'70 Duster Revival: Drag Racing Heart | Pro Touring Soul

[DEVIOUSDUSTER]

looks sweet. great work. see you next year at mopars in the park

Thanks skep419! I'm sooo pumped to finally have something to bring to Mopars in the Park. The past years have been spent going there for parts, working the swap meet and drooling over other rides. This year, we missed it because it fell on our wedding date. 2016 we'll finally be able to enjoy the show... along with our 1st anniversary! :thumbrig:

 

[skep419]

I have a friend with a 1967 barracuda that spends his anniversary at mopars in the park. Your wedding day was their 25th anniversary.

 

[DEVIOUSDUSTER]

It's a date (weekend) that's easy to remember! Glad we can share in the celebration. We've got some catchup to play!

 

[DionR]

Wow!! That came out great!

Any way you could post some higher resolution pictures? I like to save them so I use them as motivation later. If not, I understand.

 

[JBrian]

The Duster is looking great and thanks for the tip for Dynamic Renovation where I found rear shackle brackets for my Duster!

 

[DEVIOUSDUSTER]

Wow!! That came out great!

Any way you could post some higher resolution pictures? I like to save them so I use them as motivation later. If not, I understand.

Thanks! I do but I can only upload images that meet the size constraints of the forum. PM me your email and I'll see if I can send a couple over.

The Duster is looking great and thanks for the tip for Dynamic Renovation where I found rear shackle brackets for my Duster!

That's what the forum's about! I've learned so much throughout this build in terms of good and bad vendors and as I progress with this write up I'll be sure to include both. Glad you could find some brackets!

 

[DEVIOUSDUSTER]

After the bulk of the metal work was done (months of metal work) the car was ready to be re-sprayed with primer. Thanks to Charlie's boss, the owner of the local hot rod shop, we were able to use the paint booth for the weekend.

Our Friday night was spent taping, Saturday morning early in the AM was spent getting a good coat of the gray primer on the fresh body work and Saturday afternoon was spent getting a couple thick coats of high build primer (the orange stuff) laid out. The high build was used so we could do one more round the fine sanding before getting it into final primer. This allowed us to make sure every panel was a straight as it could possible be.

It was a long weekend but it was great seeing how nice the body work turned out once coated. I even got a smile out Chuck as were packing up to bring the car back to the shop. (Might have been from the fumes)

 

[JBrian]

Looking great; hope you get it painted before the weather turns

 

[DEVIOUSDUSTER]

At the 2012 Mopar's in the Park I picked up a set of new 1 7/8" TTI headers from Mancini Racing. (Polished ceramic coating with the thermal barrier.) Absolutely gorgeous!

In an effort to make sure everything fit as it should when the car was finally painted, we dry fit the entire front end assembly. The engine was mounted and then we installed the headers and the torsion bars.

Glad we did this because we found that the header clearance on the driver's side was very minimal. Any movement of the motor when running would cause the slip tube header to rub on the frame rails. Something had to be done.

To remedy the clearance issue we traced around the header and onto the frame rail with a paint pen. Next, using the markings, the frame was notched with a cutoff wheel. A chunk of 3" pipe was cut and then tack welded it into the notched area. After some final trimming the piece was final welded and the excess ground smooth.

 

[DEVIOUSDUSTER]

With the final sanding done, we spent another weekend spraying the final primer on the interior and exterior of the car.

Once fully cured we then sprayed the interior with gloss black.

On to final paint!!!

 

[DEVIOUSDUSTER]

After another long weekend in the paint booth the tub was finally done and back home! What a great feeling! It turned out beautifully.

Paint Code: 2008 PLC Hemi Orange Pearl

There were 5 coats of clear applied on top of the base coat. Being as this was done in January of 2014, we had to leave the heat up in the shop for a few weeks to make sure the paint cured properly. That turned out a spendy heating bill... but totally worth it!

 

[DEVIOUSDUSTER]

To deaden the sound in the car and shed some extra heat from the engine bay and transmission tunnel we generously applied Fatmat. The product itself cuts relatively easy with a standard utility knife. Once it's laid where you want (make sure exactly where you want because the adhesive is SUPER strong) you can pull off the paper backing and smooth it out with a wooden roller or your hand. For the majority of the application I used my hand.

