Found my dads original 1971 duster!

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It’s super exciting to see the car come together; you must be so excited!!! And I say that as it reminds me when my Scamp was put back together after getting painted several years ago.

It looks like the body shop is doing a great job. And I say that since your sentimental attachment to the car is priceless (as it should be). Your Duster is a desirable A body (sought after year and drivetrain) and you made the right choice to hold off buying any Duster to restore similar to your Dad’s. Regardless the cost of this project, rolling down the road doing a burnout in the car your Dad did the same thing in is priceless. Well done!
 
It’s super exciting to see the car come together; you must be so excited!!! And I say that as it reminds me when my Scamp was put back together after getting painted several years ago.

It looks like the body shop is doing a great job. And I say that since your sentimental attachment to the car is priceless (as it should be). Your Duster is a desirable A body (sought after year and drivetrain) and you made the right choice to hold off buying any Duster to restore similar to your Dad’s. Regardless the cost of this project, rolling down the road doing a burnout in the car your Dad did the same thing in is priceless. Well done!
I am really excited at this point! I can’t wait to start it up for the first time!
Ya, the car will definitely be priceless to me. It will be passed down to my kids one day! Thanks for the kind words!
 
Hey guys. I’ve attached the response to my inquiry about the engine. I’m impressed! A fast response and possibly a great explanation?? I also worded it like I thought he said there was only no warranty on a race engine. Although I was told that there was no warranty on any engine rebuild, when I picked it up. Regardless, it looks like they will stand behind their work and that there was no overheating issue with the engine. I’ll post what I sent and what the reply was
He said they warranty the engine for 1 year after completion date. Unfortunately because of the delay in my car being completed, that will only leave me with a 3- 3.5 month warranty or so. But it’s better than nothing!

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Majority of ppl get an engine rebuilt, drop it into the car, and pray to god no issues arise. And if there are issues take engine back out or lean over fenders to take it apart been there done that. Basically you are about 5 steps ahead of the average Joe being engine has been dyno run, an issue was flagged and corrected, and engine run again on dyno to verify yes issue was resolved. Shop was transparent an f-up happened and it was fixed. So I would have a lot of confidence in that engine if I were you.

And yeah every project has hick ups unexpected issues crop up that is all situation normal. My two cents.
Thanks a lot! I appreciate the input. Makes total sense to me!
 
Hey guys. I’ve attached the response to my inquiry about the engine. I’m impressed! A fast response and possibly a great explanation?? I also worded it like I thought he said there was only no warranty on a race engine. Although I was told that there was no warranty on any engine rebuild, when I picked it up. Regardless, it looks like they will stand behind their work and that there was no overheating issue with the engine. I’ll post what I sent and what the reply was
He said they warranty the engine for 1 year after completion date. Unfortunately because of the delay in my car being completed, that will only leave me with a 3- 3.5 month warranty or so. But it’s better than nothing!

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This is great news. I am sure if you run into anything crazy they would give you more time.
You seem to have everything well documented. What intake and cam are you using?
 
This is great news. I am sure if you run into anything crazy they would give you more time.
You seem to have everything well documented. What intake and cam are you using?
Hmmm. It says “lunati” cam kit, but I don’t see an intake written anywhere, so I’m not sure on that one
 
Hmmm. It says “lunati” cam kit, but I don’t see an intake written anywhere, so I’m not sure on that one

Based on your pictures in post #54, looks like the stock cast iron intake.

No carb on the motor in those pictures, but a ‘71would have come with an oddball one year only Thermoquad. I love Thermoquads, but if it were me I would look for a ‘72 TQ and leave the ‘71 on the shelf (if you have it). TQ’s are limited on tuning parts now days, but the ‘72+ stuff is legions ahead of the ‘71 parts. And externally it should look identical.

Did you talk about carbs with your engine builder?
 
Based on your pictures in post #54, looks like the stock cast iron intake.

