I Saved This Awesome 1974 Plymouth Duster From A Parts Car Death 

I love ‘em. They just seemed a little modern for the 60s gasser vibe I want for the car.

I'm the same, child of the very early 70's and teenager of the 80's these mid-late 70's cars were our High School Hot Rods, yeah there was the random late 60's and early 80's cars but for the most part the 73-78 cars were the norm. My first car was a 76 RS Camaro that I bought from my next door neighbor that she sold to me for $200 when she got married and moved to Texas with her new husband, My best friend had a 78 Nova, My High School Sweetheart had a 75 Thunderbird, Her best friend a 73 Dodge Dart and so on, these were the cars early Gen Xers grew-up with and drove in High School and They are coming back around as builds because for the most parts they are still around and either on the road or like this car are not far from it because the parts are still available and you can buy them DIRT CHEAP. Just about every project car in my club out here in Southern Arizona (Tucson area) that have been bought since the Dempanic and the Convid "outbreak", are the "smog" cars of the mid-late 70's. I've personally been driving while I work on a 73 Buick Regal That I bought for $1200 and after airing up the tires, throwing a battery in it and disconnecting the fuel system and running it on a gas can I drove it a little over 50 miles home. I was going to just park it in my shop and completely strip it and build it into a full Restomod but the longer I drove it home the better it got So I just decided to make a Daily Driver/Cruise/Cars and Coffee Car. As of right now I have right $4,000 and I all have to do is paint it. I've pulled the engine and trans cleaned them up really good and painted them pulled the body off the frame and sandblasted and repainted everything along with new bushing, bearings and body mounts. Redone the interior by dyeing most of it and then went to a junkyard and bought some captain style buckets and center consol from a 77 Olds Cutlass. It was originally green on green on green but It's now going to be Dark Silver with Dark red Interior. The wheels are the original steel wheels with baby moons. I'm not putting alot of money into it, I just want something nice to daily drive that I can still take cruise nights and cars and coffee's on the weekend.

I wasn’t sure how that would play but I’m glad I went with it 🤣 catch you next week Stacey!

No, they really never will 🤣 yeah… I might have to change my mind on selling it on. I love the look and have some ideas.

Actually; WHAT A REAL VEHICLE WAS!

I was shocked when it wasn’t a 1920 and it still wouldn’t idle at first… but it came around.

For sure! The Holley carbs were TRASH in the '70s!

It’s amazing what used to qualify as a parts donor… I know, I dig it. The secret? Literally the biggest possible rear tire that could fit 😅 I think a taller front tire but lower torsion bar setting would help the look a bit.

Right - it totally would be worth that here with paperwork and a little less rust. Probably looking at a little under half that as is, but I’m good with it.

That sound is the music of my people! Ok that and the straight piped slant in general 😅

@@DeadDodgeGarage Oh man, I drove my share of straight-piped Volares with the "Super Six". They sound good at idle but they drone like a mutha on the highway. 🤣

@@LongIslandMopars I first gave a slant car the sawzall treatment at 18, and I remember driving up and over a bridge on the way home and thinking...what have I done? Haha.

@@DeadDodgeGarage They do not make nice noises. However, I always had my valves adjusted properly. I had the quietest slants around thanks to the teachings of my dad. Adjust them running, fully hot, very low idle.

The MoPars of "the era" were GREAT!

I totally agree! And I sold this car to a young guy, who seriously went ham on it, fixing all of the rust, repairing, coating, and sound deadening the floor. Last I saw it it was really coming together well.

@@DeadDodgeGarage did he drive it home with one headlight?

Lots of people seem to! Judging by the reaction, it may just have to stick around for a while.

Yep. My ‘68 Charger had the blower type. I believe the electric type came around ‘74. I think my ‘74 Duster had it, but I could be wrong. It’s been a while. Haha.

Oh cool, happy to help! You could email me one at DeadDodgeGarage@gmail.com

Yep but if it were me I'd paint the roof a different color than the car (Something Chrysler did in the later Duster's) and keep the trim. My aunt had a Brown 76 Duster that had a white painted roof, she bought it new that way. They started doing away with the vinyl tops because it was just cheaper to paint the roof a different color than it was to paint the top in epoxy and put a vinyl top on it.

@@TheREALOC1972 Yep, Chrysler called them White hat specials back in the day.👍

@@musclecarmitch908 yep, I knew they had a name for them but couldn't remember, That's what I would do with it. I men the trim s already there, why not.

@@TheREALOC1972 👍

Honda?! Gimme a break!

Mine too! 😅

I could NEVER "feel" a Pontiac Catalina!

It didn’t work… which was unfortunate. That would make good sense - they definitely pull some juice.

Well I work on their shit 🤣 and tolerate the screaming, the Rangers somehow doing big smokey burnouts, quads doing wheelies down the street all the time… I think I’m ok lol

Or Iowa. Impossible.

As exciting and nuts as that would be, I personally find a spicy small block to be the ultimate engine choice for an A body like this.

I swear none of my neighbors have a D50. Lol. Are you seeing a broke ass Nissan rolled back into some bushes?

lol.. ya that could be a nissan.! its hard to see .with those shitty camera angles. ok just took another look ya its a shit ass nissan. tks for bursting my bubble. ps. love your youtube page. i watch you more than u.t.g@@DeadDodgeGarage

Brake lights too. Watching the ammeter when hitting the brake pedal is a great way to find out if your brake lights are working. Haha. I can’t tell you how many voltage regulators of both styles I’ve replaced in the last 15 years. Just so many.

