1971 Duster 340 - #'s Matching Project (Central IL)
I think it's time for this to go unfortunately. Had this going for almost a decade, been running into roadblocks and then took a job across the country but they wouldn't move this with me (hah). A friend said he'd buy it, moved it out of storage and into his garage but then backed out as he's got too many things going on and too little space. It's back in not-so-free storage now but having already put thousands of dollars into it just for storage costs I need to cut my losses and realize this probably is never going to get restored as long as I own it.
'71 340-auto car, Tawney Gold on Light Gold bench interior, 99% positive the steering wheel was originally a three spoke woodgrain rim-blow style most frequently seen in the E-Bodies (original owner complained about the funky horn button that went off every time you gripped the steering wheel, replaced it with some ugly thing and then later a '72-'74 E-Body wheel). White vinyl top, side and tail panel stripes. #'s matching engine, transmission, and unibody and all the sheet metal is original. I have the fender tag, build sheet and title in my name; however these are located with some other personal items of mine at my parent's place. Somewhere I've got the fender tag and build sheet info on my computer but I'll have to find it.
Cliffs notes of this car's past 10 years:
Dad and I picked this up after bailing on a basket case Mustang we had originally started. It had been sitting in the shed of the original owner for about 7 years or so. Has something like 143,000 miles. Ran moderately well, but we towed it home. Drove it a few miles and were having issues setting the points up so an electronic ignition kit was put in. Find out the headgasket is blown, and the snowball starts rolling. Gasket replacement turns into engine rebuild turns into drivetrain revamp turns into ground up resto. Ran out of money, I headed to college and it sat until my dad moved when I put it into storage. It spent a few years there, then my friend took it home and here we are in 2008.
All the money went into the engine while the rest of the car was pretty much just disassembled. Realizing the car wouldn't be running for a while the engine was not assembled so everything was blasted with assembly lube and wrapped up in plastic. I had the machine work done by a local guy recommended by local racers and gearheads. Wasn't cheap but I've had him do another engine after this for me as well as a couple other things and he's top notch. It was punched out .030", decked, line honed, main studs installed, crank ground .010" and full groove bearings, fitted with TRW forged slugs and set to ~9.5:1, Total Seal rings, J heads rebuilt with a "competition" valve job (he flow benched them and said these are some of the best flowing unported stock heads he's seen, I didn't get any numbers though), basically a mild rebuild but I wanted premium parts and the best machine work I could get. Still have the factory intake manifold, valve covers, oil pan, air cleaner and the elusive '71-only Thermoquad that was working and not leaking when it came off. Note in the pictures that the crank at the front of the storage unit is a junk piece from a 4-cyl I rebuilt, the 340's crank is hanging by the flange, wrapped in plastic on that wood contraption I made. Also that is a genuine "Strip Kit" for the '71 T-Quad, which is wrapped up in red shop rags.
The transmission (also #'s) was rebuilt not long before we bought the car but it has been sitting for a long time, could probably use a freshening up (I had a 4-speed conversion planned). I only collected parts for the conversion, nothing was cut. I have a rebuilt overdrive 833 with a Year One refurb'd Hurst shifter, a B-body bench seat pistol grip setup, a Lakewood scattershield, pedals and misc. small parts needed for the conversion like frame brackets, z-bars and floor shift steering column parts. Still needed is a floor hump and I'm sure there's some small stuff I'm missing. Also have the original driveshaft. Rear end is the factory 8-3/4, the original owner ditched the 3.23-open chunk for a 3.91 Suregrip, I believe a 742 chunk from a pickup if I remember correctly.
Body...see the pictures. This is pretty much a basket case in need of everything to some extent, however the only bodywork the car has had is a repaint on the driver's side and some work on the tail light panel when it was rear ended; the rest is factory paint and stripes. All the filler I found I ground out. I started to remove the trunk pan, that's pretty much when things came to a halt as I headed to school. The Sharktooth grille is in very good shape, not perfect but better than most originals I would say. There is a replacement fender for the dented one, no rot but it was blasted in the '80s and never painted so it's covered in surface rust. Floorboards are nearly perfect, otherwise the pictures pretty much tell the rest of the story.
While in school I ran short on money a few times and some things were sold off; the valvetrain setup (it was all aftermarket anyway), the exhaust manifolds, the front suspension, bumpers, and the rallye gagues (the gauges themselves, not the entire cluster). Other than that everything should be there, but I may be forgetting some small things. Given that the car was disassembled and that the front suspension was sold the best move would probably be to get a parts car if you've got room as I am sure there are fasteners and such that were lost though I tried to bag and label as I went.
Price...well I had a guy offer me $3500 a few months ago but he was buying a house at the same time; his wife made the house a bigger priority, haha. I was happy with that; but to answer your question, no I will not take $700. :bootysha: Make me an offer and we'll go from there.
Note that I live in Seattle now, and the car is now in a storage unit somewhere in Thomasboro, IL. You will have to work with one of my friends there to look at it in person.
