May Purchase this 73' duster, need some help!
- Thread starter lwha
- Start date
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I would be worried about the 7 1/4 axle. I broke three of them in four years with a mild 318 4 bbl with a 340 cam and dual exhaust. The 340 should have more power than what I was running. :banghead:
adriver
Blazing Apostle
The windshield wiper pivot seals are notorious for leaking. Check under the dash for evidence of water leaks. Take a ice pick to check the floor pans in front.
Green doesn’t bother me as much as the reverse landau top. But that’s just aesthetics.
Check for rust under that.
A 7 ¼ sure grip sounds wrong.
Research the bolt patterns on MOPAR rears and check that.
This car has been “hot rodded ”. No telling what they put in the car.
Does the fuel gage work? Probably is good. But the voltage regulators are also notorious for going bad behind the dash and cooking that.
Legendary interiors sells correct reproduction seat covers for about 400 dollars a piece.
As I recall, the early B body rear will "fit". Sort of.
Green doesn’t bother me as much as the reverse landau top. But that’s just aesthetics.
Check for rust under that.
A 7 ¼ sure grip sounds wrong.
Research the bolt patterns on MOPAR rears and check that.
This car has been “hot rodded ”. No telling what they put in the car.
Does the fuel gage work? Probably is good. But the voltage regulators are also notorious for going bad behind the dash and cooking that.
Legendary interiors sells correct reproduction seat covers for about 400 dollars a piece.
As I recall, the early B body rear will "fit". Sort of.
Yes, all three were one wheel peel....
The "last straw" is when the driver's side wheel, brake drum, and axle had passed me on the passenger side shoulder while driving down the highway (still bolted together).... Luckily the SS leaf springs and long mancini u-bolts kept the rear quarter panel from hitting the ground....
It also looks like there is some sort of "vacuum canister" by the brake booster.
You may want to check the manifold vacuum and make sure that the power brakes work properly (have enough vacuum).
You may want to check the manifold vacuum and make sure that the power brakes work properly (have enough vacuum).
Wow great ideas everyone! Thank you for all the things to check, I should have my work cut out for me. @Sedan, it is down in Zumbrota so I doubt you'd want to make the 2 1/2 - 3 hour drive to see it haha. It will take me about an hour and a half or so to get down there through Saint Paul traffic.
I'll check up on the seals, breaks, make sure the headers are correct, see how bad the floor really is, and then make an offer with the knowledge that the shade of green on that car is not a desirable color. I'd be re-doing it myself anyway. Then perhaps by next week I will be :burnout:
Edit, going to see it tonight! Getting excited! Hopefully she checks out okay and I can become a full fledged member here with my own project thread.
I'll check up on the seals, breaks, make sure the headers are correct, see how bad the floor really is, and then make an offer with the knowledge that the shade of green on that car is not a desirable color. I'd be re-doing it myself anyway. Then perhaps by next week I will be :burnout:
Edit, going to see it tonight! Getting excited! Hopefully she checks out okay and I can become a full fledged member here with my own project thread.
Did you say take the $4500 he is asking? Then take it out for errands? Hahaha, well, I suppose I will at some point, I do have a nice daily driver though
. Or I suppose you could have meant take sedan's offer up and buy him gas/groceries for his time, which would definitely be in order, though he is too far away.Cooter
Well-Known Member
Just an FYI, I bought my 73 duster with a 318 automatic and it had a 7.25 rear in it. Bought it from the original owner. I later installed a 360 (late 70's motor from an aspen) and put a 4 bbl on it. The rear end held up fine. Granted I didn't do any neutral drops in it nor drag raced it either....
Look for sneaky rust, under the rocker panels, torsion bar mounts, leaf mounts, and take out the spare tire to see if there is rust there.
And about the rear end, my dart came with one, and I have a 318 car. When I got the thing and knew I was swapping out a 360 I beat the hell out of it. Burnouts, hard launches stuff like that. I'm going to run it till it blows!
