my next toy (sadly not a charger)

[chrisII]

found a sweet deal on this 74? duster. plum crazy with white top and stripes. int neads some attention and a color change (its beige  )  but bucket seats at least. floor pans are pretty good, but nead some work. but here are the good points, other than the bad patch job on the quarters (i see pop rivets in the trunk!) the rest of the body looks to be mostly solid. i figure 2 - 3 summers and it will nead  redoing. the sub frames are tied (pretty good job too), it has new rear ss type springs, AND (ok here is why im buying it) it has a 380hp magnum crate motor with new looking headers and full 2 1/2 exhaust w flowmasters, short shaft 4 speed with heavy duty clutch, and 8.75 posi 3.91 gears. i am already planing to go to 3.23 gears and may go to a 727 w man valve body as i really want to daily drive this in the summer. wont tell the price till after the deals done, but he offered to sell wo motor for 1500 wich i think is a fair price..if a couple sales im working on dont come through i will end up with it but not the engine.plans are to test drive early nxt week.

[rare69]

doesn't have to be a charger to be cool, but it sure helps. nice car.

[TruckDriver]

doesn't have to be a charger to be cool, but it sure helps. nice car.

[Mefirst]

I dont get it, if the car is a 4spd why go through al the trouble to redo it to make it an auto trans ride?? Thats kinda dumb in my opinion..

[Silver R/T]

looks like good deal

[694spdRT]

I would suggest just finding a 833 OD 4 spd tranny out of a mid to late 70's Apsen/Volare with the short shaft and drop it in. That way you can keep the 3.91's and still cruise on the highway without a problem. You should check as it might even have one already. If not grab the bellhousing off the donor car too and the bearing retainer is larger on the OD unit. I would hope you get the crate engine too.

[Johnny SixPack]

Sweet score!

I'd drive that in a heartbeat.

Definitely agree that it's a d@mn cool car. 

[chrisII]

I would suggest just finding a 833 OD 4 spd tranny out of a mid to late 70's Apsen/Volare with the short shaft and drop it in. That way you can keep the 3.91's and still cruise on the highway without a problem. You should check as it might even have one already. If not grab the bellhousing off the donor car too and the bearing retainer is larger on the OD unit. I would hope you get the crate engine too.

  if im remembering correctly the OD trans is actually 1:1 in high but 1-3 are lower than the normal 4 speed. and high rear gears were used from the factory. im told its the std 4 speed currently. for a daily driver i prefer an auto, im not into pounding gears at 5:30 am on the way to work, or on the way home after wrenching on heavy trucks for 10 - 12 hours. the idea of an early 90s auto w OD did cross my mind. i have a friend who has a 340 dart with one and 3.91s he can run high 12s and get 20+ mpg going to the races with 4 people in the car. however with a 380 crate motor i think the od auto would nead beefing up. i do already have a 727 with rev manual valve body and a fresh overhaul that has neaded a home for so long i would have it pulled apart an re checked just to be sure its all good yet. either way the duster will make a good driver while the charger becomes dependable again. the duster does nead carpet, and a floor pan patch on the dr side. other than that i could run it as is. its prety much just a mater of geting the cash from the bank and doing the deal. i want the crate motor, he isnt really excited about selling the engine, he wants it for a street rod. i do have a runing 340 that was suposed to go in my charger for this summer. i may try to make a trade so i get the crate motor an he gets a street rod engine.

[41husk]

looks good!  I like the B and E body cars better but would definetly cruize in that and it sounds like a sweet deal.

[694spdRT]

I would suggest just finding a 833 OD 4 spd tranny out of a mid to late 70's Apsen/Volare with the short shaft and drop it in. That way you can keep the 3.91's and still cruise on the highway without a problem. You should check as it might even have one already. If not grab the bellhousing off the donor car too and the bearing retainer is larger on the OD unit. I would hope you get the crate engine too.

  if im remembering correctly the OD trans is actually 1:1 in high but 1-3 are lower than the normal 4 speed. and high rear gears were used from the factory. im told its the std 4 speed currently. for a daily driver i prefer an auto, im not into pounding gears at 5:30 am on the way to work, or on the way home after wrenching on heavy trucks for 10 - 12 hours. the idea of an early 90s auto w OD did cross my mind. i have a friend who has a 340 dart with one and 3.91s he can run high 12s and get 20+ mpg going to the races with 4 people in the car. however with a 380 crate motor i think the od auto would nead beefing up. i do already have a 727 with rev manual valve body and a fresh overhaul that has neaded a home for so long i would have it pulled apart an re checked just to be sure its all good yet. either way the duster will make a good driver while the charger becomes dependable again. the duster does nead carpet, and a floor pan patch on the dr side. other than that i could run it as is. its prety much just a mater of geting the cash from the bank and doing the deal. i want the crate motor, he isnt really excited about selling the engine, he wants it for a street rod. i do have a runing 340 that was suposed to go in my charger for this summer. i may try to make a trade so i get the crate motor an he gets a street rod engine.

I like shifting. My evryday truck is a 5 speed and my diesel is a 6 speed. if you live with stop and go traffic I can see not wanting the stick.

As far as the 833 OD question. Chrysler flipped the 3-4 lever so 4th is actually 3rd and 3rd is overdrive. The overdrive gear is 0.73 to 1 and 3rd is 1 to 1. 1st gear is lower at 3.09 also. There is no need to run higher gears like 3.23 as a 3.91 would effectively be 2.85's in OD. Conversely with the lower first gear a 3.91 will launch like a gearset in the 4.50 range. I am putting one in my Challenger and plan on running a 3.55 rear.

[chrisII]

not much stop n go driving ,the town i live in is only 22k people. im just not a huge fan of sticks. it currently has a hurst ratchet shifter in it that the current owner says is a pain to downshift and generaly not intended for daily use.. but its slick for racing. i dont plann to race this car much so that isnt an issue, but if i was going to race much a good auto is proven to be faster and more consistant.

[BigBlockSam]

thats a cool car. it's a mopar!

[Lowprofile]

Cool car bro!  Good luck with it!

[chrisII]

   went an got a ride in it today ,didnt wana drive with the funny shifter and it was not running well due to a bad plug wire and the cold weather. everything seems fine with the car other than the misfire. and best of all , even running poorly this car will lay posi taking off in 3rd gear! (yeah ya gotta get the rpm up to launch in 3rd).he did launch it light one time an then got on it once it was moving so not to light em an holly cow!    im going to the bank tomorow to do the final paper work, the banker already told me he doesnt suspect a problem. second option would be to get my dad to go 1/2 with me on it, and I KNOW he would. its a good investment and the 1 car he misses that he ever had was a 70 340 dart 4 speed. i get the feeling he would flat out LOVE this car.

[terrible one]

Sounds awesome! I like that car.Good luck with it