74 Duster Project
I am a fairly new member and have been impressed with the projects that have been posted, so I thought I might share my in-progress 1974 Duster project. I retired in 2023 and had been looking for a project car and always been a Mopar fan. I had a 1970 Challenger in college and looked at E bodies, but they were either insanely priced or wrecks. I came across a '74 Duster just a few hours away and went to take a look. The car was solid, with a previous owner putting a bit of work (and $) into in. It was a 318, 3-on-the-floor car, but the engine was blown and tranny was in pieces. The upside was that it came with recovered bucket seats, new carpet and headliner, converted to Year One front discs and had a rear disc conversion kit to go on the Dana 60 that was installed. The Dana had new Moser axles (I swapped the 4.10s for 3.55s) and the front end had been rebuilt with Hotchkis suspension parts. There was a new wiring harness as well. Extra glass and new Goodrich 70's and new rims. It was a bargain for $3,500.
That was a year ago and I've stripped the car, had some rust repair done on the driver side roof rail and a few other small fixes. I elected to put in a stiffer core support when metal work was being done. Got it back home to start a lot of sanding and filling over the hot Texas summer. I love this car and decided it was my karma when my next door (I live out in the country) neighbor came to look at it one day and said "I used to have a Duster and still have some old parts in the barn if you want them." An hour later he showed up with two extra doors, a trunk lid, a center consol, a Go Wing and a set of aluminum louvers for the rear window. He was just happy to get them out of his barn!
Fast forward: The body and paint are completed and wiring pretty much done. I have a Flaming River tilt wheel steering column to be put in and then I will be close to getting a moderately-built 360 put in - backed by a Tremec TKX 5-speed. The goal is to build a reasonably-performing car that I can drive cross country to car shows and swap meets when I am finished.
I am a fairly new member and have been impressed with the projects that have been posted, so I thought I might share my in-progress 1974 Duster project. I retired in 2023 and had been looking for a project car and always been a Mopar fan. I had a 1970 Challenger in college and looked at E bodies, but they were either insanely priced or wrecks. I came across a '74 Duster just a few hours away and went to take a look. The car was solid, with a previous owner putting a bit of work (and $) into in. It was a 318, 3-on-the-floor car, but the engine was blown and tranny was in pieces. The upside was that it came with recovered bucket seats, new carpet and headliner, converted to Year One front discs and had a rear disc conversion kit to go on the Dana 60 that was installed. The Dana had new Moser axles (I swapped the 4.10s for 3.55s) and the front end had been rebuilt with Hotchkis suspension parts. There was a new wiring harness as well. Extra glass and new Goodrich 70's and new rims. It was a bargain for $3,500.
That was a year ago and I've stripped the car, had some rust repair done on the driver side roof rail and a few other small fixes. I elected to put in a stiffer core support when metal work was being done. Got it back home to start a lot of sanding and filling over the hot Texas summer. I love this car and decided it was my karma when my next door (I live out in the country) neighbor came to look at it one day and said "I used to have a Duster and still have some old parts in the barn if you want them." An hour later he showed up with two extra doors, a trunk lid, a center consol, a Go Wing and a set of aluminum louvers for the rear window. He was just happy to get them out of his barn!
Fast forward: The body and paint are completed and wiring pretty much done. I have a Flaming River tilt wheel steering column to be put in and then I will be close to getting a moderately-built 360 put in - backed by a Tremec TKX 5-speed. The goal is to build a reasonably-performing car that I can drive cross country to car shows and swap meets when I am finished.