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1971 Plymouth Duster 440

Peter Lombardo

By Peter Lombardo
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Peter Lombardo MCM Ohana

Peter Lombardo

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About 15 years ago I began working on this AMT 1971 Plymouth Duster 340.  I cut open the doors, added a bulge to the hood between the twin air scoops and added a molded on rear spoiler to replace the above the trunk wing that is kit supplied.  Then, I added subtle wheel well bulges to all 4 wheel openings and filled in the lower body sculpture to give the side profile a cleaner look as it seemed to flow better now with the extended wheel openings.  The kit was set aside as I had lost interest in the build moving on to more interesting builds thinking that one day, I would look to finish it.

I had set aside a set of wheels and tires and the engine from the AMT Chrysler 300c kit from a few years ago for this build.  Because I planned on replacing the 340 V8, I took that V8 and installed it and the transmission in a Prowler I did a few months back.

Well two weeks ago for some unknown reason, I pulled the box off the shelf with the far from completed model and revisited it.  First I opened up the fuel door so I could install a round chrome piece.  Then I added a roll bar, with additional supports to the interior.  I replaced the stock seats with “beefier” units.  I added rear brake cooling scoops just in front of the rear wheel openings.

Rather than using the newer Hemi from the 300c kit, I pulled a 440 out of the parts box and installed that thinking that going from a 340 to a 440 was more logical and period correct.  Then, rather than using the wheels and tires from the Chrysler kit, I took the wheels from a Viper ACR kit (which I have replacement wheels for anyway) for this car as I really like the look of larger wheels in the back and smaller ones up front then added a set of parts box disc brakes.

The interior is flat black with a light gray roll bar.  The body is done in Rust-oeum Ultra Cover Berry Pink Gloss, top coated with a number of coats of clear which was sanded lightly and rubbed out with wax.  I sprayed the interior side of the window glass with Tamiya Smoke for a blacked out look and added the upper tint to the front windshield as they did back in the day.  I did all of the window trim in gloss black and the hood in flat black.  Then added twin rearview outside mirrors in flat black.  4 hood pins and an outside mounted tachometer finishes the details.  By the way, the decals on the two sides and the rear panel with the taillights were a “fitch” to install because of their age.  It took a lot of patients and solv-a-set to get them down.  Once down and dry, a gave them a top coat of Future to seal them in place. When all that was done, I added a small front chin spoiler and a set of fog lights, just because I could.

I never had high hopes for this car which is why it spent so many years in a box on the shelf uncompleted, but now that it is done, I am very happy with the result and it can sit happily alongside the Nova’s and Fairlane’s I built from the same era.Rm1svFPoinkowNIkAWZOIU0Cwe8H2BqURhWTqZKVB2kA-H5y0ObxfIHTTQLFmwUez8-v8uxJmyiRmlbLDTsd6DK-ml726_eS_p9IvRvV9jWItNc4fWef4lKF1FwCKEFSsehgZjNIrbbF7eyFUNoBGR88CwO9wJhOiK7oSRD5OiXJAyPDQx8o5VwaecA_xXbMs5u_XcmeY1P-4NC8vKLPMnXuSS2zti3PAiE80BubYOBMrxRw2J8WRp1wzgJT0_L73LqjEgZ64SR1yGYiCms88WhVIF6IiVGVT33RBitseNfP3YkiUQIqQr2xVqJYamwU

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