New owner of a 1976 Plymouth Duster

New owner of a 1976 Plymouth Duster

Welcome aboard Riddler!

Riddler said
My name is Joe and I'm in Windsor, ON, Canada. I recieved the car as a gift from my wife. Best wife in the world. :) The car needs quite a bit of work. The body is solid but needs a drivetrain. Currently sitting between the fenders is a 318 with 904 and a small pumpkin. I'm still trying to decide what to build for it.

I'm not sure how these cars ride with a big block 440 or a small block 360?

I'm looking to build the car for street use with some drag runs once and a while.

I'm thinking 360, 727 with an 8 3/4" or 9".

Riddler

IMO, I'd do the small block, a 360 since there fairly easy to get and use. It's cheaper and easier than a big block swap. The Ford 9 is stronger and very popular with ease of parts, but the 8-3/4 is up to the task with less work involved. Parts are NOT a problem ethier.

Riddler said
I'm interested in using this car for a cruiser with a few trips to the strip. My brother in law drives an 80 Malibu with a small block making 500hp. So I'm thinking I'll work my magic on a 360 and maybe stroke it out to 383. I'd prefer to drive the car on pump gas (which is 94 here).

Riddler

A word on stroking a MoPar engine. And a Chevy engine.

First up, the Chevy crowd used the 400 crank in a 350 to make a 383 @ .030 overbored IIRC. They did this because they had no faith in the natural 4oo ci engine. They thought it to weak and just a smog motor.

The Mopar engine only came as large as a 360 To get to 383 cubes would require very custom parts and that is a heavy expense. Since your not doing a inexpesnsive me 2 engine (Chevy), it would be a waste of time putting forth the effort to get 383 cubes when for alot less, you can get ethier the parts one by one or a kit to use a 4 inch stroke crank and turn your 360 into a 400+ cube engine. Now you can out torque the Chevy with the extra crank throw and out HP the Chevy with better heads and the abilty to use a larger cam due to the larger lifter.

A 727 use's more power to turn the wheels than a 904 and is heavier. Food for thought.

Your behind the 8 ball on 2 counts agianst the Chevy. Overall car weight and cost to build. The Duster can come down in weight alot, how much depends on what your willing to live with and do. (Fiberglass.)