honestly, i don't know if some of the FABO guys offering negative comments here about the noted Duster are completely removed from reality as far as what it currently costs to buy and restore old A-body mopars OR if there are just a lot of "angry, negative people" on FABO. and i REALLY don't give one crap about the within Duster or whether owner ever sells it. i'm going to post the following information for the benefit of you YOUNGER guys out there and the guys that who want to get into the mopar muscle car hobby. for you FABO readers who are angry, negative people with nothing but bad things to say about cars that aren't "museum quality restorations", you all can just ignore this post.
i now have 6 Barracuda's - one that i completely restored and two that i am working on this winter. i have 2600 hours of time in the finished car as well as a lot of "materials" and some parts. the other two cars i'm doing i am still buying parts and will soon be buying paint and bodywork materials. i have looked at the within green Duster and have identified all the major parts of this car if you were building it along with prices for those parts that should be VERY close to current prices as some of the stuff i have priced for the two cars i'm working on. here is an "accurate" list of the parts this car has and the price it would cost to acquire those parts.
two hood scoops: $400.00
4 cragar mag wheels: $500.00
complete 340 motor: $2500.00
833 4 speed trans: $800.00
aluminum radiator: $250.00
rear deck "wing": $400.00
new dash bezel: $700.00
dash bezel gage lens: $225.00
repro tachometer: $200.00
Tuff steering wheel: $250.00
Seat covers: $450.00
headrests: $400.00
Total parts on car: $7075.00
paint and materials
2 gallons of paint: $800.00
primer, sandpaper,
glaze, bondo, thinner,
tape, etc. $600.00
labor: 40 hrs. at $75.00/hr. $3000.00
Total bodywork/paint: $4400.00
cost of a "decent" 70 Duster
that does not need major metal
work and/or replacement $10,000 (?)
Total "estimated" cost of "replicating" the green Duster featured in this post: $21,475.00
Now, my above parts list should be very accurate because i have priced a number of these very same parts recently. a person "might" be able to save a little money if they could find used parts, but if you bought new, these prices are pretty close. it would not hurt to assume a $1000.00 range up or down for all the parts noted. the paint and bodywork estimate is a very rough estimate. in most places in the U.S. you can probably still get bodywork done for $75.00/hr. in other places, bodywork is $100 or even $125/hr. paint can be anywhere from $200.00/gallon to $1000/gallon if you buy "factory mixed" PPG OEM paint. the $4400.00 noted here should just be used as an "estimated cost."
GOOD LUCK finding a 1970 Duster that is good enough to build without major metal and rust repair. however, you "probably" "could" find a decent Duster for $10,000. if you add all these reasonable estimates up, you end up with some $21,470.00 dollars.
SOOOO.... if you could buy this guy's Duster for something less than $20k, it would probably be worth considering assuming that the 340 ran OK; the 4 speed shifted OK; the body WAS NOT full of "rust and bondo." as i've noted above for all you guys that haven't been buying these cars or parts or paint for at least 10 years, building the same Duster as advertised will cost MORE than $20k. but it is true - if you built it yourself, you could do "everything" right. but then, if you could buy the listed Duster for $18k - you could probably just fix the problems that car has in about 1/3rd the amount of time it would take to build one.
i now have 6 Barracuda's - one that i completely restored and two that i am working on this winter. i have 2600 hours of time in the finished car as well as a lot of "materials" and some parts. the other two cars i'm doing i am still buying parts and will soon be buying paint and bodywork materials. i have looked at the within green Duster and have identified all the major parts of this car if you were building it along with prices for those parts that should be VERY close to current prices as some of the stuff i have priced for the two cars i'm working on. here is an "accurate" list of the parts this car has and the price it would cost to acquire those parts.
two hood scoops: $400.00
4 cragar mag wheels: $500.00
complete 340 motor: $2500.00
833 4 speed trans: $800.00
aluminum radiator: $250.00
rear deck "wing": $400.00
new dash bezel: $700.00
dash bezel gage lens: $225.00
repro tachometer: $200.00
Tuff steering wheel: $250.00
Seat covers: $450.00
headrests: $400.00
Total parts on car: $7075.00
paint and materials
2 gallons of paint: $800.00
primer, sandpaper,
glaze, bondo, thinner,
tape, etc. $600.00
labor: 40 hrs. at $75.00/hr. $3000.00
Total bodywork/paint: $4400.00
cost of a "decent" 70 Duster
that does not need major metal
work and/or replacement $10,000 (?)
Total "estimated" cost of "replicating" the green Duster featured in this post: $21,475.00
Now, my above parts list should be very accurate because i have priced a number of these very same parts recently. a person "might" be able to save a little money if they could find used parts, but if you bought new, these prices are pretty close. it would not hurt to assume a $1000.00 range up or down for all the parts noted. the paint and bodywork estimate is a very rough estimate. in most places in the U.S. you can probably still get bodywork done for $75.00/hr. in other places, bodywork is $100 or even $125/hr. paint can be anywhere from $200.00/gallon to $1000/gallon if you buy "factory mixed" PPG OEM paint. the $4400.00 noted here should just be used as an "estimated cost."
GOOD LUCK finding a 1970 Duster that is good enough to build without major metal and rust repair. however, you "probably" "could" find a decent Duster for $10,000. if you add all these reasonable estimates up, you end up with some $21,470.00 dollars.
SOOOO.... if you could buy this guy's Duster for something less than $20k, it would probably be worth considering assuming that the 340 ran OK; the 4 speed shifted OK; the body WAS NOT full of "rust and bondo." as i've noted above for all you guys that haven't been buying these cars or parts or paint for at least 10 years, building the same Duster as advertised will cost MORE than $20k. but it is true - if you built it yourself, you could do "everything" right. but then, if you could buy the listed Duster for $18k - you could probably just fix the problems that car has in about 1/3rd the amount of time it would take to build one.
