Dirty D - 73 Duster Street/Strip Build

-
Did u keep stock lower rubber bushings in lower control arms? Also did you tighten everything with the weight of car or up on lift? I ask cuz I'm getting ready to put my dart sport front end together. Thank you!
Ya stock lower rubber bushings. Everything tightened with the weight of the car. Especially important for the lower control arms because the bushings will tear if you don't tighten with the weight of the car on them.
 
Not a whole lot going on.

Fixed the steering issue for free, located where the trans is leaking from, installed a bare bones stereo, and raised the rear end up an inch.

I also replaced the urethane trans mount with a rubber mount and the vibrations went way down. Slapped some radials on the rear with the keystones that came with the car and the vibration went down even more. I still want to get the pinion checked, but the vibrations are bearable now. I need to put some radials on the front and see what that does.

Pics for fun.

PXL_20231031_155131555.jpg


PXL_20231104_003226837~2.jpg


PXL_20231104_202250646.jpg
 
Inzane240 when you put together front suspension did you tighten everything with weight if car? Or when it was on lift? Did you torque nuts on suspension? I ask since I'm getting ready to assemble my dart sports front end. Just seeking pointers/advise thanks.
 
Inzane240 when you put together front suspension did you tighten everything with weight if car? Or when it was on lift? Did you torque nuts on suspension? I ask since I'm getting ready to assemble my dart sports front end. Just seeking pointers/advise thanks.
Sorry you already gave me an answer!
 
OK so chasing down this vibration, I had the front wheels rebalanced by a different shop. That helped a ton and leads me to believe the vibration is steering/suspension related. I had the pinion checked out and it came in at -3, which seems appropriate given the rear suspension setup.

In the mean time I switched from bias plys to radials and various combinations thereof to further chase down the vibration. Now I am running entirely on radials and the vibration is minimal, but still there, especially when you hit about 75-80mph :). I prefer the look of the 29" front bias ply pizza cutters, but I'll live with the 26" radials until I can get this vibration figured out.

Going to get another alignment and see what that does. All the steering components are brand new with the exception of the gearbox and column but I don't see those things causing vibration issues.

I also discovered I didn't have the kickdown adjusted correctly which was causing the transmission to shift prematurely with little to no downshifting at WOT. WOT from a stop was all 3rd gear. Not good. After some troubleshooting and adjusting I've now got the kickdown in a pretty good place. And the car hauls some serious *** now that it wants to rev through all the gears....imagine that.

Lastly, I replaced the inspection cover on the 727, which was the source of my transmission leak, with an o-ringed cover from Andrews Racing Transmissions and now that leak is gone. Gotta love it.

Keystones & Radials
PXL_20231228_223916201.jpg


Inspection cover:
PXL_20231130_015245939.jpg


Useless gasket:
PXL_20231130_015553994.jpg


ART Cover w/O-ring:
PXL_20231207_004639166.jpg



PXL_20231208_214020695.MP.jpg
 
Last edited:
-
Back
Top