70 duster: updating, and a no-dough pro-touring makeover
Last budget: 10,974.34 ish
Money spent and made:
around a grand on tuners and shops
500ish on msd distributor, box, wires
sold megasquirt for 1500
500 for carb, fuel log, fittings, etc
220 for used TR5 manifold
36 fuel pressure regulator
100 gaskets/coolant/hose/heat sheild
50 seats
140 new stereo (not arrived yet)
closeout box: $1
New total: 12,021.34ish
so, the last few years have not been kind to this car. I have done everything in my power to tame, as well as thrown money at the megasquirt. I've paid tuners and shops. Changed to fuel only. Rewired things. Changed components. Ran oscilloscopes. Everything. And three weeks ago, on another test drive to tune and see what funky new thing it was doing, it quit. I could not get it restarted, and had to br brought home on a rollback. It fired right up when I got it back in the driveway.
Done. I quit. I admitted defeat, and decided fighting the megasquirt was fighting a losing battle. I have fought it so long, there is no way I could ever get the faith to actually drive the car for any distance. I just could not ever see myself trusting it. So I sold it.
A gentleman on moparts, who is a long time megasquirt user and fan, and has successfully been running a TBI megasquirt smallblock. He wants my setup to go multiport. God bless him.
So, I ripped this off
20200315_172318 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200315_172235 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200327_150206 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200328_145740 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
honestly, it felt RIGHT pulling this setup off. Like hitting a mental reset button.
To replace it, I scored a well used edelbrock TR5 off ebay. Was 220 shipped. Seller blasted and painted it prior to shipment, as well as helicoiled every hole.
20200327_102843 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
to go with it, I picked up a 650 holley brawler with electric choke and mechanical secondaries. A nice fuel log, a holley heat shield, new gaskets for the valve covers and intake, and an afco fan switch. Shot a coat of clear on the intake and heat shield to keep them looking nice.
20200328_130526 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
I also had to drill and tap the fan switch hole. I hate drilling stuff, but I had to this time.
Got it all mounted up, and worked on plumbing.
20200328_081025 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
since the car was set for EFI, I had to step the fuel pressure way down. To do so, I decided to use a bypass regulator. Bought one from ebay. Out of the box, it didn't drop pressure far enough. Only down to 20psi. To get the necessary reduction, I took the regulator apart and increased the orifice size on the return port to 3/16. the regulator was mounted to the heat shield at the back of the carb, EFI pressure rated hose was used throughout.
20200401_172146 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
went ahead and used a coil bracket from an early small block chevy, wired in the choke and fans, and generally tidied everything up. I also re-polished the valve covers.
20200330_101653 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
turned out nice!
20200401_081745 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200401_081750 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200401_081806 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
in the trunk, I finally addressed the fuel pump hole I cut oh so long ago. Before doing so, I finally installed a fuel filter. Sure, theres a sock filter on the pump, but it seemed like a good idea.
20200330_093306 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
to cover the hole, I found a brownie tray at the dollar tree in the right size. Cut a notch for the hoses, added some double sided tape, and done!
20200330_110008 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200330_110302 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
onto the interior!
The Lincoln seats died. Fore/aft motors ceased functioning. And they never fit all that well. And they went 75lbs each. So, I tossed them, in their place, I picked up a set of neon seats from an 04 sxt. Black, cloth, light, comfortable. The tracks required a bit of surgery to fit properly though. About six inches of movement inward on the outside track, as well as making the front bolts parallel to the floor instead of perpendicular.
20200306_100820 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200306_102214 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200306_102954 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200306_102947 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
so, the car is being driven again. This brings us up to today, where I used it to run errands. There's still a bit of carb tweaking to do, and a LOT of cleaning. Idle isnt right yet, and some bogging/hesitation. But, the car is starting better than ever, and the fear is gone. Today, I actually had joy driving it to my doctor appointment. (im not going hardly anywhere, and haven't in weeks. I'm in the category of folks that this will kill due to lung issues) i didn't fear coming home on a wrecker, or worry about it except returning to idle. So very, very nice.
So, short list:
reinstall hood.
Tune carb and ignition.
