The Great Pumpkin - '71 Duster

Sooo, I have not touched this car in a few weeks. I have been under the weather since the middle of June and only these last few days I am finally getting over it. Still have some lingering symptoms but I'm almost back to 100%. I've also decided to sell my other car so I had to dedicate some time to tying up some loose ends on that one.

The next steps for the Duster will be mocking up the dash wiring harness in the car. I have to make sure things are the right length before I start cutting wirtes for the Deutsch bulkhead connector. I really can't do the engine harness until the motor is in but that should be relatively easy once the dash side is in. Getting the dash done and out of the way will be a major step forward. Most everything is just nuts and bolts after that.

In the interim, my 'new' TTI headers have shipped and should be here this week. They are essentially the exact same exct thing I had before just a different bolt pattern to attach to the cylinder head. Still impressed how fast Mr. Rumblefish picked those up.

I've also ordered a solid roller camshaft from Bullet as well. It's pretty hefty - 263/268 @ .050". I never dreamed I'd be in the big boy solid roller club but speaking to a few people more knowledgeable than myself it's not too crazy for a roller and a stroker motor with 11:1 compression. Guess we'll see what it's like!

I will admit to having a little anxiety about starting the engine when I put it all back together. It's a royal PITA to deal with 1 7/8" headers and I do not want to install them twice, especially since the steering linkage needs to come out. Right now my plan is to get the thing running on a stand with an old set of headers and a carburetor. I think this will be the best way to go about the installation since I can check for leaks, get the thing timed and make sure nothing is way out of whack. The rings will be seated already and it does not really need to be broken in with a roller cam.

The other caveat to the run stand is the eventual switch to EFI. Once the motor is in the car it will be switched to a throttle body so any tuning with a carb and smaller headers on a run stand will just be a baseline. Suppose if the motor idles and accelerates normally it should be close enough but I'm really hoping I don't run into problems with the different components.

More to come.