'76 400 in a '73 duster

-

Penstarpurist

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2016
Messages
1,313
Reaction score
630
Location
Salem
Fairly new to the forum, but wanted to throw out our build and see what you guys think will be the end result. Like the posting title says, it's a '73 duster with a '76 400. The 400 is out of a truck, low miles was a daily driver until the guy wrecked it. The duster is a factory /6, with lots of cancer most of which we have cut out and welded in factory patch panels from a '74 feather duster and '73 valiant. But more important of course us drivetrain. So what we have going on is this, edelbrock aluminum intake dual plane, edelbrock 800cfm carb, mallory unilite dizzy, msd 8.5mm wires, hughes whiplash cam, new bearings, 516 heads, fast recovery lifters, 4 degree timing set, shorty block hug headers. Otherwise stock bore, rods, crank etc. Putting it in front of a 727 out of a '70 383 sport fury (which came with the bent rod 383 engine and radiator) using the 8 3/4 with Richmond sure grip 411's (yes a chevy ratio), leaf springs and torsion bars out of a 340 duster. Fired the engine up on our start stand, set timing and did all the adjustments. Runs strong, good idle. You can feel that thing rumble the earth. My question is: what do you think it will lay down for 1/4 mile times and what kind of hp. I know from reading other posts on here, the heads suck, low comp, low deck block. The 383 we got after building the 400, which is why it isn't the one we are using, it's going to be built and stuffed into our '74 Javelin. That said any thoughts? The 400 is the one in my avatar.
 
I put a 400 of the same sort in a D150 truck. Only thing I did was remove the 2bbl and put a 4bbl on it with a set of used headers. Long block was stock and never apart. Truck was a auto with 3.21 gears. It ran a 14.50

I'm sure in a Duster with 4.11's, you'll be way below my E.T.
 
Theres nothing wrong with those heads that a little port work cant correct. Im gonna throw 13.4 ish out there with traction issues. Work the bugs out,it'll run faster..
 
Well, I did say "hoping", lol not expecting. There have been similar builds done with some fairly impressive times laid down at the track. But, needsaresto is right for sure. Traction will be the big factor, as we are leaving the stock tubs in and can't get alot of tire under the back. Decent but not big tire for sure.
 
9" drag radials will fit, and there have been a lot of fast cars get their E.T. from 'em.
I'll also say if my truck would have had any cam and those 4.11's, I'd got into 13's for sure. Your in a Duster, so I think 12's is what I'd expect. How far into 12's, well, you'll have to show us!!!
 
With a 100 shot of nitrous, low 12s all day. Provided it hooks.
 
I had a similar duster .
If you look at my pics it's in there .
It had 906 heads forgot cam 440 stock magnum ?
Been too long edelbrock intake
750 holley dual exhaust and 3:91
Sure grip .
It was bad ***!!
I never took it to the track ?
It was cobbled together by the shop teacher at Garfield high school . With dual quads and bigger cam he said 11:99 ?
I'm guessing it was a low to mid 13 car ?
 
I will definitely check out your build jimmer! We are hoping to have the body of ours in at least primer by the end of the month. We want to be able to have it fully painted in plum crazy (in violet), and assembled to run the 2017 season at the drag strip. We aren't expecting to set any track records lol, but I bet we have alot of fun.
 
I will definitely check out your build jimmer! We are hoping to have the body of ours in at least primer by the end of the month. We want to be able to have it fully painted in plum crazy (in violet), and assembled to run the 2017 season at the drag strip. We aren't expecting to set any track records lol, but I bet we have alot of fun.
Fun indeed you will have !!!
It will be a tire smoldering machine !!!
 
I have a '78-400 in a 71 Duster. Added on top is a small TQ, Holley Street Dominator, B body headmen headers into 2-1/2 exhaust/Hooker Aero Chambers. A MSD fires off a MP distributor. Aluminum rad and electric fans.

So I know a little of the road you travel.
Your problem is the ultra low compression of the engine. Adding a cam will further hurt this issue adding up to less torque.

You need to raise the compression and use a better cam. Add a TF1 shift kit and a higher stall converter.
 
