The Great Pumpkin - '71 Duster

Took the car out to a cruise last night in Bellmore, NY, Long Island. Bellmore is on the South Shore and I live on the North Shore in Huntington. It's about a 40 mile round trip with some highway driving. Duster did pretty well, no real problems to speak of. Got a lot of approving looks and compliments. That was a good feeling.

Earlier in the day before I left I drove it around the 'hood to make sure it was good to go and noticed there was a lean surge at part throttle. I took the carb off to put a higher number power valve in it which ultimately seemed to help. While doing that though I stripped a bowl screw insert out of the main body. Doh! They take a special helicoil that you basically have to order from Holley or whatever parts place, you can't really find them at the hardware store. It was 5:00 on a Friday so no chance of getting what I needed right then but I was determined to get the car out. In grand Macyver tradition, I put a dab of RTV in the main body threads and put the bowl screw in. Seemed to work OK for the time being, no leaks or otherwise but it needs to be fixed properly.

On the way down to Bellmore from Huntington I get to drive a stretch of highway so I got to experience what it was like to cruise for a long period at part throttle in this car. The A/F seemed fairly consistent (14) but there were a few spikes either way. I need to get some air bleeds and jets to really start getting it fine tuned. It's in the ballpark I guess but throttle response could be a little crisper. Economy is non-existent at the moment, I hope to somehow improve it a little at some point.

The other thing I curious to see was where the RPMs were with the gear change to 4.10 down from the 4.30. Obviously there was a difference, probably a few hundred RPM less but nothing huge. 55 MPH was around 3,100-3,200. Not too bad I suppose for what it is.

One thing I also noticed was that the exhaust is pretty loud and droning (Flowmaster 40 series) which I am not a huge fan of. I'm thinking I might want something a little quieter at some point but that is a low priority at the moment. When it had the 4.30s in, I didn't really drive it on the highway so I didn't really know the extent of the drone until last night.

The cruise was crowded when I got there and it took a while to get into the lot and find a spot. And of course once I get in, the guy in front of me in the Viper seemed to know every gavone there and apparently needed to talk to all of them while I'm waiting behind him. I was starting to get concerned while sitting there idling, the temp gauge was at 200 and climbing. Fortunately I was able to find a spot and shut it off soon after.

So all this has led me to the obvious conclusion that the Duster is in no way, shape or form a highway car. Of course it was not built for highway driving but hey, it's a street car and you wonder if you can do it anyway. The answer is yes, but it sucks. It's fine for driving in town and to car shows around Long Island but not for anything longer. I had been considering driving it to ETown (drag racing) which is 80 miles one way through NYC traffic but I think that's out the window now, especially since it can get a little hot after driving for a while then idling or putt-putting in traffic. Guess I need to figure out a truck and trailer for this thing. Not sure how I'm going to get that done any time soon. :sad2:

So all in all, it was a good trip and I'm happy to say that everything performed as it should. More to come.