1970 Duster, Trans-Am-inspired "Pro Touring" build
I finally decided to start a thread about my 1970 Duster that I'm in the process of finishing up a drivetrain swap on. My dad bought me this car in 2008 and it started as a mostly-original stock 318-2bbl, 904 car.
The day I brought it home:
Over that next year or so I proceeded to remove the 318 and upgrade it with a Lunati Voodoo 60401 cam, Performer intake, Carter AFB 625 cfm carb, and dual exhaust. Being a rookie at old cars however I overlooked the fact that the 105k-mile bottom end was in terrible shape and once it was back together it would burn about a quart of oil every 10 days. Was still quick enough to keep up with my friend's 2002 Subaru WRX with a few bolt-ons though.
http://s54.photobucket.com/albums/g100/Cornt440/?action=view¤t=DSCN4986.mp4
Around June of 2010 I decided it was time to make my vision of my Duster as a true muscle car a reality. I put the front up on jackstands and proceeded to remove the engine, K-frame, front suspension, radiator, and pretty much everything else related to the drivetrain from the cowl forward. Since that time I have been stockpiling parts and now, a year and half later, I am getting ready to put it back together. First some specs on the subsystems of the car.
Engine:
-- 1975 360 LA block, already bored .060"-over; I had it honed for moly rings and hot-tanked with new cam bearings installed. Also new ARP main cap bolts
-- Stock '75 cast crank, balanced and cleaned up with a .020/.020 turning and polishing
-- Stock con-rods, balanced but reusing original rod bolts (I bought new ones but didn't realize how much it would cost to have them pressed in so I decided not to)
-- New Clevite 77 main and rod bearings, clearances plastigauged around .003" for both mains and rods (yes a bit loose but do I care at this point? lol)
-- KB-107 flat-top zero-deck hypereutectic pistons + rings, valve reliefs lightly ground to remove sharp edges
-- Melling standard-volume oil pump
-- Stock 360 car oil pan with home-made baffle welded in
-- Factory replacement iron 360 Magnum heads, untouched except for some more light grinding on the chambers to reduce sharp edges
-- Hughes Engines 1110 valvesprings and 1278 retainers, stock valves and locks
-- Stock Magnum 1.6:1 rockers, pedestals, etc.
-- Fel-Pro .039" head gaskets, final quench distance around .042" with static compression checking in at 10.42:1
-- Reusing the Lunati Voodoo 60401 cam and lifters from my 318, to give me a dynamic compression of around 8.71:1. http://www.lunatipower.com/Product.aspx?id=1543&gid=287
-- Mopar Performance LA-Magnum conversion pushrods, probably be a bit too short but we'll see how it runs
-- COMP Magnum double-roller timing chain, and Mopar Performance timing chain tensioner
-- Edelbrock RPM Air-Gap intake for Magnum heads
-- Vintage 340 Hi-Po driver-side exhaust manifold, big-outlet (2 1/8") passenger-side Magnum truck exhaust manifold
-- Also reusing the Carter AFB 625 cfm carb from my 318
-- Lastly some vintage Mickey Thompson ribbed valve covers painted wrinkle black
-- Almost forgot ignition, I have a Mallory HyFire-6A box with parts-store electronic distributor and Autolite 3929 plugs
As you can imagine I'm building this engine for TORQUE, I don't imagine it will spin much above 5000 RPM. Some may say that I have too small of a cam for the compression but at the 5500-ft. elevation I live at I'm going to need all the cylinder pressure I can get. I intend to use 2.94:1 rear gears and a 2800-stall converter so I wanted to keep it smooth and able to get some semblance of gas mileage lol. Some pics of it going together:
More to come, I'll get into the suspension and other stuff as time allows.
I finally decided to start a thread about my 1970 Duster that I'm in the process of finishing up a drivetrain swap on. My dad bought me this car in 2008 and it started as a mostly-original stock 318-2bbl, 904 car.
The day I brought it home:
Over that next year or so I proceeded to remove the 318 and upgrade it with a Lunati Voodoo 60401 cam, Performer intake, Carter AFB 625 cfm carb, and dual exhaust. Being a rookie at old cars however I overlooked the fact that the 105k-mile bottom end was in terrible shape and once it was back together it would burn about a quart of oil every 10 days. Was still quick enough to keep up with my friend's 2002 Subaru WRX with a few bolt-ons though.
http://s54.photobucket.com/albums/g100/Cornt440/?action=view¤t=DSCN4986.mp4
Around June of 2010 I decided it was time to make my vision of my Duster as a true muscle car a reality. I put the front up on jackstands and proceeded to remove the engine, K-frame, front suspension, radiator, and pretty much everything else related to the drivetrain from the cowl forward. Since that time I have been stockpiling parts and now, a year and half later, I am getting ready to put it back together. First some specs on the subsystems of the car.
Engine:
-- 1975 360 LA block, already bored .060"-over; I had it honed for moly rings and hot-tanked with new cam bearings installed. Also new ARP main cap bolts
-- Stock '75 cast crank, balanced and cleaned up with a .020/.020 turning and polishing
-- Stock con-rods, balanced but reusing original rod bolts (I bought new ones but didn't realize how much it would cost to have them pressed in so I decided not to)
-- New Clevite 77 main and rod bearings, clearances plastigauged around .003" for both mains and rods (yes a bit loose but do I care at this point? lol)
-- KB-107 flat-top zero-deck hypereutectic pistons + rings, valve reliefs lightly ground to remove sharp edges
-- Melling standard-volume oil pump
-- Stock 360 car oil pan with home-made baffle welded in
-- Factory replacement iron 360 Magnum heads, untouched except for some more light grinding on the chambers to reduce sharp edges
-- Hughes Engines 1110 valvesprings and 1278 retainers, stock valves and locks
-- Stock Magnum 1.6:1 rockers, pedestals, etc.
-- Fel-Pro .039" head gaskets, final quench distance around .042" with static compression checking in at 10.42:1
-- Reusing the Lunati Voodoo 60401 cam and lifters from my 318, to give me a dynamic compression of around 8.71:1. http://www.lunatipower.com/Product.aspx?id=1543&gid=287
-- Mopar Performance LA-Magnum conversion pushrods, probably be a bit too short but we'll see how it runs
-- COMP Magnum double-roller timing chain, and Mopar Performance timing chain tensioner
-- Edelbrock RPM Air-Gap intake for Magnum heads
-- Vintage 340 Hi-Po driver-side exhaust manifold, big-outlet (2 1/8") passenger-side Magnum truck exhaust manifold
-- Also reusing the Carter AFB 625 cfm carb from my 318
-- Lastly some vintage Mickey Thompson ribbed valve covers painted wrinkle black
-- Almost forgot ignition, I have a Mallory HyFire-6A box with parts-store electronic distributor and Autolite 3929 plugs
As you can imagine I'm building this engine for TORQUE, I don't imagine it will spin much above 5000 RPM. Some may say that I have too small of a cam for the compression but at the 5500-ft. elevation I live at I'm going to need all the cylinder pressure I can get. I intend to use 2.94:1 rear gears and a 2800-stall converter so I wanted to keep it smooth and able to get some semblance of gas mileage lol. Some pics of it going together:
More to come, I'll get into the suspension and other stuff as time allows.