My 72 Duster did that too

I know it! It’s a totally different time we’re living in - and we can definitely thank guys like that for part of it. Not long ago this car would’ve been $100-$200 or scrap.

…I had a 74 Plymouth Duster all original 360 back in 76. ( now, working on a 73 dodge challenger that is the project!) ✌🏼

Isn’t that interesting? I liked my ‘74 when I had it, of course, but like most other people I’ve always thought of them as the ugly ones. I actually like the front end now. Something about time passing. Also the more every modern car looks like a jelly bean space ship, the better this looks. I suppose having driven one in my formative years probably helps too.

In a world of Japanese econo boxes and gutless G bodies, you probably were! 😅

Haaahaha. I like this. Thanks. I recorded and performed it too 🙂

@@DeadDodgeGarage Are you serious? I was thinking it was good stock music, and I mean that as a complement because it struck me as stock music that does NOT sound like stock music. I just sent a link to your channel to my cousin who also has family ties to Aberdeen - he even married someone from Aberdeen. Anyway, our mutual grandmother had an enormous white Dodge - it might have been a 1960 Matator. I even gave it a "tune up" (I thought I knew how to use a strobe). I wish I could go back and time and drive that car to your shop so you could do a video about it. I am sure it was long ago melted down to make soup cans or fidget spinners.

Just get rid of those and go live in a junkyard. Works for me

Just one of the many services I offer: making everybody else look good by comparison 🤣

So much better

Using full throttle full time is the most fun! 😅

It’s possible there may have been some random package change, option update, or similar during the production run that might lead someone to say their car was a 71 1/2, but there’s definitely nothing major or official that changed. People call the A12 cars 1969 1/2 because that package was released in the middle of the ‘69 run. To me it’s still the same ‘69 body and was made at the latest in the middle of 1969, so I can’t say I get it.

Agreed, but I’m building a Barracuda or two for that already!

Actually the pump seems to be doin its thing, I think it’s a control valve problem in the box, or something similarly horrible. Oh well…

Ha! I knew it would be on your radar too. It was listed by the previous guy for quite a while. My yard is starting to look like yours now with all these A bodies 😅

@@DeadDodgeGarage who doesn't love A bodies!

I don’t know what’s going on here, but I like it. Lol

Yeah that’s just not the smart money. Haha.

@@DeadDodgeGarage The opener was epic today!

Yeah that brings my current total to three running slant cars and one spare engine. Excessive? What does that mean?

Interesting

@@DeadDodgeGarage Yes, those big thick ones were specifically made so 73 Dusters could comply with new safety regs. They used up the last of those already made on the early '74 cars

Oh, *now* you want it 🤣 it would be my pleasure!

My wife says I should drive it there myself. I like this idea

@@DeadDodgeGarage and then take it to the power tour?

@@stage0garage you have all of the best ideas. I told Mrs. Jamie we should do Power Tour with the wagon. She didn't say no!

@@DeadDodgeGarage count me in! I have a few ‘79 Mopars to choose from.

My good friend Jayson in Wisconsin is interested, so now the real question is - does he fly in and drive it, or do I deliver it and fly out?!

Well, have your people call my people 😁 I don’t need it and don’t need a ton of money for it.

Shipping isn’t free, but it isn’t tooooo much 😁

Given that the layers always separate and produce that obvious ghosting, I don’t think any classic Mopar has a windshield that could be described as pristine.

That was *almost* the tag line I used for the thumbnail. Haha.

Oh I know. Needs strap and filler neck as well as it’s all gone. My Visa is getting pretty hot these days 😅

Batteries cost $85 at the cheapest here, and that’s with my commercial discount at the budget parts store. So… I’m good with the kind of ok used ones I’ve got 😅 I buy nice batteries for the cars that deserve them.

I’m a secret Toyota guy myself. Hondas are always slammed with dumb exhausts and even dumber drivers around here… meanwhile the Toyotas just keep going under the radar forever.

@@DeadDodgeGarage Yea we got that a bit here also . But the police is getting them of the streets now. If youre cought with wrong loud exaust you get a wok notification and have to build the whole car back to standerd ! So the more normal drivers are now leading the way . There very good cars more race cars and very easy to work on ! My son is now with me swaping a engine in his Del sol. crx 1,6 B with turbo.. the 1.4d engine is sold here for dirt cheap 150 euro. So we replaced a engine with a headgaskitleak, for cheap.. lol .. WE live in Holland btw, europe. my son is racing now on Nurnburgring with friends in his Accord 2,4 liter Vtec. thats also goes like lightning. Not as fast as Porsches and stuf but older Hondas are cheap.. and you get a lot of hp out of those engines . Toyontas are i think the best cars on the market !! alswais on nr 1. So good choises.. but i like the raw and simple usa muscle cars also very mutch !! so easy.. and nice sounds !! cu greets from holland !!

Yeah, I do. Pressure washers are great. They also leave marks and remove loose paint and trim, so there are reasons I don’t normally use it on classic cars.

*Glutton

It’s called “Aggressively Disassembling A 1973 Plymouth Scamp Rust Bucket,” and I’ll attach a link which might even work: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--p_SfPIEoLA.html