12:05 Garage- ’70 Duster build

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I took the car to Moparfest at the Battleship in Mobile, AL. This is the home of the USS Alabama battleship. They have a bunch of other cool military “stuff” there; tanks, planes, and even a submarine. It’s a neat place to check out if you’re ever in the area.
I took home best A-body. Biggest trophy I’ve ever won!



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Absolutely love how this car has turned out. Build like this keep me moving forward on my car.

Happy with the stance after changing out the springs? Looks good to me, FWIW.
 
DionR said:
Absolutely love how this car has turned out. Build like this keep me moving forward on my car.

Happy with the stance after changing out the springs? Looks good to me, FWIW.
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Yes, very happy. These pics are with the Hotchkis springs and no lowering blocks. It rides pretty good. I’m still waiting on the 1.08 sway away bars to get off back order so I can get a final alignment. I’ll get either Hotchkis shocks or Bilstiens along with a Helwig sway bar over the summer. Oh and more importantly, finalize the AC. It gets hot down here in Louisiana!
 
racerjoe said:
I took the car to Moparfest at the Battleship in Mobile, AL. This is the home of the USS Alabama battleship. They have a bunch of other cool military “stuff” there; tanks, planes, and even a submarine. It’s a neat place to check out if you’re ever in the area.
I took home best A-body. Biggest trophy I’ve ever won!



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....and you didn't even have to cut a light.

if you want to get more milage out of that hardware, re-badge it....."Worlds Finest Trophy Wife" and hand it right over to her. Don't worry, there will be plenty more to come. Trophies, not wives (I hope) ....although the jury is still out on which could cost more???
 
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HemiDenny said:
....and you didn't even have to cut a light.

if you want to get more milage out of that hardware, re-badge it....."Worlds Finest Trophy Wife" and hand it right over to her. Don't worry, there will be plenty more to come. Trophies, not wives (I hope) ....although the jury is still out on which could cost more???
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LOL! Yeah, I'm pretty good at making **** shine, not so much cutting lights and being consistent! Funny thing is the wife asked why I didn't win money. I threatened to bring the trophy to dinner with us that night and also put in in between us in bed....
 
I've been a little OCD about getting the idle on the car tuned perfectly. I started using some of the advanced idle features to try and smooth it out further. I'm relatively happy with the way it is currently. I don't think it will ever have a flat line for idle due to the lopey camshaft. It does oscillate a little, but I can select a section on the data below and it will average out the numbers. The average RPM is usually within 5RPM of the target RPM. I'll take that as a win. The reason I'm sharing this is because of the red line on the bottom with the two peaks. That's coolant temperature. Since I've gotten this thing running again, I'm blown away how great the cooling system is. This is the same radiator and long block that was in the car previously and the cooling system was never this efficient. Now, I did have a Mezierre water pump before and now I have a stock style, mechanical 8 blade pump. I'm sure it's the pump that has helped and perhaps maybe the EFI helping it run nice and cool. Anyway, let's look at the coolant data. The first peak is at exactly 180 degrees. The temp drops because the thermostat opens. The next peak is at exactly 185 degrees. This is where the computer turns the fans on. Notice it starts coming down again after that. Science bra! I realize most people know this is how it works, but it's neat to actually see the data behind it.

The spikes of the other lines at the first peak is me blipping the throttle. It was just coincidence that it happened at the same time.



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72Duster440 said:
How tall is that rear tire? I like the stance on that and have been looking for new leaf springs.
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It is supposed to be 25.9, but it measures 25-3/8" with the weight of the car on it. I'll step up to the 295-35 when these wear out. They are supposed to be about 1/4" taller.
 
Thanks! It looks like the top of the tire is just tucked under the fender, that's a little lower than mine, and my tires are about the same height. 315/35r17's. I just didnt want it to be too low, I can always add a lowering block, it's harder to go the other way!
 
72Duster440 said:
Thanks! It looks like the top of the tire is just tucked under the fender, that's a little lower than mine, and my tires are about the same height. 315/35r17's. I just didnt want it to be too low, I can always add a lowering block, it's harder to go the other way!
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I can make it lower by putting the leaf springs in the top hole of the front spring hanger, but that was too low, especially without anyone sitting in it.
 