The inside of the door panels and the rear tub by the rear seat also received the matting. It took one 50ft roll to complete the entire car.

After one summer of cruising, I can honestly say that this was an excellent investment in helping control the cabin noise. (Only when the windows were rolled up) :burnout:

 

[DEVIOUSDUSTER]

The hood and fenders were prepped and painted separate of the tub. Since the original intent for the car was all out drag racing I did purchase a new AAR Stinger fiberglass hood earlier in the build. The direction since shifted to Pro Touring but weight saving is weight savings so the fiberglass hood was still used.

The fiberglass hood was the flat bolt on style used on the Duster and Valiant from 1969-1972. (Light weight springs need to be used) I requested that AAR/Stinger build the center of the hood up with thicker fiberglass because I wanted to use a dual snorkel hood scoop. The intent was to help eliminate any flex. I also purchased the dual snorkel hood scoop from AAR/Stinger. The products are more expensive but the customer service and quality were well worth the money.

I had a nightmare of a transaction when ordering the hood scoop from PG Classic Restorations. I quickly learned you get what you pay for. (Chinese garbage) After a 6 month fiasco trying to return the piece and get a refund, I vowed I would never do business with PG Classics again.

While the fiberglass was a little more difficult to prep for paint, the hood and hood scoop produced by AAR/Stinger were both relatively straight right out of the box with only minor work needed. If your doing a serious build with fiberglass pieces, and want it to last, I highly recommend AAR/Stinger.

www.aarqualityfiberglass.com

I chose to use hood pins in the front in place of the factory hood latch. My pins of choice came from Eddie Motorsports. (CNC machined billet aluminum)

www.eddiemotorsports.com

Brackets for the studs were added to the top of the radiator support and then we measured and drilled the hood for the mounting hardware.

 

[DEVIOUSDUSTER]

While doing the body work and paint I was accumulating the parts I wanted to use in my engine build. I wanted to stay with the small block setup so I began my research on what parts would work best with my combo.

I had the k-member and other front end components powder coated chassis black at a local shop in Farmington, MN. (www.jitpowdercoating.com) Russ at JIT was great to work with and a genuine car guy too. He suggested I powder coat my intake while there just for ease of maintenance and cleaning. He showed me some pictures of the intake he did on his '70 Mustang and I was sold. I chose a color close to the raw aluminum of my Edelbrock Performer RPM and it turned out great.

Although it wasn't performance enhancing, that was one of the best decisions I made in the engine build. It's so much easier to see any leaks and also clean when at shows.

 

[fez440]

love your build. what did you do in the trunk? what size are your rear tires and rims? did you happen to check backspacing?

 

[DEVIOUSDUSTER]

love your build. what did you do in the trunk? what size are your rear tires and rims? did you happen to check backspacing?

Thank you fez440. I like the look of your Demon. Sorry I'm still scrounging around the shop trying to find the note pad I wrote those numbers in. I tried looking in the pile of receipts I kept from the build... that just got depressing. I'll make sure to post the backspacing when I find my scribbled notes.

Stock wheel wells in the trunk. Rear wheels are 18" x 10" on Nitto NT555's - 285/40ZR18

 

[DEVIOUSDUSTER]

Another side project was the restoration of heater box. Knowing this car would be used for cruise nights and also knowing I married a talking ice cube - this car needed to have a functioning heater.

My dad, Gordie, took on this task. He rebuilt all the mechanicals with a kit from DMT (www.detroitmuscletechnologies.com) I blasted primed and painted all the metal parts then cleaned and sprayed the fiberglass pieces with SEM Color Coat - Satin Black. Dad did the reassembly. FYI - the heater cores are still available from O'Rielly's! I never would have guessed.

Works as good as it looks! It helps keep the teeth chattering to a minimum on those long October night cruises!

 

[DEVIOUSDUSTER]

As with most engine builds, mine was an ongoing battle of trial and error. Like I said earlier, I wanted to keep the small block 360 but I wanted to get as much as I could out of it naturally aspirated - without sacrificing streetibility. (Disregarding fuel mileage) Luckily I was able to reuse many of the engine parts that came with the car when I bought it. It was a pretty solid motor to start with but it looked and ran rough. (Who spray paints a motor yellow in a red engine bay?) It was an early 80’s 360 already at .040 over bore. A mild Comp Cam, Edelbrock Air Gap and Holley 750 DP helped propel the previous owner to “12’s” in the quarter. (I never did see any of the time slips) Anyway, I wanted more.

