SS Springs on 75 Duster

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hit a bump in the road on this thing.....adjusted the valves today......hooked up my oil pressure gauge to the engine...put an oil filter on it..pour 5 qts of 10w-30 in it....and was going to prime the motor...before I bagged it for later use....

I been using the same oil pump priming tool for 30 yrs...but for some reason today it did not want to engage the pump...I tried it on another pump that i have on the shelf and it engages....probably going to drop the pan and see what is going on ......fun fun fun...
 
Well it was not the priming tool.....bad oil pump....drained and dropped pan....very hard to turn the pump....have not opened it up yet...will do later....put new pump in and primed engine.....

backed off the rocker arms...and bagged it for future use.......

started getting the 71 Dart hooked up to be done by this weekend.
 
Should be moving this car into the garage for some work tomorrow. It has been parked in the trailer for awhile...but got kicked out went the AAR came home..plus i have to work on my daughter daily driver.....Demon will move from two post bay to storage on the 4 post in next bay....this 75 duster since it is on the bottom of the food chain has been parked outside. Going to put a roll bar in the car next weekend plus whatever other things it needs to hit the track in a couple of weeks.

Really like to find out what this weights....has 5 mph bumper with steel brace and the heavy *** shocks....front and rear...
Got some weight reduction planned ...dont know if it will done by went the track opens back up...got a fiberglass hood with 6 pac hood scoop....fiberglass bumper (Which is still in Indio) and light weight bumper brackets...will be using early 70s grille...

went we started it up last weekend to move ....it was firing and dying....bunch of black smoke...daughter was behind wheel...i remembered there was a rag over the carb.....was starting to suck rag into carb.....but...all is good...sounded pretty good ,,,,like that hughes camshaft a lot better then the mp 557...

got 4 day weekend come up next weekend...should have it done...
 
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Moved into bay to install roll bar and hopefully lose some weight....
 
Well.....after my doctor's appt this morning...back to work on this car.....got the carpet out...seat out...old 3 pt seat belts gone...
grinder and wire brush old paint...fitted plates to floor....fit main hoop to plates....got every thing line up....tach welded the plates...and tach welded the hoop...
Got the plates welded in....what a pain they are...and got the hoop mostly welded....got too hot in the garage and welding inside car..

finish off the hoop in morning and work on rear and front strut bars..

Medical provider called thursday wanted to check my Blood pressure since it was elevated last time....pretty good..136/82.....gave some blood....just normal maintenance on my old ***...
 
Working on rear struts...pain in ***...lol

Removed the rear firewall ......eye ball where the rear frame rails were in relations to the rear seat support...and cut part of it out....near the top by the package tray...placed rear strut on main hoop to get idea where the rear plates need to go.....ended up cutting 6 inches off the strut...got plates on rear frame rail and clamped it down to make sure the strut fit....ok...good to go...
welded in plate.....switched welder from 220 to 110 to keep from burning through floor pan.......one down...

moved over to the passenger side...again...cut 6 inches off struct...eye balled where the 1st plate was then set strut on main hoop.....needed to move plate forward an inch or two...clamped it down...tach welded it.....began to burn it in...bingo out of gas....i thought I had enough to do that last plate.......

my oldest daughter was there glass beading her 2 barrel intake for her /6 63 valiant wagon......we head out to get a new bottle.....eat lunch ...turkey sandwich....I am done for the day.....lol
 
The hot august days are killing me and this week forecast is for 109 each day.....Had a 4 day weekend and figured i could get this roll bar in easy..well...by noon each day i was dead from the heat. Plus on Sunday i did not work on it since i had to clean up my garage at home...parts from the AARcuda were all over one of the bays...

Got the main hoop in...plus got the rear struts installed....got some minor welding to complete the struts....Then I am going to install the rear firewall as I need to cut opening as for the struts...
And then install the hoop cross support .....I think I am going to call it quits at that point for now. I will need to get the seat reinstalled as it will need to be raised in the back plus a back support to connect to the cross bar on the main hoop. This leaves me the forward struts....that makes it a six point.......I will complete the additional bars for the main hood support later to make it a 8 pt.

I want to run this car on Sept 6 test n tune. Given the current weather condition where the DA is over 5000 ft I dont think it will run fast then 11.50...plus i think it is heavy ...see if I can get it weighted at the track ...
 
Well..heading out of town for the weekend....going to Twin Falls Idaho......
 
yes....J tired on the heat....but back to work tomorrow...in the heat....and back to work on this duster...trying to get it out this friday or saturday tnt.....will see...
 
Got the rear hoops finished...dam welder.....swapped out bottles...started welding and looked like ****......was getting no gas....regulator was stuck shut...that is why god made grinders....
got the rear firewall back in ....got a set of belts ordered....going to work on bar where the seat back bolts onto...need to cut and fish eye the joint...
suppose to have Friday off....will find out tomorrow...
 
Looks like the Custer is going to made the Saturday TNT plus if it survives the bracket race this weekend....still working on it....only 100 degrees today so far...but humid.

