i am currently looking at a duster that is for sale close to me. i believe he said it was a 70 model. ive never been into older muscle cars, but this really caught my eye. its orange with the slant six and an auto trans. dont remember the mileage on the odo though. the guy says it runs and drives just fine. i noticed that the inspection is still good, and the registration JUST ran out. so, i has been on the road in the last couple months. anyway, id like to take on this car for a little resto project. im not a 1/4 mile freak or anything, but id like a car that could be in the mid to low 15's. anyway, back to my point of this post. he has a price of 3500 on this car. i have no idea on the valuation of these older cars so i dont have a bargining point. someone help me out on how to talk him down and what i should look for, rust spots.. etc...

1st -- find year of car, acc.., options etc..-- each year has different values

go to ebay pull up cars of that style -- check completed items for approx value

next --check floors, trunk, underneath framerails-- underhood for rust- corrosion-- some are simple fixes-- some are dangerous structure failure--

original parts-- if not why changed?

if you are not comfortable with this --enlist a friend-- or pay a person to inspect-- a little $$ now could save big $$$ later

most of all if you like the car -- go for it & get into the hobby
Good Luck!!!

i really looked at the car today. its got rust on both sides of the rear quarter panels, behind the wheel, on the outer fender. the inner fender is ok though. also, the spare tire well is rusting out. trunk must leak a little. car was used as a daily driver. i asked him if he would take any less, he said 3200 is the lowest. i was wondering what other things i could try to talk him down with.

have you heard her run or taken a test drive in it yet? That will let you know allot more than he is telling you.......

-dave

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what part of "illegal" is so confusing???

I would walk. Tell him to get in touch with you if he is willing to lower his price. If he isn't, trust me, you didn't lose anything. There will be other opportunities to buy a nice, rust free (or less rusty) dusters. You can easily spend thousands of $, getting replacement metal, welding it in, etc. Also, if you can see some rust, there is a lot more there that you can't see.

For better places to find one, try moparts.com, ebay, bigblockdart.com. You might be surprised to see what is out there, in better shape, for less money.

Good luck.

I 2nd the walk-- sounds like a 800-1200 car at best-- rust-body work is the pitfall to this hobby,
you can get engine work/mechanicals relatively cheap(plus e-z to learn) -- but good body work is price less & $$$$

3rding the walk. That's more than I paid for mine and the only rust I had was a little on the front floor pans (easily fixed), everything else was solid. Trust me, there are much better deals out there. Hell, ever since my wife had our kid I've seen at least one superb deal a week...damnit... (I love my son, I love my son, I love my son, HEY IS THAT A 67 GTX FOR $2500!?! I love my son, I love my son)

-josh

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64 Dart 170 /6

...or you could buy mine, which just so happens to be for sale for $3500.

http://www.slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6807

Turn-key, mid 15's which more potential with simply a looser torque converter and maybe a bit more timing curve tweaking.

There is rust in the lower rear quarters and just forward of the driver's rear wheel well, from clogged drains over the years, but NO salt exposure. Else solid.

D/W

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If it ain't broke, fix it!