Dayton Daily News

When you buy a car off eBay, you are never sure what you are going to get.

Paul Stacey of Clay Twp. bought his 1972 Plymouth Duster off eBay and, at first, wasn't impressed with its looks.

But visitors to DaytonDailyNews.com/PrideRide liked what they saw of the finished product, and Stacey won a $500 gift certificate in a contest.

"It looked terrible when I got it — absolutely terrible. It had been painted seven different colors and the body looked terrible.

"But once we got all that paint stripped off, the body was immaculate," he said. Stacey said the car came from South Carolina and was rust-free. "That is all the original sheet metal — all the original oil pans and everything."

He painted the vehicle a dark red, pearl metallic. "It has five coats of clear coat on it and then the stripe was put on and it has three coats of clear coat on top of the stripe — all hand-rubbed, sanded and buffed."

He said it took a year to bring the car to its present grandeur. The reason he was looking for a Duster is simple. "I had one of those when I was 22 or 23 years old," he said. "I loved the car and, like everybody else that is into this stuff, you always want what you used to have.

"It has custom, 2.5-inch exhausts on it — all polished stainless steel," he said. "I polished the exhaust system before I put it on and the bottom of the car has been all detailed and painted," he said. "It turned out real nice," Stacey said.