You can build almost any car for next to nothing if you use your head and do some smart swapping and selling.
I bought a running/driving rust free 1974 Duster for $1,300.00 off of eBay in Jan. 2008. It cost me $1,000.00 to get it shipped here. Put me way over budget for a /6 car, but it is rust free car and was able to be licensed immediately upon delivery. It also had a fold down rear seat, power steering, power disk brakes, A/C, yada, yada... I prefer the looks of the 1973-74 Duster over any other 1973+ A-body.
It's a great little cruiser.
My slant six Gold Duster build
About 3 years ago I bought a rust free 1974 Dodge Dart Sport off of eBay for an amazing $177.50! It was an original 318 auto car with the 8-1/4" rear, fold down rear seat, power steering, power disk brakes, A/C, yada, yada...
When it arrived there was a 1970 duster 340 grille laying across the backseat! That paid for the car!
I was going to put a mildly build small block in it with my Mopar performance R/T heads, but then I picked up a completely rebuilt 1977 400long block with a forged crank and KB pistons for only $300.00. I sold the heads for $300.00 and installed a set of '915' casting units. I am debating if I should spend the money on aluminum heads or keep the low dollar budget build theme going...
My 1974 big block Dart Sport build
I have about $1,700.00 into a nice 1972 Dodge Dart with a supercharged 53,000 mile LA 360, a-body 8-3/4" rear with Yukon axles/Moser green bearings/Moroso 3" studs, Hooker headers, an alumium radiator and new front end parts and tires.
My 1972 supercharged Dart build
When all is said and done and I finish the interiors (I have the panels but need two new sets of factory bucket seat covers) I will have about $3k into both the slant six Gold Duster and the big block Dart after selling the original & extra parts I do not need for both cars. The 1972 Dart was a sweet deal as the body was nice with two of everything (hoods, doors, fenders grilles) and it came with two 360s (a brand new 1989 roller cam shortblock which I finished up and a stock tired old 2-bbl.). I bought it in 2004 and paid $650.00 for everything and another $150.00 for a 1974 Dodge truck with 53,000 miles for the drivetrain I pulled the engine & 727 transmission out of it for the Dart. The truck also had a 4.10 posi Dana 60 rear that I pull from under it and still got $150.00 when I crushed the truck at the recyclers. I used the 1989 roller cam 360 engine in our 1964 Ford F-100 lowered tow rig (which spent a few years on the drag strip taking my abuse with a small supercharger).