what is enough ? (newbie question)

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diymirage

diymirage

HP@idle > hondaHP@redline
Joined
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michigan
hey guys

ive been lurking for a while and now getting close (hopefully) to buying my first duster

I am not looking to get a race car, just a good daily driver/weekend warrior

so, what should I look for ?
I know I want a V8 but will the 318 be sufficient ?

right now I own a 2.0 turbo Passat which has good up and go and the wifeys winterbeater 08 charger 3.5 which is a total dog

so what drive train should I look for or how much HP ?
will the 904 tranny be enough or should I look for a 727
what rear end should I want ?

what else should I keep in mind ?


thanks guys
 
just look for a car that you like that is in the condition you want ....can you live with the paint it has and is the body decent as far as rust and all that.

you can always swap driveline in and out.....a V8 car would be nice so you can interchange a 340 or 360 with just bolt in......but even if its a slant six car ...you can always get a K frame or conversion mounts and install whatever you like....there is also nothing wrong with a 904 .....either a 904 or 727 can be made to run great with any small block....some people actually prefer the 904 because of the one way sprag problem, but that's really race stuff you probably wont need to worry about

regardless of engine size you want an 8 3/4 rear ...those are worth a lot and will work great with any engine /trans combo and wont restrict you with the amount of HP you can expand to. if you find a car with an 8 3/4 in it already ....mega score.

but don't be disappointed if you dont find a car with an 8 3/4 ....those are not common in slanty or 318 cars. but still don't mean you cant swap one in later.
 
If it was me and just wanting a daily driver with some gusto, I would go with a 360, maybe even a modern Magnum engine with a little help in the cam department. Not a big thumper cam but a little better than stock that has a smooth idle. These cars are light enough that you don't need a gazillion horsepower to have fun. I would also trade in the matching tranny then you would have a car that gets decent mileage as well. The fuel injection is a real nice plus for a daily driver to.
Take all this with a grain of salt though, seeing as I drive a blown 340 Demon.

Jack
 
I think you would get a little more input if you said what your initial budget was, how much work you wanted to do and over how long of a period.

I bought the nicest body/paint car I could find with a worn out 318 and drove it for a 5 years and it was fun enough. I did this as I saved for my 416 stroker build. I think this is a good way to do it as you don't lose interest that way. I have seen a few folks say don't buy a big project and jump in right away as you might find you don't have the money and the time and will lose interest.
 
Buy a nice clean driver, dont worry about the motor and transmission. They are much easier to redo then the body. But of the car was just pained or is in primer ask for pictures of the work. If you can find a solid original paint car (even if the paint isnt nice) that would be a great choice also. Paint and body work add up quick but careful because there are lots of hacked paint jobs out there.
 
^ X2 welcome for Michigan, find the cleanest car you can and start there, I will take a slant six clean car over a rusty V8 car that's fixable. Just watch craigslist Mopars are always popping up in Detroit
 
BUDGET ............... Plan a budget you can afford to spend, look for the BEST car you can find in your budget. Paint & body is the most expensive things to do to a car if you cannot do it yourself.

With all the crate engines, swap parts available a clean 6 car will be a better car and in most cases if you don't go CRAZY, cheaper in long run than a rust bucket with performance engine to begin with.


Mine started as a 6 auto on column. It run ok and we drove it that way for 2 years. And with gas at the prices they are today a 6 might be a good way to go if you want to drive.

Have a 340 4 speed and 3.73 gear now, fun yes, but have to give it a little 110 each tank to be happy, so driving gets a little more expensive and difficult to drive without having some extra fuel or have it spark knock. Not fun!

So figure a budget, try and find a body style you like, then get the best example you can afford
 
mopardrt said:
^ x2 welcome for michigan, find the cleanest car you can and start there, i will take a slant six clean car over a rusty v8 car that's fixable. Just watch craigslist mopars are always popping up in detroit
Click to expand...

x2.
 
Personally I would find what you can that is drive able. And tinker as you go along. Part of the fun is being able to get out and cruise in it. Buying someone else's "project" in pieces causes a lot of people to lose interest. Plus with a driver you get to learn some of the vehicle quirks as you go along. Plus you may get into something you enjoy as is.
 