And about the rear end, my dart came with one, and I have a 318 car. When I got the thing and knew I was swapping out a 360 I beat the hell out of it. Burnouts, hard launches stuff like that. I'm going to run it till it blows!
Oooof, that was a rough car, don't even want to talk about it. Well, thanks for all the help I guess! No more A Bodies around me.. About the burn outs comment, this thing would have fallen apart trying to break launch it.
Oooof, that was a rough car, don't even want to talk about it.
??????
Really? You're going to leave us hanging like this?
??????
Really? You're going to leave us hanging like this?
Alrighty, I'll give you some candy . So the car looked okay on the outside... from a distance, all of that white around the body was bondo. The inner fenders were rusted to hell on all four wheels. It had a vynl top originally because there are giant gash marks where they slapped a solid top on, and the pin up job for the window brace pillars was almost falling through. That floor rust? Took a closer look underneath, it is the size of a volley ball, and there is some sort of old brown saggy bag hanging through it, the inside was extremely squishy in that area, probably goes all the way through to the ground at this point.
The engine sounded good, but, I slapped it into reverse and it took about 5 seconds or so to get to the gear, then I had to wiggle the shift stick to get it to sit, the same for drive. It accelerated like a dead cow, and the steering was beyond extremely loose, I was scared to take it to 55 on the back highway. Breaks were almost shot as well.
The lights all worked, even the little turn signals on the sides of the cowl, that wooden plank inside? It was actually a custom box going the length of the glove compartment, it housed a radio and cassette from the 80's in it that did not work... what a bang up job! It was drilled and screwed into the glove compartment's bottom.
The front passanger seet would fall sideways if it was pulled forward too much, since I am a bit on the shorter end this is a no-go.
Tons of rattles inside, every corner, every metal and plastic object, there were leaks from the window seals, though the trunk was very clean.
Struts and shocks looked...okay, they were flaking rust pretty bad though.
I did understand this would be a project car, but unfortunately I am looking for something safe and fun to drive that I can work on updating, tuning, and fixing in my off time or during the long winters here. I would not have paid more than $2000 for this car in it's state, and that would be high balling it.
This has been a great learning experience though, thank you all for your help and ideas! Maybe I'll find another duster around here in the future, for now, the well is dried up.
. So the car looked okay on the outside... from a distance, all of that white around the body was bondo. The inner fenders were rusted to hell on all four wheels. It had a vynl top originally because there are giant gash marks where they slapped a solid top on, and the pin up job for the window brace pillars was almost falling through. That floor rust? Took a closer look underneath, it is the size of a volley ball, and there is some sort of old brown saggy bag hanging through it, the inside was extremely squishy in that area, probably goes all the way through to the ground at this point.The engine sounded good, but, I slapped it into reverse and it took about 5 seconds or so to get to the gear, then I had to wiggle the shift stick to get it to sit, the same for drive. It accelerated like a dead cow, and the steering was beyond extremely loose, I was scared to take it to 55 on the back highway. Breaks were almost shot as well.
The lights all worked, even the little turn signals on the sides of the cowl, that wooden plank inside? It was actually a custom box going the length of the glove compartment, it housed a radio and cassette from the 80's in it that did not work... what a bang up job! It was drilled and screwed into the glove compartment's bottom.
The front passanger seet would fall sideways if it was pulled forward too much, since I am a bit on the shorter end this is a no-go.
Tons of rattles inside, every corner, every metal and plastic object, there were leaks from the window seals, though the trunk was very clean.
Struts and shocks looked...okay, they were flaking rust pretty bad though.
I did understand this would be a project car, but unfortunately I am looking for something safe and fun to drive that I can work on updating, tuning, and fixing in my off time or during the long winters here. I would not have paid more than $2000 for this car in it's state, and that would be high balling it.
This has been a great learning experience though, thank you all for your help and ideas! Maybe I'll find another duster around here in the future, for now, the well is dried up.
You could always take a trip to the south (or west ie. California, Arizona, etc) and bring one back...
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