Restless Project: 1973 Plymouth Duster 340
The Plymouth Duster arrived in 1970 as the sporty, fastback version of the company’s stoic Valiant compact. Offered in a single body style, it would be quite popular through the end of the Valiant run in 1976. The Duster 340 was the performance version of the car that sold neatly 70,000 copies through 1973 (the end of 340 V8 production). Located in Virginia Beach, Virginia, this rough 1973 Duster 340 has had its original motor rebuilt, but it needs more things hooked up to be functional again. This Mopar is available here on craigslist for $6,700. Thanks for another great tip, Gunter Kramer!
Chrysler’s 340 cubic-inch small-block V8 was a popular choice to boost the performance of its compact and intermediate cars. Nearly 217,000 copies of the engine went into company products during the six years from 1968 to 1973. With a 4-barrel carburetor, the motors were rated at 275 hp in most cases, and 290 with the limited use of a 6-Pack setup. The seller’s 1973 Duster 340 is one of 15,731 produced in the last year the powerplant would be offered (it was replaced by a 360 V8 that doesn’t seem to be as well thought of by enthusiasts).
This Forest Green Metallic Duster looks to have been sitting outside in recent years given the degree of washout on the car’s exterior paint. The eradication of rust will be a part of the restoration process, including the driver’s side floor pan, lower front fenders, and lower rear quarter panels, which appear to have been repaired once already. The integrity of the automobile seems good as the doors shut as they should.
A build sheet accompanies this Plymouth and confirms its numbers matching and well-optioned, with bucket seats (which need redoing), a console, and an automatic transmission, which the seller says needs to be rebuilt. At 94,500 miles, the motor has been redone and appears to have been tweaked in the process, but never started as things are not completely hooked up (no battery, either). Presumably, the trunk contains everything you need to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.
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Comments
Oh man is this tempting. She probably needs $20k worth of work but you’d be right in the ballpark for a decent 340 Duster. And it’s probably 20 minutes from my family members house. Too bad my wife would end me :) offer 5 grand and you’d probably get it
My Brother in law Leroy rebuilt it in his geerage.She’s garnteed to run like new. I see a 1 to 2k car here imo.
Recently found 73 dart sport, 340, 4 speed, ps, pb, 8 1/4 sure grip, bucket seat car. Number matching. But totally rusted, everything but the roof. Bought it to transplant power train and suspension, and interior to a 73 Duster. Would love to save the original body, but to expensive. Always wanted a real muscle car. This is close enough.
What happened to this poor 340 Duster. The last year of the 340. 74 brought in the 360. The price is about right since a ton of money to put into this Duster to make it right. Good luck .🐻🇺🇸
I don’t think this year 340 has the HP numbers you list. Those numbers were for the earlier 340’s with the 2.02 exhaust valves. I think it changed to the smaller 1.98 is 72 and this made quite a difference in HP. The earlier heads a hard to come by. A Mopar guy could correct my aging memory on this. I had a 340 six pak (from an AAR) Duster and it was a hoot.
Yeah, rebuilt 25 years ago and never started.
Nice project if gotten for about half of the asking.
Well the console looked it was nice at one time. Too bad it’s an automatic.
And a Dustrag !
Lots of muscle cars came with an automatic; they were actually faster than the manuals in the 1/4 mile . The 340 cars were equipped with the heavy duty 727 Torqueflite transmissions.
While it might look out of place, there were many Superbirds sold with column shift automatics.
In 1973 the 340 dropped to 240 SAE net horsepower. And yes, it did have the small valves in the heads, compared to the mighty X heads of ’68-70. Still, the ’73 340 was no slouch, compared to brand X cars of the era. This Duster would probably need at least $25-30K to make it fresh again…at least it’s #’s matching, with the original broadcast sheet.
Surprised the transmission needs to be rebuilt, the 727 was bulletproof . the A body 340 cars had a short tail 727, hard to find if you’re doing a correct resto . The car is a bit rough , but considering its a 50 year old muscle car its really not too bad ; the good thing is that there are now a lot of reproduction parts for these ; at one time it was just the B and E bodies that got all the aftermarket attention
From what I can see, the options are the wheel arch moldings and rocker moldings, deluxe interior ( wood grain dash and door panels) , bucket seats and floor shift and the light package ( fender lights , map glovebox and trunk light) , carpeting, and of course the automatic transmission. The rare one it doesn’t have would be the fold down rear seat “Space Duster” package