For the most part, you don’t go about building a cool Mopar street machine or any other type of car or truck entirely by yourself. Oh sure, there are many enthusiasts who do a mighty impressive majority of the work themselves, but even they get some sort of a hand somewhere along the way.
For John Hammonds, that helping hand came at the very beginning of his relationship with this now pretty slick 1973 Duster. It was his brother, in fact, who steered him toward the car to begin with about eight years ago. “The car was offered to me by my brother’s friend,” John related. From that point forward, John took the reins on the project and got it where it is today beginning with early rounds of bodywork in his own shop, Johnny’s Auto Color based in Riverside, California.
“The car was quite a basket case when I got it,” said John. “But I saw the potential for a nice build and after looking at the numbers and finding out the engine was a 340 small-block of 1969 vintage with a 727 trans behind it, I became a good deal more interested in the car. Initially, I started out stripping down and blasting the body and undercarriage. I then cut off and replaced both rear quarter panels, along with the trunk floor and a floorpan on one side. It took several years working on it in my free time before it became more of a shop project.”
In its first incarnation, John said it had more of a street/strip sort of look with bright aluminum wheels and a shiny finish. After about a year, John and the folks at automotive interior experts TMI Products decided to give it a facelift. It was also thought to be a good idea to turn the car into something that could be a nice asset for TMI’s display booth at the 2016 SEMA Show.
“The car became TMI’s first Mopar project car,” said John. “It became a platform for TMI to show off what can be done in terms of a full custom interior for just about any Dodge or Plymouth A-, B- or E-Body project. We decided to go with a bit more of a rally look. Myself and TMI are very happy with the results.”
While the car isn’t considered totally finished yet John related, it’s certainly at a place where we were able to take a close look at it in its current state. And that includes its complete TMI interior that one can order directly from the company. As the accompanying sidebar explains, the interior is an all-TMI package that includes the Pro Series highback VXR seats that are totally custom configurable in terms of color and material. And although the Pro Series is indeed custom, note than when compared to an interior trim shop, you’ll come out way ahead in terms of budget and turn-around time. TMI also offers the rear seat covers, door-panel upholstery, a console, and a steering wheel. All in all, the interior in the car is quite something and TMI is pleased to now be offering a unique line of interior pieces for enthusiasts of vintage Dodge and Plymouth, A-, B-, and E-Body cars.
Fast Facts
1973 Plymouth Duster | John Hammonds | Corona, CA
ENGINE
Type: 1969 Plymouth 340, overhead-valve V8
Bore x stroke: 4.04 (bore) x 3.31 (stroke), 340 ci
Block: Chrysler cast-iron
Rotating assembly: forged-steel crank, stock connecting rods, Wiseco forged-aluminum
pistons
Compression: 10.5:1
Cylinder heads: Chrysler cast-iron
Camshaft: Mopar Performance hydraulic flat-tappet
Valvetrain: 2.02-/1.60- inch valves, stock 340 rocker arms and pushrods
Induction: Edelbrock LD4B dual-plane intake
Fuel system: Edelbrock 750cfm carburetor
Exhaust: TTI headers, Flowmaster mufflers
Ignition: MSD, Taylor wires
Cooling: Champion radiator
Engine built by: Flat Out Rides, Riverside, CA
DRIVETRAIN
Transmission: Chrysler 727 Automatic
Rearend: Chrysler 8 ¾-inch, 3.91:1 gears
CHASSIS
Front suspension: factory Plymouth, Hotchkis shocks, torsion bars, antisway bar
Rear suspension: Hotchkis shocks, leaf springs, antisway bar
Steering: factory Plymouth
Brakes: Wilwood disc, six-piston front and four-piston rear
Chassis: 1973 Plymouth Duster unibody
WHEELS & TIRES
Wheels: 18 x 8-inch (front) and 18 x 9-inch (rear) American Racing VF503
two-piece forged, custom flat-charcoal finish
Tires: Continental Extreme Contact 245/35ZR18 (front) and 265/35ZR18 (rear)
INTERIOR
Seats: TMI custom
Instruments: Auto Meter
Steering wheel: TMI custom configurable leather and suede
Shifter: B&M Unimatic
Other: complete TMI interior including TMI Pro Series highback VXR seats with
custom-configurable contrasting color vinyl upholstery and suede inserts
with grommets. TMI door panels and console
About TMI Complete Custom Interiors
We spent a few minutes on the phone with Larry Ashley who is the Director of Marketing for TMI Products. The short version is that you can now order an entire custom interior from TMI for your own Plymouth or Dodge project car.
“We’ve decided to pursue the Mopar market beyond just the restoration corner of it,” Larry told us. “The result is what you see here inside John’s Duster,” he elaborated. The foundation is the Pro Series line of seats, which are universal in nature and available in 14 base colors. The contrasting suede is also available in 10 colors. There are also options for outer colors, stitching colors, grommet colors (black, stainless, and brass) as well as grommet inserts. It really is the chance to design truly custom seats from a color standpoint. There are also at least a half-dozen seat designs that you can choose before going on to color selection. All of this is accessed by clicking on the “Design Your Seats” button found on the tmiproducts.com homepage.
In addition to the seats, TMI also offers everything else you see inside John’s Duster. This includes the door panels, rear-quarter interior panels, rear seat, and console. “We offer the doorpanels in any color you want to match whatever seat colors you order,” Larry said. You can order whole panels from TMI or send them the panels you have and they will install the material. Larry told us the applications for A-Body cars (such as John’s Duster) are available now, with B- and E-Body to follow later this year.
As for the final pieces of the interior puzzle that include the rear seat, steering wheel, and console, TMI has it covered there as well. If you have a rear seat in your car, TMI can recover it to match the front seats, as was done in John’s Duster. The steering wheel is one basic design but can be ordered in all-leather with flat-black or polished spokes, or leather and suede with flat-black or polished spokes. Several colors with any wheel are also available.
Finally, Larry told us the console in John’s car is one they offer for First-generation (1967-’69) Camaros. It also has a pretty good fit on a universal basis and Larry reports it is a very nice fit in the Duster.
Want to see how TMI makes their Mopar-specific seats? We headed over to their Corona, CA facility to find out! See it here…
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