My girlfriend and I bought this 1971 Duster Twister out of Virginia Beach last year for $4,500.
Being in our 20s, we have a pretty tight budget on the car. A lot of things are not in the cards at the moment, but we're slowly making it happen. Here's a little breakdown and where we're at.
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The car had been hit in the passenger door back in 1984 and was parked away shortly after, where it sat for the next 40 years.
We brought it back to Maryland and started going through it in December.
New battery, gas tank, control arm bushings, all hoses, belts, transmission pan, full single exhaust, carb rebuild, alignment, and a complete fluid change. After four decades of sitting, the car fired right up. Everything to get it running and road safe was roughly $2,000.
We're right around late Feburary at this point.
For the passenger door dent, we took the highly professional route and shoved a football inside the door, then inflated it. The football didn’t survive, but it saved us a pile in bodywork and paint matching, so we’ll call that a win.
Since this car is going to be on the road full time, we decided to splurge a little. FiTech was running a sale, so we picked up a 4-barrel EFI kit for $800. We already had a 4-barrel intake, which helped save some money on the swap. We also bought an EFI-ready tank kit from Tanks Inc for $650 and pulled the other tank to use on future projects.
The original paint was buffed and brought back to life better than we expected. We also spent $50 on Sweet Patina after a friend recommended it, which brought the black back on the hood while still keeping the original faded character and all the colors we love throughout the car.
The keys still had a keychain from the upholstery shop that redid the seats back in the ‘70s. The interior survived incredibly well overall. We replaced the carpet for $200 and added new armrests for $40. Other than that, the interior remains untouched. All the gauges work, all the lights work, and even the wipers and horn still function.
We also added a set of 15x6 small bolt-pattern steel wheels from Wheel Vintiques for about $750. Front tires came from Walmart for $160 for the pair, and the rear tires are Cooper Cobras at $360 for the set.
Grand total right now is right around $9,500.
We’re really happy with where the car is at. We’re under $10,000 into a reliable Mopar that we can cruise, enjoy, and make memories with. All without stressing over every little thing around it.
Since February, we’ve put just under 1,600 miles on the car and are hoping to cross 2,000 miles in May. The longest trip so far has been just over five hours.
The car will be featured at MCACN in Chicago this November. If anyone here is attending, we'd love to say hi!
Being in our 20s, we have a pretty tight budget on the car. A lot of things are not in the cards at the moment, but we're slowly making it happen. Here's a little breakdown and where we're at.
--
The car had been hit in the passenger door back in 1984 and was parked away shortly after, where it sat for the next 40 years.
We brought it back to Maryland and started going through it in December.
New battery, gas tank, control arm bushings, all hoses, belts, transmission pan, full single exhaust, carb rebuild, alignment, and a complete fluid change. After four decades of sitting, the car fired right up. Everything to get it running and road safe was roughly $2,000.
We're right around late Feburary at this point.
For the passenger door dent, we took the highly professional route and shoved a football inside the door, then inflated it. The football didn’t survive, but it saved us a pile in bodywork and paint matching, so we’ll call that a win.
Since this car is going to be on the road full time, we decided to splurge a little. FiTech was running a sale, so we picked up a 4-barrel EFI kit for $800. We already had a 4-barrel intake, which helped save some money on the swap. We also bought an EFI-ready tank kit from Tanks Inc for $650 and pulled the other tank to use on future projects.
The original paint was buffed and brought back to life better than we expected. We also spent $50 on Sweet Patina after a friend recommended it, which brought the black back on the hood while still keeping the original faded character and all the colors we love throughout the car.
The keys still had a keychain from the upholstery shop that redid the seats back in the ‘70s. The interior survived incredibly well overall. We replaced the carpet for $200 and added new armrests for $40. Other than that, the interior remains untouched. All the gauges work, all the lights work, and even the wipers and horn still function.
We also added a set of 15x6 small bolt-pattern steel wheels from Wheel Vintiques for about $750. Front tires came from Walmart for $160 for the pair, and the rear tires are Cooper Cobras at $360 for the set.
Grand total right now is right around $9,500.
We’re really happy with where the car is at. We’re under $10,000 into a reliable Mopar that we can cruise, enjoy, and make memories with. All without stressing over every little thing around it.
Since February, we’ve put just under 1,600 miles on the car and are hoping to cross 2,000 miles in May. The longest trip so far has been just over five hours.
The car will be featured at MCACN in Chicago this November. If anyone here is attending, we'd love to say hi!