DA is curtainly at 5537 ft....... not going to set low et of the year this weekend with anything
 
Got the support brace for the main hoop in today....measured 3 times and cut it too short...LOL......had another bar in the shed....measured and cut it too long...took 1/4 inch off 3 times with the fish eye tool....and then it fit perfect....burned it in....put seat back in....made rear support for the seat and it is adjustable ...can slide up and back .....put new RCI belts in car....sat in it and got them adjusted.....

guy who drove the car earlier this year moved the shifter....i moved it back to where I had it originally....

went to start it...fired up and died.....look at fuel pressure gauge none.....and pump is zigging away.....fuel tank empty...went and got 5 gallons of super unleaded.....away it goes.....need to wash it in the morning and put it on the trailer....
 
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It was 106 today....the DA 5600....what a lovely day.....got in staging lanes....car sounds great....did burn out.....launch....shift into second gear....silence....engine shuts off....coasting down the track...trying to get it to fire...nothing...get towed back...

no spark....ignition box takes ****....no biggie....garage on 7 miles away got brand new msd 6 al in box.....but had to work on Green 71 Duster....trans issue again...it goes back into trailer for another day...back to this one.....I go get a refund for the bracket race today and tomorrow....figuring i could probably make this after noon but too dam hot...

Change out box....fires right up.....go to take it for a drive....shooting ducks at 3000 rpm....get back and check wiring....bingo light comes on ...there is a chip in the msd ....3000 rpm....ok.....
remove chip and now it back fire thru carb.....WTF.....ok....pulled valve cover to check valve train...everything ok....i look at distributor.....it does not look right...the Tach drive is usually pointing at one of the intake bolts...and it aint......grab distributor and it is ******* loose....it went full retard...and timing light in garage....i guess and fires up....no problem.....running great now will reset timing in morning and probably race the sunday bracket race.....suppose to be only 99 degrees...

71 Dart was running solid 10.50 at 126 in the heat....
 
Another shitting day....but 10 degrees cooler....Track has computer problems....we get there 9 30 for a 11 am start...they have not starting running the junior dragster program....one of the timing computer took a crap...Vegas has 4 lanes...lane 1 and 2 are used for the Jr dragster...and 3 and 4 for the bracket cars.

So we get started at 3 pm...only one time run.....****...that is all i need....lol......car has a small bog at the hit....and engine has miss fire...kinds of bucks going down the track....head to track slip booth.....wow...that sucks....12.03 @ 112 mph......yes...the DA today is still 5200 but...

get back to the pits....pull the plugs...well this thing is very rich....and plus the plug gaps..one is closed...3 more tight at .022 ....reset them all at a safe .035....no time to change jets...actually jets are in other trailer that went home saturday evening...ok....dial 12 flat....i know I am going to break out.....wrong

Car launches....and at shift to 2nd....engine goes dead....and i see smoke coming out of the engine compartment...open hood i got a wire melting ....click off battery switch...the power cable from the starter to the starter relay switch laying against the header....i had it tied back....I get towed off the track....one of the track guys said...hey we towed this car yesterday....yes you did....lol


after it all cooled off i got the battery cable off the header...and it fire up and drove it on to trailer....

spend some money this morning...new plugs...new cap and rotor.....plus some parts to change it over to E85 like the other cars..
 
Move this Custer into the garage this morning...had not been at the garage all week...anyway

fired right up...drove it into garage.....removed old distributor cap and rotor...put new rotor and moved plug wires on to new Accel cap......pulled all the plugs....got new ngk plugs...got them gapped...decided to compression test engine since all the plugs were out......got a consistent 140 psi from all 8 cylinders so...that is good...
going to run the valves in the morning and make sure everything is ok...
Then we are making the switch to E85....got new Qft 750 dp E85 carb.....will need to down jet it as all the cars are running about 2 get sizes less then stock....that make all the cars on the same fuel...

the battery cable was too long...too much slop ...will use a shorter one .....then it will be ready to go...
then on to the Sublime Fuster....trans comes out....again..
 
ok.....got the battery cable swapped out...and tied back....new plugs...new cap and rotor...checked valves...had one intake a little loose...
swapped out carbs.....rejetted the new Qft 750 .....draining the fuel tank of the gas....leaving it set over night ...

tomorrow put some e85 in it and fire it up....then it moves over one bay........gotta get that trans out and another back in....
the new Green Deal.........lol

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tighten up the fuel lines that I had airing out....poured 5 gallons of corn oil into the tank....fuel pressure 6.5 psi....no runs no drips....engine fires right up....i adjust the idle speed up....sounds rich as I had opened up the idle mixture screws....let it warm up.....intake manifold is nice and cool with e85.....start to lean out the idle mixture and adjust the idle speed down as the it picks up speed...

got it idle down 1200 rpm ....sounds crisp...new cap and rotor...new ngk plugs...new carb.......back it out of the garage for the night....
 
fixing some small things....shift light did not come on...read instructions on tach on how to set it....seems like it works now...but with the yellow cap on it...it does not show...remove cap ...bingo...it is one of the expensive Autometer play back taches....i dont have that part hooked up.....bought tach from irate ex wife....lol...cheap...

got tach light working and tail lights working ....even though we dont race at night....but trying to run this friday test and tune and will be in dark
 
The brown dirt duster made it down the track numerous times this weekend with no problems.....ran a best of 11.73 at 114....

Have not weighted this thing but it still has the 5 mph bumpers with shock and steel brace in bumper...
Saturday race was shorted to 1/8 due to high winds...
Sunday was 1/4 mile ....went 3 rounds.
 
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