adam83
Well-Known Member
I have decided to sell my Duster. I am the 2nd owner, clear title in my name, and Ive had it for about a year. The car is in such nice condition, and Ive spent so much time and money on keeping it original, that now I dont have the heart to tear it all apart for a hotrod build. Id rather sell it to someone who wants it the way it is. $19k. It was purchased new in 1971 by the previous owner here in Tacoma, WA. It has 34,360 miles, garage kept, very clean. It is a survivor, all numbers matching drivetrain, original body and paint, no accidents, and no rust through or bubbles anywhere. Doesnt leak a drop of oil from the rear main, front seal, or pan. Everything works good and the engine/trans run great. Interior is in great condition, paint and body are pretty good, it does have nicks dings and scrapes that look like they were from bushes or shopping carts.
Quick history of the car: Last year I set out to find a Duster that had no rust that I could build into a street/strip hotrod. I came across this Duster and it was in excellent condition. The family told me that their mom had purchased the car new from Steven Motor Company here in Tacoma and barely used it more than once a week. She had just passed away and they decided to sell it. It was expensive but its what I wanted: no accidents, good body, never raced. The engine needed new gaskets and seals, and several other mechanical items needed attention in the engine compartment. None of this mattered to me as I was going to pull the drivetrain anyways, swap to a V8, upgrade and modify the suspension, mini tub, install bucket seats and center console etc etc. It started right up and I drove it home after an adjustment to the carb and bypassing the heater core.
So after I got it home I thought Id just 'replace some gaskets and fluids' so I could drive it around while I planned my build. As I began working on the car, I discovered that the entire drivetrain was numbers matching, and that virtually every mechanical part was original except for a rebuilt brake master cylinder. Well, as soon as I got the engine stripped down to replace the rear main, I figured since I just went through all this labor, and its all original, I might as well clean and paint the pieces... this quickly spun out of control into a full restoration/refurbishment of the engine, cooling system, accessories, heater box etc.... I cleaned and painted virtually everything I touched including hardware.. and rebuilt every factory part I could instead of replacing. I was forced to temporarily install a new aluminum radiator until the original gets rebuilt.
Im probably going to miss some stuff, but so far Ive put all new Michelin tires, new muffler and tail pipe, new 1 piece rear main seal from fast fish, new oil pan gasket and gaskets/seals up front, new valve cover gasket, new intake/exhaust manifold gaskets, freeze plugs, rebuilt the carb, rebuilt the power steering pump, rebuilt the alternator, rebuilt original oil pump, installed new battery, replaced water pump (have original), replaced radiator (have original), replaced fuel pump (have original), replaced ignition coil and points and distributor cap and rotor, fully cleaned/prepped/painted the engine, brackets, pulleys and all mentioned pieces, fully rebuilt the heater box and installed new brass and copper heater core, new belts and hoses where necessary, new trans filter and pan gasket and fluid, new RTE instrument cluster voltage regulator. I used high quality paint (and primer where applicable) on all pieces I painted.
There are some pieces I have not touched yet, like the wiper motor, brakes and steering box as you can see in the pic, but they all work. The power steering box has a small drip on the bottom, the drivers door window rolls up and down but you have to guide it with your other hand, and a little exhaust smell comes in while driving, I believe through an old deteriorated taillight housing gasket. I have the new gasket kit from DMT just havent installed yet. There is some minor pitting on the metal that the rubber hood-to-cowl seal touches.
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Quick history of the car: Last year I set out to find a Duster that had no rust that I could build into a street/strip hotrod. I came across this Duster and it was in excellent condition. The family told me that their mom had purchased the car new from Steven Motor Company here in Tacoma and barely used it more than once a week. She had just passed away and they decided to sell it. It was expensive but its what I wanted: no accidents, good body, never raced. The engine needed new gaskets and seals, and several other mechanical items needed attention in the engine compartment. None of this mattered to me as I was going to pull the drivetrain anyways, swap to a V8, upgrade and modify the suspension, mini tub, install bucket seats and center console etc etc. It started right up and I drove it home after an adjustment to the carb and bypassing the heater core.
So after I got it home I thought Id just 'replace some gaskets and fluids' so I could drive it around while I planned my build. As I began working on the car, I discovered that the entire drivetrain was numbers matching, and that virtually every mechanical part was original except for a rebuilt brake master cylinder. Well, as soon as I got the engine stripped down to replace the rear main, I figured since I just went through all this labor, and its all original, I might as well clean and paint the pieces... this quickly spun out of control into a full restoration/refurbishment of the engine, cooling system, accessories, heater box etc.... I cleaned and painted virtually everything I touched including hardware.. and rebuilt every factory part I could instead of replacing. I was forced to temporarily install a new aluminum radiator until the original gets rebuilt.
Im probably going to miss some stuff, but so far Ive put all new Michelin tires, new muffler and tail pipe, new 1 piece rear main seal from fast fish, new oil pan gasket and gaskets/seals up front, new valve cover gasket, new intake/exhaust manifold gaskets, freeze plugs, rebuilt the carb, rebuilt the power steering pump, rebuilt the alternator, rebuilt original oil pump, installed new battery, replaced water pump (have original), replaced radiator (have original), replaced fuel pump (have original), replaced ignition coil and points and distributor cap and rotor, fully cleaned/prepped/painted the engine, brackets, pulleys and all mentioned pieces, fully rebuilt the heater box and installed new brass and copper heater core, new belts and hoses where necessary, new trans filter and pan gasket and fluid, new RTE instrument cluster voltage regulator. I used high quality paint (and primer where applicable) on all pieces I painted.
There are some pieces I have not touched yet, like the wiper motor, brakes and steering box as you can see in the pic, but they all work. The power steering box has a small drip on the bottom, the drivers door window rolls up and down but you have to guide it with your other hand, and a little exhaust smell comes in while driving, I believe through an old deteriorated taillight housing gasket. I have the new gasket kit from DMT just havent installed yet. There is some minor pitting on the metal that the rubber hood-to-cowl seal touches.
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