Attempt 1

I purchased a couple of early 70’s blocks locally to use for this build. (Thicker castings than the later 360’s) The first block was machined .030. I kept most of the original bolt on’s but added some reworked 340 X heads and a 4” stroker kit. The carb was also rebuilt. The dyno results were a little disheartening. (About 370 HP / 400 ft./lb. TQ) Jamey my engine builder said that his dyno was a little conservative and could be off by about 5% but I still wasn’t satisfied. The heads and cam were the biggest drawbacks. Not enough flow, lift or duration for the new stroker setup. While on the dyno we also noticed there was a little water in the lifter valley. Jamey my builder was the first to notice and he didn’t want to take a chance… so we were back to square 1 and block #2.

Attempt 2

Block #2 was bored .040 over. I ditched the X heads in favor of the Edelbrock Performer RPM’s and swapped the little solid mechanical cam for a larger custom ground Comp Cam hydraulic roller. Everything bolted up together nicely aside from a little work needing to be done to get the pushrods at the right angle. The Holley was re-jetted to match the new changes. While everything was being redone the piston rings were also gapped for nitrous. The second time around the combo was good for a healthy 505 HP / 553 ft./lb. TQ. I was much happier, especially since I knew I could still safely add a 150-200 shot of nitrous down the road.

Parts listing to come in the next post.

 

[Riddler]

Very nice! Great job on the build. Did you use stock wiring or an aftermarket?

Riddler

 

[DEVIOUSDUSTER]

Thanks Riddler - it means a lot! The car was completely rewired from front to back. We used a universal kit from American AutoWire and then reused the factory plug ins.

American AutoWire Highway 22 Complete Kit - Part Number 500695
22 power circuits / 15 fuses / 1 circuit breaker
http://www.americanautowire.com/shop/highway-22-panel-wiring-kit

 

[DEVIOUSDUSTER]

• Dynoed on 92 Pump Gas
• 10.2-1 Compression (Can Run 87 Octane)
• Internally Balanced
• 34 Degrees of Timing
• Brad Penn SAE 15W-40
PN# 009-7158-12 (Case of 12)

Engine Block
Chrysler Small Block LA 360
PN# 3418496-6-360
• Date code: 5-24-71 (Thicker Casting Than Later 360 blocks)
• Bore 4.04” (.040” Overbore)
• Zero Decked
• Line Honed Main Bores
• ARP Main Studs

Carburetor
Holley 750 Double Pumper (Model 4150)
PN# 4779-9
• Primary Main Jets 71, Secondary Main Jets 80, Power Valve 6.5, Primary Nozzle 28, Secondary Nozzle 31
• Mechanical Secondarys

Intake Manifold
Edelbrock Performer RPM
PN# 7176
• Plenium cut
• Powder Coated (Silver Metallic)

Heads
Edelbrock Performer RPM
PN# 6077 (Set PN# 60175)
• Ports Cleaned Up
• ARP ½” Head Studs

Roller Rocker Arms
Crane Cams Gold Race
• 69 – 1.50 / A -01

Valve Springs
Comp Cams
PN# 02-1008-16

Spring Cup
Comp Cams
PN# 02-2006-16

Camshaft
Comp Cams
PN# 20-812-9
• CRS XR280HR-10
Cam Specs........Intake.......Exhaust
Adv Dur.............(280).........(288.)
Dur. @ .050.......(230).........(236)
Valve Lift...........(.541).........(.537)
Lobe Sep: 110

Lifters
John Callies Inc. / Morel Hydraulic Lifters
PN# S1967
5321
• Mopar SB .903D Street Perf Hyd Roller

Crankshaft
Scat 4” Forged Stroker Crank
PN# 4-340-4000-6123
• 4340 Forged Steel
• 4.00” Stroke
• Main Journal = 2.500”
• Rod Journal = 2.125
• Internal Balance

Connecting Rods
RPM H-Beam Forged Rods
PN# 6123H
• H-Beam Rods
• 4340 Forged Material
• Standard ARP 8740 Cap Screws
• Pin Size = 0.984

