May as well buy a restored Mopar.....

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There's nothing wrong with buying, I was merely saying what my preference is. Mostly because I'll never be able to afford buying something already done.....unless a sack of money falls outta the sky. And even then, I'm not sure.
I understand, I have a list of cars I would also like to own yet but same scenario.......need more money, LOL
 
I`m always checking out car sales and always saying your out of your F,ing mind. lol
Maybe I`m out of touch with todays pricing:realcrazy:
What would a car like this be worth?

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1971 model, originally a 318. It needs half a driver side floor pan, spare tire well but is otherwise complete.
Everything is worn out and needs attention.
I'm not selling. I'll "restore" it and sell it later. I enjoy the build even if I only break even when I sell.
I'm curious though what these cars are selling for though. Dusters in this shape were $500 cars 20 years ago. Is this a $5000 car today?
 
What would a car like this be worth?

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1971 model, originally a 318. It needs half a driver side floor pan, spare tire well but is otherwise complete.
Everything is worn out and needs attention.
I'm not selling. I'll "restore" it and sell it later. I enjoy the build even if I only break even when I sell.
I'm curious though what these cars are selling for though. Dusters in this shape were $500 cars 20 years ago. Is this a $5000 car today?
At a quick glance and by your description........2500 dollar car would be a price that I would deem as fair and would pursue.
 
It just take so much time, I have other things that need to be tended to and my energy just isn't what it used to be. I don't want to come home at 5:00 and work on my car till 9:00 or 10:00 it's more like a few hours maybe on the weekend. For those reasons I could never start with a basket case. That and I can't do everything and will not shell out the money to have somebody else do it and be disappointed.
 
The only reason i do them is im a body man by trade. And i have friends in the paint industry. Needless to so i get the paint free. I did a rotisserie restoration on my 71 twister and its all numbers matching. Including purchase price im in it for 9k. God knows what it would of been otherwise
Wish you were closer so you could revive my dart sports tatered body.:(
 
What would a car like this be worth?

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1971 model, originally a 318. It needs half a driver side floor pan, spare tire well but is otherwise complete.
Everything is worn out and needs attention.
I'm not selling. I'll "restore" it and sell it later. I enjoy the build even if I only break even when I sell.
I'm curious though what these cars are selling for though. Dusters in this shape were $500 cars 20 years ago. Is this a $5000 car today?
I paid a tic under 1/4 of that for Vixen and she was in about the same condition.
 
I remember when Dusters were not really on anyone's radar 25-30 years ago, & you could get a real nice one for $1000. My friend bought a 72 Duster Twister, 318 3 speed manual, bucket seats, ralley wheels etc. from the original owner with under 50,000 well cared for miles on it, for just under $1400 in 1981. That same car now would cost you $15 grand easy. They made a lot of Dusters over the 7 years they were produced, but at the time, most were just nice-looking economy cars & got used-up & scraped. They are like finding GOLD now a days to some of us. Very under-rated cars by the way, in my opinion. Can you tell I love Dusters, Demons & Dart Sports?
 
Bought the the car from the 2nd owner. 2100 bucks. He had already bought all new suspension for it but didn't know how to do it. This included brakes. He gave me everything. I bought 2 full quarters and and a rear tail light panel from clasic. I did all sandblasting and body work and paint myself. The paint was all free from top to bottom from my connections. Engine i had a buddy rebuild had about 3k in it. Interior again was redone by a local guy i know for 700. I had to order a twister stripe kit. All glass work done by my friend who is a glass installer. I have all my receipts from everything in a folder. The car was a complete car. I converted it to power steering by buying a complete column from uncle tony. The pump and brackets came from a buddy with a salvage yard. Oh and the guy i bought it from was going through a divorce. Before and after pics

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The Demon you see as my avatar cost me $12000 to purchase initially. I added up all my receipts this morning and I figure I have around $20k in it now, so had I got it for $2k like you did, I'd be in it for $10k, so your numbers are totally legit. You purchased it right for sure!
 
The Demon you see as my avatar cost me $12000 to purchase initially. I added up all my receipts this morning and I figure I have around $20k in it now, so had I got it for $2k like you did, I'd be in it for $10k, so your numbers are totally legit. You purchased it right for sure!
This is 100% not a knock against you or the Duster guy or anyone else for that matter but just to not confuse people 8 or 9 thousand dollars spent on a reasonably decent start of a classic Mopar will result in a average to better than average home build, which is perfectly fine in a lot of cases and probably would get the overwhelming vote of agreement from feedback off of here but if a person was really looking to actually restore the car and redo,rebuild,restore everything on it then 8-9k will never ever come close to making that happen.........again i'm not knocking your car or anyone else's either as to be honest I haven't seen them in person but what I do know is that if you want them looking like they did when they were new and or even better in some instances that kind of money will not even scratch the surface. Enjoy your car, I own a 71 Demon also and like the color you have on yours.
 
