Not to change the subject, but since I am also into the F body (volare, aspen 76-80), They had an available E58 360 4 bbl engine, actually the fastest US car in those years, even beats the Corvette. Wondering how the '74 360 compares??
I like the F-Bodies, too, used to have a ’78 Volare Super Coupe. I’ve thought about buying another F-Body but haven’t seen one I wanted other than the Super Coupe on Bring A Trailer that went for cheap (but more than I was willing to spend).
As I recall, the E58 in the F-Body had the following disadvantage:
1. Single exhaust (duals don’t even fit due to gas tank offset)
2. Catalytic converter
3. Log exhaust manifold on DS (’74 Duster had freeflow)
4. Milder cam (’74 Duster had 340 cam)
Could be wrong about the cam, but pretty sure. And can’t remember if the F-Body E-58 was Lean Burn or not.
Also, rumor has it that the A_Body was about 100 lbs lighter than the F-Body.
Based on the above, I would speculate that the '74 360 Duster is faster (stock vs. stock).