Odd question about Dusters

[grassy]

I notice that there are two definite camps in the Duster world. Pre '73 and '73-'76.

Other than different grills and some mechanical mods, what is the difference ?

Is it all about the grill ?

Grassy

 

[justin hughes]

i believe in 72 they had the different hood, bumpers, and taillights also. 73 is when i think the duster was changed over to a slightly different look (when the govt started mandating certain features.) alot of people will say the musclecar era officially ended around 72 also and motors started getting choked down.

 

[73duster47]

Front suspension components are also different. Starting in '73 all a-bodies got disc brakes up front standard (to my knowledge). The front suspension components were also changed to be the same as those used on '68-'70 b-bodies and all e-bodies. Only difference between the a-body and b/e-body suspension pieces is the length of the upper and lower control arms. All bushings for front suspension are the same.

 

[RedFish]

The difference doesn't apply to Dusters alone. Everything from 73 up got bumpers that stick out along with other changes in body lines, and more emission controls under the hood too.

 

[Schneiderman]

I personally prefer earlier dusters due to the grill/nose and bumpers, and I prefer the look of the smooth trunk lid compared to the ridged style. But that doesn't mean I dislike later dusters or would rag on someone that had one just because it's a later model.

 

[grassy]

Funny, I would have said '71 because that is when most of the upper end MOPARS changed their body styles such as the charger and challenger..however, my mopar history is sketchy at best.

I wish my '75 had disk brakes as standard. And now I use 1973 as the cut off for buying suspension bits,etc..

Fundamentally, wasn't the Duster body (doors, hood, trunks, etc.) identical from 1970 to 1976 so the profile was the same ?

Grassy

 

[LH23H2R]

For personal , sentimental reasons , I prefer the '73 - '76 models .

1973 "A" Bodies received :

- Disc brakes standard with 318 V8
- Power disc brakes standard on 340 models
- Spool Motor Mounts
- 8.25" diff replaces the 8.75" diff
- OSAC ( Orifice Spark Advance Control ) module moved from intake to firewall
- EGR ( external ) on 198 , 225 and 318 engines ( 340 was exempt )
- 5x4.5" bolt circle pattern for wheels ( drum brake cars still held on to that stupid 5x4" pattern !! )

1976 models have a number of one year-only items :

- Ambre turn signal / parking lamp lenses in grille
- Foot-operated parking brake
- Windshield-mounted interior rear view mirror
- Disc brakes mandatory ( federal law ? ) with production starting 1st Jan 1976
- 360 Duster , as a separate model , dropped ; 360 available in any model excepting the Feather Duster
- Gold Duster trim model dropped ; replaced by a "Silver Duster" package

 

[LH23H2R]

Also , the trunk lid design changed c.1973 , in favour of a better design that was less prone to denting and deforming .

The 1970 - 1972 trunk lids are smooth , whereas the '73 & later lids had a character line running up the centre of the top .

 

[Jamakin]

Disc brakes were not standard, I have a 74 318 car with big drums up front.....

For personal , sentimental reasons , I prefer the '73 - '76 models .

1973 "A" Bodies received :

- Disc brakes standard with 318 V8
- Power disc brakes standard on 340 models
- Spool Motor Mounts
- 8.25" diff replaces the 8.75" diff
- OSAC ( Orifice Spark Advance Control ) module moved from intake to firewall
- EGR ( external ) on 198 , 225 and 318 engines ( 340 was exempt )
- 5x4.5" bolt circle pattern for wheels ( drum brake cars still held on to that stupid 5x4" pattern !! )

 

[Dartnut]

To name a few off the top of my head,
'73 and newer has:
Different front clip except fenders
Different rear tail light panel and tail lights, different trunk lock style
Fold down rear seat as an option
interior door panels with plastic trim on top as well as relocated door handle in a different style, armrests f+r, rear window sail panels under side glass made out of plastic
side impact beams in the doors
front seats have headrests incorporated in them ("tombstone" type)
cardboard headliners
electronic ignition on all engines
side marker lights, plastic rectangular that sit on top of sheetmetal
biggest rear diff was an 8 1/4" bbp, no more 8 3/4" sbp (boo, hiss!)
All v8 cars came standard with the bbp front discs and 1/2" wheel studs and bbp all around. (The best thing that mopar did to a bodies, they probably realized that they would only be getting heavier lol)

The '72 was a transition year and had half of these features, and half of the '70 and '71
stuff, but did not have bbp
'74 and up started the impact bumpers and a different style rear bumper

These are the basic differences, there is a lot more if you nit pick, but these are the main ones that stick out in my head.
I hope this helps.
Tom.

 

[grassy]

Thank-you for your responses. I have learned a lot.

Except for the grill, etc. the Demon, which was produced in 71 and 72 mirrored the Duster ?