I bought this car for $4k from a widow lady. It turned into more of a project than I expected but it's OK now. I ended up touching every part of the car other than the engine and transmission, and it's just a matter of time for those.

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I've got about 10k in it, but wouldn't take double that for it, not because it's nice but because cars are just too danged expensive these days.
 
I bought this car for $4k from a widow lady. It turned into more of a project than I expected but it's OK now. I ended up touching every part of the car other than the engine and transmission, and it's just a matter of time for those.

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I've got about 10k in it, but wouldn't take double that for it, not because it's nice but because cars are just too danged expensive these days.

Also other cars are just too screwed up with. You end of buying someone else's issue's. "why are they selling it" I can think of a few FABO posters here that have bought restored A-bodies above $20K and they are immediately going through them all over again.

One I can think of does the work himself and methodically is going through the cars tail to tip making minor improvement, fixes, lot of piece of mind stuff.

The other guy bought mid 70's A-body from a dealer and is paying shops to pretty major fixes as he stumbles on to them. Most of the time the fixes include modifications or improvements at same time. The modification aspect seems to hide the pain of a needed repair. I can see in the background of the pictures that this car is very hacked. I'm sure he's got well over $10K in repairs and changes.
 
I agree with the idea of buying a car already at least driver quality for my own situation.

The reason for me being my skills are limited to parts changer, bodywork and welding and minor wiring issues. So I'd need to pay somebody for an engine/transmission rebuild, paint job, gear swaps, etc.

However there are some really talented guys on this board that can do all or most of the elements needed for a restoration. There are some in this thread.
 
Is this a $5000 car today?
You`d really have to love Dusters and can`t find any other buildable ones, for 5k
I gave 6,200 for my notch, the paint and body was nice, I didn`t want to do body and paint. Just a swapped teener, 904 column shifter car.

I though that was top $ imo but this was 25 years ago. Now rust is reappearing and needs redone:(. I probably have 22k in it, 340 S driveline etc.

Lets face it these things are money pits, but we love them, And ya gotta spend your money on something, right?:D
 
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if you build it yourself you know what you have, and for a lot of guys the fun is building the car. Doing the work yourself saves a lot of money. There are tons of ways to save money on your build. Good useable parts are still plentiful and reasonably priced. If your project is 2 or 3 years that's lots of time to find the missing pieces.
If you buy everything new at current prices it is cost prohibitive now.
 
John restores a basket case, pours his heart and soul into it, makes it beautiful.
Decades later he decides to pass it on.
Bill wants to get in the old car hobby, He`s white collar, never laid many wrenches on cars. He buys John`s car, Title`s in his name now.
It will always be John`s car. :popcorn:
 
I paid $16,500 for my ‘67 GT, 3 months ago. It has very nice paint, interior, and a 340 stroker. My plan is to have a little over $20k in it after de tuning it to make it more drivable. So far, I’ve changed out the 4.11s to 3.23 and a smaller carburetor, among several other cosmetic and mechanical items. Personally, I don’t want the expense of a full restoration, so I bought the best car that I could afford.

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I paid $16,500 for my ‘67 GT, 3 months ago. It has very nice paint, interior, and a 340 stroker. My plan is to have a little over $20k in it after de tuning it to make it more drivable. So far, I’ve changed out the 4.11s to 3.23 and a smaller carburetor, among several other cosmetic and mechanical items. Personally, I don’t want the expense of a full restoration, so I bought the best car that I could afford.

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From the pictures it looks like a very nice driver....congrats
 
When have you ever seen a classic being sold for more that the guy "put into it" unless it's Gas Monkey stuff who's labor is free. If that's for you, think of all the time you can spend cruising a finished car as opposed to spending time under it in your garage. It's tempting sometimes......if your down for a 20 year scavenger hunt (my ride) let the games begin!
 
At the end of the day you gotta do whats best for you and your situation. Makes no difference to me if its bought or built. As long as we keep them going. The only thing i worry about is losing the guys with the knowledge and stories of these cars
 
At the end of the day you gotta do whats best for you and your situation. Makes no difference to me if its bought or built. As long as we keep them going. The only thing i worry about is losing the guys with the knowledge and stories of these cars

That's the key to all of it.

Now if you're Jay Leno you can go to auction and pay big bucks for a concours restoration.

We'll find a way to own one and drive it because that's what we do.
 
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I paid $16,500 for my ‘67 GT, 3 months ago. It has very nice paint, interior, and a 340 stroker. My plan is to have a little over $20k in it after de tuning it to make it more drivable. So far, I’ve changed out the 4.11s to 3.23 and a smaller carburetor, among several other cosmetic and mechanical items. Personally, I don’t want the expense of a full restoration, so I bought the best car that I could afford.

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Looks like your car has the same steering wheel that mine does. Guess I don't know what other years they used it. Nice ride!!
 
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