danielb927
Well-Known Member
I kind of went straight to the troubleshooting part of the site first, but thought I should introduce myself here! I'm Daniel, I'm 18 and live in central Illinois. I'll be attending engineering school at the U of I this fall as a freshman. Been here my whole life, I'm a die hard Illini fan, and a die hard muscle car fan. Here's the story of how I got my 73 Duster...
It all started a few years ago when my two friends and I had the dream of having muscle cars. My friend Evan was the first to get one, he's a couple years older than me and got a 72 Mustang Mach 1. That summer we took it on the Hot Rod Power Tour (07). That got me thinking I could really pull this off and have my own muscle. I used to want a mustang but slowly as time went on I realized I was a fan of MOPAR muscle. Just love the look of them I guess, and the rarity compared to all the Chevelles and Camaros at the Power Tour that year. So, next my friend got his 77 Corvette during the winter and I knew it was my turn to step up. I decided on a Duster (wish I could go for a challenger or Cuda, but no way is that in an 18 year old's price range). Found a really nice one up in Wisconsin, but I missed out on it because my dad wouldn't let me buy it yet and then it wasn't for sale anymore. But, he came around to it being okay, we both went in for half the cost (as had been the agreement for a while) and this May, I picked up my 73 Duster near Louisville. Friends and I just got back from the Power Tour again, although we didnt take any of our Muscle this time. Maybe next year!
Specs:
360 engine out of a '75 I believe.
Comp Cams Magnum 280H (.480 lift, .280 duration) and I'm assuming some other upgrades to go with it from the previous owner who did the rebuild.
Thermoquad Carb
Power Steering, No Power Brakes
Originally a Slant Six with AC but few other options, AC is out now.
Hemi Orange
Here's a little about the car:
When I bought it, it was so out of alignment that I wore the front tires completely bald on the 5 hour drive home. I took it in and had that fixed. Next, the heater core finally leaked out enough to start leaking into my carpet, so I pulled it in to the garage and pulled out the carpet, drained the coolant, put in the new heater core that the guy I bought it from left for me. The next problem I found was a strange one. I went to start it and nothing happened, I could hear a little clicking and saw some smoke in the engine compartment. I ran around and found that the big wire going from the positive battery terminal to the starter had been worn through by the turning of the steering shaft, and was shorting out directly to that. Fixed that, but since then I can't start it with the key, and now the fuse for the gauges blows every time I turn the ignition to ON. I dont know if I did something in pulling the heater core out (looked like some wires were definitely getting tugged on) or if it was the shorting out wire, or what exactly happened! I can jump it across the relay to start, though, and drive it occasionally like that, but I don't like having no temp and fuel gauges or oil light. I also stupidly cracked the radiator at the top when i was draining it trying to take off that bolt on the top, had to patch with J-B Weld and now it only leaks a bit. My power steering leaks some and tranny leaks as well.
Here's things I really need to fix first:
-Change ignition switch, see if this fixes shorted fuse and starting problems. If not, I need to figure out what is wrong!
-Time the engine, tune the carb, get it running strong (it stutters some on hard throttle now).
-Figure out why the tranny is still leaking a decent amount. I tightened up the pan, it was quite loose, and that helped some. So probably just loose stuff from it sitting a year or so with the last owner. He said it didnt leak except for PS.
Near Future Goals:
- Stripes (already ordered the back, looking for cheap ones for the sides)
- Finish the exhaust with Flowmaster Super 44's and side exhaust right in front of the wheels. It has everything up through an H pipe already.
- New wheels (any suggestions for size/style?)
Ultimate Dreams:
- Manual Tranny Swap
- 440 or something big
- Figure out how to really tune the engine well
- Convert fake hood scoop to functional scoop or even shaker hood and maybe even supercharger/blower
- Bench seat
Its great to have found a community of A body mopar guys! I was looking for a while there and thought there might not be anywhere out there for a Duster owner. Thanks for all the advice so far and in the future since I know it will be a while before I'm on the giving end of car advice
It all started a few years ago when my two friends and I had the dream of having muscle cars. My friend Evan was the first to get one, he's a couple years older than me and got a 72 Mustang Mach 1. That summer we took it on the Hot Rod Power Tour (07). That got me thinking I could really pull this off and have my own muscle. I used to want a mustang but slowly as time went on I realized I was a fan of MOPAR muscle. Just love the look of them I guess, and the rarity compared to all the Chevelles and Camaros at the Power Tour that year. So, next my friend got his 77 Corvette during the winter and I knew it was my turn to step up. I decided on a Duster (wish I could go for a challenger or Cuda, but no way is that in an 18 year old's price range). Found a really nice one up in Wisconsin, but I missed out on it because my dad wouldn't let me buy it yet and then it wasn't for sale anymore. But, he came around to it being okay, we both went in for half the cost (as had been the agreement for a while) and this May, I picked up my 73 Duster near Louisville. Friends and I just got back from the Power Tour again, although we didnt take any of our Muscle this time. Maybe next year!
Specs:
360 engine out of a '75 I believe.
Comp Cams Magnum 280H (.480 lift, .280 duration) and I'm assuming some other upgrades to go with it from the previous owner who did the rebuild.
Thermoquad Carb
Power Steering, No Power Brakes
Originally a Slant Six with AC but few other options, AC is out now.
Hemi Orange
Here's a little about the car:
When I bought it, it was so out of alignment that I wore the front tires completely bald on the 5 hour drive home. I took it in and had that fixed. Next, the heater core finally leaked out enough to start leaking into my carpet, so I pulled it in to the garage and pulled out the carpet, drained the coolant, put in the new heater core that the guy I bought it from left for me. The next problem I found was a strange one. I went to start it and nothing happened, I could hear a little clicking and saw some smoke in the engine compartment. I ran around and found that the big wire going from the positive battery terminal to the starter had been worn through by the turning of the steering shaft, and was shorting out directly to that. Fixed that, but since then I can't start it with the key, and now the fuse for the gauges blows every time I turn the ignition to ON. I dont know if I did something in pulling the heater core out (looked like some wires were definitely getting tugged on) or if it was the shorting out wire, or what exactly happened! I can jump it across the relay to start, though, and drive it occasionally like that, but I don't like having no temp and fuel gauges or oil light. I also stupidly cracked the radiator at the top when i was draining it trying to take off that bolt on the top, had to patch with J-B Weld and now it only leaks a bit. My power steering leaks some and tranny leaks as well.
Here's things I really need to fix first:
-Change ignition switch, see if this fixes shorted fuse and starting problems. If not, I need to figure out what is wrong!
-Time the engine, tune the carb, get it running strong (it stutters some on hard throttle now).
-Figure out why the tranny is still leaking a decent amount. I tightened up the pan, it was quite loose, and that helped some. So probably just loose stuff from it sitting a year or so with the last owner. He said it didnt leak except for PS.
Near Future Goals:
- Stripes (already ordered the back, looking for cheap ones for the sides)
- Finish the exhaust with Flowmaster Super 44's and side exhaust right in front of the wheels. It has everything up through an H pipe already.
- New wheels (any suggestions for size/style?)
Ultimate Dreams:
- Manual Tranny Swap
- 440 or something big
- Figure out how to really tune the engine well
- Convert fake hood scoop to functional scoop or even shaker hood and maybe even supercharger/blower
- Bench seat
Its great to have found a community of A body mopar guys! I was looking for a while there and thought there might not be anywhere out there for a Duster owner. Thanks for all the advice so far and in the future since I know it will be a while before I'm on the giving end of car advice
