Dirty D - 73 Duster Street/Strip Build

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Nice work!

I also did this as a first timer this spring, but was working around the engine still in place. Mine didn't come out as nice as yours, but I'm looking forward to redoing them when the engine is out in the future.
 
rich_mc said:
Nice work!

I also did this as a first timer this spring, but was working around the engine still in place. Mine didn't come out as nice as yours, but I'm looking forward to redoing them when the engine is out in the future.
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Did you have as much fun as I did? lol
I'm hoping they don't end up in the way with full engine bay.
 
I removed everything in the engine bay as part of the rebuild and most of it is not going back. This includes the heater, wiper motor, and smog equipment. Rather then weld up the holes they left behind, I decided to have some blanking plates made. I drew them up in CAD and sent them of to sendcutsend.com to have them fabricated and powdercoated. Pretty basic stuff, but functional. I hope the blend in a little better when theres more stuff in the engine bay. They stand out a little too much for my liking, but maybe I'm being picky? I also wish I would have removed the stupid harness clamps and brake line clamps as they serve no purpose now and are ugly as hell.

I also designed a plate to cover the heater motor hole that accepts a hard grommet for the Terminator X harness. It came out pretty good if you ask me.

Also ordered a Pypes hybrid exhaust. 3" off the collectors and 2.5" after the mufflers. I wish it was 3" the whole way, but this was the only stainless system at an affordable price point so I'll take the hit the 2.5" gives me. It's still gonna take a decent amount of fab work for me to make the whole system work which is a bit disappointing. Oh well.

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Oops, forgot the dyno graph. I was expecting the torque curve to be flatter.


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There was a mistake they said that thing went to the wrong address send it to mine ...ty kindly..........P.S. it's the most sensible way to go out the box....good move!!!
 
inZane240 said:
Blueprint Engines unboxing
@Johnny Mac

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inZane240 said:
Oops, forgot the dyno graph. I was expecting the torque curve to be flatter.


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Congrats, and looking awesome! Killer work man. The fab work and body work is really nice. Great looking car!

I wouldn't worry about that curve....note the dyno sheet is kind of scrunched due to it only being 3000 to 6000 snap shot. That's making 40 more ft lbs than advertised. Nice piece!!!
 
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ps I see you swapped our valve covers. I actually have these same valve covers as you on mine. I had to make a long baffle for the passenger side. The fabled offshore covers like to let the passenger rear, pooling oil, huff right out of there. Just an FYI.

Take a long piece of tin and pop rivet it to the bottom of the existing breather baffle. Leave it very tight to the walls, and just an small gap on the rear for drainback, and run it about 3/4 of the way to the front. Just a suggestion. I probably have pics of mine somewhere if interested.

Thanks again for the purchase! Appreciate you being a customer!!
 
Johnny Mac said:
View attachment 1716116194 ps I see you swapped our valve covers. I actually have these same valve covers as you on mine. I had to make a long baffle for the passenger side. The fabled offshore covers like to let the passenger rear, pooling oil, huff right out of there. Just an FYI.

Take a long piece of tin and pop rivet it to the bottom of the existing breather baffle. Leave it very tight to the walls, and just an small gap on the rear for drainback, and run it about 3/4 of the way to the front. Just a suggestion. I probably have pics of mine somewhere if interested.

Thanks again for the purchase! Appreciate you being a customer!!
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Ya, if you wouldn't mind digging up some pictures, it would be much appreciated. I want to run both covers with the vent at the rear, so that will really help. Appreciate it!
 
As you all know, a common point of failure in these cars is the door striker. Decades of use and poor engineering eventually leads to the strike mount fracturing itself from the door. Most repair methods are crude but functional. In this case someone had booger welded and threaded a flat washer as the repair. Time to fix it the "right" way with a commercially available repair kit. Received the kit and the instructions were good, but the keeper was installed upside-down. Had to grind it off and flip it. Otherwise everything turned out great.

One day I'll paint it, but for now consider it repaired.

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Picked up the headers from the coater earlier this week. Also picked up the transmission from ATO in Sacramento. Can't recommend them enough.

Also picked up a "sinus infection". Might be the most painful thing ever so won't be getting much done until this sinus issue goes away.

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mopowers said:
Nice progress! What all was done to the transmission?
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A bunch of billet ****....which is about all I know. Automatic transmissions are like weird science to me, I'm not too knowledgeable on the intricacies of how or why they work. I honestly just signed off on what Jim, the owner recommended. He was knowledgeable, fair, and didn't try to sell me on anything I didn't need....at least I think he didn't. He explained every recommendation and why he recommended it. He's been in the game over 50 years and started with torqueflites. Now he specializes 47/48REs, but said he'd done about one 727 a month so far this year when he typically sees 2 or 3 a year.

I also kept it auto, column shift. It's primarily a street car and I didn't want to be rowing through the gears.
 
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abdywgn said:
sorry to hear about the sinus infection. hope it clears up quickly.
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Appreciate that. Never had one before, and honestly no runny nose or anything like that, just feel like crap with crazy amounts of sinus pain. They gave me a round of antibiotics so hopefully that'll clear it up. Getting old sucks.
 
inZane240 said:
A bunch of billet ****....which is about all I know. Automatic transmissions are like weird science to me, I'm not too knowledgeable on the intricacies of how or why they work. I honestly just signed off on what Jim, the owner recommended. He was knowledgeable, fair, and didn't try to sell me on anything I didn't need....at least I think he didn't. He explained every recommendation and why he recommended it. He's been in the game over 50 years and started with torqueflites. Now he specializes 47/48REs, but said he'd done about one 727 a month so far this year when he typically sees 2 or 3 a year.

I also kept it auto, column shift. It's primarily a street car and I didn't want to be rowing through the gears.
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That sounds great. It's good to know of a trustworthy transmission shop in the area. I'll have to file that away in the ol' memory bank.
 
You will slowly lose interest in the Datsun 240s I went through this with a yard full of FC3's ..2nd generation rx7s....eventually everything turned mopar again....for 2nd time.....Mopar or No Car
 
Mtrhead said:
You will slowly lose interest in the Datsun 240s I went through this with a yard full of FC3's ..2nd generation rx7s....eventually everything turned mopar again....for 2nd time.....Mopar or No Car
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I have one Z I can never sell as it means too much to me. I've owned it for 25 years and my grandparents owned it for 25 years before that. The others wouldn't bother me either way....they are worth far more now than what I paid for them.
 
Test fit the engine. Had to make some ever so slight modifications to the drivers side k-member with a grinder, but otherwise pretty smooth.
Gotta take it back out and attempt it again with the transmission attached, but waiting on some parts.

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Mated up the engine and trans. Had to wait a while for some converter bolts and a converter cover. Had a friend come over and the whole setup went in under an hour in 95 degree heat.

Headers went in without a problem. The lift made it relatively easy. Didn't really follow the instructions and still managed to squeeze them in somehow. I wrapped them in cellophane to try and minimize any coating damage but there are still some scrapes here and there. No big deal.

Pulleys, Throttle Body, Radiator, Shifter linkage, Starter, ECU sensors, clutch fan, fan, bypass hose, heater plug, etc are all installed and ready to go.

I need to install the Hyperspark distributor and put in an O2 sensor. I should be ready to go after that, which is a bit nerve-racking. I know it won't start on the first turn of the key (does it ever?) and am not looking forward to the diagnosing that ensues, but I am excited to hear this thing run. Oh, I've also got to install the trans cooler.....scored a big *** earls cooler for 75% off. So a few thing left before I'll post again.

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