1974 Duster build

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Cuprum-74

Cuprum-74

Moparus Fanaticus
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Here is my 1974 Duster.

It is going to have a mildly hopped up 1990 Roller Cam 360 in it.
it has 308 heads that might have been milled. I tried measuring the combustion chambers and it read something like 65-66 cc's

I put in Speed-Pro flat top pistons, 1.660 compression distance
cylinder walls were still measured at 4 inch. bore just needed to be re-honed again. And it has new Kings rod, cam and main bearings.

Compression ratio @ 66 cc's is 9.70 to 1
Compression ratio @ 65 cc's is 9.80 to 1

Eventually going to get a Comp Thumpr cam: Duration 283/303, Lift .513/.498 or Duration 291/311, Lift .522/.509, with Comp Dual Valve Spring Set .590 Max Lift: 1.437 OD, Seat load 130 @ 1.70, Open load 372 @ 1.150, Coil bind 1.050, Rate 441 lbs/in.

Keeping the pristine TF904 that came with it but putting in a TF2 shift kit in.

The thing is in pieces at the moment, I guess I'm kind of going for a budget build.

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The cylinder walls after I pulled the motor apart.
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Another shot of the cylinder walls they all looked like this.
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Cam bearing #4 not good, being replaced.
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The only cancer spot on the car.
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Looks like a good one i'm doing a 74 duster also so i'll be watching
 
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New pistons pressed in, about ready to assemble the motor!


And here are my pics of my old 83 Ram W150 I had, it was T-boned by a minivan who ran the light. Totaled but was still able to drive it home. The lady needed a tow truck.

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Heck ya, good stuff there!!!

I scored my 89' 360 from a D/W250, but they came in Ramchargers as well, as I see you found out.

Keep us up to date.....we're watching :salute:
 
Looks like a good solid start.Heading the right direction with the motor, but i would pull the trigger on the bigger cam now instead of later. Just my opinion. I'll be watching this one.:coffee2:
 
Ok I'm going to have to vent... :protest:

The NAPA here has seriously gone downhill, I asked if they have Oil Pan gaskets for a 1974 Plymouth Duster 360.

Their response: "Only for a 318 and 340 no 360, Duster's never came with a 360 according to this program, I don't see any gaskets listed."

I said yes they did, mopar changed from 340 to the 360 in 1974, either way those gaskets should still work since they're all LA blocks, try searching under Dodge trucks.

NAPA: "No they won't and I don't think so, NAPA spends millions of dollars on this program they should know. :banghead:

Yeah some fat, hot pocket munching geek that never picked up a wrench in his life that designed the program should know any better? Really!? :angry5:
 
I ran into the same thing when building my 74 360 clone.No listing for 360 duster but for some reason most of them show 74 Dart Sport 360.I usually have to order front and rear main seal as well as the pan gasket.Nobody stocks them anymore.

Which sealed power piston did you use?The two valve relief or the four valve relief?
 

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I feel your pain on Napa. I stopped buying anything from them a little over a year ago. They either can't the part or it will be three or four days on "special order". I find that Summit is faster and usually cheaper including shipping. Good luck.:coffee2:
 
Well the cam bearings are in, I did mush up the surface of one slightly but I did the razor knife trick done by one of the members on this site.
Installed the pistons and main bearings.

But here's where I stop on the engine for now due to budget reasons.

Can't continue until I get these items:

1. Comp 995-16 Valve springs (About $97.73 At autoplicity.com)
2. Professional Products Crosswind Intake Manifold 55026 (About $211.26 At Discount Performance Auto)
3. Comp Thumpr Hydraulic Roller Tappet 20-601-9 (About $261.45 At Competition Products)
4. Cloyes Double Roller Timing Chain (About $43.79 at Rockauto.com)
5. Anchor Motor mounts both left and right. (About $12.46 for both at Rockauto.com)

Yay... almost $650 until I can get the motor put together... C'mon tax refund! (wishful thinking).

