1974 Duster

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74axeduster

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Joined
Jun 18, 2019
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Location
Sacramento
New to the forums just recent picked up a 1974 duster 318/727 combo. Backstory is the previous owner had a crazy ex and she took a hatchet to all the glass and a couple body panels. So i got it cheapppp. Honestly has a bit of a mad max thing going on so ill leave it until i get all the mechanical equipment sorted out.

Plan is to turn it into a street/strip machine and drive the piss out of it. Has disc brakes in the front that need help, and what all appears to be a factory front end. Looking at throw a bunch of QA1 parts at it to help it steer straight, the 318 gets hot but also doesnt have a fan shroud at the moment so ill get one of those made and see if that dies down.

I have a 1975 440 block sitting in my garage waiting for a reason to dump money into it, but i also like the idea of a 408 stroker with a 8-71 roots sitting on top.

If i stay small block i can do all the exhuast, cooling, engine bay clean up since the dimensions will be the same. And i can keep my front tires. and i could build the 408 and getting it moving and add the blower down the road.

But a 440 with fenderwell headers does sound pretty appealing as well.

Looking for 5-600hp that should move that a-body pretty well
 
74axeduster said:
New to the forums just recent picked up a 1974 duster 318/727 combo. Backstory is the previous owner had a crazy ex and she took a hatchet to all the glass and a couple body panels. So i got it cheapppp. Honestly has a bit of a mad max thing going on so ill leave it until i get all the mechanical equipment sorted out.

Plan is to turn it into a street/strip machine and drive the piss out of it. Has disc brakes in the front that need help, and what all appears to be a factory front end. Looking at throw a bunch of QA1 parts at it to help it steer straight, the 318 gets hot but also doesnt have a fan shroud at the moment so ill get one of those made and see if that dies down.

I have a 1975 440 block sitting in my garage waiting for a reason to dump money into it, but i also like the idea of a 408 stroker with a 8-71 roots sitting on top.

If i stay small block i can do all the exhuast, cooling, engine bay clean up since the dimensions will be the same. And i can keep my front tires. and i could build the 408 and getting it moving and add the blower down the road.

But a 440 with fenderwell headers does sound pretty appealing as well.

Looking for 5-600hp that should move that a-body pretty well
Click to expand...
Welcome aboard from the frozen tundra! Having ran fender dump headers on a big block while it is cool and I have no regrets I ended up taking it back to just in front of the axle! My honking ears were ringing! The noise I could manage with plugs but the exhaust strangled me! Hah! Have a blast and do it your way. This Forum will support you regardless of how you do it.
 
74axeduster said:
New to the forums just recent picked up a 1974 duster 318/727 combo. Backstory is the previous owner had a crazy ex and she took a hatchet to all the glass and a couple body panels. So i got it cheapppp. Honestly has a bit of a mad max thing going on so ill leave it until i get all the mechanical equipment sorted out.

Plan is to turn it into a street/strip machine and drive the piss out of it. Has disc brakes in the front that need help, and what all appears to be a factory front end. Looking at throw a bunch of QA1 parts at it to help it steer straight, the 318 gets hot but also doesnt have a fan shroud at the moment so ill get one of those made and see if that dies down.

I have a 1975 440 block sitting in my garage waiting for a reason to dump money into it, but i also like the idea of a 408 stroker with a 8-71 roots sitting on top.

If i stay small block i can do all the exhuast, cooling, engine bay clean up since the dimensions will be the same. And i can keep my front tires. and i could build the 408 and getting it moving and add the blower down the road.

But a 440 with fenderwell headers does sound pretty appealing as well.

Looking for 5-600hp that should move that a-body pretty well
Click to expand...
Welcome from another frozen tundra guy enjoy your new ride.
 
Welcome aboard! I look forward to seein the progress! 440 is a great motor and would be lots of fun but I personally love small blocks!
 
why not do the 440 AND the blower?
who needs traction anyway
 
diymirage said:
why not do the 440 AND the blower?
who needs traction anyway
Click to expand...

Trust me my inner child i telling me thats the option, but at that point ill have to stiffen the body, tube the front and rear frames, just more than im looking to get into with this project. i have a 1975 ramcharger with a FI 440 thats full tube chassis and way to much money dumped into it.

Trying to avoid that this time around.

Been tuning the carb since i bought it in reno and live is sacramento, on one of my WOT runs i managed to toss a freeze plug out of the block, drivers side, looks to be the one behind the motor mount but not the rear most.

Going to pull the motor this week, replace the plugs and probably toss a cam into the 318 for ***** and giggles.

Really considering a 408 stroker with a 6-71 on top right now, i can get a running 360 LA for 500 bucks, 2k for the scat kit with all forged internals. looks to be a lot more cost effective and time effiecent route
 
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