Making it a better driver

kesteb said
The problem of asking that question on this board is that all the V8 guys will say dump the \6 and do X, Y, and Z. Also it has been stated, in another post, that the only feasible upgrade to the \6 is a 440. So I guess the small block guys are just wasting their time.

There is no reason that a '74 Duster with a \6 can't run at 80mph all day long, of course the WSP may think otherwise. If you car only can only do 60mph, then you have an engine problem. I would start with a basic tune up and compression check. It the check passes then I would start with the following.

After the above, I would do an exhaust system upgrade. I would go with the biggest pipe size that you can afford. I ran 2 1/2" on our old Duster and was impressed with the results. It was one of the most cost effective upgrades that I did.

Next on the list would be a distributor recurve. You can find the springs and instructions on slantsix.org. Another excellent upgrade as the stock curve is crap.

Finally, find a SuperSix manifold and upgrade to a 2v system. I would not waste my time with a BBD.They are worn out and remanufactured ones are crap. I would go with a Autolite 2100 - 1.08 size or a new Holley 2300 - 350cfm.

Will not engine related, I would put a shift kit into the transmission. It does make a difference. After those mod's are done, you will have a nice responsive car that will do the 80mph and even get good gas mileage.

Those drum brakes were marginal 40 years ago and they haven't gotten any better. Do a disk brake, BBP upgrade. You will be happy with the results.

I'm going to start even more simple...I still need to transfer title! My in-laws mailed the signed title to me earlier this week so that'll get done tomorrow.

I'll start on some tune up work (there is much to be done), but I'm going to focus on the brakes first. I think calling those brakes "marginal" is very kind of you. I find them frightening!

So, once it stops and the tune up (including recurve) is done, I'll see how things are going. If I'm pull the exhaust to go to duals, as I'd like to, and the intake to beef that up a bit, I may go a bit deeper and pull the head. Have a few thou shaved isn't expensive and having the valve guides and seats looked at wouldn't be a bad deal either. It would be a good excuse to make sure everything is adjusted correctly too. I'd reassemble with the new intake and exhaust!

The last time I did this I was in my late teens/early 20s and that '63 Nova was my daily driver, when it ran. It's nice not caring if the car is out of commission for a month or how ever long it takes, this time around. Now if I can just keep my work van and very high mileage Subaru running for awhile longer!