The Great Pumpkin - '71 Duster

Thanks for the encouraging words, boys.

It's all good, I'm not upset about the motor, I am actually looking forward to the next phase. Sure, I could just fix the leak and keep running it the way it is but that wouldn't be any fun!

I considered using some Combustion Chamber Cleaner to clean things up. We used it at the dealership sometimes, it actually works. However, it's hard to imagine a chemical cleaning will restore optimum performance in this situation. Besides, I'd still need to address the leaking coolant which means the intake has to come back off. It's cold here now, racing/cruise night season is over so it makes little sense to leave it.

Now, a new stroker short block is not cheap by any means. Last time I checked, we did not have a money tree in our backyard. Regardless, I can make it work. Luckily, I have stockpiled enough building block parts to make it a little less painful.

You know, it's a funny thing about discretionary income and hobbies. I always tell my wife I could be out drinkin' and whorin' but I'm usually just 15 feet away in the garage under the hood of an old orange Plymouth. Could be even worse too - one of her friends' husband racked up a $50 grand credit card bill on sneakers. Not kidding! The Duster provides tangible results and pride, not a room full of unworn shoes. But we're all on the same wavelength here, no need to justify anything to this crowd.

Anyway, I have some choices on engine blocks and heads at my disposal. I got two 340 blocks, an LA 360 and a pre-Mag hydraulic roller 360. At the moment, I am deciding between a 340 with a solid flat tappet and the 360 roller setup.

For the heads, I am leaning towards the W2s because A) I have them already and they are still one of the best choices for iron small block heads and B) I have the best rocker arms available. (HS) I mean, a 416" W2 sounds pretty stout, no? I'll probably be putting a roll bar in it if it performs any where near optimum.

Over the last few days I have been reading about small block stokers ad nauseum and have come to the conclusion that there is no reason not to go with a 4" stroke, especially for a street car. The torque on those things can be big block territory brutal! The 4.10 gear I have should be plenty for the 450+ft lbs of grunt these motors can produce. Conversely, the stock 3.31" stroke needs at least a 4.30-up gear, lots of rpm and a gnarly converter to really get going.

Truthfully, I enjoy driving my high-strung street machine. I thought about hard about sticking with the current combo and trying to wring as much out of it as I could but for the amount of work involved, it only makes sense to go stroker. It will be OK to have a more docile idle and the potential to run quicker ETs at less rpm.

Looking back at how I planned this out, I'm glad to have done this project in stages as kind of a rolling laboratory. I got to drive the car for a while and get it down the track to basically where it was before I took it apart 2 years ago. The engine is like the last step.