General question about buying...

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olddog12

olddog12

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Hi guys, new to your forum and love it!

Ive been looking for a 70's duster lately but have a few questions I hope you can help me out with. Basically, I know quite a bit about cars in general and am very use to getting dirty working on cars but Ive never really been underneath one of these cars, so what should I look for as in known bad areas? Id like to spend between 7-10 on one so Im aware that in this area it wont be show room condition but dont want something with quarter panels full of bondo either.

Thanks for any help & I look forward to hearing from ya.
 
7-10?????? is that 700-1000 or 7000-10000???? 7000-1000w ill buy ya an awful nice car down here. have it shipped. $700 down here won't buy much!!!
realize these '70 dusters are now 42 years old. 98% of them have suffered rust in various places unless a dessert car or one kept in garage and off winter salt roads!!!! good luck
 
7000-10000, that dont buy much around here from my web searching.

Tks chryslerfat, I will keep that in mind for sure!
 
7-10,000 is what I ment. It dosent get you much around her from what ive been seeing.

Tks chryslerfat, thats the kinda info im looking for!
 
Buy one from a state that doesn't use salt on the roads....think dry arid states like AZ, CA, TX, NM. Starting with a rust free car that has a crappy paint job is way cheaper than starting with a car that has a decent paint job covering up problems.

Frame rails and cross member as mentioned. Cowl at the edges where it hides behind the fender lip is a notorious area. Around window frames front and back.

Good luck.
 
Look at where the upper control arm mounts tie into the frame, the rear of the rear frame rails where they tie into the cross panel, where the torque box (not sure if I'm calling it the right thing) ties into the rear frame rails, general floor and trunk pan areas. If you can, find someone who's been through one of these cars before and have them look at it with you. It's possible that there's a member here that is close to you who might be willing to help out. It's easy to overlook problem areas when you get excited when looking at a car. Don't ask me how I know.
 
There are a couple on Kijiji that fit your needs now..

You don't have to go to the deep south to buy one that is rust free...we did but they are rare....however, a road trip down south would be fun. Out west can also a fertile source..

I know where there is a swinger locally that can be had for a reasonable sort of money..some assembly is required.

Grassy
 
Take a look at a page on Facebook called Mopar Muscle Cars. Guys have been posting sale ads for the last week. A 73ish Duster in NW Indiana, and a slanty Demon in Oregon come to mind right now.
 
71dusterdan, I have to wait to be accepted to the group as it closed.

Another newbie question, when buying parts for these mopars, where does one go? I was looking at Year one and umm wow. 300 for a mirror? Dont get me wrong I know things are expensive but my late model parts aint that much! Although the mirror you would only buy once hopefully lol.
 
olddog12 said:
71dusterdan, I have to wait to be accepted to the group as it closed.

Another newbie question, when buying parts for these mopars, where does one go? I was looking at Year one and umm wow. 300 for a mirror? Dont get me wrong I know things are expensive but my late model parts aint that much! Although the mirror you would only buy once hopefully lol.
Click to expand...

Year one is the most expensive place to buy parts and they ship slow.
But they do have the best original wiring harness.
Check around before spending money. I assume 300 for the mirror included shipping?
 
olddog12 said:
71dusterdan, I have to wait to be accepted to the group as it closed.

Another newbie question, when buying parts for these mopars, where does one go? I was looking at Year one and umm wow. 300 for a mirror? Dont get me wrong I know things are expensive but my late model parts aint that much! Although the mirror you would only buy once hopefully lol.
Click to expand...

You can buy off a member here..there are a lot of great sellers.I have bought lots w/o any probs....year one is going to HOSE you for shipping..rule of thumb..if they will not ship usps, don't deal with them..

There is a good non mopar specific vendor out your way... once you start looking..as long as you don't need it yesterday...you will find sources..

Better to get the car first,,than worry about the mirrors :)

Talk to big dog yet ?
 
The mirror, no that wasn't including shipping.

LOL Grassy, I was just checking to see if I buy a car and it dosent have a headliner or a mirror etc., whats this stuff worth ya know. I didn't order the mirror lol.

And yes I did talk to BIG DOG...he sent me 94 pics last nite :happy1:

Im going to see him on Sunday to see if this is something I want to tackle. I can take almost anything apart and put it back together again, but being handed a box and told start assembling is a little harder. I will need lots of manuals and guys on here to give input thats for sure.
 
you can always buy a shell from dartbodies.com

then you know it's not a rust bucket

otherwise, you have to be patient and look, look, look, keep looking and look some more
 
You will need 2 for sure. They are the two year specific manuals that Chrysler produced. Invaluable..

You many want to check with 4spdragtop...he has manuals for sale. His thread.. http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=287305

I will help as much as I can since we just put Duster back together.

BTW, I think you will find him to be a straight shooter..

I found mine on kijiji no less... in Yarmouth.

Ian.
 
I bought my car when it was 23 years old. ( 1993) I had minor rust and mostly dents to contend with. My weak body areas were:1. Lower Quarters/ trunk extensions. 2. Hood hinge went bad, left side blew out the metal around hood bolts. 3.There was some rust on right side lower fender to the rear of wheel well. 4. There can be rust pitting where the bumble bee stripe decal was if you car was so equipped. Now these cars are 40-45 years old, I wouldn't discount trunk and floor pan rot, frame rot, ( look where shackles bolt onto frame. Look where torsion bars go into the frame on the body side). Also, there may be spots around the windshield and backlight ( rear window) if it hasn't been done, you will want to remove the windshield and backlight and clean all rust from the channel and re install. In my opinion though, these Mopar A bodiess held up well to rust. There are a lot of rust bucket mustangs and first generation Camaros. I think they started re popping 69 Camaro bodies 10 - 15 years ago, that tells you something. I have been seeing that they are re popping Dart bodies, now if we can just get them to re pop the 1970 Dart grill and bezels?
 
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