The Duster was a popular fastback variant of the Plymouth Valiant. Between 1970 and 1976, they sold more than 1.3 million of them (plus a smaller number rebadged as the Dodge Dart Demon/Dart Sport). This 1974 edition no longer sports its original engine or paint color but has a solid body awaiting some interior work and mechanical fine-tuning. Located in Rio Linda, California, this Mopar project is available here on craigslist for $8,500. Another cool tip from Pat L.!
From the looks of things, this 1974 Duster likely started out as an ordinary Plymouth with a Slant Six engine or a 318 V8. The biggest engine offered that year was 360 cubic inches and that was reserved for the Duster 360, the performance version of the car. Whatever was there has been replaced by a 400 “big block” although the 727 automatic transmission (column-shifted) could be original. We’re told it needs brakes and exhaust work, so with a few weekends of effort, this should be a drivable automobile again.
Sources indicate that the last year for Hemi Orange was 1972, so either this car was treated to special order paint, or the color has been changed to something similar. The seller does indicate that it’s a repaint and from what we can tell things are ship shape with the body and finish. A set of contrasting graphics would make the car “pop”! The Duster has been in storage for several years, so what we see here is a work in progress.
The interior is going to be part of the project work. All the seams in the vinyl upholstery have separated, so new covers fore and aft will be in order. The horn center is not installed but is present and the Plymouth has a bunch of spare parts that we believe will come to the buyer. This car has recorded more than 100,000 miles, but we don’t know how much of that is tied to the powertrain. The seller calls this a good father and son project and we’d have to agree, as long as numbers matching isn’t a requirement.
Definetely needs an interior.I would also add subframe connectors and a rear end upgrade.a few things to consider when putting a big block in a A body.The low end torque may twist the car after a while.My stepdad even put plexiglass door windows in his 69′ Road Runner because his driver door glass actually shattered from the car twisting up during a hard launch.
This thing just screams for a big white set of “01”s on the side doors, hurricane rims, and…. Well, I don’t want to upset the easily upsettable. Duster does look lile it has some potential with a fresh interior and some chassis stiffening like C Force said and it would be a fun weekend car.
There are off the shelf kits available to stroke that 400 up to 512 cubic inches!!! Big cubes, big fun.
There’s no replacement for displacement.
You just reminded me of the potential in the 400, I had forgotten about that. If I had the cash, I would drag this to Colorado!
actually the 727 was changed with the motor. there were 3 distinct configurations to the bell housing…big block, small block and slant6.
only mopar’s standards ha bolt on bell housings not the automatics.
i hope they swapped the torsion bars already. that was a job i never enjoyed.
other than that this will be a sweet ride for someone
Nice motor upgrade. Cool car, could be turned into quite a sleeper.
The power-power was where it ended for A body big blocks. There is no room for a power-steering box or power-brake booster (unless someone has come out with a header that accounts for these items), and the big block added a lot of weight over the front wheels. A lot of fun in a straight line, I am not sure I would want to drive one of these around town. A friend had a late 60’s barracuda big block setup and he added a trailer hitch to keep the back window in when launching hole shots with the car.
The best thing about a slant 6 is the sound it makes when it hits the bottom of the dumpster.
Good old school V8 decent exhaust and it would sound awesome and muffle the sound of those fart can import things running all over town