Friend bought an economy car...

[Jarlaxle]

...an OLD economy car. He sold his AHB Diplomat & wants another old car. It's a 1976 Plymouth Duster I think is a Feather Duster. It's a slant 6, 4-speed (OD if it's a Feather), it has been repainted; now white, was originally green, charcoal interior. The option list is a little weird: factory A/C and AM/FM, but no power steering and no power brakes. The engine is junk, but the body is straight and solid. Car was garaged...has been parked for about 15 years. (Plates expired in 1999.) I helped him pick it up over the weekend...should be on the road by mid-April.

 

[Underhill]

One of the last rear drive Plymouth's. My dad had a Volare (very similar as I remember it) with the slant six. You're right, the motor is a dog, but it ran forever and made decent mileage.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Duster and Volare are totally different...the Duster is an A-body, the basic design dates to 1960 and the 1967-76 are essentially the same car. The Volare is an F-body, new for 1976.

RWD Plymouths were around until 1989.

 

[Underhill]

Duster and Volare are totally different...the Duster is an A-body, the basic design dates to 1960 and the 1967-76 are essentially the same car. The Volare is an F-body, new for 1976.

RWD Plymouths were around until 1989.

Who pissed in your cheerios?

I was simply saying they had a similar shape and had the same engine. And it was "one of the last".

By the early 80's they had converted all of their cars to front wheel drive but one. They kept the Gran Fury around for all the old folks and police.

If you want to get technical, the last RWD Plymouth was the Prowler in 2001.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Engine isn't junk...the timing jumped. We might be able to get it running with just a new timing chain!

 

[Underhill]

Engine isn't junk...the timing jumped. We might be able to get it running with just a new timing chain!

Nice, those were known to be extremely reliable engines (my dads topped 180k before he gave the car to the kid who mowed his lawn) just not a whole lot of power. They can get out of their own way with a push....

 

[Jarlaxle]

No bent valves...looks like it's just a timing chain. We're doing that this weekend, along with a full brake job.

 

[Jarlaxle]

It's running! And the A/C works!

 

[Underhill]

Congratz!

 

[Jarlaxle]

It's roadworthy! Needed the timing chain (did the water pump at the same time), a brake job including new calipers, flex lines, & wheel cylinders, all belts & hoses, & a valve adjustment. Will get new shocks as soon as they arrive from Rock Auto. Only real issue now (other than shot shocks) is an oil drip from the rear main seal.

 

[longknife]

Engine isn't junk...the timing jumped. We might be able to get it running with just a new timing chain!

I owned a Volare in the early 90's and it ran like a race horse. Easy to repair and maintain, good on gas.

The best car I ever owned was a 1964, Dodge 440 station wagon! Ran forever.
[my foster father bought it new from the factory and I bought it from my cousin for $300. Drove it 11 years and sold it for $300.]

 

[Jarlaxle]

First few tanks of gas: 27.6MPG!

 

[JWBooth]

Slant 6 was certainly no racehorse, but decently reliable and ran forever.

 

[JWBooth]

Engine isn't junk...the timing jumped. We might be able to get it running with just a new timing chain!

I owned a Volare in the early 90's and it ran like a race horse. Easy to repair and maintain, good on gas.

The best car I ever owned was a 1964, Dodge 440 station wagon! Ran forever.
[my foster father bought it new from the factory and I bought it from my cousin for $300. Drove it 11 years and sold it for $300.]

Dad had a 76 Volare wagon. Biggest piece of crap he ever bought. Literally had issues as he drove it off the lot. His all time favorite car was his 66 Dodge Monaco with a 383.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Confirmed: the A/C does, in fact, work!

 

[Missourian]

There are three things your buddy needs to do...

Rustproof.
Rustproof !
Rustproof !!!

I've had 2 Dusters...a 71 and a 74...both disintegrated long before the slanters gave out.

They are so well known for this shortcoming, they are nicknamed the Plymouth Ruster.

Undercoat..do the trunk inside too, under the carpet. The inside of the quarters and the rocker panels need special attention.

P.S. - The is a '71 CID-340 edition in front of the local gas station with a mediocre restoration...asking price $15,000 soaped on the windscreen

 

[XPostFacto]

It's roadworthy! Needed the timing chain (did the water pump at the same time), a brake job including new calipers, flex lines, & wheel cylinders, all belts & hoses, & a valve adjustment. Will get new shocks as soon as they arrive from Rock Auto. Only real issue now (other than shot shocks) is an oil drip from the rear main seal.

The leak in the main seal is a common occurrence. I had one for several years, just remembered to watch it. Those cars gave Chrysler a bad name.

The Cummins-Turbo Diesel got Chrysler back in competition again.

 

[Jarlaxle]

There are three things your buddy needs to do...

Rustproof.
Rustproof !
Rustproof !!!

I've had 2 Dusters...a 71 and a 74...both disintegrated long before the slanters gave out.

They are so well known for this shortcoming, they are nicknamed the Plymouth Ruster.

Undercoat..do the trunk inside too, under the carpet. The inside of the quarters and the rocker panels need special attention.

P.S. - The is a '71 CID-340 edition in front of the local gas station with a mediocre restoration...asking price $15,000 soaped on the windscreen

It has never seen & will never see snow...not an issue.

 

[Jarlaxle]

It's roadworthy! Needed the timing chain (did the water pump at the same time), a brake job including new calipers, flex lines, & wheel cylinders, all belts & hoses, & a valve adjustment. Will get new shocks as soon as they arrive from Rock Auto. Only real issue now (other than shot shocks) is an oil drip from the rear main seal.

The leak in the main seal is a common occurrence. I had one for several years, just remembered to watch it. Those cars gave Chrysler a bad name.

The Cummins-Turbo Diesel got Chrysler back in competition again.

Actually, the A-bodies were built pretty well...but their replacements (the F-body Aspen & Volare) emphatically were NOT!

 

[XPostFacto]

It's roadworthy! Needed the timing chain (did the water pump at the same time), a brake job including new calipers, flex lines, & wheel cylinders, all belts & hoses, & a valve adjustment. Will get new shocks as soon as they arrive from Rock Auto. Only real issue now (other than shot shocks) is an oil drip from the rear main seal.

The leak in the main seal is a common occurrence. I had one for several years, just remembered to watch it. Those cars gave Chrysler a bad name.

The Cummins-Turbo Diesel got Chrysler back in competition again.

Actually, the A-bodies were built pretty well...but their replacements (the F-body Aspen & Volare) emphatically were NOT!

I had a 1977 Plymouth Volare station wagon that I drove across the US with that same rear end leak. I then later discovered I had a bad fuel filter. I attributed my poor gas mileage to the cheap Chrysler product. My dad started buying Chrysler products after Studebaker went out of business.

When my mother died, I inherited her 1982 Plymouth Volare. It had a constant cut off problem. It started like a champ, but you could be driving down the road, and the thing just cut off on you. There went your power steering, the whole bit, and if you were on an Interstate, God help you. I had to run it in idle for about 10 minutes with the hopes that it wouldn't cut off. I sold it to my best friend. I told him everything about the car. He had one of the best mechanics at his church to look at it, and nobody could fix the cut off problem. Yeah, we tried a carburetor tune up kit, but that didn't fix it. Later, somebody discovered that the vacuum hoses were put on wrong, and that occurred in the factory because the dealership never could fix it for us. They just kept blowing us off. If I remember correctly, the lemon law had not yet come into effect, otherwise, we would have sent that one back.