71 Duster 360 turbo build

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turbovan said:
Totally could…if I wasn’t out of outputs.
A shift light would be great too.

ECU upgrade is inevitable
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In that case I’d look at getting a digital dash you can hook up to your MS. There’s some off the shelf ones or make your own. My current one is based on a raspberry pi and runs tuner studio dash.
 
I know it’s a bit of money, but I think you’d be well served by getting a microsquirt and running the IO expander firmware. That’ll get you 12 more inputs and 7 more outputs. Can never have too many lol
 
Or you could save yourself the hassle and just get an AFR gauge from AEM or innovate and they have LEDs that light up green yellow red for the different ranges.
 
At some point, probably at the end of this season, I’ll be upgrading to a more capable ECU. I would just like a warning light that requires no focus; similar to a shift light. I do have an AEM wideband.
 
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Installed a new FPR as pressure wasn’t rising 1:1. Also replaced the wastegate. I’m contemplating plumbing it for water cooling as I did cook my old diaphragm. I don’t believe I have a threaded port on the cooling low side so I would need to drill and tap into the water pump somewhere.

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Swapped my trans mount with a polyurethane replacement. Hopefully it was just old and I don’t have something else going on.

Switching to Hy-guard to see how my converter reacts. I ran it before, but rpm was too low to brake boost. Also installing a new 727 front servo and spring to try and combat my 2-3 overlap.

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Hy-gard fluid made a decent difference dropping my shift points around 300rpm. Between that and the new front servo my shifts are looking much better in the data logs.

Scheduled a dyno tune Friday morning. Not concerned with numbers, but I’m going to push it hard. It’s either going to stay together or be day one of a LS swap! Lol
 
Nice. Glad the hygard tightened it up some. Take some video of it on the dyno.
 
Well it didn’t blow up, but the dyno session didn't go great. The transmission was slipping pretty badly. It doesn’t appear to slip on the street, but I’m guessing it will soon.I got only one partial graph.18psi. 584hp at 4112 rpm.We tried 2nd gear and it held for one pull then slipped as well so I’m guessing the rear clutches?
 
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This roll bar had been sitting in my garage for a year. Found a fabricator in the neighborhood to install it as this wasn’t something I trusted my welding skills with. Need to make a rear firewall next, and then I should be good to hit the strip.
The car is running exceptionally well.

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turbovan said:
This roll bar had been sitting in my garage for a year. Found a fabricator in the neighborhood to install it as this wasn’t something I trusted my welding skills with. Need to make a rear firewall next, and then I should be good to hit the strip.
The car is running exceptionally well.

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Looks great! Is that a pre bent cage you bought?
 
turbovan said:
This roll bar had been sitting in my garage for a year. Found a fabricator in the neighborhood to install it as this wasn’t something I trusted my welding skills with. Need to make a rear firewall next, and then I should be good to hit the strip.
The car is running exceptionally well.

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You will be amazed at how much this will stiffen the car up. Way back when I was drag racing, I was running mid 11s and had to get a roll bar. The car never pulled the wheels. I get the roll bar and the first time out the car pulled the wheels and had better ETs. I was blown away.
 
turbovan said:
This roll bar had been sitting in my garage for a year. Found a fabricator in the neighborhood to install it as this wasn’t something I trusted my welding skills with. Need to make a rear firewall next, and then I should be good to hit the strip.
The car is running exceptionally well.

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Did you get the trans slipping issue all squared away?
 
Bobzilla said:
Did you get the trans slipping issue all squared away?
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Not sure what was going on at the dyno. It does not slip at all on the street. Gathering parts for a future rebuild, but for now I’m running it.
 
racerjoe said:
You will be amazed at how much this will stiffen the car up. Way back when I was drag racing, I was running mid 11s and had to get a roll bar. The car never pulled the wheels. I get the roll bar and the first time out the car pulled the wheels and had better ETs. I was blown away.
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I had been researching roll bar/cage weight and the results were pretty interesting; very few numbers. Instead, there were tons of responses like yours. The weight seemed irrelevant and everyone reported the same times or faster after install. I really hope my wheels stay on the ground though!

On the street the difference in stiffness is already apparent while turning. I didn’t think an old car could handle this well. I would have loved to tie into the front end and shock towers, but my downpipe and turbo are in the way. I would probably need to cut the inner fender out if I ever wanted to do something like that.
 
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turbovan said:
I had been researching roll bar/cage weight and the results were pretty interesting; very few numbers. Instead, there were tons of responses like yours. The weight seemed irrelevant and everyone reported the same times or faster after install. I really hope my wheels stay on the ground though!

On the street the difference in stiffness is already apparent while turning. I didn’t think an old car could handle this well. I would have loved to tie into the front end and shock towers, but my downpipe and turbo are in the way. I would probably need to cut the inner fender out if I ever wanted to do something like that.
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I was worried about the weight at the time as well.
I noticed a difference driving it home from the guys shop that put it in!
 
turbovan said:
I had been researching roll bar/cage weight and the results were pretty interesting; very few numbers. Instead, there were tons of responses like yours. The weight seemed irrelevant and everyone reported the same times or faster after install. I really hope my wheels stay on the ground though!

On the street the difference in stiffness is already apparent while turning. I didn’t think an old car could handle this well. I would have loved to tie into the front end and shock towers, but my downpipe and turbo are in the way. I would probably need to cut the inner fender out if I ever wanted to do something like that.
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Can run it on inside the fender and tie it in that way, that's how mine is. I'll take some pictures if you want.
 
Firewall is in.

Ported the drivers side exhaust manifold a bit, and smoothed the short side radius of the carb hat. I’ve had continuous air distribution issues with this hat/manifold setup. 8&6 plugs show very rich. 1&3 look great. Trying to get more air to the back cylinders, and running the car rich to keep things safe.

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