In the process of cleaning it up real good right now, to take better pictures then what is above. As soon as I get the better pictures I will post them up as well. It will be going on eBay in less then a week. The listing is super long, but it details every bit that I know about the car. Oh yeah, if anybody wants the car. I will sell it to them for what my reserve price will be which is $7500. Thanks!
Dan
You are bidding on a 1971 Plymouth Duster. It started out life as a 318 car. I got the car a couple of years ago and have slowly been improving it. Unfortunately, the things that I want to do to it are out of my price range, and I cant afford to keep the car. I will list the good and bad things about the car so you know everything I know. If I miss something it is not intentional as I am an honest guy. I cant tell you about everything as some of the items were performed before I bought the car. The reserve is $7500. $500 deposit(non- refundable) will be due within 24 hours after the auction ends via Paypal, the remainder(cash preferred, but will accept cashiers checks, but they will have to be verified as being legitimate at my bank before title is signed over) to be due upon pick up of the car at my home, within 2 weeks maximum. If it makes the buyer feel more safe, if paying in cash, we can load the car up at my house first, then we can drive to the closest town and money can exchange hands at a local bank, at that time I will sign the title over and provide a bill of sale. The title is completely clear and in my hands. Also no bidders with fewer than 10 feedback rating, if you bid your bid will be cancelled. If you have under a 10 rating then please contact me first and we will discuss it. No scammers, you will be reported to eBay right away. So here are all of the important details.
BODY:
The body is in decent shape, the person who I bought it from had a paint job done on it. It was supposedly done in 1998, and still looks pretty good. There are some chips and scratches but again for the most part its in good shape. The hood needs to be replaced or have some bodywork done to it. You can see grinding scratches in the metal that were just painted over. Also there are two large screws visible that hold the top metal layer to the bottom layer since the inner structure was cut up so much. It still looks good from a distance but you can see the flaws when close to it. I was going to replace it, but I havent gotten around to it yet. The passenger front fender needs some work around the wheel arch as the metal has cracked, but its nothing a welder couldnt take care of. There are a few spots in the front floor boards that need to be taken care of; biggest hole is probably the size of the quarter. I was going to patch them but havent gotten around to it yet. As I said they are really small, but I want to mention it because they are there. I dont believe floor pans would be a needed, just patching them with good metal. The rear quarter extensions have some holes in them that the previous owner didnt fix when he did the body. They are not huge, but again Im being honest they are there, there is paint over them, just like the floor boards so that the rust is not getting any worse. The last thing with the body is there are some Bondo bubbles starting to appear especially in the right rear quarter. The previous owner did say that the lower portions of that panel had more plastic filler then he wanted in them, but he didnt have the money to buy another full quarter. The left side or drivers side quarter was replaced with a new one from Year One. Now that I listed the concerns with the body there are a lot of good things on the body as well. The body and paint is very good for a 14 year old paint job, it has the 340 graphics on it I think they look good. It is what I would consider a very good drivers quality paint job and body. There are new chrome door handles that were installed, plus a go wing. As you can see there is a fiberglass scoop on it, and I have another one, a six pack scoop, that will go with the car as well. The underside of the car as far as can tell is in good condition except for the items I listed above. The frame rails look good and there is no rust that I can see. It has always been garaged since I bought it in 2005. The bumpers are fiberglass too, they are thicker than what I have seen in the past on race cars. Trunk pans are in great shape and have no rust on them. I think that is it for the body.
WHEELS AND TIRES
The wheels are Weld Racing Pro Stars and the fronts are 15 x 3.5 and the rears are 15 x 8. Bolt pattern for the fronts is the large Chrysler bolt pattern of 5 on 4 ½, I am unsure of the tire size, the front tires are basically brand new. I bought them about 2 years ago on Tire Rack, and I bet they dont have more then 1200 miles on them. The rear tires are BFG Radial TA and the size is P27560R15. The vehicle has wheel spacers on the rear to deal with the small bolt pattern issue that was original on this car. The bolt pattern on those wheels is actually a Chevy bolt pattern of 5 x 4 ¾, why that was done I dont know. I had planned to switch out the rear differential to solve that problem, but again money was the issue. See below for the extras this vehicle comes with as I am including a differential that I bought in the past to solve this. There are wheel locks on the rear wheels and of course the wheel lock is included.