This is my $3000 recommendation, and how I would do it again...

1. Find a really nice 70-72 duster, all-original, interior intact, straight, nice grill, slant six automatic car, for $2000-$2500

2. Find an original 73-76 four door whatever a-body with 318/auto/big bolt pattern rear (preferably 8.25, but a 7.25 gets you on the road), power steering, disc brakes, the works... score this for $500-$1000.... (sell off grill/bumpers/fenders to the guys needed them for their late-A bodies)

3. Get the Mopar Performance chassis manual from Mancini $30

4. Spend 3-4 months cleaning, painting, and combining everything from the 4-door into your new sweet *** duster

5. Drive as you score a 360 and a good rear, if you don't already have an 8.25 diff in there from the swap. To answer your question, the 904 is better for a street small block rocket; the sb 727's are good for towing and robbing a lil horsepower.
 
thanks for all the replies guys

I guess the first thing to decide is budget
that is kind of an open ended question, right now, budget is only a few thousand dollars (with this car being at the very top end of that spectrum http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=250125 )
but since the wifey is FINALLY done with school and actually bringing money into the house instead of the other way 'round im expecting that to grow over the next year or so to the point of this one not being out of reach http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=249859

I like the idea of starting with a /6 and slowly making my way up the food chain but im really not sure what would all be involved in that ?
I would imagine I can do this in my own driveway in a weekend or so (talking about the V8 conversion)
 
RaniDart70 said:
just look for a car that you like that is in the condition you want ....can you live with the paint it has and is the body decent as far as rust and all that.

you can always swap driveline in and out.....a V8 car would be nice so you can interchange a 340 or 360 with just bolt in......but even if its a slant six car ...you can always get a K frame or conversion mounts and install whatever you like....there is also nothing wrong with a 904 .....either a 904 or 727 can be made to run great with any small block....some people actually prefer the 904 because of the one way sprag problem, but that's really race stuff you probably wont need to worry about

regardless of engine size you want an 8 3/4 rear ...those are worth a lot and will work great with any engine /trans combo and wont restrict you with the amount of HP you can expand to. if you find a car with an 8 3/4 in it already ....mega score.

but don't be disappointed if you dont find a car with an 8 3/4 ....those are not common in slanty or 318 cars. but still don't mean you cant swap one in later.
Click to expand...

I slso want to add to rani's post that if you find a 73 and up that has a smaller 8&1/4 rear all is not lost, as you can use a suregrip (positraction) center out of a late model jeep cherokee in the 8&1/4 . These can be had cheap from your local pick n pull yards. you can also get gears for it as well. Its not as durable as the big dog 8&3/4 but it will put up with some abuse, and its already big bolt pattern. IMHO the 73 up has the better K frame and tranny mount using the spool type mounts. Happy hunting. Like rani said and i agree just make sure the body is solid and structurally sound. A paint job costs money, but replacing rusty framerails and floors if ya gotta pay someone to do it is really big bucks.
 
YoungBlood said:
This is my $3000 recommendation, and how I would do it again...

1. Find a really nice 70-72 duster, all-original, interior intact, straight, nice grill, slant six automatic car, for $2000-$2500

2. Find an original 73-76 four door whatever a-body with 318/auto/big bolt pattern rear (preferably 8.25, but a 7.25 gets you on the road), power steering, disc brakes, the works... score this for $500-$1000.... (sell off grill/bumpers/fenders to the guys needed them for their late-A bodies)

3. Get the Mopar Performance chassis manual from Mancini $30

4. Spend 3-4 months cleaning, painting, and combining everything from the 4-door into your new sweet *** duster

5. Drive as you score a 360 and a good rear, if you don't already have an 8.25 diff in there from the swap. To answer your question, the 904 is better for a street small block rocket; the sb 727's are good for towing and robbing a lil horsepower.
Click to expand...

