Hey Guy’s,

I have purchased this 70 Duster lime-light 340 4spd project off of a Moparts member (Mr. Norms TA). Rick was doing a very nice OE style resto. I would like to continue
restoring the car in that manner. I am looking for any info you guy’s might have (original pictures, location of inspection marks etc.).

I have spoken with Dave at ECS and Frank Badalson (Roger Gibsons partner). Both parties informed me that not much research has been done on the A bodies so there is not much out there.

If you have any info that might be helpful please let me know.

Thanks for you help.

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I have spoken with Dave at ECS and Frank Badalson (Roger Gibsons partner). Both parties informed me that not much research has been done on the A bodies so there is not much out there.

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And they were correct!

Basically speaking if you don't discover inspection markings on your car you don't need to add any to qualify the car for OE judging (BTW,that's a REALLY hard goal to reach without starting with a mostly original car). Inspection marks and other small details varied from one car to the next, duplicating someone elses car will likely make your car more "wrong" than right.



*Congrats on the car, awesome combo!

70s don't get any respect.Welcome to the underground.Don't forget to have fun with it while you are worrying about some little paint daub.Here is mine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0F5HcwQJ8w

Thanks for you input guys. Since I bought into a started project I did not have the luxury of documenting the car. Scott you made a good point which I did not consider. Duplicating inspection marks would not be correct. But I am interested in more then inspection marks. I need to know what parts were painted, non-painted and what color.

Tom, I can not load your link or see your picture on my work PC. I will check it out when I get home.

Thanks

Nice video of the Duster Scatpacktom!! Also the B7 blue is nice to see for a change.

Not sure on inspection marks, when i look at a car i'm not so crazy about what inspection or paint marks are on it, but more interested in if the car has correct markings and plating on Nuts & bolts, correct hoses, brackets, engine parts like a correct fan, carb, choke, radiator ect..

Concerning how to determine what parts are correct or not (such as ademon mentioned).........


I am restoring a 1971 340 Duster myself. My car is a roller, original engine & trans gone, allot of what's there has been taken appart and put back together by the previous owners, etc. Not much reliable detail history is really left of it. So, I am doing the next best thing, basically what I do it try to find as many original cars (or parts) as I can (no easy feat as there aren't many left) and photograph the areas I'm unsure about for detail reference purposes. If I can't find complete cars I look for individual correct era used parts, refer to the parts books, and any other old magazine pics or documentation I can dig up to make the best educated guess possible. I have allot more time in researching the car than time actually working on it! In the end the car won't be truely correct because it's original details are lost forever, I can only get "so close". That's why when building an O.E. show car it's much easier (and accurate) to start with a low mile original car that's as 100% original and complete as possible. You can still do an O.E. car with one that's been appart and missing componants but it can make the job a very daunting task.

In your case you might have the best luck using some of my methods above and try to tackle one area at a time here on Moparts, there are allot of people here with tons of knowledge, they could likely give you detail tips on most any item on the car as you get to it.

Plus i like to see cars that have a lot of the original "small" stuff. its easy to toss out the original (for example) radiator shroud screws for some shinny new ones, but if the original can be cleaned up nice, even if they are not as shinny thats points in my book.

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radiator shroud screws for some shinny new ones, but if the original can be cleaned up nice, even if they are not as shinny thats points in my book.

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Not to mention that MANY replacement "correct" screws and other fastners being sold these days are not the same as originals in the smaller details.

Ademon
I am with you on your approach! Here is the engine bay of my 70 Duster.

Looks great !! now i got to work on mine

Not too shabby Charlie!

Thanks Scott,
Forgive the Autolite battery.. that anomaly has since been corrected! Not perfect but the end result turned out well. My philosophy is that if I were to attempt to make it perfect and in fact got it to where I believed it was... it would be smashed by a meteor soon after.
Here is what it looked like before I started. FM3 340.....

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My philosophy is that if I were to attempt to make it perfect and in fact got it to where I believed it was... it would be smashed by a meteor soon after.

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Boy ain't that the truth LOL!

before

after

another

Very nice work! I had a very similar looking heapfor a while but I sent it on to a new more motivated owner, it was a strange one, 318 auto, FM3 Gold Duster with gold stripes. Would have been nice done, the new owner swears he'sgoing to do a complete ground up back to original. It's now in PA, we'll see what happens.

Someday if it's lucky it will look like this (gold stripe is a photoshop)

Tag

This interior ought to give you flashbacks A?

70mopes that is a beautiful car. This is my first 70 A body I am putting together. Which I also bought in pieces. I hope you don’t mind if I call on you for some reference pic’s and info.

Hey 70Mopes. Did you just finish your car? Have you been to any shows? It looks very fresh. Maybe I'll see it this summer somewhere.

Yes, feel free to contact me for any help I may be able to offer. Happy to do it.
I finished it a few years ago but it still is looking quite good as it sets inside and is well taken care of. I had it out to one local show not long after finishing it. I thought she was looking pretty good and had a good shot at being recognized in her class. She was ignored at the end of the day without a nod. Sadly the first place trophy for Plymouth A body was given to a Dart. it was funny, pathetic and for me a buzzkill. Funny becuase they called out a Dart, pathetic because the owner of the Dart gladly accepted and a buzzkill because my rig was completely bypassed. I was never much of a car show guy but I had worked hard to bring back my A body and that (for me anyway) was a real drag. Mostly the local Friday night thing in Covington or a work show is all I attend anymore. Mostly I just get them out on country roads and cruise.

Don't worry about it, if it was a show by a car club or mopar club they usually give out the awards to their members.

Go to one of the larger car shows like Spring Fling or Mopars at the Strip, you'll get your due recognition there for sure. But like I always say, go to enjoy the show, a trophy doesn't prove anything, at the end of the day you have a very nice car there to be proud of regardless!

Fellas! Ya, I came to find that out about local clubs and such. Really didn't give a hoot about any tangible award.. just the recognition of all the fellow mope people saying that the old pink Duster was worthy. The few awards I did have I chucked soon after.

Contrary to what I believe about my attitude sometimes... and that is " I don't give a crap what people think.." I actually do, when it comes to the people that understand the hobby, the cars and especially the work that goes into restoring one. I guess that was the confirmation I was looking for ....sniff....
Haha.. anyway, fookem, I'm well into my next project and as happy as a clam!

Party on fellas and have a great weekend.
Charlie

...a real restoration will have lots of shortcomings,engine bays and small parts will have runs or even bare spots...most of us don't want them that correct.
a lot of it is common sense,paint will have fine orange peel
rarely would a part with threads be painted imagine the guy on the line trying to assemble it.
anything requiring assembly will have a splash of paint,proof it was adjusted or tightened,like the paint dawb on the firewall beside the master cylinder proving brakes were bled.
large items like rear axles will have marks so the guys could get the correct parts easily,an orange paint mark usually meant ltd. slip
Dave Waldens cars are as good as it gets,follow his erxamples if you want to do it right.