Its time get serious on restoring my 71 Duster 340. I bought this car back in Jan and have been doing little things on it as time and $ allowed. Its almost time for paint so I thought I'd share the build.
The guy I bought the car from got it from the original owner in Escondido, CA. He thought was going to restore it but wasn't really in Mopars, so after owning it for 6mos he deceided to sell it. It came with the original carb, wing, and a lot of new, in the box, parts. We agreed on a price and I picked it up on Superbowl sunday, listening to game on the way home.
Shortly after getting it home I started digging around to get the original owners contact info. Thanks to my wife she found the correct phone #. I finally got in contact with Woody and listened to all his stories about the car he had. It was sitting on the showroom floor when they bought it, and it was pretty spendy at the time as its loaded with options. It had the name "Dusty" written on the decklid and I asked it that was its nickname, he laughed and said no...it was called "The Ruster". Thanks to the surface rust and being stored under a heavy canvas tarp outside for 15 years...
The car has the #'s matching motor and trans. The fender & inspectors tag were on it, but no build sheet has been found. It runs and drives well, other than looking & sounding like something Joe Dirt would drive! I've rounded up all the parts I need to complete the restoration. It didn't need much as the only thing changed on it was the exhaust, cam, wheels, and carb. Time to get busy!

Heres how the interior looked when I got it. Take note of the original cassette player!

Heres how it looked after cleaning it up and rubbing what was left of the paint out.

Front view

doesnt look bad at all from a starting stand point keep the pics and updates coming

Heres the fender tag for the #'s crowd..

The engine compartment, missing a few items that I had already removed for resto (heater box, wiper motor, wiring harness, etc)

Eng compartment pass side

Cool car, looks real original. You have to love 71 duster 340 4 speeds.

I've owned a few 340 A bodies over the years and have had a blast with all of them. I wanted a 70 Dart 340 when this one came along and knew I couldn't pass this one up. Unmolested Duster 340 4spds are pretty hard to find nowadays.

Since getting the car home I have gotten some things done on it already.

First was the heater box restoration.

Heater box after restoration. A big thanks to member 71TA (DMT) for providing much needed gasket kits for this car.

I also got the seats and carpet done. Quite a contrast to the pic above of how it was when I got it. I used original style cotton batting on the seats and am very impressed with the results. It give the seats that plush firmness that foam didn't. Although the seats are out of it now.

When I got it all of the spare parts were in the trunk and I didn't get to see the spare tire till I unloaded it. Needless to say it confirmed that the door sticker was correct, and that it did come with Ralleys when new. Later the orig owner confirmed this, but its been wearing those slot wheels since 72. I had to put it on the front to see how it would look. Although not the original spare, I'll take it as its one of the original wheels and tires!

All of the rust has been fixed and it will be off to the media blaster & painter soon. Time to completely disassemble it and get it mounted to the rotisserie in the next week. Here you can see the lower patch panel, rear window corner, trunk gutter corners and the go wing support repairs. Also the front windshield corner and pass 1/4 patch were done.

Try not be jealous of my lightweight race seat! Boy did that make for an interesting drive around the neighborhood yesterday. Shouldn't take too long to pull the rest of the int parts out. No more joyrides till after its painted..

I like it.

Sweet car, keep us posted. I have a soft spot for those cars.

Heres a neat/odd detail on the cars. Its says "E5" on the drivers side front rad support. It will be going back this way too.

I got some more progress done today. I spent most of the day getting the grille out and apart....without breaking anything!!!
I also got the tail lights, harness, dome light, wiper washer bottle & lines, horn and ECS system pulled out today.

Wow! What a great find. Fe5 Red 4 speed with hood pins and a black vinyl top.Just when you think these finds are starting to dry up this one pops up.Awesome car.Please keep us posted with more pictures and keep up the great work