Thanks
Grassy

 

[LH23H2R]

Disc brakes were not standard, I have a 74 318 car with big drums up front.....

- Disc brakes standard with 318 V8

I believe it was a delete option ( credit ) . I've seen exactly one '73 Duster , 318-powered ( E44 on tag ; "G" in v.i.n. ) , which had manual drum brakes , and was coded as such on its fender tag ; I believe the sales code is "B12" or "B13" .

Can't blame anyone whom wanted for drums back in '73 . Those trouble-prone Kelsey-Hayes 4 piston brakes were a plague , and were used through at least 1972 on "A" Bodies ; not sure if most were aware that those junks were dropped by '73 / '74 .

Same thing goes for 1970 & up "B" bodies : 1969 was the last year that Road Runners , et al. , used those K-H 4 piston brakes ; yet quite a few "B" bodies still had those dumb drums instead of discs ( I've seen "Super Track Pak" optioned cars that had the discs deleted . Perhaps that was more of a race track deal , as drums were more desirable for 1/4 milers than disc brakes , as they tend to "drag" ) .

 

[grassy]

"Kelsey-Hayes 4 piston '

Here I thought that these disks brake systems were far superior than the "standard" one piston system.

Grassy

 

[CUDACOX]

The 1970-71 Duster's are Identical except for the Rallye dash and grille in the 340 car. In 72 they changed the tail lights and had bumper jack slots in the bumpers,this was introduced in some late 71 cars.Also the 72 340 cars had no rallye dash,but would still have the shark tooth grille as 71's did. 1973 was a big change with the dash,front nose/grille and rear tail panel/lights.Interior door panels and handels are different as well.For the most part the body was the same.

 

[abodyjoe]

I notice that there are two definite camps in the Duster world. Pre '73 and '73-'76.

Other than different grills and some mechanical mods, what is the difference ?

Is it all about the grill ?

Grassy

the biggest thing between 72-down and 73-up dusters that divide people are in 73 they changed the front clip, tail light panel, int door panels and went to the big bumpers... its really that simple..

 

[stroked 340]

After '71 you can keep the duster.,70-'71's have better looking grilles better looking taillights better looking bumpers and much better looking sidemarkers,side stripes are nicer too..

 

[LH23H2R]

"Kelsey-Hayes 4 piston '

Here I thought that these disks brake systems were far superior than the "standard" one piston system.

Grassy

On paper and in theory , the 4 piston Kelsey-Hayes brakes were supposed to be superior to the single piston setup ( and certainly far superior to yucky drums ) , but in application , they were trouble-prone .
My '72 Dart had those K-H brakes on it from 1972 - 1991 ( I owned it from 1989 - 1999 ) , and they fought me all of the time !

The pistons used to wear the pads unevenly ( as the pistons would stick in their bores , even after I had the bastards rebuilt !! ) , and the pistons would freeze in the bores , making the brakes dangerous at best !
I even switched to DOT 5 Silicone in 1990 ( after having the calipres
rebuilt ) , in order to cut down on corrosion ; nothing helped !

Parts were obsolete for those brakes for many , many years ( brake rotors were strictly UN-available !! ) ; now you can buy 'em all day long !

The single piston brakes of '70 & up ( B , E , F , M , J , R , ) , '74 & up C bodies ) and '73 - '76 ( A bodies ) are much , much better .

I think that the only reason why brake pads were available for those 4 piston calipres in later years is because the pre-1967 Mustangs used the same pads ( and same system , iirc ) .

 

[rapom65]

Differences '72 and earlier and '73 and later:
1. Spool engine mounts
2. K member changed for spool engine mounts and sway bar change
3. Redesigned sway bar and lower control arm sway bar mount changed
4. Spool transmission mount and crossmember
5. 3 point seat belts (lots of changes due to new mandated safety equip.)
6. Grills
7. Side marker lights
8. Transition to 5 mph impact bumpers front & rear
9. Bumper jack slots in bumpers
10. Electronic ignitions
11. Trunk lid crease added
12. Interior door latch redesign
13. Cardboard headliner
14. Redesigned interior trim = upper door panels, sail panels, ect
15. Addition of Space Duster option (fold down rear seat back)
16. Emissions controls
17. My '74 had big chunks of cast iron bolted to the floor pan and tail shaft. I assume these were for vibration (sound) deadening purposes
18. Hood "ridge/bulge" added
19. No more 8 3/4 rears
20. 4 1/2" bolt pattern only

My brain hurts, someone else take over.......

 

[blackbomber]

The bigger rear bumper didn't appear until '74, as far as I know. Look to the yellow and red '73's abodyjoe posted earlier in this thread.

 

[MY340]

Manual crank sunroof option first offered on A-bodies in 1973 as the previous sunroof was the rollback sunroof like VW's.

You guys forgot that one! :toothy10: