1970 Duster, Trans-Am-inspired "Pro Touring" build

Another year gone by, better late than never? LOL...

Not much to report besides finally getting around to building up my 489 case with 3.55 gears and rebuilt clutch-type Sure-Grip over the past couple months. It was hell getting the gears set up and after weeks of trial and error they're in and they work but they make a slight whine. I ran out of motivation to pull it all apart a third time so I'm just gonna deal with it. I'll likely check the backlash when I go to change the gear oil after the ~500-mile break-in and adjust that if needed but that'll be the extent of it. I also need to reassemble the 2.94 ring and pinion back into my 741 case with the spare open diff I kept from an old 8 3/4" rear I pulled apart years ago.

Runs like a champ now though, Jim at Racer Brown ground my cam for these gears and it's like a different car now. Before with the 2.94s it ran decent off the line but compared to now it was struggling a bit until it got rolling around 20-30 MPH. Now you stomp on it from a stop and it just blasts forward like being shot out of a cannon. My rear tires are pretty wide and grippy so I haven't been able to test the sure-grip much on the street but I can definitely feel it's there when making tight turns. I'm excited to feel how it behaves at the track in hard cornering. Also curious what kind of ET it would put down at the strip, I don't think 13s are out of the question (which is pretty quick at over 5000' elevation). I'm just happy I don't need to worry about getting beat by stupid turbo 4-banger Subarus and Ford Focus ST's with loud exhausts and horrid crackle tunes anymore.

From here the car is next either going to get adjustable Fox (or equivalent) shocks or Mustang Cobra front disc conversion from Dr. Diff. I also want to convert to rear discs as the drums have always been a pain in my *** but the fronts need more stopping power first. All I need is a few grand for all that LMAO