rebuild or buy

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leo

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Hi; I have a 71 duster twister pretty well all stock and original with 318. It would cost me about $15000 for paint and body work. Do I rebuild or buy one already done? I can't seem to find one. Any idea as to a site that has any for sale.
Thanks
 
Welcome Leo. Your on the right track by showing up here. $15000 is a total out of scope number. Sounds like your goin to let someone else do it all. I cant afford those numbers so i have to do it myself. It's fun and it's just a learning process and i'll bet you can do it yourself also. Step back and take a look at it and make that determination. No questions ask, one can buy one already completed for much less than you can have one built but it maynot be that particular car which may or maynot have some sentimental value. Your call, but you can bet and count on the guys and gals here will help ya all the way through the process. Just ask and we'll be here for ya. Glad to have ya Leo
Small Block aka Bill
 
Welcome Leo and I agree on what Bill said. I would just learn and do it yourself. Then it's truly "your car"
 
Hey Leo, glad to have you aboard. Like SB/Bill stated, you work on your car and it's YOUR'S. Even if you have to farm some stuff out. Read thru Member Restorations and read between the line to garner the sense of satisfaction and pride felt by the owners. The positive comments by other members sure don't hurt neither. BEST of luck !
 
Show us some pics of the car. We can also help you make that decision based on the overall condition of it.
 
Not all of us are experts or have the time to do everything to our cars..having someone else do work to them does NOT lessen the great feeling we get owning them,that being said.. i don't know what shape your car is in but twisters.. nice ones atleast are few and far between nowadays if it takes $15k to get it to the point of being really nice and you can afford it go for it,always remember its YOUR car and YOUR money....
 
You have much more pride in the car you build yourself vs a car already built.:cheers:Just do alot of research and anything you cant do yourself,such as paint ,bodywork,and engine rebuild you can just look around for the best price.
 
Wow Leo;If you are like me and would like to have that good of a rebuild-better farm it out.But most of the fun of having a nice car,is chasing the hard to find parts,learning to do the work you didnt think you could do.When some of your friends look at your car and are impressed,that is the good feelings!I hope you decide to do it yourself,but if not you can find good shops to get it together.Good Luck
 
If you sink $15K into the body and paint for a 1971 Duster Twister, you are way under water on the value of that car.

Personally, all a Twister was is a 1971 Duster with a few pieces of trim and some decals.

Mechanically, nothing sets a Twister apart or makes it perform any better than any 318 Duster, stock for stock.

If you have to have some tape stripes, why not buy a car that was built strictly as a high performance car from the factory - a REAL Duster 340.

Just my opinion, any 318 Duster, Twister tape stripes and fake hood scoops aside, is just a 318 Duster.

If it were me, you know where I am coming from. Spend the $15K on a performance car.

Buy either a 340 or 360 Duster and you will be happier, if you care about performance, instead of tape stripes.
 
I would shop around and get a few more estimates, you could also save quite a bit by doing some of the easy work yourself
 
If you're not keen on doing the work yourself I would just sell it and buy something already done. Its cheaper. Sure, you could get the work done for less but then there is the interior, power train, etc.
 
if you have 15,000 burnign a hole in your pocket, there are plenty of people that are trying to sellthier toys to make ends meet. sell yours and buy one done.
 
jamesdart said:
if you have 15,000 burnign a hole in your pocket, there are plenty of people that are trying to sellthier toys to make ends meet. sell yours and buy one done.
Click to expand...

x2

But for $15000 your car must be pretty far gone...

$10-$15k will get you a real nice one with a good engine (340 or bigger) and will go to helping someone else out who needs the money. Not just that, you won't have to wait.
 
I say buy because if you have to ask this question you may lack the passion and ambition to see it thru.
 
my car was rust free and stright when I bought it last year. Its a 1974 original 318 car a/c disc brakes power steering and only had 50,000 original miles on it I bought the project car for 1400, back window was out of it nothing was on the car and the interior was a mess i put about 500 bucks into the interior and did some body work my self 1000.00 to have it painted and walla i have a semi restored car for under $4000.00
 
If you have to pay to have it all done, $15K for a complete decent body job with a few steel replacement parts welded in will run that easy. Something like full 1/4s, trunk floor, maybe a floor patch, and an inner well, two stage paint, reassembly and striping... Doesnt matter if it's a Hemi E body or Dart, the costs are similar. The only difference is the resulting value and only you can judge that. I'd rather pay someone and know what I have then buy one done. There are some very good looking poorly done stuff out there. If you know the car, or can go look at it in person, it's better.
 
I think that paint and body number is probably pretty close for a nice quality paint job.

The nice thing about buying a car with the paint and body done is that you can see the quality of the work before shelling out any money.

I have seen so many people taken by painters its not even funny. I would much rather buy a car that is painted than go through the hell of the paint process and shelling out more money than you ever expected and being with out the car.

By the time your car is painted you are in so money deep if your not happy or the paint flakes off a week later it going to be your loss.
 
Some good points here.

My thoughts are if the choice were to buy a complete car versus have the restoration performed for me, I would buy the done car.

FWIW, the Twister is a cool car. It's fairly rare, and looks nice. Non-Mopar people don't know what it is, and probably would mistake it for a Hi-Po model. "Performance cars" are great, but a 318 is pretty satisfying to drive on the road in a legal fashion.

Now Leo, how about some pics and description of this Twister? Is it on the road?
 
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