Agree, very easy to over cam a stock compression 400. There's better choices than a Whiplash for power. I ran a stock compression 400 with template ported 906's TQ, headers, and mild Summit .466/.488, cam 2.5k vert, 3.91. Ran good for what it was. They're not even close to the adv. comp. ratio. You mentioned block huggers, brand? Several reports that they don't fit in a car chassis. Big block in a Duster there are only a few choices.
 
Last edited:
The headers I got from pro tuning lab, they fit very tight to the block. The whiplash cam from what I've read and been told by hughes is their recommended cam for low compression engines. We'll be finding out, as it's what's in there now, lol not going to pull it now. I will be putting a stage 1 shift kit in the transmission with stall. Forgot to mention in earlier description the car is also a factory manual brake and steering, not that it'll be any faster, but won't suffer brake vacuum problems or power robbing belt on a power steering pump. I'm definitely listening to your comments and will be applying it to our 383 build. We've discussed getting some better heads in the future for the 400 if we aren't happy with where it's at.
 
I hope I made the right choice. With it being a .518 lift I know it's getting big. I know it's a hughes cam and they speak highly of it. It idles like a dragster down low but smooths out over 1800 rpm. We have about 45 minutes of run time on it in our engine start stand, and it vibrates the ground. Lol, that seems like a good sign, just hope it will run that well in the car. I called hughes before I bought the cam, lifters, head springs, chain and gears from them. Told them it was a stock 76 400 and wanted a set up my boys could terrorize the strip on the weekends and drive it to school or work on Monday. Weather permitting of course, as we are in oregon. The .518 whiplash was their first choice to recommend, with the ability to run best on engines with less then 9.25:1 compression ratio. They actually say in their description not to let the compression to get up more than that or it will give undesirable performance. Otherwise it's liver rattling tire smoking light to light performance. Haha, I hope.
 
Lol, no 11 second for sure, we'd do cartwheels for anything in the mid 12's. Our local dragstrip says you have to have a roll cage for anything faster then 12.49, so to us that is a solid target number. Just fast enough to need a roll cage is definitely a no slouch car.
 
No, not for lack of trying. So many things came up. We got the drivetrain completely in, just didn't get the rollcage in yet, or the paint job done. My son that was building it with me got a new job and has been working non stop and now is back in school. Lol, I am still working on it here and there. The downside has been the fact we have been only able to work on it in a canvas carport. It's been like a greenhouse on hot days. My shop is scheduled to be built in less than a month, we will finally be able to work on it rain, shine, night or day. I was actually just talking with my wife last night and vowed to get it done this off season and promise to bracket race it for a season. Thanks for asking, it helps to keep me motivated to get it done.
 
70 Duster with 21K original miles as well as original paint and upholstery. Was a slant 6, 3-speed
on the floor with 7-1/4 rear end.

gold20duster%20lg%20c_zpsrh0a6gfs.jpg


Now has a 0.030 383 with KB pistons on Eagle rods. Comp Hyd cam, Edelbrock heads and intake.
TTi headers and Schumacher conversion mounts. An A833 4-speed and an 8-3/4 axle replace the
original items. Custom Stockton 5 on 4" BC Mopar Rallys measure 15x5 with 205/70-15's & 15x7
with 275/60-15's. Full TTi exhaust pipes with stainless tips, stripes and a new sharktooth grill.

Great little Hot Rod!

2013-04-10_15-56-37_570_zpse7378847.jpg

DennysLast2013011_zpse6fd8b01.jpg

DennysLast2013010_zps5ffb65a3.jpg

Dans383build2072_zps15855392.jpg

goldDuster3028_zpse67b875f.jpg
goldDuster3015_zps64699cd7.jpg
 
Last edited:
Years ago I built a 71 Duster and installed a 76-77 400. The engine was stock that I R-ringed and added bearings, used home ported 906 heads and a mopar 292/509 purple shaft cam. Low deck tunnelram with 2 500 Carter AFB carbs. Headman 1-3/4 headers, no name 3500 stall, 8-3/4 with 4.10 gears. 28x10 slicks. I used parts I had laying around. Now this was about 8 years ago when I built my Pro-junk yard Duster lol. But I think the car was runing 13.20/13.30 in the 1/4. It wasn’t very fast but was a blast to drive on the street. Lol
 
-
Back
Top