1971 Duster 340, 4spd, FE5/blk resto, "ruster" to Duster!

[813Demon340]

Its time get serious on restoring my 71 Duster 340. I bought this car back in Jan and have been doing little things on it as time and $ allowed. Its almost time for paint so I thought I'd share the build.
The guy I bought the car from got it from the original owner in Escondido, CA. He thought was going to restore it but wasn't really in Mopars, so after owning it for 6mos he deceided to sell it. It came with the original carb, wing, and a lot of new, in the box, parts. We agreed on a price and I picked it up on Superbowl sunday, listening to the game on the way home.
Shortly after getting it home I started digging around to get the original owners contact info. Thanks to my wife she found the correct phone #. I finally got in contact with Woody and listened to all his stories about the car he had. It was sitting on the showroom floor when they bought it, and it was pretty spendy at the time as its loaded with options. It had the name "Dusty" written on the decklid and I asked it that was its nickname, he laughed and said no...it was called "The Ruster". Thanks to all the surface rust and being stored under a heavy canvas tarp outside for 15 years...
The car has the #'s matching motor and trans. The fender & inspectors tag were on it, but no build sheet has been found. It runs and drives well, other than looking & sounding like something Joe Dirt would be proud to roll in! I've rounded up just about all the parts I'll need to complete the restoration. It didn't really need much as the only thing changed on it was the exhaust, cam, wheels, and carb. Time to get busy!

 

[813Demon340]

One of the first things I did was redo the heater box. A big thank you goes to out to http://www.detroitmuscletechnologies.com/ for providing the much needed gaskets for rebuilding this car.

 

[813Demon340]

The next thing I did was recover the seats and install the new carpet. I was bale to find the original cotton batting for the seats which made it really feel like new compared to using foam only. I also was able to redo the burlap that I found at walmart. The interior was all complete but nasty when I got it. Notice in the pic the original cassette recorder coupled to an AM radio. That was a spendy option around $200. The car was a showroom model according to the original owner and it was either this car or or an LS6 Chevelle....I think he made the right choice!:burnout:

 

[813Demon340]

Heres the engine compartment as I got it. The original carb came in the trunk, as theres some funky Holley spreadbore on there now. I have got set of exhuast manifolds for it to replace the ancient, leaky, square collector flange headers that have been on on it since 1972.

Heres the fender tag. I found very small remnants of a broadcast sheet in a mouse nest behind the passenger sail panel, but there was no #'s on it. Sucks too being that its an LA built car and thanks to a no trash policy most didn't have broadcast sheets.

 

[813Demon340]

I just got the car back from a friend who fixed any rust problems on it. There wasn't too much: lower 1/4 patches, lower rear window corner, front lower window corner, upper trunk gutter corners, a couple of small patches, and reinforcing the decklid where the wing cracked it out.

I'm trying to do as much as I can myself, but I know that some things are best left to professionals.rayer:

 

[moparker]

Great job and great srory.

 

[LH23H2R]

being that its an LA built car and thanks to a no trash policy most didn't have broadcast sheets.

"No trash policy" at the L.A. plant ?
I'm not doubting it ; I've just never heard of it !

Just about every L.A.-built car I've dealt with had a build sheet shoved-up under the dash . Have you checked there yet ?

This marks the first time I've seen a Duster with the rare factory cassette player !
I've seen 1 Demon and countless B-bodies with the cassette deck , but never a Duster 'til now .
VERY cool !
I believe that option alone ( R26 ) was closer to $300 , which was a butt load of coin in '71 !

I really like the bench seat ! Those fold down arm rests are quite comfy .

Good luck with the rest of your resto ! Keep those pics coming !

 

[813Demon340]

Heres a discussion about LA built cars and their lack of build sheets. I have looked everywhere. I will be pulling the dash out this week, so I'm hoping to get lucky.

Yes that was very expensive option. From what I've added up the car cost around $4k new, which is a lot for a Duster. The radio & cassette player are off getting serviced by Wards.. http://wardsclassiccarradiorepair.com and should be working again soon.

 

[813Demon340]

http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=6400956&page=0&fpart=1&vc=1

LA built cars discussion

 

[813Demon340]

Heres some pics of when I redid the seats. Don't show them to my wife as she'd freak if she knew I did it on the dining room table :-D Seats are pretty easy if you've never done them, just take your time. I can't say enough about using cotton batting instead of foam. It cost about $50 for a roll that could do 2-3 interiors.

