sheppard10
Member
The story behind my 74 Duster.
I grew up around Mopars My first car was a 1977 Dodge Aspen with a 318 and no it was not the two-door R/T model this was a baby blue four door boat. I also had a 1979 Dodge Power wagon. My dad had a 70 Cuda my uncle had a 70 AAR. There where Chargers, Cornets, Challengers, Darts and Dusters as far and wide as my family tree goes. I grew up wanting an E-Body (mainly a 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T 383 Four speed, sublime green black vinyl roof with a black butt stripe not that I have put much thought to it at all). So few years back let us say 2004 I was in the market for something. I was fairly new into the service and did not have a lot of money so I needed something that would drive but something I could work on at the same time. I came across a 74 Duster in the local paper so I drove on down and looked it over quickly to see what to make of it. I bought the car that day! The only thing I knew for sure was it used to be a 225 6cyl car and now had a 318 in it. I drove it home (about an hours worth of driving) I think we went through 5 quarts of oil. It was dumping it out the backside if the valve covers faster than I could put it in. I got that leak taken care of pretty quickly after finding out what and how. Then I got orders to leave the US and live in England.. this was crushing to my car building time. But it was only for four years, so I figured I would put the project on ice at my dads place and come back to get it when my tour was over. Well in that four years I got married, had a kid or two and ended up staying in England for the better part of 8 years. Now I am in Alaska and I finally had a place to work on my car. But I live in Alaska..the car is in Montana, I dont know what you know about those two states but here is what I know. It is very expensive to ship anything too or from those two states. They wanted almost what I paid for the car to ship it to me. In addition, it would have cost just as much for me to drive down buy/rent a trailer and drive it home. Therefore, I finally just ponied up the money and had it shipped. However, before I could ship it I needed to do a little maintenance to the car. First off, my dad took care of the car for me while I was gone but the motor was just not going to cut it. So he found me a replacement 318 to slap into it. I tell ya the old motor was rough..with a 3/8 breaker bar with all the plugs still in I could turn the motor over with 0 effort. Plus it was running really low oil pressure we will go with 2-3 PSI for sake of argument. So I take leave, 6 days to be precise. Just so happens that is the week my sister is getting married so I had better make the best of my time. So it 6 days I have to take the old motor out and slam the new one it. Easy right? Well getting the old one out was a snap. Getting the new one in however was a different story. I was going from a two barrel to a four barrel so now the engine is just a smidge taller, and everything that was connected to the old 318 and turned rotten as my dad thought it best to park it until the new motor was installed. (two years) But with the clock winding down on the drop dead date we made it. The car ran! Started like a dream. The fuel was rotten and that was an issue I would have to take care of when it got to AK with me. Then as most things go I had to leave, the truck driver who was supposed to pick up my car had to reschedule. So I left and came back to AK and left the car with my dad. So the day came the driver is ready to pick up my car my dad is left to load the car on the trailer and drop it off did I mention it had rotten fuel in it?? Yea so one big backfire and lots of fire later ..but no worries it came out in the end all right some scorched paint on the motor and some extra crispy wires. Nevertheless, it still started. So here, it is now with me in AK. I have redone most of the wiring within the engine compartment and am now moving my way to the interior. I will pull the gas tank this weekend and hopefully be driving it by the end of this month.
I grew up around Mopars My first car was a 1977 Dodge Aspen with a 318 and no it was not the two-door R/T model this was a baby blue four door boat. I also had a 1979 Dodge Power wagon. My dad had a 70 Cuda my uncle had a 70 AAR. There where Chargers, Cornets, Challengers, Darts and Dusters as far and wide as my family tree goes. I grew up wanting an E-Body (mainly a 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T 383 Four speed, sublime green black vinyl roof with a black butt stripe not that I have put much thought to it at all). So few years back let us say 2004 I was in the market for something. I was fairly new into the service and did not have a lot of money so I needed something that would drive but something I could work on at the same time. I came across a 74 Duster in the local paper so I drove on down and looked it over quickly to see what to make of it. I bought the car that day! The only thing I knew for sure was it used to be a 225 6cyl car and now had a 318 in it. I drove it home (about an hours worth of driving) I think we went through 5 quarts of oil. It was dumping it out the backside if the valve covers faster than I could put it in. I got that leak taken care of pretty quickly after finding out what and how. Then I got orders to leave the US and live in England.. this was crushing to my car building time. But it was only for four years, so I figured I would put the project on ice at my dads place and come back to get it when my tour was over. Well in that four years I got married, had a kid or two and ended up staying in England for the better part of 8 years. Now I am in Alaska and I finally had a place to work on my car. But I live in Alaska..the car is in Montana, I dont know what you know about those two states but here is what I know. It is very expensive to ship anything too or from those two states. They wanted almost what I paid for the car to ship it to me. In addition, it would have cost just as much for me to drive down buy/rent a trailer and drive it home. Therefore, I finally just ponied up the money and had it shipped. However, before I could ship it I needed to do a little maintenance to the car. First off, my dad took care of the car for me while I was gone but the motor was just not going to cut it. So he found me a replacement 318 to slap into it. I tell ya the old motor was rough..with a 3/8 breaker bar with all the plugs still in I could turn the motor over with 0 effort. Plus it was running really low oil pressure we will go with 2-3 PSI for sake of argument. So I take leave, 6 days to be precise. Just so happens that is the week my sister is getting married so I had better make the best of my time. So it 6 days I have to take the old motor out and slam the new one it. Easy right? Well getting the old one out was a snap. Getting the new one in however was a different story. I was going from a two barrel to a four barrel so now the engine is just a smidge taller, and everything that was connected to the old 318 and turned rotten as my dad thought it best to park it until the new motor was installed. (two years) But with the clock winding down on the drop dead date we made it. The car ran! Started like a dream. The fuel was rotten and that was an issue I would have to take care of when it got to AK with me. Then as most things go I had to leave, the truck driver who was supposed to pick up my car had to reschedule. So I left and came back to AK and left the car with my dad. So the day came the driver is ready to pick up my car my dad is left to load the car on the trailer and drop it off did I mention it had rotten fuel in it?? Yea so one big backfire and lots of fire later ..but no worries it came out in the end all right some scorched paint on the motor and some extra crispy wires. Nevertheless, it still started. So here, it is now with me in AK. I have redone most of the wiring within the engine compartment and am now moving my way to the interior. I will pull the gas tank this weekend and hopefully be driving it by the end of this month.
