1976 Duster
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There was a 76 Duster 360.
Locomotion
Well-Known Member
Actually, the F-bodies were worse and had several recalls, including rusting fenders.
1976 was the year of the Dart Lite and Feather Duster. Hood and trunk had aluminum bracing and the bumpers had aluminum inner reinforcements (The inner structure that bolted directly to the "shock absorber" bumper brackets.) Aluminum cased 4-speed OD was an option and the /6 had a specially calibrated carb on an aluminum intake. "Spirit of '76" was a cool optional appearance package for the bicentennial on the Dart Sport. I can't recall if the Duster had it too.
They may have gone to big bolt pattern wheels, even on those with front drum brakes. I'm a bit fuzzy on that one as well.
1976 was the year of the Dart Lite and Feather Duster. Hood and trunk had aluminum bracing and the bumpers had aluminum inner reinforcements (The inner structure that bolted directly to the "shock absorber" bumper brackets.) Aluminum cased 4-speed OD was an option and the /6 had a specially calibrated carb on an aluminum intake. "Spirit of '76" was a cool optional appearance package for the bicentennial on the Dart Sport. I can't recall if the Duster had it too.
They may have gone to big bolt pattern wheels, even on those with front drum brakes. I'm a bit fuzzy on that one as well.
My avatar is my Spirit of 76 Dart sport that somebody painted ugly stripes on. The interior reminds me of a Hang Ten Dart with the multi coloreod seats however it does not have the orange trim or carpeting. It is a 318 car with air conditioning from the factory. According to Mopar collector's guide it is the only v8 they had ever heard of. I have found five or six more, one of them being a 360 car out in New York.
Years ago I ran across a Spirit of 76 duster out in New York and I could not convince the guy to not crush it. He's striped of everything you could get off of it then he crushed it. He would not sell it to me, I don't know why but he felt it needed to be crushed because it had rust in it.
Years ago I ran across a Spirit of 76 duster out in New York and I could not convince the guy to not crush it. He's striped of everything you could get off of it then he crushed it. He would not sell it to me, I don't know why but he felt it needed to be crushed because it had rust in it.
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The Duster was still a great car in its final year. The Aspen and Volare? Ugh...
This was like going from Snap-On tools to Harbor Freight stuff.
Differences in the 1976 models that I am aware of:
Antenna design is different.
Parking brake is a foot pedal instead of the pull handle.
Speedometer tops out at 100 mph.
ALL had electronic ignition, catalytic converters and single exhaust.
Now the following is from my own observations and there has been some dispute....
I had a 76 2 door, slant six automatic Dodge Dart. It was stripped down too. I don't recall the fender tag but I suspect that the only option that it had was the automatic transmission. This car had 4 wheel 9 inch drum brakes. Many people claim that by January 1 1976, ALL USA built cars had to have front disc brakes. Some also claim that 9 inch front drums do not appear in any 1976 factory service manual. The car I owned was not the only 1976 A body that I saw that had these small drums either. I used to be an active junkyard crawler in the 90s. I recall going to the self serve junkyards and seeing a BUNCH of Dusters, Darts, Valiants and early Barracudas. Imagine having your choice of what car to pick from! Good times. I recall seeing more than one 1975-76 model car with 4 wheel 9 inch drums.
Good luck with the car.
This was like going from Snap-On tools to Harbor Freight stuff.
Differences in the 1976 models that I am aware of:
Antenna design is different.
Parking brake is a foot pedal instead of the pull handle.
Speedometer tops out at 100 mph.
ALL had electronic ignition, catalytic converters and single exhaust.
Now the following is from my own observations and there has been some dispute....
