Words: Tommy Parry

When Clayton rolled this Plymouth Duster into his driveway two years ago, he had mixed feelings. He was relieved to find a suitable machine for another Mopar build – and one which had only taken a few grand out of his pocket. While it ran decently, it lacked any real suspension, the brakes were useless and the interior was laden with mouse droppings. Clayton’s an optimist, however, and saw the potential in this Duster.

He began by pressure washing just about everything on the car, adding another coat of paint and scouring the car’s hide for any corrosion. Fortunately, there was only a 3” spot of rust in the floor. With a temporary set of 14” wheels and some roadworthy rubber underneath the car, Clayton could at least start enjoying this ride regularly in a suboptimal state.

Then the hard work began. Focusing on the footwork, Clayton began outlining what he wanted from the suspension of his Duster. “The main goal with the new parts was to make the car comfortable to drive, but also something that is not going to get outhandled by a minivan,” he said.

The problem was that every single bushing, ball joint and rubber component was toast. After tearing the whole front apart, he added QA1 upper control arms, QA1 strut rods, QA1 steering rods, a Hotchkis front sway bar, Hotchkis/Fox shocks and lower control arm bushings. To give it the power to stop quickly and repeatedly, he opted for Dr. Diff Cobra-style 13” brakes and a new master cylinder.

Next came a sprucing up of the engine bay. Fortunately, the motor passed the compression test with flying colors. After he removed the ancillary components and cleaned everything off, he painted the motor and intake and replaced the radiator with a Champion piece.

Internally, the engine was in stellar shape and had passed the compression test with flying colors. With new gaskets all around, new fluids, adjusted valves, a cleaned carb, a new valve cover and new ignition parts, it was running smoothly – which helped make up for the lack of grunt.

With the engine and suspension sorted, he turned his attention to the recently cleaned interior. A set of Corbeau seats, a Momo wheel, Speedhut gauges, some carbon wrap to cover the old woodgrain elements and a layer of Dynamat underneath modernized the interior and made it a very comfortable place to be.

Then he started scrapping the corroded elements from the rear of the car. A Suretrac center section with 3.23 gears, Dr. Diff rear brakes and a set of Hotchkis leaf springs modernized the rear of the car and gave him a great deal more feel than he’d been accustomed to up until that point.

Next came one of the bigger-ticket items: a set of 18×9/9.5” Minilite-style wheels reminiscent of those he’d seen on Trans-Am cars as a kid. With those wrapped in 275-section rubber, he had the grip and response he was after, and the stylish Viper brakes underneath would bring the heavy Duster to a halt confidently. That added poise and control helped soften the blow of the wheels’ price tag; they were far more than he paid for the car. But, as he said, “I’ve always felt wheels are what make the car.”

With the car mostly completed and the weather perfect for cruising in the Bay Area, he intends to spend time soaking in the scenery on long jaunts through the countryside. There’s some talk of autocrossing and even attending the Hot Rod Power Tour, but he’s not getting ahead of himself; he’s just finished an incredible amount of work in a relatively short span.

That said, he is toying with a few ideas. With a prominent air scoop now in place, he’s considering ways to gain more power. Whether he supercharges the slant-six or replaces the factory motor with a 6.4-liter Hemi to complete the Trans-Am theme, there’s no wrong way to go.

To keep up with this stylish build, you can follow Clayton’s thread here.