto or 4 speed O.D. stick, special gearing & aluminum bracing under the hood, trunk & behind the bumpers.
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That agrees with the dealer data book
The 1970 Hamtramck Registry - 1976 Plymouth Dealership Data Book - Valiant/Duster

That's someone's hot rod project. A collection of parts which may or may not add up to a good package.
Execution looks like there will be things to figured out and fixed. Expect it will need to be tuned and hot rod tuning is a project, not the same as a tune up.
Wiring has been hacked. '76 has some unique wiring. If, or rather when, there are problems troubleshooting and fixing will be more difficult because of the hacks.
 
Jarlaxle said:
That's weird, because if they did that, the lug pattern wouldn't match unless the 72 axle was swapped to B-body brakes and LBP axles. FWIW, it has the later master cylinder.

This is a scary car. Unknown-quality body work, rat's nest wiring, totally unknown engine internals.
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Lol, it is doable in that body to go B-body 8.75 rear, just moving perches. Not uncommon. 2nd, there were & are literally THOUSANDS of A-body Mopars with the '73 & up discs paired with a factory SBP 8.75 rear axles. Big'nLittles ain't hard to find.
 
Killer6 said:
Lol, it is doable in that body to go B-body 8.75 rear, just moving perches. Not uncommon. 2nd, there were & are literally THOUSANDS of A-body Mopars with the '73 & up discs paired with a factory SBP 8.75 rear axles. Big'nLittles ain't hard to find.
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I wondered about the B-Body axle and looked at the pictures again to see if the car had the “elephant on roller skates” look the factory cars had to try and see if I could tell if it was an A-Body or B-Body axle. But it looks to have widened wheels in the back so couldn’t tell.

Pretty sure it isn’t a SBP axle though as (I think) the center caps on the Rallye wheels are BBP only.

My best guess is - factory A-Body 8.75” with re-drilled axles and drums. Seems like a pretty popular option way back when for awhile, got a friend that did it to his car years ago, and currently has a BB Dart project in full swing that he bought with an axle it was done to when he got it.

The better option (and another idea) is the Moser resplined BBP axle swap. That was also pretty popular back when I would bet this car was actually built.
 
It's not a Feather Duster anymore, is it?
 
RustyRatRod said:
It's not a Feather Duster anymore, is it?
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Not really. Too hard to tell what it started out as with all the changes. Fender tag would be a big help. Hood "might" be a Feather Duster hood because from the inside angle it appears to show the "crimps" holding the steel and aluminum together. Could tell for sure with an outside edge shot.
 
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