I think it's time for this to go unfortunately. Had this going for almost a decade, been running into roadblocks and then took a job across the country but they wouldn't move this with me (hah). A friend said he'd buy it, moved it out of storage and into his garage but then backed out as he's got too many things going on and too little space. It's back in not-so-free storage now but having already put thousands of dollars into it just for storage costs I need to cut my losses and realize this probably is never going to get restored as long as I own it.
'71 340-auto car, Tawney Gold on Light Gold bench interior, 99% positive the steering wheel was originally a three spoke woodgrain rim-blow style most frequently seen in the E-Bodies (original owner complained about the funky horn button that went off every time you gripped the steering wheel, replaced it with some ugly thing and then later a '72-'74 E-Body wheel). White vinyl top, side and tail panel stripes. #'s matching engine, transmission, and unibody and all the sheet metal is original. I have the fender tag, build sheet and title in my name; however these are located with some other personal items of mine at my parent's place. Somewhere I've got the fender tag and build sheet info on my computer but I'll have to find it.
Cliffs notes of this car's past 10 years:
Dad and I picked this up after bailing on a basket case Mustang we had originally started. It had been sitting in the shed of the original owner for about 7 years or so. Has something like 143,000 miles. Ran moderately well, but we towed it home. Drove it a few miles and were having issues setting the points up so an electronic ignition kit was put in. Find out the headgasket is blown, and the snowball starts rolling. Gasket replacement turns into engine rebuild turns into drivetrain revamp turns into ground up resto. Ran out of money, I headed to college and it sat until my dad moved when I put it into storage. It spent a few years there, then my friend took it home and here we are in 2008.
All the money went into the engine while the rest of the car was pretty much just disassembled. Realizing the car wouldn't be running for a while the engine was not assembled so everything was blasted with assembly lube and wrapped up in plastic. I had the machine work done by a local guy recommended by local racers and gearheads. Wasn't cheap but I've had him do another engine after this for me as well as a couple other things and he's top notch. It was punched out .030", decked, line honed, main studs installed, crank ground .010" and full groove bearings, fitted with TRW forged slugs and set to ~9.5:1, Total Seal rings, J heads rebuilt with a "competition" valve job (he flow benched them and said these are some of the best flowing unported stock heads he's seen, I didn't get any numbers though), basically a mild rebuild but I wanted premium parts and the best machine work I could get. Still have the factory intake manifold, valve covers, oil pan, air cleaner and the elusive '71-only Thermoquad that was working and not leaking when it came off. Note in the pictures that the crank at the front of the storage unit is a junk piece from a 4-cyl I rebuilt, the 340's crank is hanging by the flange, wrapped in plastic on that wood contraption I made. Also that is a genuine "Strip Kit" for the '71 T-Quad, which is wrapped up in red shop rags.
The transmission (also #'s) was rebuilt not long before we bought the car but it has been sitting for a long time, could probably use a freshening up (I had a 4-speed conversion planned). I only collected parts for the conversion, nothing was cut. I have a rebuilt overdrive 833 with a Year One refurb'd Hurst shifter, a B-body bench seat pistol grip setup, a Lakewood scattershield, pedals and misc. small parts needed for the conversion like frame brackets, z-bars and floor shift steering column parts. Still needed is a floor hump and I'm sure there's some small stuff I'm missing. Also have the original driveshaft. Rear end is the factory 8-3/4, the original owner ditched the 3.23-open chunk for a 3.91 Suregrip, I believe a 742 chunk from a pickup if I remember correctly.
Body...see the pictures. This is pretty much a basket case in need of everything to some extent, however the only bodywork the car has had is a repaint on the driver's side and some work on the tail light panel when it was rear ended; the rest is factory paint and stripes. All the filler I found I ground out. I started to remove the trunk pan, that's pretty much when things came to a halt as I headed to school. The Sharktooth grille is in very good shape, not perfect but better than most originals I would say. There is a replacement fender for the dented one, no rot but it was blasted in the '80s and never painted so it's covered in surface rust. Floorboards are nearly perfect, otherwise the pictures pretty much tell the rest of the story.
While in school I ran short on money a few times and some things were sold off; the valvetrain setup (it was all aftermarket anyway), the exhaust manifolds, the front suspension, bumpers, and the rallye gagues (the gauges themselves, not the entire cluster). Other than that everything should be there, but I may be forgetting some small things. Given that the car was disassembled and that the front suspension was sold the best move would probably be to get a parts car if you've got room as I am sure there are fasteners and such that were lost though I tried to bag and label as I went.
Price...well I had a guy offer me $3500 a few months ago but he was buying a house at the same time; his wife made the house a bigger priority, haha. I was happy with that; but to answer your question, no I will not take $700. :bootysha: Make me an offer and we'll go from there.
Note that I live in Seattle now, and the car is now in a storage unit somewhere in Thomasboro, IL. You will have to work with one of my friends there to look at it in person.