Oh well guess that means I'll have to start working on the body and interior since I have a lot of supplies for it.
 
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As you can see really tight fit...

Not much room to play.
 
SettinTrendz said:
Very cool man! Lovin' it! Dig that truck too!!
What part of Utah you from?
Click to expand...

I live in Clearfield, like a minute from Hill AFB.

That truck is no more, it was totaled years ago it became the donor of the 1990 Roller cammed 360 to my 88 Ram W150, which in turn donated it the to duster.
 
Well worked on the passenger side fender a bit, mainly rust control.

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Not done with this yet just started on the part that needed the most attention


Then I tackled the windshield trim which was a big pain in the butt, whoever invented these stainless steel bits of trim needs to be beaten.

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One question; am I going to have to put these in place again after I get done painting this thing or is there a way to do without? (any easier way to cover up the void where the sealer is)
 
Yay the dash wiring.....

Really not looking forward to this...

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Trying to decide if I want to just restore and clean up the original gauge cluster or build a custom one with all new gauges....
 
i noticed you are looking for a new intake manifold? you should check the for sale adds here as well as craigslist. you can save a ton of money by buying a used one. i see eddy performers for less than a $100 bucks all the time. the performer rpm is about the best bang for the buck in my opinion and are usually found used for less than 150. as for your dash wiring....... in the interest of getting the car on the road and keeping it on a budget i would highly recommend reusing the factory gauge cluster. i went all custom gauges and im in the process of rewiring my entire car. this is a very time consuming, tedious and expensive job. i have been at mine for 2 weeks now and am easily over 600 bucks.
 
Well I found a A999 that was already pulled out and chucked in the back of an old work van in the salvage yard, 5 minutes and $144 bucks it was mine, it definitely needs a rebuild though.

It is indeed from a 1988-89 Dodge diplomat. The Salvage yard said they used to have a one that looked like an old police cruiser.

Right after I got it home I started tearing into it.

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Last edited:
Well just a little bit of an update, I found out the transmission I pulled out of the salvage is indeed a A999 out of a 1989 Dodge Diplomat cop car, I'm getting it rebuilt at a local shop for about $500.

The motor could have been put in this last week but I had to order new pushrods for the new roller rocker setup, which in turn I had to return because they were the wrong ones, so hopefully I get put in the motor within a week. Then I'll be waiting on the transmission.

Found a couple of "little" issues as well, I'm missing the bolts/washers that mount to the bottom of the shocks, and the rear diff. decided to finally leak out the front.
 
Motor in
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How she looks so far...
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Interior mocked up and partially done
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The instrument panel is one of the next items on the list
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Not much more left to do other than paint, transmission, interior, instrument panel, suspension (already about 50% done), fix the differential leak, the exhaust system and the engine bay wiring have 95% complete wiring harness so that shouldn't take long.

By the way the seats are from a Mitsubishi eclipse (yeah I know boo, but hey they work and are very comfortable).
 
Eh, who's counting about the seats...the ones in my Scamp are out of a 80s Cutlass Calais...about the only buckets I could find for a decent price that were a close match for the interior color. I've been to Hill once or twice for classes-actually a pretty nice area from what I could tell-extremely scenic, but still gets a little too cold for my taste in the winter. I dig the budget build man-keep posting up!

Jeff
 
Looking good! What color are you planning on? The original paint on the inner doors would look great!
 
wow great start on a nice duster. but i have to ask did you know that, that trans has a lock up torque converter? which means you can only use a Lock up converter with it. sorry didn't know if you new that or not.mopar65
 
mopar65 said:
wow great start on a nice duster. but i have to ask did you know that, that trans has a lock up torque converter? which means you can only use a Lock up converter with it. sorry didn't know if you new that or not.mopar65
Click to expand...

yes I knew but thanks anyways, the tranny in the shop right now, he's going to get me high stall one once he's done.
 
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