Font and vin number of engine block, is it correct?

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Arnt high end dusters going for the same as low end e-body cars these days????

So you would not restore a duster huh??? Not worth it??

Great way to drum up some work...NOT.

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Arnt high end dusters going for the same as low end e-body cars these days????

So you would not restore a duster huh??? Not worth it??

Great way to drum up some work...NOT.

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What the heck ?

Here's my reply in the thread pertaining to this VIN question...

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That's an awesome Duster to restore...The guy has quite a bit of new parts as well...I could see $5K for the car and another $2500 for the parts...I'll go $8K MAX ...

Great car when done...Bright red, black vinyl roof, stripes...hood pins, rear wing, cassette, pretty loaded for a Duster

Anybody wanting to buy this can certainly send it my way for a restoration...I love 71 Dusters

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I've seen a few 70 model year LA built cars with original drivetrain assy dates in the Dec-Jan range, and the SPD's were in the March-April range. That being said, they are most likely the exception to the norm.

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I looked at this car pretty hard. The #'s stamped under the front head say the bottom end was assembled approx 3 months and 1 week before the cars SPD. That scared me. The numbers on the tranny are a mess but the assembly date coincides with the SPD, less than a month before. Without seeing the car in person or getting close up clear pics of the Vin #'s showing the broaching marks you have to be skeptical or you can get burned, old ladies car or not (which is what this car is claimed to be by the seller). In big block land from my experience, engine assembly dates over 3 mo's (heck, 2 months is a stretch IMO) before the cars SPD screams possible restamp or in the very least you need to investigate/scrutinize the stampings further IMO to authenticate. Yeah, the car looks to be untouched but you never know till you look at it in person or get extremely detailed pics beforehand and even then..It's a cool car none the less. We are talking about a 71' 340 Duster car here BTW, and for what it's worth I at one point in time had a driver status survivor 73' 340 Dart Sport (all orig paint, guaranteed orig engine never opened up with orig gaskets till I opened it up to change the rear main seal) and the (orig paint still) engine assembly was approx 2 weeks before the cars SPD-I know were not comparing apples to apples here, 71' vs 73' anyway, but at least it's a 340 A-body to compare to. In my experience (admittedly mostly with big blocks), a couple weeks before and up to a month before the cars SPD seems to be the accepted "norm" for engine assembly dates and my personal experience with guaranteed original engines. You never know I suppose, SPD's are just that, scheduled, not guaranteed. I'd like to believe that is the original engine for the vehicle, you just need to thoroughly check it out before you pull the trigger if you truly want a guaranteed orig engine vehicle..and that probably means a visual inspection by you or someone knowlegeable in this case. If I was on the west coast I would have already checked it out.

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On the most part I would agree but I think 1971 might be the exception. I think Chrysler did not expect the major drop off that they had in production from 70 to 71.

For example I have a 340 that is cast in February of 71 yet it has a 1972 VIN.

1971 might be a year of bad forcasting