My 70 Plymouth Duster Custom Faded Paint!

[dustadude]

So, I figure I should finally put up alittle something about my purple dinosaur called Barney, aka my 1970 Plymouth Duster. I bought the car when I was 16 for $700 from a guy a few streets over who had bought it for his kid that didn't want it. His loss was my dream gain! It looks the same from the outside as the way it did when I first bought it. I'll eventually get to the body, but for now it screams straight out of the 70's and anyone who sees it knows exactly who is behind the wheel. That being said, these are some simple pictures that I took of the car about a year ago, it's currently in the shop being brought back to life so I can start driving it again, so expect more pictures to follow!

This little purple dinosaur started off life as a basic 1970 Plymouth Duster, built in Southern California, black interior, black exterior, powered by the noble 318. Drums brakes all around, and it currently has an 8 3/4 rear end that I don't know if it came with from the factory because I have no fender sheet or build sheet for the car. At some point too someone yanked the 318 and put in a 74' 360 but I had no idea until I pulled the motor to rebuild and saw the casting and just about pooped myself. But I'm rambling on, here's the beauty shots, more to follow soon!

 

[dustadude]

I've got some more pictures of the Duster currently in the shop getting worked on. Hope you enjoy. Its not perfect, just trying to get it running and back on the road for the first time in 8 years!

 

[Abodybomber]

Nice turnaround! Are you going to keep the custom paint, long term?

 

[zhandfull]

Nice little project you have. I like the 70-71 model year Dusters the best. Looks like a lot of work but the price was right.

 

[Dartnut]

I like it, i like it a lot!
It screams personality.......

 

[chryslerfat]

Did you make the wiskey dents or were they there when you bought? Great solid car and nice knowing you have hung on to it.

 

[clhyer]

Looks like you have some momentum going:cheers:
Keep it up, and keep posting pics!
C

 

[68383GTS]

Nice... yes that is a very 70's look.

 

[dustadude]

I was going to just paint it the Plum Crazy, but the stripes have grown on me now and I think I'm going to eventually get it all repainted the exact same way. And all the whiskey dents were there except the front passenger fender dent, that one I did when I was 17 and got my neighbors trucks bumper. I love this car, had been kicked out of my mom's house twice when I was younger because I refused to sell it, so I'll be buried in this car. I plan to try to keep it the exact same. I'll try to get some more pictures soon, and once I get it started, I'll post a link to youtube so you guys can hear it. It's a 74 360, with ported heads, 340 cam, can't remember the exact specs of it right now, and topped with an Edelbrock intake and newly remaned Thermoquad Carb. Trans is being rebuilt because I destroyed it when I was younger from not having the trans kickdown setup! 904 trans with an 8 3/4 rear end, sbp. Thanks for the comments guys!

 

[inkjunkie]

Nice turnaround! Are you going to keep the custom paint, long term?

I think a repaint, some color/design would look cool if it could be done where it was not real bright...if that makes sense....

 

[JDMopar]

Kicked out of Moms house twice....just for refusing to sell it? First thing I'd do when you get it on the road, is go to her house and do a funny car burn out right in front of it! LOL. :burnout:

 

[dustadude]

I don't know, I'm just now finally getting to the point where we have a good relationship so the burn out might piss her off again, but then again, she can't kick me out again if I don't live there! For the paint, I'm thinking the exact same way again, plum crazy with the stripes, but that will be a while down the road

 

[JDMopar]

I understand, and was really just being silly anyways. I'd do the same thing on the paint and stripes. Just make it all new. I'm building a 70 Duster with a 5.7 Hemi, and I'm going to paint it exactly like the one I had in high school 40 years ago. FJ5 Limelight Green, with a black vinyl top. It had gold side stripes too, but I don't know if I can bring myself to add those instead of black reflective Duster 340 stripes. I want to have the Duster 340 decals made to say Duster 345, because that's the cubic inches of a 5.7 Hemi.

 

[j-miller]

I like it and would love to see it done back into that 1970's look!

 

[dustadude]

Ill be sure to keep you all posted on the progress of it! 5.7 Hemi, man that sounds nice right there

 

[67 prostreet gt]

Looks sexy I would keep the body the same

 

[Abodybomber]

I think a repaint, some color/design would look cool if it could be done where it was not real bright...if that makes sense....

It does. Toning down the graphics colors,so it doesn't overpower the main color. Cool car!

 

[dustadude]

You would keep it the same, no body work?

 

[dustadude]

So an update, they started it today, and the rebuild thermoquad I bought from classic industries appears to not be pumping gas into the car causing it to die from starvation. I looked at it, and fuel it getting to it, but there is no spray when you push the accelerator pump down. Hopefully they'll tear it apart and get a better look at it tomorrow as I am moving in 5 days. I also can't seem to find the correct transmission kickdown linkage that I'm looking for so I have to tackle that hurdle too, I don't want to destroy the transmission again. So all in all its a bittersweet day to see the car will start, but sucks that there are more issues now. Hopefully tomorrow I will have some better news, thanks guys.

 

[dustadude]

So an update, I picked up the car, it won't even drive more than a foot. The mechanic told me the TQ carb is warped, but when I looked I didn't see any leakage at all. I did notice that when you press the gas, none of the linkages on the TQ are doing anything, so I don't know if the linkages are all out of whack and need to be corrected somehow? All I know is I've got the car on a trailer, ready to move back to the San Francisco Bay Area, that I paid a decent amount to get running, and its not running. I'm hoping I'll be able to find someone when I get there that can check out the carb for me but we will see. I'll keep all you guys posted. Thanks for checking out this page

 

[Thunder]

Love the car. Keep the paint the same without the dents. As far as the carb, you can check that with a straight edge. There should be a warranty with the carb. I can't see Classic sending out a warped carb. I'll keep watching this one.:coffee2:

 

[dustadude]

So and update, been raining here non stop so I can't work on it. So when I tried to start the car it wouldn't, but as soon as I let go of the key to start it the motor would pop, so now I'm not sure if the timing is out of
whack but I'll have to look into that too. Not going to well but in the meantime I'm starting my hunt for good fenders and possibly new doors and glass. Hopefully I'll have done more updates soon, thanks for checking this out fellas, happy holidays

 

[dustadude]

I finally got the car started. Adjusted the thermoquad and got it to start. Still needs timing and timing correctly, but this is already the car idling. Enjoy guys.
[ame]Http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hCbKhkSkwCA[/ame]

 

[dustadude]

Wow it's been so freaking long since I have posted. Long story short, I finally got the Duster running and was able to drive it around for a few miles to test it out locally. I have a ton of stuff to still fix, like broken speedo cable, gas gauge not working (thinking I have a bad sending unit), rusted floorboards, rusted a-pillar, carb secondaries not adjusted properly. Basically a whole crap ton. But I have to admit, I was happier than all hell to be driving her again!

 

[clhyer]

C