I purchased this car from Big Dick's Rod Shop in East Liverpool, OH. I paid $990.00 for it and only had $300.00 at the time of purchase. I paid him the rest over the course of the next month and took another month to save up the $400.00 it cost to go get it. It wasn't much, but it "ran and drove" according to the auction. The primer paint job got a lot of attention though..Hahaha. It did have nice white bucket seats, but that was about the best selling point.
The car was crazy reliable and even in its state of disrepair drove great. When I finally found the place he tossed me the keys and it fired right up! It may have only been a slant six, but man was I excited. My buddy who came with me jumped in and we wheeled it down to the local gas station as the tank was on "walk". $20.00 and a mile later we were back at his shop loading it up. Then I thought . o O (maybe I would just test drive it for a bit...). So I decided to put it through its pacesuntil we got to Youngstown, OH which was about 20 miles to the north. The car performed flawlessly and was a blast to drive. My smile must have been a mile wide. The front end was really noisey and the drive side wheel was really cocked out and I wondered if it was going to come apart so I thought I better not chance it anymore. I arrived safely in Youngstown and loaded it up on the dolly in a truck stop. While pulling the driveshaft off a couple people came over and told stories about thier (or thier friends/families) old Mopars. I couldn't wait to get it home and show everyone else my new primered turd.

Here are some photos of how I purchased it (directly from the eBay auction):

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1969-1/2 Dodge Super Bee A12 (440 Six Pack, 4-spd, Dana 60)
1974 Plymouth Duster 360 (4-spd, 8.75")
1973 Plymouth Duster (225, auto, 8.25")
2001 Dodge Ram 1500 QC 2wd (5.9L, auto, Dana 60)

I got it home and immediately got it ready so I could daily drive it. I lowered the front end, changed all the ball joints with premium MOOG components and swapped the front 9" drum brakes to the factory 1973+ A-body disk set-up with reman calipers and new rotors.
I gave it a tune-up including a premium distributor cap, premium distributor rotor, Bosch premium 7mm ignition wires, Bosch platinum +2 spark plugs, and added some beefier 4 gauge oxygen free copper power and ground cables, premium Wix air filter, premium Wix fuel filter, and premium PCV.
I also changed out the oil & oil filter, transmission lube, rear end lube with synthetic fluids, and flushed the coolant lines and refilled everything with Prestone 65% water / 35% coolant mix and added some Redline Water Wetter.
This is when I cut open the air filter housing and added the Zirgo 16" 3300cfm electronic fan. To make it look like a proper muscle car I mounted a mint original dual snorkel scoop on the hood and swapped the stock steel wheels and old pityful tires for the super cool Ansen Sprint (I think thats what they were) aluminum wheels (Front = 14x7 & Rear = 14x8") wrapped in Cordovan GranPrix GT tires (Front = 235/60R-14 & Rear = 245/60R-14). I eventually switched to 195/70R-14 front tires when I sold it due the 235/60R-14s rubbing at full turn. I just didn't want the new owners to have anything to be concerned about. A quick $2.00 can of flat black made the spoiler look a little better too. This is when I also removed the nasty bumperettes and everything else I could get away with on the car.
For a bit more fun while cruising I installed all new KYB shocks and a JVC CD player with RockfordFosgate 6x9" 3-way speackers in the rear deck.
For safetys sake I replace every bulb in the car with new bright units and upgraded the headlights to Wagners TruView series so everything would not look so yellow/orange anymore.

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1969-1/2 Dodge Super Bee A12 (440 Six Pack, 4-spd, Dana 60)
1974 Plymouth Duster 360 (4-spd, 8.75")
1973 Plymouth Duster (225, auto, 8.25")
2001 Dodge Ram 1500 QC 2wd (5.9L, auto, Dana 60)

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1969-1/2 Dodge Super Bee A12 (440 Six Pack, 4-spd, Dana 60)
1974 Plymouth Duster 360 (4-spd, 8.75")
1973 Plymouth Duster (225, auto, 8.25")
2001 Dodge Ram 1500 QC 2wd (5.9L, auto, Dana 60)

Hey Daniel,

I like your Duster. Did you do the paint/primer yourself? Tell us a little bit about it. You say weight reduction coming up. Are you wanting to drag race it?

