I am going to be looking at a 71 Duster 340 auto to buy. The car had quarters, rockers body/paint done a couple of years ago. I am ok mechanically but a bit clueless when it comes to the body. Is there anything specifically I should look for on this car beyond the usual floors and frame rails?

a 340 duster wont be cheap (even in Canadian dollars!). this is just a BTT for ya but first I would get myself in the mindset that if it ain't right (body/mech) & if the price is too exorbitant that you WILL pass (I know it is (very) hard to do). those guys can smell car fever in a mark

Front frame rails, between the upper control arm mounting and the firewall, and the trans crossmember where the torsion bars anchor for rust. Tap them with a hammer, (light taps, not pound on them) if the hammer blows through, or the rails dent easily, they are junk. Gene

Where to start?

Rust:

Lower quarters front and back of wheel wells down low especially
Trunk floor, spare tire well
Rockers
Inner fender panels near the hood hinges
Dog Legs of front fenders
Lower door pinch welds
Frame rails and trans cross member/torsion bar mounts. IMO if there is frame rust don't buy the car!

Body Numbers:

Upper radiator core support (drivers side)
Rear package tray near the drivers side speaker hole (you need to remove the rear cardboard package shelf to see this area)

Engine & Trans #'s

Engine: VIN sequence number is stamped on a raised pad right above the engine mount on the passenger side of the block (PIA to see when oily and paint covered).

Trans: VIN sequence number is stamped on a raised pad on the drivers side center of main case

*A truly numbers matching car with at least a fender tag, and hopefully a broadcast sheet is worth FAR more than one lacking one or more of these items.

*These cars are all about options (and there were many). Good/bright colors and black cars bring a lot more than hum drum/drab colors. V24 cars are hugely popular, Air conditioning is a detractor to most buyers, manual trans cars bring a premium over automatics. Floor shift automatics bring a premium over column shifts, and so on.

Post a pic of the fender tag and we can decode its original options for you.

Good luck!

Some pictures. These are the rear package tray numbers

Door VIN decal = Drivers door

Engine VIN = 2 pic, one example is clean, the other is typical, take along some rags, a flashlight, a sharp scraper, and some solvent to clean it up. Take a bunch of pics to review later.

Radiator core support numbers, often hard to read, buried in paint and primer

Trans VIN 727 auto

Engine assembly information, stamped (and usually very hard to read covered in paint). Front of block under front drivers side cylinder head deck.

This is all excellent info. Thanks guys