I am really glad to have found this board, I recently bought a 70 duster with a /6, and I love it.
But there are the rough spots. This week, it is the carburetor. I don't know much of anything about cars, so i could use advice.
When I bought the car a month ago, the carburetor #1 (single barrel holly) was shrieking from an nice sized crack. I replaced it. The remanufactured carb (#2) leaked air from where the linkage assembly was attached.
(forgive my newbie lack of terminology.)
So I got another from the same parts company, and the fuel inlet housing broke in half when I was connecting the fuel line (#3).
As inept as I can be, I am pretty damn sure it is not my fault.

I have so far recieved the following advice:
Back out the inlet housing of the carb #2 and replace it in carb #3.
Try a new remanufacturer
Give up on a single barrel, because something else is a far better choice, ($)
and my personal favorite, "Take it to the mechanic, beats me."

Your thoughts?

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'70 Plymouth Duster 225
"A girl can fix stuff too! (sometimes.)"

Great! Welcome onto the board.
You'll certainly get plenty of that here. I'd suggest you click the red text to read this thread and obtain all three books mentioned in it as soon as you possibly can. They will pay for themselves almost immediately.
Leaky throttle shaft bushings.
It wasn't. The lesson here is that "remanufactured" parts are garbage. Virtually all of them, from virtually every source.
Well, sure, you could, but carb #2 has sloppy throttle shaft bushings that'll make hassles and problems and cause poor running and wasted gasoline.
They're all about the same at this point. Remember, you're dealing with a 36-year-old carburetor that's been abused by the "remanufacturers" probably at least five times, maybe even oftener than that.
Well, yeah, eventually you may want to change to a 2bbl for increased performance and driveability, but that's not something to tackle right off the bat when you're still learning how cars work and how to work on them. The best course of action right now is to find a good direct-fit carburetor and install it. That can be a good Holley 1920 (the same type of carb you have now), or a good Carter BBS (harder to find but better designed).
That's an easy way to burn through $$$$$$ and still not have the car running right. Today's mechanics are generally not equipped or knowledgeable to work on yesterday's cars.
If you're on a tight budget, paradoxically, older rebuilt carburetors are a much better bet than new/current ones. Standards of quality were much higher and parts "fresher" back then. The trick is finding a suitable good one! I see them go by every now and then. If you don't have to constrain costs to junkyard rates, a viable option is buying a good non-abused used carb and sending it for complete and careful refurbishing by a specialist. The results can be equivalent in every critical way to a brand-new carburetor. (which reminds me, I might even still have a brand-new one I'm not using in the shop -- hafta look, send me a PM and remind me), and those turn up on the open market from time to time, too.

Is this your one-and-only car, so it needs to be fixed and running right now if not sooner? Or do you have some time to cast around for a good carb?

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Thanks for the reply Dan, much appreciated.

Yeah, the Duster is my project and my transportation, so it is pretty important to have her back up to speed (haha) quickly.

I checked out the thread you suggested and will get right on finding those books, I have the factory manual for my year already...

I do like your idea of having an older carb refurbished, guess I just am not sure what to look for while buying.

I think I will replace the inlet housing on the crappy carb #3 for now, and hope nothing else goes wrong with it, until I can find one of the good carbs you mentioned.

Let me know if you dig one up in your shop, and thanks again.

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'70 Plymouth Duster 225
"A girl can fix stuff too! (sometimes.)"

Glad to help out. One other important bit of information so I can look for the right carburetor: Is your 1970 a California model, or a "rest of the country" model? There are a few ways to check. Look under the hood for a decal, if it's still present, that gives vehicle emission control information. It may be up front, near the radiator, on the right or left inner fender panel, or on the underside of the hood. If the car was built to California standards, the decal will say so. Otherwise, it will only mention the US EPA.

If the decal has gone missing after all these years, find the car's fender tags. These are rectangular metal plates about 2" high by 3" wide. Each car has one or two, and there are letters and numbers stamped on them.
The fender tag is found on the right or left inner fender panel (visible when you open the hood) and looks like this:



Carefully write down all the letters and numbers you find on the tag, being sure to keep the spacing correct and put them all in the right positions relative to one another. Post it here and I or someone else can decode it for you.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Somehow I still have a decal, no mention of California, couldn't see any fender tags though...

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'70 Plymouth Duster 225
"A girl can fix stuff too! (sometimes.)"

Just sent you a PM.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.