1974 Duster
- Thread starter gdonovan
- Start date
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ReevesRacing
Well-Known Member
Hey Gary! Nice to see you on here!
How you doing James! Was just talking about you!
So far no updates on the Duster, it continues to run and drive just fine.
Currently working on the '71 SSP so it is ship shape so I can either be driving it or sell it in the spring. Dart or Reliant next to be worked on.
Mopar day at the valley!
Beat on the car like it owed me cash, ran flawless for almost a dozen passes. I had not planned on taking the car but my CSX is still giving me fits so wanted to see what the Duster would run with the mods done since 2010.
I was in for a disappointment.
2010 14.2 at 94 mph
2015 14.1 at 95 mph (2.08ST)
318 exhaust manifolds are just killing the car, time for upgrades!
P.S. Best and last pass of the day was with my son on board. We had lined up against a 392 Challenger and I took him out on the tree and he never caught up in time even though at the traps he had 15 mph more speed! Was flipping great!
Gary
Beat on the car like it owed me cash, ran flawless for almost a dozen passes. I had not planned on taking the car but my CSX is still giving me fits so wanted to see what the Duster would run with the mods done since 2010.
I was in for a disappointment.
2010 14.2 at 94 mph
2015 14.1 at 95 mph (2.08ST)
318 exhaust manifolds are just killing the car, time for upgrades!
P.S. Best and last pass of the day was with my son on board. We had lined up against a 392 Challenger and I took him out on the tree and he never caught up in time even though at the traps he had 15 mph more speed! Was flipping great!
Gary
Alex5280
74' Duster
Very cool thread, I enjoyed reading through! Great job! I am building a 74' as well.
Alex
Alex
Headers are in the car! As expected the drivers side sucked and ended up unbolting the p/s box to get enough clearance to snake the header in from the bottom. 1/2" made all the difference between going and not going.
Now to put everything else back together.
Now to put everything else back together.
Just back from a road test.
Holy Sheep dip!
Car is just brutal on the tires now. Before from a dead stop it would just haze the tires a little bit and just take off, a nice launch from a light if you will.
Now? The tires instantly go up so hard it bangs into second and then THIRD before it starts moving and gets that lazy "I'm going to put you in the ditch in about 2 seconds" tail motion that indicates lifting would be your wisest next option. pronto.
And it sounds like a NASCAR stocker shooting out of a corner when you are wailing on it. Me likey. A lot.
I'm going to have to invest in some tires.
Only complaint about the headers is the one tube (cylinder one) near the power steering was just hitting the box. I was able to tweak it away from the box about 3/8" without damaging the coating.
Holy Sheep dip!
Car is just brutal on the tires now. Before from a dead stop it would just haze the tires a little bit and just take off, a nice launch from a light if you will.
Now? The tires instantly go up so hard it bangs into second and then THIRD before it starts moving and gets that lazy "I'm going to put you in the ditch in about 2 seconds" tail motion that indicates lifting would be your wisest next option. pronto.
And it sounds like a NASCAR stocker shooting out of a corner when you are wailing on it. Me likey. A lot.
I'm going to have to invest in some tires.
Only complaint about the headers is the one tube (cylinder one) near the power steering was just hitting the box. I was able to tweak it away from the box about 3/8" without damaging the coating.
First pass- Garbage.
Car was like the 6th car down the track and it was cold. Spun the hell out of the slicks but HOLY SMOKES LOOK AT THE MPH.
14.38 ET-100.56 MPH-2.71 ST
The only difference between the car today and two weeks ago is the headers and the H-pipe is gone. Car picked up a solid 5 MPH.
Second pass- Slowest of the day disregarding the first wasted pass!
Car ripped off a mid 13 like it was nothing. Car was left in drive just like 2 weeks ago.
13.49 ET-100.19 MPH-1.93 ST
Third pass- Jetted the primaries one step richer, manually shifted 400 rpm higher.
13.31 ET-101.42 MPH-1.91 ST
Fourth pass- This was a lost pass that got my teeth on edge, best short time of the day! When I was shifting from second to third I missed and went into neutral! I instantly lifted, popped the shifter into third, waited for the trans to engage and mashed the gas again.
13.30 ET-100.09 MPH-1.86 ST
Fifth pass- I know I was running out of time (3:11PM) and the track was packed so I decided to go for broke and drop the exhaust. Dare I hope there was a 12 second pass lurking? The prior pass with a 1.86 ST should have been a 13.0-13.1. The track was a little slippery again and I could hear the slicks spin on the launch.
