Multi purpose suspension!

[Clelan]

My car is a 1974 Duster that I have started to drag race with a little bit and of course like many who try it once, I want to make it faster. This car is a cruiser and always will be. When I built it I was more interested in handling than anything else. It handles very well but I know that the handling improvements aren’t helping my launch at the drag strip. Soon I want to start building a Sportsman/Pro class lightweight stripped out Duster but for now I’d like to try and make this one perform a little better. I don’t have a weight on it but it’s heavy with AC, full interior etc.

It runs a stock block and heads 75’ 360 with an unknown cam, Performer 318/360 intake, 670 street avenger carb, A-500 overdrive automatic, 2500 stall convertor, 8 ¾ with 4.10sg.

Suspension wise, it has home made subframe connectors, 1.03 torsion bars, tubular upper control arms and reinforced lowers, 1- 1/8” front sway bar, 7/8” rear sway bar, Bilstien RCD shocks. 002/003 Super Stock springs on the rear. Definitely not a drag setup I know.

My best time so far has been 15.323 at 91.27 mph with a 2.3 60’. It chirps the 275/60-15 MT ET street radials (15psi) off the line. I know I have some more in the motor like a bigger carb, better intake etc. but I’m wondering about suspension.

Will double adjustable shocks allow me to adjust for a more drag friendly suspension for the days I am at the track and then readjust for cornering and handling the rest of the time? I’m sure it will help, but how much? My Bilstien RCDs are definitely not drag shocks and since they are A body length, they are too short for use with the SS springs anyway.

I am looking at Viking double adjustable shocks from PST. I will get C body length in the back to accommodate my SS springs and regular A body length in the front.

Am I wasting my time and money?

Cley

 

[qkcuda]

You are not taxing the suspension at that power level, and it is not spinning, so I think you would be better off putting money into the engine. With 4:10 gears and a 2500 convertor, my first change would be the cam.

 

[oldkimmer]

U have to be very careful with the cam u choose as u r probably at 8.0-1 compression. Kim

 

[lilfontleroy]

if you can find it

 

[Clelan]

I do plan to build an engine for it this winter. I know I have a lot of opportunity for improvement there.
I am just wondering about adjustable shocks because I know I'll likely max out the capability of my suspension at some point. Some point soon I hope.

Cley

 

[qkcuda]

I ran into the 12's on super stock springs and ordinary C body shocks. In fact I only went to adjustable shocks when I changed to Cal Tracs.

 

[Clelan]

Ok but the only reason I'm considering adjustable is to try and have the best of both worlds! Set them soft for drag days then form for the rest of the time.

 

[AJ/FormS]

Spend your money where it will do the most good;compression and cam.
Those 4.10 and 88" tires will get you 100mph at 5200. So you need a cam to go there, like a 220/[email protected], which might take some compression to pump up the midrange. If you don't pump it up, then the 2500 is gonna be waaay too small.
Course the 3200/3500 you might be thinking of throwing at it, kindof spoils it as a cruiser. So IMO the compression is the better answer.
Headers and a free-flowing exhaust are more important than the 750 carb you may be contemplating. Forget the carb if you don't do the cam and headers; this is an all or nothing deal.
If you can only do one thing atta time, then
1) headers and free-flowing exhaust. then
2) cam and matching compression, then
3) carb and intake, then
4) stall, with a cooler, then
5) suspension
6) then start over with better heads, more cam, more compression and possibly more gear.
Along the way you might need to upgrade some of the other systems like, principally the cooling system, then the fuel system and perhaps the ignition system. Each change will require a retune, especially the cam/compression change. About the only change here that will help your 60ft is the stall and/or the compression boost.After you get some power, the next thing that will help the 60ft is the suspension.
Items 1 to 3 will increase your trapspeed. Items 4 and 5 will reduce your 60 ft, but if you do them now at your current power level the result will be not nearly as exciting; you can spend nearly a couple of Gs,in a heartbeat, for a couple to maybe three tenths, whereas an equivalent amount of money, in the engine, will take an easy second or more off the top, while if you are careful, not add significantly to the 60ft,lol.
And. I gotta tell ya, sliding and drifting is a lotta lotta fun...... which is why my 60 ft is 2.4and change, and has stayed there for decades,lol.Your 2.3 seconds is like mine except you are doing it with a chirp, while mine annihilates the 325/50-15 BFG DRs.
Your Duster is the lightest of the second gen A-bodies similarly equipped. And has about the largest rear tubs available on an A. You are well on your way to the fun-zone.