Whats the best time for a factory stock duster 1/4 miles ??

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Howdy! I know this is an old thread, but I just found this board while looking around for 340 info. I had a 73 Challenger with a 340, T/A heads, 650 Holley, you name it, that motor had it. 3.23 in the back, and I could pull a 13.1 with it. Would have been faster with better tires, I'm sure. The guy I sold it to wrapped it around a tree two weeks after he bought it. :( But the motor might still be lurking about somewhere in central PA.
 
95teetee said:
--yep-16+ seconds for a 4-speed 340 'cuda with a 3.55 SG?

Never drove one, but I'm pretty sure you'd have to work at going that slow :dontknow: --
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-- I agree - I went low 16s with a stock 318 2bbl in a 67 Dodge.
 
My 71 340, 4 speed Duster was still breaking into the high 13's with 100K on the Odometer. 3.91, headers, slicks. Daily Driver. Still have that 340.
 
in 1969, i bought a 68 barracuda fastback formula S 340 4 speed with 15000 miles on it from a local Plymouth dealership mechanic who had ordered the car new. he installed hooker fender well headers, a 3:91, edelbrock aluminum "high rise" manifold, and a holley 750 dp with mechanical secondaries. with "8" slicks" and open headers, he ran low 12's consistently at a local strip (1/4 mile). i street raced the car for two years and was never beat. my barracuda outran the following cars: 66/67/68/69 396 chevelles/camaros with either 325 or 350 hp motors; 69 z/28s; 390/428 mustangs and all like engine ford products; any firebird or GTO up to the stage IV Judge motor. had a chance to run one of these cars and the cops got us. i also beat a yenko camaro one night but he couldn't get the car to move. he was a nervous type of guy and would just rev up to 5k and dump the clutch. after the tire smoke cleared i was already heading back to see where he was. any "normal" corvette was not a problem. there were no L88's or even 427 tri-power vetts where i lived.

340 really respond to headers, carbs, cams, etc. but a stock 340 4 speed duster with a 3:91 and a "good driver" should be a low 13 car - as they say - "all day long."
 
I had a 70 340 4 speed Duster with 4.30 gears, 780 Holley and a Mallory dual point and coil. Ran 13.07. This was in 1972.
 
The fastest bone stock Duster should have been the '71, but there were nearly no tests for this year Dusters in the magazines then.

I have only found two - years ago, one was yet mentioned right above:


Its average elapsed time was 14,07 at 100.09mph. The Duster‘s 1/4mile performance was nearly a half- second quicker than that of a Cuda 340 and three-tenth quicker than a 383 Cuda.


DRAG RACER RONNIE SOX IN CAR LIFE 1971





And this I don't remember where I've found it originally:


...best time being a 14,08/97mph. Those times were accomplished with the high-revving340 mated to a console-shifted Torqueflite trans.


DRAG RACER KEN QUIGLY 1971
 
Speed and Supercar, Oct. 1971 Tested a 71 Duster 340. Best time 13.90
 
There are a few Factory Stock 71 a-bodies coming out this year. Rumored to be near the 11's.
 
My car, in the mid 80's ran 13.5 quarters all day long. Headers, Crane enconopower cam, Rhoads lifters and 3.91 gears.
 
Here is the from 1971. They managed a 13.90 ! at Englishtown NJ
 

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OH yea, old thread coming back to life. I can dig it!

383Duster said:
Have any of you guys heard of the F.A.S.T. series that runs in the NE?
Some of these cars are amazing...ck it out, 71 Duster 340 11.27 @ 120 MPH
http://fastraces.org/
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And they use some unusal tricks while looking stock. Stoked engines are the start.

Prine said:
Those 72' Model cars are pretty sad.....todays' Sport Compact four cylinders would have a hey-day with those "Muscle Cars"....hell my 200hp 2.0L Turbo AWD Eclipse went 15.0 @ 90 bone stock through a paper air filter.
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True for the run of the mill cars. While the power pl;ants all remained the same, the running gear was up in the air. That is the difference on what made any particular car change from normal to quick. When a person laid there hands on the car to enhance it, thats when it got interesting. The new catch phrase was introduced then. It was two words that went viral, even though there was no such ting as the internet, but the words, "Super Tuned" went around something fierce.

