74Dusted
Stock Piler of 340's
I was about 10 or so, when I noticed my grandfather had a pair of Dodges sitting behind his house. A '71 GSS 340 Dodge Demon and a '73 340 Dart Sport. I had to have them, and it wasn't because my dad had a '73 340 Duster and my Grandfather had a '71 Twister (though those cars did start my love for Mopar Muscle)
I worked all summer for my grandfather, mowing grass, moving rocks, helping him lay up a stone chimney (he taught me the art of Masonry) to earn the cars.
The GSS Demon was a lost cause, it ripped in half when we loaded it on the rollback. My grandfather was as heart broken as I was. The Dart Sport needed a lot of TLC but was complete and numbers matching, and even had a 340 T/A engine hiding in the trunk (I later put that T/A in my future '74 Twister). My dad offered me a deal, if I gave up on the GSS Demon, he would let me have the first new truck he had ever bought, a 1984 Dodge D50 4x4 Turbo Diesel... I loved that truck, so I took the deal. I still own that D50, though these days it's highly modified and powered by a 273 from a Barracuda.
Fast forward a few years, I was 15 and the '73 Dart Sport was dismantled and in boxes (I still own it to this day, and I'm slowly putting it back together). I wanted an A-Body to drive, specifically, I wanted a 67-69 Fastback Barracuda. I found one listed as a '67, but when I went to look at it, it was a '66 with a "rattle can engine rebuild" (and not even the original 273, it was a 360), missing a lot of parts and a lot of incorrect parts, with a high price tag for what was there. I walked away. While searching on Ebay for a Barracuda, I stumbled across a '74 Plymouth Duster that was affordable and was only about 40 miles away. I placed a bid and started chewing my fingernails, refreshing the page as fast as it would load.... This was back during the days of Dial-up Internet, it took at least 30 seconds to a minute for a simple page to load!
40 seconds to go and the bid jumps above what I had bid, my heart sank and my dad tapped me on the shoulder. "Put another hundred on top of it, I'll add that to it for you." I typed in my bid and submitted it and immediately yelled "DONT PICK UP THE PHONE!" The page slowed to a crawl, a minute passes (30 seconds beyond the end of the auction) and I don't know if it took my bid in time or not. Finally the page loads and I discover I was the winning bidder.
My dad and I pick up the Duster that weekend, to find the entire car is filled to the ceiling with used, new and NOS parts, and we also filled the bed of my dad's truck with parts too. All in all, the car cost me $630 after the title transfer and gas to tow it home.
I spent 6 months tearing the car apart and putting it back together. When I discovered the numbers matching 318 needed a rebuild, I decided to slap in that 340 T/A 6-Pack I had found in the trunk of my Dart. I drove it around for almost a year in primer, with a 340 6-Pack and a Full Manual Shift 727 hiding in a total sleeper. Christmas Eve, about a week and half after my 17th birthday, I painted the car myself in my dad's garage. Rallye Red.
Fast forward a few more years, my '74 Twister (I eventually discovered my '74 Duster was actually an A51 Code '74 Twister) was dismantled, in the middle of a resto-mod to handle the new Blown "340" engine (a 6-71 Blown 359 R3 engine). My dad needed some money to cover some unexpected expenses and was going to sell his '73 340 Duster (his first car), to cover them. I asked him how much he needed, and immediately gave him the cash to help him out.... I woke up the next morning and his Duster was sitting in my driveway! He had dropped it off while I was sleeping and refused to take it back.
Later, he suggested putting the parts/engine for my Twister in the '73 Duster until I finished the Twister, hence my Blown 73 Duster. I'm working on my Twister again, and when it's complete I'm putting the new R3 based Blown 426 Stroker in it, returning my dad's Duster back to Numbers Matching and giving it back to him for his next birthday.
I worked all summer for my grandfather, mowing grass, moving rocks, helping him lay up a stone chimney (he taught me the art of Masonry) to earn the cars.
The GSS Demon was a lost cause, it ripped in half when we loaded it on the rollback. My grandfather was as heart broken as I was. The Dart Sport needed a lot of TLC but was complete and numbers matching, and even had a 340 T/A engine hiding in the trunk (I later put that T/A in my future '74 Twister). My dad offered me a deal, if I gave up on the GSS Demon, he would let me have the first new truck he had ever bought, a 1984 Dodge D50 4x4 Turbo Diesel... I loved that truck, so I took the deal. I still own that D50, though these days it's highly modified and powered by a 273 from a Barracuda.
Fast forward a few years, I was 15 and the '73 Dart Sport was dismantled and in boxes (I still own it to this day, and I'm slowly putting it back together). I wanted an A-Body to drive, specifically, I wanted a 67-69 Fastback Barracuda. I found one listed as a '67, but when I went to look at it, it was a '66 with a "rattle can engine rebuild" (and not even the original 273, it was a 360), missing a lot of parts and a lot of incorrect parts, with a high price tag for what was there. I walked away. While searching on Ebay for a Barracuda, I stumbled across a '74 Plymouth Duster that was affordable and was only about 40 miles away. I placed a bid and started chewing my fingernails, refreshing the page as fast as it would load.... This was back during the days of Dial-up Internet, it took at least 30 seconds to a minute for a simple page to load!
40 seconds to go and the bid jumps above what I had bid, my heart sank and my dad tapped me on the shoulder. "Put another hundred on top of it, I'll add that to it for you." I typed in my bid and submitted it and immediately yelled "DONT PICK UP THE PHONE!" The page slowed to a crawl, a minute passes (30 seconds beyond the end of the auction) and I don't know if it took my bid in time or not. Finally the page loads and I discover I was the winning bidder.
My dad and I pick up the Duster that weekend, to find the entire car is filled to the ceiling with used, new and NOS parts, and we also filled the bed of my dad's truck with parts too. All in all, the car cost me $630 after the title transfer and gas to tow it home.
I spent 6 months tearing the car apart and putting it back together. When I discovered the numbers matching 318 needed a rebuild, I decided to slap in that 340 T/A 6-Pack I had found in the trunk of my Dart. I drove it around for almost a year in primer, with a 340 6-Pack and a Full Manual Shift 727 hiding in a total sleeper. Christmas Eve, about a week and half after my 17th birthday, I painted the car myself in my dad's garage. Rallye Red.
Fast forward a few more years, my '74 Twister (I eventually discovered my '74 Duster was actually an A51 Code '74 Twister) was dismantled, in the middle of a resto-mod to handle the new Blown "340" engine (a 6-71 Blown 359 R3 engine). My dad needed some money to cover some unexpected expenses and was going to sell his '73 340 Duster (his first car), to cover them. I asked him how much he needed, and immediately gave him the cash to help him out.... I woke up the next morning and his Duster was sitting in my driveway! He had dropped it off while I was sleeping and refused to take it back.
Later, he suggested putting the parts/engine for my Twister in the '73 Duster until I finished the Twister, hence my Blown 73 Duster. I'm working on my Twister again, and when it's complete I'm putting the new R3 based Blown 426 Stroker in it, returning my dad's Duster back to Numbers Matching and giving it back to him for his next birthday.
