My 74 duster, 40 years bein the family car

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BrandunLee

BrandunLee

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Ok, so my 1974 duster was signed over to me by my dad about a year and a half ago. Theres a bit of an interesting story behind it but when I got it home on a flat bed I found the carburetor was missing and it had housed a few rats due to it sitting in a field for about 10 years. Skipping a few details I got it running but 've been going back and forth on what I really want to do with it. Everything is numbers matching except for the rear end. At first I wanted to do a factory resoration, but now I'm leaning more towards a performance car with modern technology. Such as suspension and EFI. Along with modern performance i'd like to have the interior feel a bit more modern as well. I can imagine having a modern interior completely customized for a 40yr old car can get pretty expensive. Which is why I'm pretty much writing a book in this post just to ask everyone if you know of any chrysler/dodge car in the year range of 2000 to 2005 or higher that has a similar interior layout as the 74 duster. I want to do an interior swap just to make the ride feel a little more comfortable. Any answers will be much apprecitated. Except rude ones. Yeah rude answers is a no no.

(and by family car I mean its been passed down through my family. my grandpa, aunt, uncle, and dad all drove the car in high school)

I also forgot to mention my mom got her first speeding ticket in this car haha


(Last year)
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Wednesday, February 19 2014
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I am jealous of two things

1- That you got a car that had been in the family that long
2- The fact that you have no snow!!!!


Do what you want with the car but remember one thing- they are only original once. If you want to change the car and have a place to put all the original parts then put them away in case you want to put it back to original later.
 
That was actually what I had planned to do. Only because I like the fact the everything is still pretty much original. Well whatever happens happens I guess and I'll just be along for the ride. It is a daily driver by the way. I intend to keep it that way


and we had snow two weeks ago! haha weather in colorado can be pretty unpredictable
 
I think its a good idea.... If I had the car, I would just do a simple resto , some custom touches, but something that you wouldn't have to spend a fortune on and just drive, but again, Its just me... do what you want with it
 
Though not acquired new from the beginning like yours, my 72 has been in the family for a little over 35 years, and will be passed on to my only child (son, he likes mopars too!). Nice hearing about cars as part of a family and passed on. Welcome to FABO.
 
COOL car, keep her going in the family, keep her as original as possible!

Not knowing '74 Dusters, what motor is in it?
 
i like the car as it is now the color looks good on this car the alum slots also look good
 
Here's my opinion on it. There's only 1 car on this planet that has been in your family for 40 years. I'd want to keep it original so I could drive it and experience what my father and grandfather experienced. Then I could pass it on to my son at some point so he could carry the tradition.

There's thousands of other Dusters out there with no sentimental value to you whatsoever. I'd go find one of those if I wanted to restomod a car out.
 
Thanks for everyones advice on this. I think im going to stick with the original interior for sure.

For the questions on the motor its a 5.2l 318 that had the bore machined .30 over
Im not sure if the heads are factory or not.
Part of the history of this car is my dad had to sell it due to finacial issues when i was too little to remember. Good thing he had a 74 Dart sport at the time!
Any way after a few years had passed the people who bought the car put it up for sale in our town painted the green you see in the pictures.
I remember being in the car and seeing my dads reaction to seeing his car again in town for sale. Even in a different color he knew it was his. So he bought it back!
So some of the modifications done to it were by the kids who had bought the car from my dad, and are the same people that are resposible for all of the defects in the body work.
I was told they hit a wall drag racing so theres still some front end work that needs to be done.

Heres some pictures of the motor and a picture of what the original paint used to be



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BONUS PICTURE! me and my dad after the car was re purchased

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I'll have to try and find the pictures we have of it in the factory color when it was my grandpas
 
Motopsycho said:
it has afairly new cd player in it did u just put that in
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Yeah I did, my dad had one of the old cd players in it where the entire deck slid out so you can take it with you so nobody would steal it. Sadly enough it was stolen anyway so when I got the car I put the new one in it you see there in the picture. The result of the stereo being stolen is the rear windshield and passenger side rear window are still tinted. the others are not because those windows were broken out and replaced.
 
..what a great history...and you can pass it down to your kids..do you have any and cab they work with you ?

..love the stance...

good luck with the rebuild..
 
very cool, I would put it back to how he had it, Im in the progress of buying my dads old 1963 polara 4 door that he had at 17 , if it wasn't for the sentimental value I would not buy it....but then again , It has the same paint ,wheels,tires ect that was on it when he drove it.....so
 
grassy said:
..what a great history...and you can pass it down to your kids..do you have any and cab they work with you ?

..love the stance...

good luck with the rebuild..
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No kids yet

and thanks for wishing me luck haha
 
BrandunLee said:
thanks for wishing me luck haha
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We took our car the road in 2010 to start our rebuild..the kids and I should have it on the road this year..

worth every minute..and our car doesn't have the amazing history yours has..

If you have any questions..this is the best site for answers..

Ian.
 
tqfastfish said:
very cool, I would put it back to how he had it, Im in the progress of buying my dads old 1963 polara 4 door that he had at 17 , if it wasn't for the sentimental value I would not buy it....but then again , It has the same paint ,wheels,tires ect that was on it when he drove it.....so
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The only thing different now then when my dad had it is the paint.

He put the rear end in it whcih came out of an old police cruiser and is 2 and a half inches wider than a stock rear end.

He put the wheels and tires on it as well as the traction bars.

He actually took out the factory bench seat and put these bucket seats in there that came out of an AMC. His plan for the car was pretty much what I have in my head for it now.
 
grassy said:
We took our car the road in 2010 to start our rebuild..the kids and I should have it on the road this year..

worth every minute..and our car doesn't have the amazing history yours has..

If you have any questions..this is the best site for answers..

Ian.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that, this site will be the first place I post anything about my car that has been updated.
 
My 72 340 said:
Though not acquired new from the beginning like yours, my 72 has been in the family for a little over 35 years, and will be passed on to my only child (son, he likes mopars too!). Nice hearing about cars as part of a family and passed on. Welcome to FABO.
Click to expand...

Yeah I think its awesome. Kind of makes it a little more than just a car when its been around for that long. Thanks for the welcome
 
tqfastfish said:
very cool, I would put it back to how he had it, Im in the progress of buying my dads old 1963 polara 4 door that he had at 17 , if it wasn't for the sentimental value I would not buy it....but then again , It has the same paint ,wheels,tires ect that was on it when he drove it.....so
Click to expand...

Yeah thats definately a car you wanna keep around
 
Neat car to have no matter how you redo it especially because of the history. Another survivor from the days when slot mags ruled the earth!
They are still cool today, I'd keep them. Even if you decide to get modern wheels, it gives you more choices in looks. Who says you cant switch from time to time!
Good luck on it!

Alan
 
alan627b said:
Neat car to have no matter how you redo it especially because of the history. Another survivor from the days when slot mags ruled the earth!
They are still cool today, I'd keep them. Even if you decide to get modern wheels, it gives you more choices in looks. Who says you cant switch from time to time!
Good luck on it!

Alan
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That's the truth! Thanks!
 
Motopsycho said:
i like the car as it is now the color looks good on this car the alum slots also look good
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Yeah I love the five slot look. I'm gonna keep 'em on. Maybe polish 'em up or somethin. That color is my favorite now, I'm thinking of trying some different variations of green, like the modern day "Gotta have it green" from the new boss 302.
 
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