You have to take measure of what was then and how it is now. Comparing a 1970 to a 2009 and bashing it or treating it like it is garbage with wonder how it ever got it's name as a muscle car is ignoring the past even more so than the bashing/trashing/comparing you do.

Remember todays standards. In 40 years time, these cars, Viper, Vette, Buggaitti will all be made fun of and talked about what slow as chit they are with wonderment of how they ever got there titles of fast! And some punk will quip, "My Match Box car with YYY power plant will out run that old *** crap in reverse easy. LMAO!" And he'll think every Vette was of the "Super Vette" status.

Do your homework kids.....
 
My old '73 Dart 340 Sport with a 727 and 3.23's ran 14.30's all day long on street bias ply tires and a/c.
 
383Duster said:
Back in the day when I was driving my 69 Coronet R/T I had a buddy buy a new 340 Duster, 3:23 sure grip, 3 speed manual. It would run high 13's to 14 flat in street trim.

Have any of you guys heard of the F.A.S.T. series that runs in the NE?
Some of these cars are amazing...ck it out, 71 Duster 340 11.27 @ 120 MPH
http://fastraces.org/
Click to expand...


Thanks for the laugh..but,those cars are FAR from stock..
 
Those WERE the days. Fun in spades! There were three of us, I had the 340, Bud had a 383 and Bret had a 427 Chevy. I could smoke Bud, but Bret could smoke ME. :) In hindsight though I realize how positively DUMB it was to put in 12.5:1 pistons in that thing. It idled at 1,500 and I had to use Sonoco 96 AND octane booster, or run the timing so far behind it was ridiculous. 10:1 would have been sufficient. It could yank the front wheels, but it ate U-joints for breakfast. This was a TransAm 340, I don't know how it differed from "normal" 340's. The biggest PITA was that oil filter "adapter" thing you had to use when you put the headers on. The cops hated me. They would sit in front of the house and wait for me to get home because they knew they couldn't catch me. One time after lighting them up for half a block, the cop pulled me over and said "Why do you do that?" I said "Because I CAN." HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Back then, we had Beaver Springs dragway, still going strong. http://www.beaversprings.com/ Love this trip down memory lane. Thanks. JB
 
Stock Hemi's run in the 13 second range and you expect me to believe any of the "stock" 340's mentioned above did the same or better? A 3400# Duster (that includes driver of course) with factory 275 flywheel horsepower has a 14.19 ET potential (17% driveline loss). Based on the same formula a 3400# Duster needs 287 flywheel horsepower for a potential 13.99 ET or 245 rear wheel horsepower. I believe low fourteen seconds is attainable/believable.
 
I knew one guy with 68 4 speed 340's Ran in the 12's. Stock. Nobody believed them either, but he did. I know mine was in the high 13's with 100K on the odometer. That was with the original dual point distributor and a valve job. No one else in the area was as fast. But I was a freak about tuning and carbs. But the other 340 cars typically ran low 14's with 3.23 gears. 4.56's were a whole other ball game. The darn things really came alive!
 
- Marvin - said:
Thanks for posting...

In which magazine was this article?

Do You have a scan of the complete article?
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The discussion about how fast a stock 340 was is always interesting. As a very long term owner of a 1968 Formula S Fastback, I can state that 13.5 @ 105 is doable with a stock engine. My 'Cuda was purchased from the original owner in June 1969 while I was a junior in HS. I raced it in stock form at OCIR, Long Beach, Irwindale and other SoCal tracks. I had 350 timing slips on the car by the time I put 60,000 miles on it. All were in the 13.60 to 13.50 range with a best at [email protected].
The car had 3:55 gears, H70x14 retread tires, cut off exhaust and I took out the back seat and spare tire for a car weight of 3050 lbs. I weighed 175 at that time, so total weight was 3225. I knew a number of other 340 owners that ran in the 13.75 range, so this is totally realistic. I never found out as at the time I didn't know, but is suspect my early 340 build (Sept 1967) was a 340 4sp cam in an automatic car.
 
