And so it begins,,,,,, 5-speed Duster swap!

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Oil pump is primed, new steal oil pump drive gear installed, distributor installed, plug’s & wires installed. Planning on its first fire up tomorrow. It’s been in the 90’s here the past few days. I didn’t want to open the garage door and let all the heat in! It’s supposed to only be 70 for a high tomorrow. I did get the new Shark Toorh grill installed today!

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After fighting with a leaking Canton oil filter adapter , I removed it and installed a original 90 adapter, although the bolt didn’t survive, luckily I had a extra 90 degree adapter to steal the bolt from. Then I discovered the fuel pump also was bad, luckily my bro-in-law(Robzilla) had a spare I could borrow. I still have a leaking freeze plug, I’ve got to deal with, but it’s finally running and sounds good!

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Your freeze plug looks like the wrong size. Sounds like you have the same luck I do.
 

Your freeze plug looks like the wrong size. Sounds like you have the same luck I do.
Well, I’m thinking my luck is a little worse than yours. What I thought was a leaking freeze looks like a hairline crack in the block right above the freeze plug! Looks like I’m back to square one!

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Well, I’m thinking my luck is a little worse than yours. What I thought was a leaking freeze looks like a hairline crack in the block right above the freeze plug! Looks like I’m back to square one!

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Dang, that sucks...

Seeing as it is a real 340 block, it might be worth seeing if it can be welded.

Or you can try the pinning:
 
Well, I’m thinking my luck is a little worse than yours. What I thought was a leaking freeze looks like a hairline crack in the block right above the freeze plug! Looks like I’m back to square one!
It does suck, I hope it can be fixed.
 
Well , I’m totally against it, but I went ahead and put a bottle of Blue Devil radiator & block sealer in, and ran it for about 45 minutes. The leak seems to have stopped for now, so I’m hoping to drive it for the summer and deal with the block over the winter. I did get the new carpet in yesterday.

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I recon that's it fixed. i would have used K-seal myself but a man can choose whatever poison
one of the few snake oil in a bottle fixes that actually works

drive it for a couple hundred miles then dump the coolant, replace and carry on

crack has probably been there since day 1 and recent work removed the blue devil that was there before.... what would the main dealer do? weeping core plug you say?..... oh we fixed it, come back if it re occurs.

been called an idiot many times, got the badge and certificate, but i run water and k-seal for break in, then dump the lot and fill with coolant. can't say its ever caused a problem
can't say it ever solved a problem...haven't had a coolant leak or gasket problem....
people who do this don't admit to doing this :) normally, because you take a kicking from the guy who had to do the job twice or saw a picture on the internet of a totally caked water pump.... its seen as an admission that you don't trust yourself to fit a head gasket properly (MLS gasket) :) happy to admit that this isn't my bread and butter job, so i don't necessarily have 100% trust in my ability, Hence i make damn certain i'm not going to have to do it again.

i have not found my engine and radiator internals to be caked up like a motor that has been dosed with 15 bottles by 15 owners and no coolant change for 40 years.

possibly because i use the stuff as intended and follow the instructions


Dave
 
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i've welded cracks like that (and longer) with a normal mig welder more than once and not had any issues. i weld the length of the crack going side to side across it as i go along. then i usually add frankenstitches at 90 degrees to the weld at 1" intervals for a full 'belt and braces' job. oh, and i've done it with the motor in the car and fully assembled. obviously the coolant's drained first and the crack is thoroughly cleaned.
just letting you know that if you're a confident welder have a go yourself in situ. you have nothing to lose.
neil.
 
I’m sad to report, that after about 50 miles of running the new 340, something catastrophic happened. I lost all oil pressure and a very noisy rattle from the engine. I have no idea what happened, I’ll have to wait until I get a chance to tear it down. Ever since first start up, there’s been a vibration, I originally thought it was driveline related, something with the transmission, etc. But I’m now certain it’s engine related. Anyway, I really want to drive this thing before the snow flies. I had a 360 that I pulled from a 85 Ramcharger many years ago. It looked super clean, so I saved it. So, the plan is to put the 360 in the Duster. And as suspected, upon inspection it appears the 360 had been recently rebuilt before I pulled it from the Ramcharger. It’s got .030 over Sealed Power P405 pistons, the bearings look brand new, and nice cross hatch on the cylinders. I bought a Summit 272/454 cam, I had a new set of 30 year old Sealed Power lifters laying around, and a set of J heads I ported years ago, bronze guides, 2.02/1.60 stainless valves and chambers milled to 63cc. I’m really hoping I can get the cam broke in safely and be able to drive this thing, at least until I get a chance to figure out the 340 and have the block welded!

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If it ain't one thing it's another well I tell you what I commend you on your work you have done so far it ain't your fault what has happened and I'm sure you will overcome shortly.....
 
After fighting with 2 different sets of Speedmaster roller rockers(both sets rubbed on the valve springs), I ended up going with a set of 273 adjustable rockers. Before installing the 273 rockers, I changed out the non-locknut screws with a new set from PRW, that has locking nuts, and also allows you to use the easier to find ball/ball end pushrods. New pushrods were supposed to arrive on Friday, but a email today confirms a Monday delivery date.

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I just had to give up on my mechanical linkage when putting my TKX in behind my 5.9 in my 74 Duster. Exhaust clearance was my issue. I have TTI shorties and 2.5 inch exhaust adapters and the pipe hit the standard clutch fork. I tried some modifications, but gave up and went hydraulic. Doesn't look like that will be an issue for you, but you might want to look at that.
 
I haven’t worked on the 360 install in several weeks. Just didn’t have the ambition after the 340 failure. It kind of let the wind out of my sails! But today I did get the Lakewood bellhousing mounted up to check the runout on the 360 engine. If that checks out, I’m planning to mount the trans up and slide it all in as one.☝️







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I did the bellhousing runout tonight on the 360. I ended up with 0 degrees at the 12 o’clock position, 2.5 degrees at the 3 o’clock position, 8 degrees at the 6 o’clock position, and .5 degrees at the 9 o’clock position. If I understood the video correctly, you divide the highest reading in half and that gives you the runout. So I’m at 4 degrees, Tremec says no more than 5 degrees. I’m thinking I’m alright?!?!?!?

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