After reading up the best I could (probably half this forum so far), I realized there aren't alot of Durango R/T builds going on. For what it's worth I'll try my best to document what I do, and some of the ohno's along the way.
Here's the story on the beginning:
In 2001 I rented a Durango for about 3 weeks and at the end I wanted to pick one up. At the time I already had a car and a truck, so it wasn't happening. After a decade, I finally threw in the towel last Thanksgiving and picked up my 2003 Durango R/T for $5500. I've had other things going on the last 6 months, so I've been planning what where and why instead of buying stuff and turning my wrenches.
All that's going to change soon, and I need some serious info to avoid messes that have happened in my past (whaddya mean there's no parts available for that year?! - or better yet - whaddya mean the ported heads we just installed don't work well with the stock pistons on that year?!).
The finding part took awhile, I'm a picky man. It had to be an 03 model for the rear disc brakes, and black. As much as I despise keeping a black vehicle clean, it just looks the best on the D in my opinion. Then there's the R/T issue - as much as I hate getting 12mpg - I wanted an old school 5.2 or 5.9engine. Since they discontinued the 5.2 long before 03, it left the R/T. So basically out of a world full of DD's - I was left with a single year/ make/ model/ trim/ color combination. How's that for picky? :waiting:
In comes the next issue which some people suffer from: I'm a picky frugal man. Not to be confused with cheap, frugal is buying only what you need to get the job done. No chrome plating, no stainless trim, no flashy lights streaming my name across the windows. It also means finding what the picky me wants, cheap. Add to that I had to find one that hadn't been slid on it's roof, or rear-ended by a Uhaul truck - actually anything but factory bodywork was totally out of the question.
So here we are after months of an exhausting search. Actually, my wife the leprechaun found our R/T online while I was 200 miles away looking at one I didn't end up buying. Some people would be pissed that they went on a 400 mile goose chase, and then their wife calls to tell you she found the vehicle 70 miles away the opposite direction. After 12 years I've learned to just grin and bear it - and I usually thank her at some point.
That said, I need a smoke and a coke and I'll be back in a few.
Here's the story on the beginning:
In 2001 I rented a Durango for about 3 weeks and at the end I wanted to pick one up. At the time I already had a car and a truck, so it wasn't happening. After a decade, I finally threw in the towel last Thanksgiving and picked up my 2003 Durango R/T for $5500. I've had other things going on the last 6 months, so I've been planning what where and why instead of buying stuff and turning my wrenches.
All that's going to change soon, and I need some serious info to avoid messes that have happened in my past (whaddya mean there's no parts available for that year?! - or better yet - whaddya mean the ported heads we just installed don't work well with the stock pistons on that year?!).
The finding part took awhile, I'm a picky man. It had to be an 03 model for the rear disc brakes, and black. As much as I despise keeping a black vehicle clean, it just looks the best on the D in my opinion. Then there's the R/T issue - as much as I hate getting 12mpg - I wanted an old school 5.2 or 5.9engine. Since they discontinued the 5.2 long before 03, it left the R/T. So basically out of a world full of DD's - I was left with a single year/ make/ model/ trim/ color combination. How's that for picky? :waiting:
In comes the next issue which some people suffer from: I'm a picky frugal man. Not to be confused with cheap, frugal is buying only what you need to get the job done. No chrome plating, no stainless trim, no flashy lights streaming my name across the windows. It also means finding what the picky me wants, cheap. Add to that I had to find one that hadn't been slid on it's roof, or rear-ended by a Uhaul truck - actually anything but factory bodywork was totally out of the question.
So here we are after months of an exhausting search. Actually, my wife the leprechaun found our R/T online while I was 200 miles away looking at one I didn't end up buying. Some people would be pissed that they went on a 400 mile goose chase, and then their wife calls to tell you she found the vehicle 70 miles away the opposite direction. After 12 years I've learned to just grin and bear it - and I usually thank her at some point.
That said, I need a smoke and a coke and I'll be back in a few.