13.12 ET-104.14 MPH-1.95 ST
Sixth pass- I lowered the slick pressure in an attempt to get some more hook which is why I lost some MPH. Dropped from 12 PSI to 9 PSI. Best ET of the day (4:37 PM)
13.08 ET-103.4 MPH-1.88 ST
Seventh pass- Last of the day.
13.10 ET-103.5 MPH-1.88 ST
I could have made another pass but felt I didn't have anything left in my bag of tricks to get that last tenth. The car is over a full second quicker than its last outing. If I had a set of 4:10's out back the car would be flying in the 12's all day.
Took the car on the scales, 3675 lbs. which is where I calculated it should be with the addition of the 44RH overdrive trans and I'm sure the owner has gained 20+ pounds compared to 5 years ago when it was last on a scale with a 904. I do have an aluminum rear bumper reinforcement from a Feather Duster and might know where a front one is too. Both would shave a lot off the car.
Also the cam seems to make power right where Comp states it will, 5400 RPM. I do have a set of 1.7 roller rockers that might be able to extend that up a bit more.
Calculated HP is almost identical for ET/MPH 324/322
I'm very satisfied with the cars performance, it exceeded my expectations.
Gary
Car was like the 6th car down the track and it was cold. Spun the hell out of the slicks but HOLY SMOKES LOOK AT THE MPH.
14.38 ET-100.56 MPH-2.71 ST
The only difference between the car today and two weeks ago is the headers and the H-pipe is gone. Car picked up a solid 5 MPH.
Second pass- Slowest of the day disregarding the first wasted pass!
Car ripped off a mid 13 like it was nothing. Car was left in drive just like 2 weeks ago.
13.49 ET-100.19 MPH-1.93 ST
Third pass- Jetted the primaries one step richer, manually shifted 400 rpm higher.
13.31 ET-101.42 MPH-1.91 ST
Fourth pass- This was a lost pass that got my teeth on edge, best short time of the day! When I was shifting from second to third I missed and went into neutral! I instantly lifted, popped the shifter into third, waited for the trans to engage and mashed the gas again.
13.30 ET-100.09 MPH-1.86 ST
Fifth pass- I know I was running out of time (3:11PM) and the track was packed so I decided to go for broke and drop the exhaust. Dare I hope there was a 12 second pass lurking? The prior pass with a 1.86 ST should have been a 13.0-13.1. The track was a little slippery again and I could hear the slicks spin on the launch.
13.12 ET-104.14 MPH-1.95 ST
Sixth pass- I lowered the slick pressure in an attempt to get some more hook which is why I lost some MPH. Dropped from 12 PSI to 9 PSI. Best ET of the day (4:37 PM)
13.08 ET-103.4 MPH-1.88 ST
Seventh pass- Last of the day.
13.10 ET-103.5 MPH-1.88 ST
I could have made another pass but felt I didn't have anything left in my bag of tricks to get that last tenth. The car is over a full second quicker than its last outing. If I had a set of 4:10's out back the car would be flying in the 12's all day.
Took the car on the scales, 3675 lbs. which is where I calculated it should be with the addition of the 44RH overdrive trans and I'm sure the owner has gained 20+ pounds compared to 5 years ago when it was last on a scale with a 904. I do have an aluminum rear bumper reinforcement from a Feather Duster and might know where a front one is too. Both would shave a lot off the car.
Also the cam seems to make power right where Comp states it will, 5400 RPM. I do have a set of 1.7 roller rockers that might be able to extend that up a bit more.
Calculated HP is almost identical for ET/MPH 324/322
I'm very satisfied with the cars performance, it exceeded my expectations.
Gary
Calculated hp 2 weeks ago = 250 hp (average between ET/MPH)
Calculated hp yesterday = 323 hp (average between ET/MPH)
Adding 18% for drivetrain losses, that works out to 380 hp or so flywheel which is in line with several dyno articles on the 5.9 with a good cam, intake and headers. 18% is a touch low I think as I know from a Chrysler engineer that 18% was observed from them going from a 300+ hp 2.2 on a dyno to in car testing with a manual transaxle, 20% with RWD and a auto would be closer I think.
Track was packed yesterday, I think we averaged about 1 pass every 1.25 hours and this was with me getting right back into staging after a pass.