Headers
TTI 1-7/8” Race Headers
PN# TTI340A17835-C5
• Polished Ceramic Coating
• Thermal Barrier

Serpentine Belt System
March Performance
PN# 40405

Fuel Pump
Holley Black Electric Fuel Pump
PN# 12-815-1
• 140 GPH / 14 PSI
• 3/8” NPT

Water Pump
Mopar Performance High Flow
PN# MOPP5249559
• 8 Fin

Oil Pan
Moroso 8qt Deep Sump Oil Pan
PN# 20730
• 10” Deep

Oil Filter
WIX Premium (Shortie)
PN# 51085

Distributor
MSD Billet Distributor
PN# 8534

Ignition Coil
MSD Blaster 2
PN# 8203

Ignition Box
MSD 6AL-2
PN# 6530

Spark Plugs
Champion
PN# RC12YC
• Indexed

 

[ocdart]

Beautiful Duster, DD! Your build is just about how my '69 Dart build is progressing.
Curious how much extra room you got for the rear tire by using the RMS Street Lynx setup. Also, how do you like both the everyday ride and the launch traction with Street Lynx?

 

[DEVIOUSDUSTER]

Beautiful Duster, DD! Your build is just about how my '69 Dart build is progressing.
Curious how much extra room you got for the rear tire by using the RMS Street Lynx setup. Also, how do you like both the everyday ride and the launch traction with Street Lynx?

Thanks ocdart! Hope your build is going well. I'd love to see some current pictures.

With the wheel offset I have and a 27" tall tire I have about 1 1/2" before hitting the frame and 2" before bottoming out on the top of the well. With SS springs I'd be worried about rubbing but with the Street Lynx everything is planted. There's no side to side movement or front to back. I just couldn't get the extra clearance I wanted with SS springs, even with offset shackles. I should mention the lips of the fenders were also rolled as a precautionary measure.

I absolutely love the Street Lynx setup. I use double adjustable Vikings shocks in the front and rear so I can tune the ride quality for cruising, handling or drag racing. I can make all the adjustments with the wheels on the car and in less than 5 minutes. When the shocks are set for drag racing it launches hard and straight. I have yet to test it at the strip but I've left my mark on more than a few back country roads.

 

[DEVIOUSDUSTER]

When I purchased the car there was a 8 1/4 Sure-Grip in the rear with 3.91 gears. During the build I picked up a '73 Duster parts car with an 8 3/4 (742 case with 3.23 gears needing to be rebuilt) That was going to be the rearend of choice... until another Mopars in the Park swap meet came along. I was able to trade the 8 3/4 for a Dana 60. The end goal was always to have a rearend that could handle the current power output and also any future upgrades.

The Dana 60 was a completely rebuilt with 3.73 gears, aftermarket axles and a Right Stuff Detailing disc brake conversion kit. An RMS Street Lynx triangulated 4 link was to be used so the mounting tabs for the top bars needed to be welded to the top of the housing. Being as the Dana 60 came from a truck, the the axle tubes were 3 1/8" compared to the standard 3". This created a little bit of an issue when trying to find u bolts since the ones that came with the RMS kit wouldn't fit. (Most available u bolts for the truck Dana's were too long and the threads wouldn't go up to the mounting plates.) After a long search I was able to find the right u bolts stocked at NAPA.

I cleaned the case then primed and painted it chassis black. It was time to install the rearend and start the wheel/tire decision making process.

Rearend Cover
Moser Engineering Aluminum Differential Cover
PN# MOS7112
• Support-style cover that stiffens up the main cap area

Axle Yoke
Mancini Racing Axle Yoke
PN# MREEY1350-6075
• Forged
• 29 Spline

Rear Disc Brake Conversion Kit
Right Stuff Detailing
PN# RSD-MDCRD01
• Green Bearings

 

[DEVIOUSDUSTER]

Thanks to all the great wheel/tire threads on FABO, I had a good idea of what size tires I could realistically fit under the car. I ordered a set of Nitto NT555 285/40ZR18's for the rear and 245/45ZR17's for the front. The Street Lynx system allowed a little more room to get a wheel with a deeper offset in the back.

With help from a Tire MountMate we were able to get an accurate reading on what offsets gave proper clearance in the front and back. If you're ordering custom wheels I'd strongly recommend using a tool like this just to ensure you get proper measurements.