BRAKES and SUSPENSION
Well start in the front. All of the bushings and steering components have been replaced(Ball joints, tie rod ends, pitman and idler arms). The car also has tubular upper control arms, from Magnum force racing. All of the suspension components came from Moog. Shocks were replaced with Competition engineering drag racing shocks front and rear. The torsion bars were replaced with big block units purchased from Mopar Performance. There is an Addco front sway bar on the car as well, its larger than stock but I dont know the size. The bushings and sway bar links were replaced as well. The steering box I did not touch as it is a stock manual box, and I am unsure of the ratio. I know the car had power steering originally because there is a coupler with an extension on the steering column. I didnt do anything with that, all that was done when I bought the car. I did do the front end work, with the engine in the car. That is why I didnt do anything with the steering box, as it looks like you would either have to remove the engine or drop the K member to get it out. So I just left well enough alone. Brakes are stock replacement units from 73 on up A-bodies, everything was replaced(rotors, wheel bearings and grease seals,brake pads and calipers, hoses, and all brake lines). The brake lines were replaced with Fine Lines stainless steel lines so they will never rust. I even replaced the master cylinder with a NAPA unit. I think thats it for the front. On the rear brake lines and hoses were also replaced, as well as all brake components(shoes, wheel cylinders hardware). I didnt replace the drums, but they were turned. On the suspension the rear leafs were re-arched and a leaf added by St. Louis Spring. And as mentioned above it has Competition Engineering rear shocks on it as well. It also has Competition Engineering bolt in subframe connectors.
REAR DIFFERENTIAL
The Duster currently has an 8 ¾ differential in it, I believe, with a 742 center section. The gears are strictly highway gears at 2.76:1. It has stock axles in it as well. Unfortunately it does not have a sure grip unit in it. The only problems that I am aware of, is a very small leak coming from the pinion seal. I changed the seal, and it slowed the leak, but the pinion had some pitting on it, and Im sure that is why it still leaks a bit. Again I have another differential to go with the car, as that is what I was planning to do, but a new ring and pinion would solve it as well. The drive shaft is original to the car as far as I can tell. It has the large 7290 u-joints in it and of course the pinion flange is the same large 7290 as well.
FUEL SYSTEM
I havent done much with the fuel system as most of it was there when I got the car. Per the previous owner he had the fuel tank cleaned out and painted, and it still looks nice. I replaced the sending unit when it went out, I replaced it with a 3/8 pickup version. The fuel pump is an electric Carter unit. It has a no name Fram style canister fuel filter. It also has a cowl mounted fuel pressure gauge from Autometer. I believe it is the Ultra lite version. Carburetor is an Edelbrock 750cfm unit, and I have a K&N filter assembly on it as well. One concern I have with the fuel system, is that it has rubber line from the front to the back. The line was replaced by me about a year ago, but I always wanted to return it to braided stainless steel or hard metal line, again money was an issue, that will need to be replaced right away. I meant to get to it to replace it, but the rubber line was cheap and at the time I thought that is what was on there to begin with so Ill leave it for now. I believe the previous owner gave me all of the AN fitting nuts that go to the car. If I can find them theyll go with the car.
EXHAUST SYSTEM
The car has hooker headers on it. If I remember correctly they are the competition series. Their primaries are 1 5/8, and they are also the painted variety. The exhaust system was a mandrel bent Jegs kit with their turbo mufflers; the size is 2 1/2. It sounds pretty good, I believe the chrome tips are 3.5inches.
TRANSMISSION
It is a 727 and was rebuilt a couple of years ago by a local rebuilder from a TCI transmission pro kit. I only know of two upgrades that were done other than the items in the kit. First being a Turbo Action reverse manual valve body, and second a Mopar performance deep chrome transmission pan. The shifter is a B&M mega shifter. I also have a trans temp gauge that is the Autometer Ultra lite version. The torque converter was built special to the engines specs by A&A transmission in Indy. It is a 3800 stall variety and was meant to be a street strip unit with use mostly on the strip. At that time I was also planning to use nitrous and the converter was built to handle that as well. There is a B&M transmission SFI flex plate that the converter attaches too. It also has a plate type transmission cooler to keep temps down.
INTERIOR AND TRUNK
Nothing special in the trunk, a fire extinguisher I put in there to be compliant with car show rules, the stock trunk mat which I replaced with a Year One unit, and the stock rallye wheel spare tire. On the interior the rear package tray was replaced with a Year One unit. The rear seat was sourced from a good used one. Carpet isnt stained. The carpet looks to have been cut too short, but it still looks really good. I also bought the Duster logo floor mats from ACC carpet. The headliner has been replaced but it looks like it is the wrong headliner, its not tight like I have seen in other Dusters. Its got a lot of extra material in it. It looks ok, no tears or anything . The front seats from what I was told are from eBay; they were bought and installed by the previous owner. They are in great condition, no tears or marks on them at all. The door panels are in decent condition, but the vinyl is dried up and is cracking. I replaced the arm rests a month ago. The dash pad is in great condition and has no cracks. The dash is also in great condition and the cardboard glove box has been replaced. The Duster has a Vintage air unit installed and it is working perfectly, both heater and AC. I believe it is a generation 2 unit that doesnt need any vacuum to operate, its all done with electric motors. The radio has been replaced with a DUAL CD player, and that is in perfect working order. The speakers are Sony brand and the sizes is 6 x 9 in the rear package tray and 6 inch round ones in the doors. As you can see in the pictures the car has complete instrumentation all from Autometer. Ive mentioned the outside fuel pressure gauge which is an Ultra lite version and is 2 5/8 in size. The three gauges on the dash pad are 2 1/16 variety and are all electric gauges, they are Trans temp, Voltmeter, and Air/Fuel. The tach is a sport comp monster tach with a shift light. And for the water temp and oil pressure they are Pro Comp Variety and the size is 2 5/8. The water temp gauge is electric and the oil pressure is mechanical with a brass tube instead of the supplied nylon line. It also has a Painless wiring harness and fuse block, with more modern fuses. The steering wheel is a Grant wheel.