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Rob

I’m Mater
The Kentucky Poser

Sorry for the long delay, however I forgot I posted in here. The primer/paint was on there when I bought, I like to think I have better taste then that. It's just not my flavor.

Anyways I have no plans to drag race this car as it will be lucky to hit 16's when I am finished. I will take it to the track once or twice just to see what she runs, but nothing more then that. I just want a car that runs awesome and is very reliable with just as great fuel economy.


As far as weight reduction goes:

Manual transmission swap (was A-904 swapped to A-833 OD aluminum case, tailshaft & belhousing)
Aluminum 14-inch wheels
Aluminum two-barrel factory intake manifold
Mopar performance aluminum/plastic master cylinder
1973 style front bumper brackets with the support removed
Removed front and rear safety bumperettes
Removed spare tire and jack assembly
Removed misc. clips, bolts, nuts, brackets...


Still looking for:

1960-62 factory aluminum slant six block
Mopar M-1 two-barrel aluminum intake manifold
1976 Plymouth Feather Duster aluminum braced hood
1976 Plymouth Feather Duster / Dodge Dart Lite aluminum braced trunk lid

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1969-1/2 Dodge Super Bee A12 (440 Six Pack, 4-spd, Dana 60)
1974 Plymouth Duster 360 (4-spd, 8.75")
1973 Plymouth Duster (225, auto, 8.25")
2001 Dodge Ram 1500 QC 2wd (5.9L, auto, Dana 60)

I finally found & purchased an NOS Mopar Performance M1 intake manifold, a complete A-body 4-speed O/D set-up for the car with Hurst chrome bucket seat shifter, and a Mopar Performance aluminum master cylinder.

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1969-1/2 Dodge Super Bee A12 (440 Six Pack, 4-spd, Dana 60)
1974 Plymouth Duster 360 (4-spd, 8.75")
1973 Plymouth Duster (225, auto, 8.25")
2001 Dodge Ram 1500 QC 2wd (5.9L, auto, Dana 60)

Wow has it been that long???

I decided to clean this thread up a bit and fix all the photos so they work again.

Unfortunetly none of the parts I picked up in the post above this one actually ever made it on the vehicle.

The body & underside of this car was just worse then what was worth fixing to me. It had been patched up already and was going to really start coming apart in the next year or two. I decided I better get out now before I got stuck with it. I just enjoyed driving it for the summer and in the fall I sold it on eBay without the snorkel scoop, Mopar M1 intake, or transmission set-up, or the MP master cylinder for $1,650.00.
The kid that bought it lived in western Ohio which is where I got the car from. Him and a buddy came up and drove it home...
Just before they left my father asked them to go out and remove my license plate from the car and they just went outside and left. Punks. Hahahaha.

I sold the Mopar M1 intake off and I kept the aluminum radiator I bought, MP master cylinder, and the 4-speed O/D set-up for a future build. Unfortunetly our building burnt to the ground with nothing surviving and our 25 year goodies collection was gone so I had to start all over again.

These are a couple of the photos I took for the auction: (the hood scoop was optional to the buyer for an extra $350.00)

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1969-1/2 Dodge Super Bee A12 (440 Six Pack, 4-spd, Dana 60)
1974 Plymouth Duster 360 (4-spd, 8.75")
1973 Plymouth Duster (225, auto, 8.25")
2001 Dodge Ram 1500 QC 2wd (5.9L, auto, Dana 60)

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1969-1/2 Dodge Super Bee A12 (440 Six Pack, 4-spd, Dana 60)
1974 Plymouth Duster 360 (4-spd, 8.75")
1973 Plymouth Duster (225, auto, 8.25")
2001 Dodge Ram 1500 QC 2wd (5.9L, auto, Dana 60)