I guess it comes down to the OP's question: What was the 1/4 mile times of FACTORY STOCK 340 dusters. Putting headers, slicks, cut outs, and the such is not factory stock. Factory stock is you drive up to the dealership and buy brand new. Then, with out changing ANYTHING (except oil :) ), what did it run? That will be completely different than "what was there capabilities". Traction would show the cars true capabilities with no other mods.
 
318willrun said:
I guess it comes down to the OP's question: What was the 1/4 mile times of FACTORY STOCK 340 dusters. Putting headers, slicks, cut outs, and the such is not factory stock. Factory stock is you drive up to the dealership and buy brand new. Then, with out changing ANYTHING (except oil :) ), what did it run? That will be completely different than "what was there capabilities". Traction would show the cars true capabilities with no other mods.
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I agree 100%..ain't no way in hell a "STOCK"(meaning just as it came from the factory) 340 duster ran in the 12's or 13's....i don't care who ya' know..
 
According to the magazines...

1970 Plymouth Duster 340 (CC)
340ci/275hp, 4spd, 3.91, 0-60 - n/a, 1/4 mile 14.22 @ 98mph
1970 Plymouth Duster 340 (CL)
340ci/275hp, 3spd auto, 3.23, 0-60 - 6.2, 1/4 mile - 14.72 @ 94.24mph
1971 Dodge Demon (MT)
340ci/275hp, 4spd, 3.91, 0-60 - 6.5, 1/4 mile - 14.49 @ 98.25mph
1971 Plymouth Duster 340 (SSC)
340ci/275hp, 3spd auto, 3.91, 0-60 - n/a, 1/4 mile - 14.26 @ 98.30mph
1972 Plymouth Duster (HPC)
340ci/240hp, 3spd auto, 3.55, 0-60 - 8.2, 1/4 mile - 14.45 @ 95mph

DRAG TESTS 1960 - 1972

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1969reddart said:
According to the magazines...

1970 Plymouth Duster 340 (CC)
340ci/275hp, 4spd, 3.91, 0-60 - n/a, 1/4 mile 14.22 @ 98mph
1970 Plymouth Duster 340 (CL)
340ci/275hp, 3spd auto, 3.23, 0-60 - 6.2, 1/4 mile - 14.72 @ 94.24mph
1971 Dodge Demon (MT)
340ci/275hp, 4spd, 3.91, 0-60 - 6.5, 1/4 mile - 14.49 @ 98.25mph
1971 Plymouth Duster 340 (SSC)
340ci/275hp, 3spd auto, 3.91, 0-60 - n/a, 1/4 mile - 14.26 @ 98.30mph
1972 Plymouth Duster (HPC)
340ci/240hp, 3spd auto, 3.55, 0-60 - 8.2, 1/4 mile - 14.45 @ 95mph

DRAG TESTS 1960 - 1972

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I agree with this, Looks 100% accurate to me. A good set of todays drag radial DOT's and you could knock about 3 tenths off, especially the 4 speeds.
 
14:70's for an automatic car is about right. A 68 barracuda with a 340 was at 14:90's, more weight I guess.
 
dibbons said:
Stock Hemi's run in the 13 second range and you expect me to believe any of the "stock" 340's mentioned above did the same or better? A 3400# Duster (that includes driver of course) with factory 275 flywheel horsepower has a 14.19 ET potential (17% driveline loss). Based on the same formula a 3400# Duster needs 287 flywheel horsepower for a potential 13.99 ET or 245 rear wheel horsepower. I believe low fourteen seconds is attainable/believable.
Click to expand...

If I remember correctly, NHRA re-rated some 340's to 325 HP. (1970/71?)
 
I think it is safe to say after all these posts the best 340 pure stock, tires, distributor advance, carb, old style factory tires, everything is in the 14's. Just modern tires and a good tune should put it in the 13's but that's not exactly showroom stock.
 
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