As a follow up to my previous post, I was finally able to take the car our for a drive with the new T-bars. I can't believe the difference. I'm still running the crappy KYB shocks too. It's so much flatter in the curves and I don't even have a sway bar yet. Shocks and sway bars are on the list, but finishing the AC is taking priority over those things since it's F-ing hot and humid down here in South LA.
 
Feels like you could cut the humidity with a knife over here by Main Pass
 
I really like the look of those rims. I admit to being a tall when guy, though. Are those 16 in. or bigger?
The black paint and bumpers are killer too.
 
If any of this EFI conversion interests you, check out this thread I started --> LA sequential fuel and spark EFI conversion

It's basically a discussion on what I did to make this 50 year old Mopar engine have sequential EFI. I hope it will help anyone else doing the conversion and maybe someone can teach me something too.
 
I had a bit of a valve train issue due to the pushrods being too long. Apparently oil wasn't getting into the cups and I ended up fracturing one of them. Fortunately nothing internal to the engine was damaged. Of course no one offered the length I needed so I had to make a set. All seems well now with the new ones. As you can see from previous pictures, I was running stock style valve covers. The problem with them is the only way they won't leak is to silicone them down. This isn't favorable when you want to keep an eye on valve lash. They were a major pain in the *** to remove, so I ended up buying the fabricated aluminum valve covers off ebay. They are of good quality, but bare aluminum doesn't fit the look I want. I painted them orange to help them blend in. I'm not thrilled with the look, but I'll take functionality over looks for now.
I have been driving the car every chance I get. I've brought it out to a couple of the local cruise nights and I was pleased to see how many people stop to take pictures of the car.
This picture is from this past weekend. I took the car out for a drive in 97F temperature to see how it would do. Coolant never got over 192F. I can't be more pleased with how well the cooling system works. Go figure, stock style water pump, stock pulley ratios, with an electric fan get the job done. Who needs those fancy pulleys and electric water pumps! The one crazy thing was intake air temperature. It got up to 150F! Is that high? I don't know. No one ever records their intake temp when they have a carb.

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Looks great buddy. I know your having a ball. Nice wheel choice with the black.
 
Here's a picture of the engine with the new valve covers. I think it looks like a big block Chevy now.....Oh well, they are sealed without the use of silicone so that's a win.

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racerjoe said:
I'll get a better picture once I pull it out in the sun...if we ever get any around here!

These are Rocket Attack wheels by Rocket Racing. 18x10 with 285/35-18 and 18x8 with 235/35-18.



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Hi, I was wondering what backspace you used on the rear. Also just to confirm, you did the leafspring offset and not the relocation.

I have a 63 Dart mini tubbed and would rather not do the relocate. But unsure if my 295/35r18 with 5.25b.s will fit with just the offset hangers. My wheel well lips have also been trimmed.

Thanks.
 
1968Dart said:
Hi, I was wondering what backspace you used on the rear. Also just to confirm, you did the leafspring offset and not the relocation.

I have a 63 Dart mini tubbed and would rather not do the relocate. But unsure if my 295/35r18 with 5.25b.s will fit with just the offset hangers. My wheel well lips have also been trimmed.

Thanks.
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The rear wheels are 6" backspace, and yes, only offset leaf spring hangers. I also have stock width 8-3/4 and Cobra style discs. I also trimmed about 3/8-1/2" off the wheel lip. It's crazy how wide the factory lip is on these cars.
I've never messed with the early A-Bodies, but I have to bet backspacing requirements are no where near what a Duster body will take. My suggestion it to make you own measurements about 10 times to make sure. I used a carpenter's square to take all the measurements, then started my search online for off the shelf wheels that would work. Most tire manufacturers have their tire dimensions on their websites.
 
racerjoe said:
The rear wheels are 6" backspace, and yes, only offset leaf spring hangers. I also have stock width 8-3/4 and Cobra style discs. I also trimmed about 3/8-1/2" off the wheel lip. It's crazy how wide the factory lip is on these cars.
I've never messed with the early A-Bodies, but I have to bet backspacing requirements are no where near what a Duster body will take. My suggestion it to make you own measurements about 10 times to make sure. I used a carpenter's square to take all the measurements, then started my search online for off the shelf wheels that would work. Most tire manufacturers have their tire dimensions on their websites.
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That’s great, I appreciate the info. You’re rear brake kit.....is it by chance Dr. diff kit?
 
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