naji408
Well-Known Member
It's time for my build thread!! Sorry for the long post, its just that this car is extremely dear to my heart.
When I was 15 years old my older brother came home with a 68' notchback Barracuda. At first, I was like what the hell is that? Then he explained to me about Mopar and how they are proceeded as the underdog/less favorite domestic muscle cars. I didn't quite yet grasp the love of Mopar, yet the love of my brother steered me into that direction.
I had been working at a restaurant serving food, and I told one of my co-workers about my brothers find. He told me that his neighbor was selling a 71 Duster for 1500 bucks, and that his neighbor was the first owner. So I went home that day and I told my brother about the car. All I remember is his face lighting up, with him saying, "Do you know what car that is? That's Al Bundy's car, Its the best year of the Duster" and so forth. So the next day I told my co-working that we might be interested, and we would like to see the car if possible. He went ahead and scheduled us to see the car that night.
My brother and I went to go see the car. I remember it like it was yesterday. All I can say in my head was, "This is the car my brother assumes as being great?". My first sight of the car was not a pleasant one(for I had no interest at that time of how it looked), but I went along with it anyways because I desperately wanted that connection with my brother, and it would be awesome to be the only two Sunnyvale kids with Mopars.
We took the car for a test drive. It was a white with blue interior Duster with a slant six. It had no power at all. The older gentleman(the owner, who was about 75 years old) let us test drive the car on our own, and my brother the whole time helped me envision what potential this car had. It had no rust, and was an original 75000 mile car, no turn-over on the odometer. The car was in great shape.
So we came back from the test drive, and the older gentlemen asked us if we liked the car. My brother(who did all the talking) said we liked it, and what his plans would be if we bought it. The sad part is was that we were far beyond wealthy, and we literally only had a few hundred bucks combined. We told the gentlemen how much we love the car, and sadly we only had 350 bucks. He looked at both of us with a smile and said, "you two look like good boys, and I'm sure you guys will do something good to this car. What the hell? It's yours, give me a hug". We were both full of joy at not only getting the car for what we had, but having the trust in the gentlemen to purchase the car.
I still was to young to have my drivers license, so my older brother rotated around both cars, primarily to drive to school. All I remember were kids (chevy and ford kids) laughing at us, and telling us how weak Mopars were. It was so entertaining cause at this time we had been very caught up with Mopars and their history because we had about every Mopar magazine that we could find.
Before I can get my license, the intake manifold cracked, and at that time I still had no huge interest, or funds, for the Duster. We let it sit for about 10 years until I had the funds to think about restoring it.
As I have have tears in my eyes, my brother sadly was diagnosed with Leukemia in late 2009. This was a huge blow to the family and myself because we had just lost our father to cancer six month prior. My brother was not so negative about his diagnoses, but in my eyes, he lost the will to be happy and positive. He was a strong fighter, but I tried my best to encourage him to fight even stronger. The only thing i can think of at the time was our mutual interest in Mopars. So I began my strong driven drive to actual complete the resto.
I would go see him as much as I could (I had just opened my auto repair shop, and I was working 10 hour shifts, 6 days a week). Whenever I could, I would bring new Mopar magazines, and tell him what direction I was going on with the build. He was my strongest supporter, and he kept reiterating how important it was to keep this car in my hands forever. At this time, I grew an unconditional love for my Duster.
After multiple chemo-therapies, and even a bone marrow transplant, my brothers body gave up, and on June 24, 2011 at the age of 27 he passed away.
It still pains me so much inside just thinking about his loss, and i can't stop feeling so sorry for what he had to go through at such a young age. My resto-mod is dedicated to him, and I just wish he could still be here to see how much I have done to the car.
When I was 15 years old my older brother came home with a 68' notchback Barracuda. At first, I was like what the hell is that? Then he explained to me about Mopar and how they are proceeded as the underdog/less favorite domestic muscle cars. I didn't quite yet grasp the love of Mopar, yet the love of my brother steered me into that direction.
I had been working at a restaurant serving food, and I told one of my co-workers about my brothers find. He told me that his neighbor was selling a 71 Duster for 1500 bucks, and that his neighbor was the first owner. So I went home that day and I told my brother about the car. All I remember is his face lighting up, with him saying, "Do you know what car that is? That's Al Bundy's car, Its the best year of the Duster" and so forth. So the next day I told my co-working that we might be interested, and we would like to see the car if possible. He went ahead and scheduled us to see the car that night.
My brother and I went to go see the car. I remember it like it was yesterday. All I can say in my head was, "This is the car my brother assumes as being great?". My first sight of the car was not a pleasant one(for I had no interest at that time of how it looked), but I went along with it anyways because I desperately wanted that connection with my brother, and it would be awesome to be the only two Sunnyvale kids with Mopars.
We took the car for a test drive. It was a white with blue interior Duster with a slant six. It had no power at all. The older gentleman(the owner, who was about 75 years old) let us test drive the car on our own, and my brother the whole time helped me envision what potential this car had. It had no rust, and was an original 75000 mile car, no turn-over on the odometer. The car was in great shape.
So we came back from the test drive, and the older gentlemen asked us if we liked the car. My brother(who did all the talking) said we liked it, and what his plans would be if we bought it. The sad part is was that we were far beyond wealthy, and we literally only had a few hundred bucks combined. We told the gentlemen how much we love the car, and sadly we only had 350 bucks. He looked at both of us with a smile and said, "you two look like good boys, and I'm sure you guys will do something good to this car. What the hell? It's yours, give me a hug". We were both full of joy at not only getting the car for what we had, but having the trust in the gentlemen to purchase the car.
I still was to young to have my drivers license, so my older brother rotated around both cars, primarily to drive to school. All I remember were kids (chevy and ford kids) laughing at us, and telling us how weak Mopars were. It was so entertaining cause at this time we had been very caught up with Mopars and their history because we had about every Mopar magazine that we could find.
Before I can get my license, the intake manifold cracked, and at that time I still had no huge interest, or funds, for the Duster. We let it sit for about 10 years until I had the funds to think about restoring it.
As I have have tears in my eyes, my brother sadly was diagnosed with Leukemia in late 2009. This was a huge blow to the family and myself because we had just lost our father to cancer six month prior. My brother was not so negative about his diagnoses, but in my eyes, he lost the will to be happy and positive. He was a strong fighter, but I tried my best to encourage him to fight even stronger. The only thing i can think of at the time was our mutual interest in Mopars. So I began my strong driven drive to actual complete the resto.
I would go see him as much as I could (I had just opened my auto repair shop, and I was working 10 hour shifts, 6 days a week). Whenever I could, I would bring new Mopar magazines, and tell him what direction I was going on with the build. He was my strongest supporter, and he kept reiterating how important it was to keep this car in my hands forever. At this time, I grew an unconditional love for my Duster.
After multiple chemo-therapies, and even a bone marrow transplant, my brothers body gave up, and on June 24, 2011 at the age of 27 he passed away.
It still pains me so much inside just thinking about his loss, and i can't stop feeling so sorry for what he had to go through at such a young age. My resto-mod is dedicated to him, and I just wish he could still be here to see how much I have done to the car.
and for the interior, Chrysler Brilliant Black Crystal Pearl, and let me tell you , that black is beautiful! Here's a sneak preview of the paint scheme(although you can't see the pearl in the black).
