duster setup?

[brayden_winkles]

Hi, new to the Mopar world and cars in general. I would like to set up my duster for the street legal series our local track hosts.

i purchased the car, as a roller and bought a schumacher creative kit to shoe horn a 440 in the car. The problem is the motor is a low compression bottom end out of a truck that was recently in my Cordoba, and i would like to get the most out of it possible. it runs beautifully and thought a cam swap, intake, and better carburetor along with the headers would do it some justice. i would like to get into the 12's or 13's if possible. the car has manual brakes and steering along with a terrible 2.76 axle ratio. what kind of drive line combos could get me into the time range i want keeping in mind a reasonable budget, without touching the bottom end. thanks in advance, Brayden.

 

[bOb shingler]

a cam and kit specially for the low compression, new valve job, new timing chain, 850 holley, single plane torque intake, headers with exhaust the same size as the collector, street/strip convertor, 4.10 gears and slicks or drag redials.

 

[mguner]

I don't even think you'll need 4.10 gears to do what you want. My old dart ran 13.30s with 3.23 gears at 3600 ft ASL. It was a low compression 440 with a Six Pack.

 

[Jo Diesel]

Didn't MRL do a build up of one of these and got some pretty reasonable results?

 

[mguner]

Didn't MRL do a build up of one of these and got some pretty reasonable results?

There was an article in PHR a few years back with a 400 in a Duster that got into 12s with stock 400 long block. Intake, carb, headers, cam and springs. I don't remember what gears they went with. They were testing the various Mopar cams in it and I believe the purple shaft .509 was the top performer. The low compression will be very forgiving on the crap fuel we get and will allow some very aggressive timing. A good pocket port and port match is always a big plus.

 

[brayden_winkles]

Thanks for the replies.

I've heard about this .509 mopar performance cam mguner is talking about, and have seen the dyno thread by iq52. There's a set of 440 source heads i can get a hold of that have around the same flow, and chamber size as the 516 castings he used. Now would that be a good combo for some moderate cruising around town and get me to my goal, With some better gears, converter, and a set of tires. Also can the 8 1/4 hold up to the abuse.

 

[txstang84]

It probably would be, but just make sure whatever heads you buy aren't going to put you in the hole more than any work you put in your stock heads. The heads currently on your 440 would actually work pretty well if you do like Bob suggested. A good multi angle valve job, maybe some bowl blending, back cut on the valves, and new springs would do wonders for you.

But I think the biggest thing you'll suffer from is traction issues. Get it to hook and stay planted and you'll easily hit 13s, then you can build up to 12s...or further

 

[rumblefish360]

In the MP "Engines Book" they "Tested" a few of the "Purple Cams" in a Duster. Forgive me if I get some of the details wrong, but it basicly went something like;

400 CID
9-1 ratio
M1 single Intake
850 carb
Headers
S/S springs
4.30 gear ratio
727 with shift kit (?)

The 296 solid cam went fastest into the low 11'S IIRC

With 40 extra cubes, mostly in stoke for more torque, I think you could have some fun at a very low price. The only thing hard to replicate would be the compression ratio. That would require a piston replacement. To keep it cheap, mill the heads or find closed chambered heads and mill them down as to get as close as possible to a 9-1 ratio.

I would yield at a 9.5-1 with a iron head and today's pump gas. The extra half point or even a full point on the ratio is nothing for power.

Only a good stall converter remains.
Take time to lighten the car if it suites. Less weight is easier to move of course.

 

[dukeboy440]

Hi, new to the Mopar world and cars in general. I would like to set up my duster for the street legal series our local track hosts.

i purchased the car, as a roller and bought a schumacher creative kit to shoe horn a 440 in the car. The problem is the motor is a low compression bottom end out of a truck that was recently in my Cordoba, and i would like to get the most out of it possible. it runs beautifully and thought a cam swap, intake, and better carburetor along with the headers would do it some justice. i would like to get into the 12's or 13's if possible. the car has manual brakes and steering along with a terrible 2.76 axle ratio. what kind of drive line combos could get me into the time range i want keeping in mind a reasonable budget, without touching the bottom end. thanks in advance, Brayden.

Along with the suggestions listed, you can also put the car on a diet for pretty cheap. Depending on the exact year of the duster, you can shave 300 lbs off easily.

Example, for race day, remove the back seat. That's 50 lbs (roughly) there. Take out any jacks, tools etc.

Then you can get fiberglass bumpers for 100-150 bucks roughly each from reputable sources. That'll save another couple hundred lbs. Especially on the 73 and newer A bodys with those heavy bumpers. If it is to be a dedicated drag car, remove the radio, ac/ speakers etc.

Ultimately, it depends on just how far you want to go.

 

[forphorty]

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juGNz1DJ4xw"]Farm-Find Rescue! Plymouth Duster Big-Block Swap - Roadkill Ep. 40 - YouTube[/ame]

 

[brayden_winkles]

thanks guys for the suggestions. sounds like the general consensus is tall gears, a good converter, some decent tires, and some bolt on engine stuff. (ie. cam, headers, intake, carb.) this, coupled with a diet should cure what ales me. i had no clue the bumpers changed that much in weight, i guess to meet stricter crash standards? anyway ill update this as progress is made. some motor parts are on order based on the iq52 smogger dyno thread, so this should make for a fun little car.

 

[rumblefish360]

And, relatively cheap. Going the same route with a "B" 400 Duster now. Why? Just because.....