No carb on the motor in those pictures, but a ‘71would have come with an oddball one year only Thermoquad. I love Thermoquads, but if it were me I would look for a ‘72 TQ and leave the ‘71 on the shelf (if you have it). TQ’s are limited on tuning parts now days, but the ‘72+ stuff is legions ahead of the ‘71 parts. And externally it should look identical.

Did you talk about carbs with your engine builder?
Here is the spec sheet. It’s an edelbrock carb that he used for the package. When I got the car the thermoquad was missing
 
Based on your pictures in post #54, looks like the stock cast iron intake.

No carb on the motor in those pictures, but a ‘71would have come with an oddball one year only Thermoquad. I love Thermoquads, but if it were me I would look for a ‘72 TQ and leave the ‘71 on the shelf (if you have it). TQ’s are limited on tuning parts now days, but the ‘72+ stuff is legions ahead of the ‘71 parts. And externally it should look identical.

Did you talk about carbs with your engine builder?
Here it is

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Sorry, I missed that.

So the engine builder might have tuned the Carter to the motor when he dyno’ed it then? That would be a bonus in my mind if he did.
 
Sorry, I missed that.

So the engine builder might have tuned the Carter to the motor when he dyno’ed it then? That would be a bonus in my mind if he did.
Hmm. I’m not sure about that. I’ll have to ask him. I didn’t know you tuned a fuel pump to the motor. Oh the stuff I learn on here! Lol
 
Hmm. I’m not sure about that. I’ll have to ask him. I didn’t know you tuned a fuel pump to the motor. Oh the stuff I learn on here! Lol

To be clear, it’s not the pump that has to be tuned, it is the carburetor. I just doubt that an out of the box Carter is going to flow fuel correctly for your motor, but I will admit that tuning a carburetor is not my thing.
 
To be clear, it’s not the pump that has to be tuned, it is the carburetor. I just doubt that an out of the box Carter is going to flow fuel correctly for your motor, but I will admit that tuning a carburetor is not my thing.
Ohhhhhh. Gotcha! That makes sense. I would hope that he tuned it while it was being test run on the dyno. I will verify for sure though! Thanks
 
A few more interesting photos. Lol. So I remember my dad sideswiping a tree when I was younger and caving the passenger side door in. When I picked up the car, it had a brown door on it. I asked the hydro guy if he put it on there and he said that he didn’t. So the lady who bought it from my dad must have put it on, in hopes of putting it back on the road some day
Then when I drilled the trunk latch open….to my surprise what was sitting in the trunk….the caved in door. Lol.
Also, if you’ll notice, there is an air horn under the hood. Lol. I don’t remember that as a kid, but I put my air compressor to it and it worked like a charm….and loud

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You dad did a number on that door.
 
Ohhhhhh. Gotcha! That makes sense. I would hope that he tuned it while it was being test run on the dyno. I will verify for sure though! Thanks
Most likely carb was tuned to dial the air fuel ratio in. Those carbs tend to be lean out of the box and need bigger jets to richen them up a bit especially for a 340 with aftermarket cam. Given the posted dyno numbers I bet shop dialed in the carb. That is normal procedure when dyno tuning an engine.
 
Most likely carb was tuned to dial the air fuel ratio in. Those carbs tend to be lean out of the box and need bigger jets to richen them up a bit especially for a 340 with aftermarket cam. Given the posted dyno numbers I bet shop dialed in the carb. That is normal procedure when dyno tuning an engine.
Awesome! I’ll confirm with them as well!
 
Good to see that the builder has cleared up any confusion about your engine and does in fact offer a warranty on there work. You have to be getting really excited to burn some rubber.
 
Ok. You can chill now and enjoy the rest of the build. Get your collector car insurance lined up and ready.
 
Good to see that the builder has cleared up any confusion about your engine and does in fact offer a warranty on there work. You have to be getting really excited to burn some rubber.
Ya, huge sigh of relief! Oh man, I can’t wait! It will be such a cool day
 
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