ENGINE
Finally the best part and where I spent most of my money! The block is a 1972 casting 360cid. It has been professionally assembled by Hughes Engines in Washington, IL. They bored the block .060 which is ok for a 1972 thick wall casting, they also balanced the entire rotating assembly, line bored it, indexed the crank(to get each crank throw exactly the same), and decked the block. They also put in brass freeze plugs and did their oil system modifications, which is drilling out the oil galleys to a larger size. The crank is a stock cast unit, and it has a BHJ harmonic balancer on it. The rods are Eagle I beam, and the pistons and rings were special ordered from Diamond Racing and they are forged units. They built the pistons to have a compression ratio of 10.7:1 with the heads and head gaskets I was using. A Melling high volume pump was also installed, with a Moroso oil pickup tube. A Mopar windage tray and a Moroso 8 quart pan wrap up the bottom end. The engine has ARP main studs, and ARP head bolts. The cam is a Hughes Engines hydraulic cam, their number HE4650, with their lifters. The lift of the came is .606 intake and .614 Exhaust. The timing chain set is a Pro Gear 7 keyway double roller set. They also installed their timing chain tensioner. The heads are Edelbrock RPM aluminum and Hughes Engines ported them to their stage 2 specs. They also installed their double valve springs matched to the camshaft. The water pump is a high volume Milodon piece. I also bought Hughes engines 1.6 roller rockers and the lift of the came above is taking that into consideration. They also built me a set of pushrods for the engine. Lets see what else
. The engine has a hardened oil pump drive. The intake is also an Edelbrock RPM unit, the Airgap variety, that was also ported out by Hughes Engines. Ive already gone over the exhaust and fuel system so I believe that rounds out the engine. Other items of importance in the engine compartment are: A Optima battery, a Be Cool radiator with billet radiator cap. I also bought a Spal electric fan from Be Cool at the same time as the radiator; it is on an automatic sensor that turns on and off as needed. There is also a Flex O Lite pusher fan mounted on the AC condenser, that you control via a toggle switch mounted on the shifter. The distributor and coil are FBO components and Don curved the distributor to the engine specs. The pulleys are March Billet ones that convert it over to serpentine style belts. And lastly the alternator is out of a 02 Dodge truck 136amp.
EXTRAS!!!(you dont have to take any of it, but if you dont want to use it, you can sell it and reclaim some of your purchase price. It is all included in the auction, because once I sell this project car I have no reason to keep any of it.)
Extra differential that goes with the car, it is an 8.8 Ford unit out of a fox body mustang. I do not know what gears are in it as I havent opened it up yet. There is a thread going over on forabodiesonly.com that details people doing this swap.
A set of manual transmission pedals.
A 5 speed manual transmission that is out of a Dodge Dakota. It has the proper bell housing already attached.
A 5.7L Hemi long block. It has no valve train at all, no accessories or timing cover, no valve covers, and no oil pan. But the heads are complete(valves, springs and retainers), and the short block has crank, rods, pistons, cam, lifters, and timing chain and gears in it.
Six pack fiberglass hood scoop that goes with the car
A set of 360 iron heads. I believe they have stronger valve springs in them than stock, but Im not positive, they are an emissions era head and already have the emissions ports blocked.
The original steering wheel without the center portion;
A block hardware kit from Mopar;
Extra quarts of oil and Trans fluid that I have for the car;
Jet and metering rod kit for the carburetor; and
1971 Illinois license plates
All of these items are included in the auction. Again I know I am forgetting some items but they will all go with the car as well.
Ive done the best I can to provide you with all the details I know about this car. I have put into this car well over double what the reserve is on this and I feel that the buyer is getting a good deal at this price. Please dont low ball me, or offer me trades, I just need the cash. If the deposit for the car is not received in 24 hours, I will re-list the item and report you to eBay so I can recoup my listing fees. If you have any other questions please email me and I will do my best to answer you. Thanks for looking!!
[/QUOTE]
rayer:
