Every GM A-Body I, or my friends have owned (and this has been several) has been in the 3,700 to 3,800 pound range (street weight).
O-M-R
I forgot to add that I had a '1970 GTO' 400/350 HP {Code YT} 4-Speed
April 1975 thru the Summer of 1976.
They were heavier than the 1972 Models.
Shipping Weight = #3641 lbs.
Not interrupting,just tuning in.Sorry .....
On the Street, 'Stock vs. Stock'
The 'Duster 340' should walk all over the 'GTO 400'
You've been there, so you know how the Poncho's responded. I had a hand in a half dozen or so 400/455 street builds. Not talking race builds, except for one round port, but the untouched "D" port heads just didn't respond to big lift cams. I learned my lesson the hard way with a 70' 400 that I built as a higher rpm engine. Lots of lift, a single plane, and a big carb (850). All I did was take away the torque and the heads just couldn't handle that style of build. Lost bottom end and top end...:banghead:.
As you said, if you didn't have a 10ish to one to begin with, it was gravy to just drop on a set of early 72cc heads to get the comp back. As long as you had the squeeze, a cam with 470"/490" lift and a moderate .050 duration, along with a dual plane to keep the torque up, resulted in a serious street player with a 3.55 or so gear.
Dead on,Ricky... Stock cast iron intake,Q -jet(Holley remain,ootb..). A nasty narrow Crower Hydraulic Hauler. (229/238 @.050 ,.480/.507 lift. With the 18 casting heads,brutal torque. Never shifted above,5600.
LOL...
Getting back to the Duster, in the muscle car realm, i've driven quite a few "stock" low compression GM's and a few Fords, but the only Mopar I recall was a 73' Charger 440 auto. It had a very smooth power curve up to about 5k, i'm guessing, no tach, but nothing to write home about. I've never driven a 72'/73' 340 car, although I rode in a 73' 340 Dart Sport a few times. I'm just curious about how they felt compared to the earlier cars? All I can do now is look at the numbers, but I'd love to have felt what they were like on the street. I'm sure a little tickle to the TQ and timing made a big difference.
The stock intakes were great, iron or aluminum. I'd love to run your combo with just a little gear and a close ratio 4spd. That could teach a lot of guys a lesson...lol.
Rick,that combo still sends me cold chills,now. For all of my money spent(way cheap..) That combination ,simply cranked.
My 72 340, 4 spd with no power options, 3:23 gears. I loved the car, but was no comparison to the 69 340-S 4 spd Cuda I traded on it. That car was a street terror with 3:91 rear.
The 72 was respectable though. It felt good and yes the Thermoquad was a cool factor. It ran a 15:30 (I am pretty sure, still have the time slip somewhere) with the tires you see in the picture. They had a pretty hard compound, and though they hooked well on the street. At the strip you might as well have had baldies on the back. The 15:30 was with the tires going completely up on smoke.
That car is a Beauty. No doubt with some "sticky" tires it would have been in the 14's.
Track times really didn't give a total picture vs street work. A little "roll on" and not going to a extreme mph on the top end would make a well tuned car much stronger on the street then just a ET slip. I'm sure it held it's own, and then some.
O-M-R
I'm originally from Mahopac, New York {Southern, New York}.
Right on the border of Westchester and Putnam Counties, near the Taconic State Parkway.
About 75-Miles North of New York City.
My Father started out in 1965, as he had an Amoco Service Station in Carmel, New York
which soon turned into a Performance Car hang out.
We were only about 20-Minutes away from Dover Drag Strip {Wingdale, New York}.
I started Drag Racing in 1970.
Later in early-1970, he opened a Small Machine Shop in Pawling, New York - then in early-1971 he
moved the Machine Shop to a Gulf Service Station in Lake Carmel.
Then to Northern Westchester
In 1972, he opened Valley Motor & Machine in Jefferson Valley and business really took off.
And his Shop soon became a 'Full Service Shop' {Less Crankshaft Grinder}.
He later moved to Baldwin Place in 1979, and was there until 1986.
In 1987 he bought a new building in Peekskill, and was there until 2003, when
he and my Mother sold the Building and Shop, and then retired to North Carolina.
We were a 90% Mopar Family. We strayed a few times.
As a side note, my 77 year-old Mother drives a 'Mint'......... 2006 Chrysler 300-C 'HEMI'