I had a 76 2 door, slant six automatic Dodge Dart. It was stripped down too. I don't recall the fender tag but I suspect that the only option that it had was the automatic transmission. This car had 4 wheel 9 inch drum brakes. Many people claim that by January 1 1976, ALL USA built cars had to have front disc brakes. Some also claim that 9 inch front drums do not appear in any 1976 factory service manual. The car I owned was not the only 1976 A body that I saw that had these small drums either. I used to be an active junkyard crawler in the 90s. I recall going to the self serve junkyards and seeing a BUNCH of Dusters, Darts, Valiants and early Barracudas. Imagine having your choice of what car to pick from! Good times. I recall seeing more than one 1975-76 model car with 4 wheel 9 inch drums.
Good luck with the car.
I had a stripper 76 slant dart that had front discs and 71/4 rear alllRge bolt parttern. Kin
dirty white boy
50 yr old Juvenal delinquent
my 76 duster /6 a/c auto p/s car came with big bolt pattern disc and 7 1/4 rear. it came with a grill like ive never seen in any other duster reminds me of a 70 cuda grill
joesnow
Well-Known Member
I had a '76 Feather Duster
Auto/ with A.C.
Kinda defeated the mileage thing lol
It drove n ran great....a lot of crap under the hood though ugh....
I'd buy another 76
Auto/ with A.C.
Kinda defeated the mileage thing lol
It drove n ran great....a lot of crap under the hood though ugh....
I'd buy another 76
Riddler
Project EH-Body
My Duster is a 76. Started off as a 318/904 with an 8 1/4" No where near that now though.
Not many 76's around....
Riddler
Not many 76's around....
Riddler
My dart sport is 76. Hang 10 318,not sure of trans until spring.
Disc brakes and it had/has limited slip in the rear. Last time it was driven was 26 years ago.
If its a 7-1/4,im hoping to use the center in the diff for the barracuda.
Disc brakes and it had/has limited slip in the rear. Last time it was driven was 26 years ago.
If its a 7-1/4,im hoping to use the center in the diff for the barracuda.
Probably stolen.
bruceo2011
Still waiting for Y2K
For some reason, Ma Mopar decided to run the alt gauge through the circuit board on the 76's. So the board has two extra pins and wiring harness has two extra wires.
Was titled in his name he told me.
In stinkin' California, that poor thing would have to be smogged....75 is our cutoff year..... That sucks because there are a lot of cool cars that still fall under the smog laws....
Jeff
Jeff
One of my Dusters is a '76. Though not my favorite year of Duster, I'd buy another one if I got the right deal. It came with 318, 904, 8.25 rear with 2.45 gears. Factory stabilizer bar in the front, and of course large bolt patter with disc brakes.
With the fold-down rear seat, A/C, power steering, power brakes and the heavy bumpers, these are among the heaviest A-bodies.
Mine now has a 360 (basically stock) in it, manual steering, manual brakes, no A/C and I cut 32 pounds of steel from behind just the front bumper alone. I bet it's still over 3200 lbs without me and a 1/4 tank of gas.
I hung my own dual exhaust....
With the fold-down rear seat, A/C, power steering, power brakes and the heavy bumpers, these are among the heaviest A-bodies.
Mine now has a 360 (basically stock) in it, manual steering, manual brakes, no A/C and I cut 32 pounds of steel from behind just the front bumper alone. I bet it's still over 3200 lbs without me and a 1/4 tank of gas.
I hung my own dual exhaust....
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Dartnut
Don't hate me because i'm beautiful
All of the A-Bodies for '76 got front turn signal lenses (in the grille) in amber instead of clear like all of the other years.
Few years back I had the same, feather duster auto AC ran great good car out of Al. I have a79 Volare, rust free texas car, I like like it except ALL the under hood crap, has more so than the76 duster!! The 76 F bodies had rust on fenders because hey reecived different paint method i have been told. No problem with the A and rust in 76 other than normal rust problems.
I have a brand new chrysler fender for the f body,left over from the rusting fender campaign. Was given to me.
I bet you can mention that fender on for FMJ bodies or the facebbok site for these models and find it a home. Ye ma mopar replaced a lot of fenders that year when they figured out they screwed up.
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