Calculated hp yesterday = 323 hp (average between ET/MPH)
Adding 18% for drivetrain losses, that works out to 380 hp or so flywheel which is in line with several dyno articles on the 5.9 with a good cam, intake and headers. 18% is a touch low I think as I know from a Chrysler engineer that 18% was observed from them going from a 300+ hp 2.2 on a dyno to in car testing with a manual transaxle, 20% with RWD and a auto would be closer I think.
Track was packed yesterday, I think we averaged about 1 pass every 1.25 hours and this was with me getting right back into staging after a pass.
mopar65
Well-Known Member
wow great job on getting the car to go faster, also 5 mph jump buy just swamping to headers? that is one heck of a gain. Sorry for high jacking your post but i have a few questions for you. i found a pick and pull salvage yard wear i can get a complete mag 360 for $145+$50 dollar core etc, I want to swap the complete 360 mag with fuel injection and over drive trans into my 73 duster.I want to go with fuel injection becasue in a year or too i will be putting a turbo on my car. also i will be getting the computer,wiring harness etc of the doner truck. OK my question is did you do a tech write up when you put the over drive trans in your duster? just trying to see how much work its going to take to get it to fit. thanks Mopar65
5 more shots from the event.
Got hold of the former owner last night and sent him so data, we have been out of touch for several years,
It doesn't feel like I have owned the car since 2008! Car has come a long way.
Gary
Got hold of the former owner last night and sent him so data, we have been out of touch for several years,
It doesn't feel like I have owned the car since 2008! Car has come a long way.
Gary
DionR
Well-Known Member
Impressive! That's faster than new Challenger R/T times, isn't it? Don't stop now.
I'd say yes.
Doing a quick look about I see mid-high 13's for the 5.7 with a decent driver. Some exceptional drivers and cars get into the low 13's.
I'm considering a plan but nothing will happen till winter/spring.
I'd like to get 4" rims for the front and some light tires, drag radials on the rear aluminum rims (so I can get rid of the steel the slicks are mounted on)
Install the Feather Duster rear bumper reinforcement and make up some fake bumper shocks out back.. Also considering 1.7 roller rockers to get more cam lift but I need to check piston to valve clearance.
I'm going to pull the trans out this winter and see if I can tighten up the 2-3 shift. I need to delay the band release or have the clutch come on harder/better. Better quality steels and clutches will go in the drum and I plan to swap to type F fluid for better bite.
I'm considering a swap to different gears out back.. but it would be only one step up to 3.73 or 3.90. I don't wish to change the cars highway characteristics too much.
Bear in mind that the more time I spend on this car it moves my Dart further and further from being started... So I'm really trying to keep it simple. Bad enough I have to spend 3 weeks working on the CSX (aka Satan's car) to try and make the Shelby Dodge event in MD next month.
With 1500 miles on the turbo it decided to toss its cookies.
I swear the car has a death wish.
Its back in the garage- Pulling the head to swap the turbo and install a EGT probe. While the head is off checking to see if TDC is being indicated accurately on the flywheel. Replacing the computer, power module, distributor, injectors, fuel rail, knock sensor, charge air sensor, hall effect pick up and rebuilding the injector sub-harness.
Before the turbo went the car had a mystery "skip" that only happened on the HP peak of the motor I was working on tracking down. Not sure what was causing it so doing the shot gun approach to try and make the event.
Did some front tire searching this morning- Looking for a 165/80R15 or 155/80R15.
The BFG 205/60-R15 I have up front is 24.69" tall.
165/80R15 = 25.4"
155/80R15 = 24.7"
The only 155's out there are BFG and I'd not trust them as far as I could toss. The load rating is really low, 1000 lb per tire. There are a few 165's out there and they have load ratings matching what I have now so feel comfortable running them.
The BFG 205/60-R15 I have up front is 24.69" tall.
165/80R15 = 25.4"
155/80R15 = 24.7"
The only 155's out there are BFG and I'd not trust them as far as I could toss. The load rating is really low, 1000 lb per tire. There are a few 165's out there and they have load ratings matching what I have now so feel comfortable running them.
DionR
Well-Known Member
That kind of thing is what got me out of FWD Mopars. Got tired of mystery no start issues and broken parts, so I sold my GTC Turbo II and walked away. Regret selling it now, but that might be somewhat related to the couple of Daytona's I've seen with a RWD swap and a G3 Hemi between the frame rails (most recently one in Mopar Action). :twisted:
Don't think my LeBaron was as bad as your CSX, though (been following some on your website).
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