wow you could have read my mind a few years ago. i wanted to get back into doing an old skool mopar B body like i used to back in the 80s and 90s before my stint with turbo mopars. wasnt sure which way i wanted to go. A, B, or E body all are cool. i just happened across a 1974 Dodge Dirt more door complete in Gator Green inside and out. sure it was ugly as sin, but it was BBP, power disc brakes, power steering ,and V8. it was an A/C car but all that was stripped out by a PO, plus it had a solid floor pan, and zero body rot. i scored it in running condition at my local police auction for $400.

i kept the car parked at home and left it complete. well now that i just bought a donor car it settled the decision i was going to build an A body LOL. now to narrow the choices down to 67 to 72 as im not a fan of 73 up sheetmetal on A bodies. lots of darts out there, lots of dusters too. dont like the scamps, sooo old barracuda or a demon. found out the 67 notchback coupes are pretty light weight at 2,700 pounds. score a 67 from my salvage yard buddy complete for $1,000. all i wanted from this thing was the body shell, and the clutch pedal setup. perfect its a slant six car, 3 speed manual on the column, bench seat, manual steering, manual brakes, no option nothing except for a factory vaccuum gage and trip odometer.

now to drag my buddies flatbed trailer to my house, strip out the dart for everything i need for my project, strip out everything from the dart i can resell, sawsall the center of the body out of it for the floorpan and transmission main crossmember. load up the pile o dart onto the scrap trailer. now dissassemble the cuda and relieve it of all its slant six parts, and pile all that onto the scrap trailer, except for the pieces i could easily resell.

drive the pile o dart and slant six parts to local scrap yard when steel got high. score get paid $200 for the scrap metal. now im only into my project $1,200. sell off dart hood, and fender $250, trunklid $75 taillights $25. only into the car for $850. get $150 for tranny as im going 4 speed only into it for $700. i ended up selling enough stuff i pulled from both cars i didnt need that the parts i kept from the dart to use, plus the cuda body i bought to put everything in i was into for $0. then i started to have to buy stuff for the project. im into it for $1500 to $1800 now.

if ya got the room at your property to do it this way then id recommmend it. saved me a lot of dough.

matt
 
I doubt the wifey will let me get a duster AND a donor at this point

she grew up in Chile and moved here when she was 12
her dad worked his 40 hours in a factory and then drove a taxi at night in order to be able to afford to move his family to the US

we've always said that when we could afford it we would want to move them closer to us so she can keep and eye on them (they are both getting up in age and showing it, specially his long work days)
the way I always pictured it we would buy a plot of land, put our house on it, put the pull barn in between the house and the lake and put up a guest house across the lake to house her parents)

last year we ended up buying a duplex and moving her parents in on one side and kept the other side for ourselves

not quite the way I envisioned it but its working out great

but long story short, I just don't have the room for a donor AND another car
once I do get the duster(or demon or dart sport) that would already mean I have to bump my Passat down to winterbeater and keep her outside because I just don't have enough room in the garage for another car
(but with the Passat in the driveway that is filling up soon too)
 
diymirage said:
I doubt the wifey will let me get a duster AND a donor at this point

she grew up in Chile and moved here when she was 12
her dad worked his 40 hours in a factory and then drove a taxi at night in order to be able to afford to move his family to the US

we've always said that when we could afford it we would want to move them closer to us so she can keep and eye on them (they are both getting up in age and showing it, specially his long work days)
the way I always pictured it we would buy a plot of land, put our house on it, put the pull barn in between the house and the lake and put up a guest house across the lake to house her parents)

last year we ended up buying a duplex and moving her parents in on one side and kept the other side for ourselves

not quite the way I envisioned it but its working out great

but long story short, I just don't have the room for a donor AND another car
once I do get the duster(or demon or dart sport) that would already mean I have to bump my Passat down to winterbeater and keep her outside because I just don't have enough room in the garage for another car
(but with the Passat in the driveway that is filling up soon too)
Click to expand...

My hat is off to you for helping your in-laws out.

As said before buy the cleanest, driving car you can find.
If you have to pay a little more up front, it will pay off in the end.

Play with it, tune it, make it drive as nice as you can, then save up the money for performance parts.

It may take a few years to find everything you want, but be patient, and spend money wisely and lay out a realistic (budget) plan of what you want as an end goal and stick to it.
 
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