1970 duster-modified on a budget

[dustinmoran91]

i picked this up a few days ago for $250 and what you see is what you get lol. i have an 8 3/4 rear end for it that came with it seperate. it sat on the ground so long the rear leaf springs almost rusted away and the sub frame underneath is pretty rough. as you can see the floor is shot and its rough all over. but i plan on a 500hp 360 with 12.5:1 compression and a .600 lift cam running e85 and a four speed. i plan a very basic interior and no accesories other than an oh crap handle for the passenger ive already started working on it and the floor is out and one side is primed but not fixed dents or patches yet. ive made new frame connectors out of 2x3 14 gauge rectangle tube and will do wheel tubs soon. ill get more pics up soon as i can

[1970b5swinger]

looks like a great buy for 250 if your ever in Kansas I have a set of 8 3/4 leaf springs for it no shock mounts but hey they are free.

[Thunder]

Looks like a hell of a project. How much of a budget are you working with? I'll check back from time to time. Good luck on her.

[70DartMike]

Subscribed. Interested to see how this goes.

[73AbodEE]

you got your hands full with that one, but for the price, it may as well been free. looking forward to seeing it come together. keep the pics coming

[pettybludart]

For $250 it,s a win/win situation.Good luck with the build

[dustinmoran91]

Im on a ridiculousley low budget but will spend where it counts like in the motor and trans and suspension etc... overall im looking at hopefully no more than $5000 totally done and painted. I plan to save my making my own frame connnectors wheel tubs etc.. it also helps that my sister in laws father had an entirley mopar salvage yard and refused to sell much of anything so now that hes gone i can get parts super cheap. Thats where i got this car. Theres still a few dusters out there and even a dart and a demon. Theres a challenger but it needs alteast $2k worth of body panels alone. Wil post more pics today.

[70DartMike]

Got any pics of the yard itself?

[mopar7172]

not a bad deal.thats cool your bringin that duster back to life.

[dustinmoran91]

No pics of the yard unfortunatley. Its not a real big one. Theyve gotten rid of the junk mopars that no one would want like the four doors from the 80's and such. Theres about six dusters a dart and the demon also some cars that have sold and are just being stored now. I did find a set of 68 charger tail lights in decent shape which was a major score since new they run almost $1000 i belive

[dustinmoran91]

spent all weekend burning through cutoff wheels lol removed all the floor i could and added my frame connectors with rocker panel tie ins and rear frame braces and shock mount. cut out the wheel tubs but still have alot of trimming to do because i can get another three inches out of it lol adding wheel tubs this week and some more braces. overkill doesn't exist in my book! this car is light enough right now i can pick the back end up of the stands! still need to go pick up my rear end and leaf springs. also have a disc brake front end from a 73 duster. need to figure out how im going to run my trans mission crossmember and replace the rotten k-member. thats all for this weekend though!

[dustinmoran91]

heres the rear braces

[dustinmoran91]

heres the low dollar wheel tubs i made from four trailer fenders for about $50 lol they fit great and are going to add a little strength to the back of the car. i plan to run an 8 3/4 with 4.10 gears and 29/12.5/15 slicks tucked into the wheel wells for a clean look. im sticking with leaf springs and traction bars for my budget but im moving them inside the frame and raising them to lower the car

[70DartMike]

That looks great so far, keep the progress coming.

[dustinmoran91]

Thanks! I know some of the things i do seem kinda redneckish lol like the trailer fenders for tubs but hey it works! Im waiting for my wheels and tires before i burn in the tubs and rear end permanently. Also i want to do as much of the underside work before i put the floor in just to make it easier.

[smalblokmopar]

dam bro looks great

[dustinmoran91]

finally made some more progress!! cut out the inner fenders and replaced with roll cage tubing. and got the leafs moved to under the frame and mouted the rear end. it was a real pain getting the springs moved trying to use a jack and one jack stand on uneven ground lol. im truely surprised this is coming out as square and level as it is for being built on a slanted driveway with just a tape measure and some guesstimation! lol but hoping to get my new k member and all the steering knocked out soon then i can get it sitting on all fours and move to wiring/plumbing/bodywork/interior/everything else lol

[Burntorange70]

Cool build. Looking good so far. Keep up the nice work.

[dustinmoran91]

Thanks! Still trying to decide what rear end i want to use. If i stick with the 8 3/4 i have to get a new third member and the whole shebang but im leaning towards either a 9inch ford or the 8.8 from a mustang because parts are really cheap and easy to find. Also the 8.8 had disk brakes on some of them and my local salvage yard is stupid low on prices lol like $100 for a complete disk brake rear end low

[BIG DOG]

It's a lot of work but your doing a good job! I like the wheel wells thought of that after I got mine all finished. My 1 suggestion is where you run out riggers from your subframe to sills you should plate the sill .It will spread the load and keep it from breaking out in that area.

[Thunder]

I've seen the fenders used for tubbing before. It's a real good idea, especially on a budget. Your doing a hell of a job. Keep up the good work.

[dustinmoran91]

thanks guys! and yeah i plan on adding some plate and gussets to the outriggers on the frame ties. they aren't fully welded in yet because i'm just getting everything put together with tack welds for now in case something had to change. and the fenders i got really lucky on because they were priced at $17.50 each but they only charged me $10 each soooo score!! only bad news is that code enforcment came by today and said im not allowed to work on a car in MY driveway!! pretty sure the neighbors called them but i dont think their mad at me their mad at my dumb@ss brother in law who was working on a chebby shortwide and trying to do a cam break in with open headers and holding at 2000rpm for 30 minutes at MIDNIGHT and having people constantly park in the yard and block the streets. the dummy even had someone park in the neighbors yard...... me on the other hand work from maybe 10am to about dark and then im done. i have no messes in the driveway or anything. him on the hand has a pile of tires next to the house constantly spills oil in the street and drives like an idiot through our neighborhood. sigh i guess i gotta shoot him in the knee and take him out for a few weeks now lol

[smalblokmopar]

The cops showed up at my house at 2am they said my air tools where to loud but did say anything about working on my car. Not being allowed to work on your car in your driveway is crazy.

[dustinmoran91]

Thats what i said! I dont even work at night. Sure i make lots of noise during the day but most of the neighbors are gone at those times

[dusterdan]

Originally Posted by dustinmoran91

Thats what i said! I dont even work at night. Sure i make lots of noise during the day but most of the neighbors are gone at those times

I had a similar problem, way around that is put up a temporary storage, that way neighbors won't see any of the mess and since it's not permanent, it doesn't have to up to any kind of code. In my city, they're so bored and money hungry that came by telling us our brown eaves need to be painted when the neighbor across the street has straight drywall on half the house! Complete BS....