Fix speedometer and tach calibration
hook up parking brakes.
New lowering blocks and spring clamps in back
set front ride height and align
install passengers seat and console
fix HVAC issues and charge freon
replace dead head unit, upgrade sub amp
detail headlight to taillight.
Last budget: 10,974.34 ish
Money spent and made:
around a grand on tuners and shops
500ish on msd distributor, box, wires
sold megasquirt for 1500
500 for carb, fuel log, fittings, etc
220 for used TR5 manifold
36 fuel pressure regulator
100 gaskets/coolant/hose/heat sheild
50 seats
140 new stereo (not arrived yet)
closeout box: $1
New total: 12,021.34ish
so, the last few years have not been kind to this car. I have done everything in my power to tame, as well as thrown money at the megasquirt. I've paid tuners and shops. Changed to fuel only. Rewired things. Changed components. Ran oscilloscopes. Everything. And three weeks ago, on another test drive to tune and see what funky new thing it was doing, it quit. I could not get it restarted, and had to br brought home on a rollback. It fired right up when I got it back in the driveway.
Done. I quit. I admitted defeat, and decided fighting the megasquirt was fighting a losing battle. I have fought it so long, there is no way I could ever get the faith to actually drive the car for any distance. I just could not ever see myself trusting it. So I sold it.
A gentleman on moparts, who is a long time megasquirt user and fan, and has successfully been running a TBI megasquirt smallblock. He wants my setup to go multiport. God bless him.
So, I ripped this off
honestly, it felt RIGHT pulling this setup off. Like hitting a mental reset button.
To replace it, I scored a well used edelbrock TR5 off ebay. Was 220 shipped. Seller blasted and painted it prior to shipment, as well as helicoiled every hole.
to go with it, I picked up a 650 holley brawler with electric choke and mechanical secondaries. A nice fuel log, a holley heat shield, new gaskets for the valve covers and intake, and an afco fan switch. Shot a coat of clear on the intake and heat shield to keep them looking nice.
I also had to drill and tap the fan switch hole. I hate drilling stuff, but I had to this time.
Got it all mounted up, and worked on plumbing.
since the car was set for EFI, I had to step the fuel pressure way down. To do so, I decided to use a bypass regulator. Bought one from ebay. Out of the box, it didn't drop pressure far enough. Only down to 20psi. To get the necessary reduction, I took the regulator apart and increased the orifice size on the return port to 3/16. the regulator was mounted to the heat shield at the back of the carb, EFI pressure rated hose was used throughout.
went ahead and used a coil bracket from an early small block chevy, wired in the choke and fans, and generally tidied everything up. I also re-polished the valve covers.
turned out nice!
in the trunk, I finally addressed the fuel pump hole I cut oh so long ago. Before doing so, I finally installed a fuel filter. Sure, theres a sock filter on the pump, but it seemed like a good idea.
to cover the hole, I found a brownie tray at the dollar tree in the right size. Cut a notch for the hoses, added some double sided tape, and done!
onto the interior!
The Lincoln seats died. Fore/aft motors ceased functioning. And they never fit all that well. And they went 75lbs each. So, I tossed them, in their place, I picked up a set of neon seats from an 04 sxt. Black, cloth, light, comfortable. The tracks required a bit of surgery to fit properly though. About six inches of movement inward on the outside track, as well as making the front bolts parallel to the floor instead of perpendicular.
so, the car is being driven again. This brings us up to today, where I used it to run errands. There's still a bit of carb tweaking to do, and a LOT of cleaning. Idle isnt right yet, and some bogging/hesitation. But, the car is starting better than ever, and the fear is gone. Today, I actually had joy driving it to my doctor appointment. (im not going hardly anywhere, and haven't in weeks. I'm in the category of folks that this will kill due to lung issues) i didn't fear coming home on a wrecker, or worry about it except returning to idle. So very, very nice.
So, short list:
reinstall hood.
Tune carb and ignition.
Fix speedometer and tach calibration
hook up parking brakes.
New lowering blocks and spring clamps in back
set front ride height and align
install passengers seat and console
fix HVAC issues and charge freon
replace dead head unit, upgrade sub amp
detail headlight to taillight.