 

[340duster]

Keep the pictures coming as you do the resto. It is interesting to see unmolested cars. It's funny what you can get away with when the wife isn't home. The dishwasher is a good parts cleaner! I have never seen the cassette player in an A-body either. Nice job on the seats.

 

[813Demon340]

When I bought the car the trunk was completely full of parts so I never got to see the spare. Although it wasn't the original spare, it was one of the original wheels and tires! It confirmed the door jamb tire inflation sticker, that it did come with Ralleys originally. The original owner confirmed this, but told me the slot wheels have been on there since 72. He added the wheels, goodyear "blue streak" tires, headers, cherry bombs, side exhaust, and a big cam to it in 72. Said he never got beat, but did get run down by a Fury cop car. :burnout:
I had to put the spare on for a teaser look.

 

[340wedge]

One of the first things I did was redo the heater box. A big thank you goes to out to http://www.detroitmuscletechnologies.com/ for providing the much needed gaskets for rebuilding this car.

Really Nice job, It's coming along great. Did I spy a J81 on the tag? GO wing?

 

[gerahead]

Nice work so far. Is that a Javelin or an AMX nose poking into the last pic? Keep the pix coming. L8r

Jim

 

[813Demon340]

Yes its an original go wing car. The wing is cracked on the drivers side though, almost like somebody tried to pull it off and broke it. I'll be ordering a new one from First Place soon.

Yes that my 68 AMX, 390/auto that I've had since high school (88). It will be my sons car one day. I just finished restoring it not too long ago.

 

[813Demon340]

About the only cool options that this car didn't have would be:
1) V24 340 hoodblackout
2) Dual painted racing mirrors
3) Bucket seats
4) Tuff wheel

It will probably get the tuff wheel & dual chrome racing mirrors.

If you're a total purist look away....cause I'm adding one thing that should have come on these 340 cars..:-D They'll be painted red and have the 340 emblem like the 70 Darts

 

[moparker]

It's your car have at it. Still a great find and resto IMO.

 

[340sFastback]

Very cool project.

 

[813Demon340]

I got some more progress done today. I spent most of the day getting the grille out and apart....without breaking anything!!! I also got the tail lights, harness, dome light, wiper washer bottle & lines, horn and ECS system pulled out today.

 

[sireland67]

Looks like a sweet car to restore.
Funny the original owner called it the "Ruster" that car looks to have a very good body.

My uncle bought a new 70 duster blue with a blue interior.
When the car was 4 years old and had 40,000 miles on it the rear sub frame rusted so bad one rear spring came thru the trunk floor.

You just have to love the salt they put on the roads around here.
I envy the rust free cars you have on the west coast.

 

[813Demon340]

Yeah you're right its certainly not rusty by any means. Now my 72 Demon 340 body that came from Mass is a whole different story...

 

[813Demon340]

I got the side windows, tracks and some other misc things done today. My helpers had lots of fun grabbing gears, steering, and making those "pppbbbbbllllaaaaattttttt" noises. My son has got the 3rd gear powershift down already. He was talking about beating Kyle Busch for the win...

 

[LH23H2R]

Hamtramck Historical Class of 1970 (site run by Alaskan T/A , Barry Washington ) has T.S.B.'s and factory illustrations showing the routing of the ECS system for Calif-spec cars for '71 , if you're interested .
Even if you're not interested , Hamtramck Hist is well-worth perusing regardless .:coffee2:

 

[813Demon340]

Barry is a true asset to the hobby, IMO. Great website!!!

I got the driveline ready to drop out now. I mocked up the rotisserie and need to make some adapter brackets. Theres lots of little things to get done before media blasting and before paint. :clock::clock::clock:

 

[813Demon340]

I got the gas tank pulled, the door glass out, and the rusted window trim screws removed today. Under the tank if definately black. The undercoating was sprayed with the tank installed. I will get pics I can post shortly.

I also spent a good portion of the day figuring out how to get the rotisserie I borrowed to work, and to troubleshoot why my welder wasn't working. :rant: Turns out its more for a Chevy body/ frame than a Mopar. No worries I will fabricate the correct arms tomorrow. Its going to set me back day to get it all straightened out but I don't want to rush it.

Seems like I have too little time to work on this right now, but its going to be a lot of work till it goes off to the media blaster next week.