71 Duster 360 (new project)

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smoke tested my wiring today...and I smoked one wire...LOL...

flipped master cut off switch to on...connected ground to battery...sparks were flying..

got ohm meter out and started looking for short....well..something inside car was shorting out...after disconnecting stuff and checking each circuit with ohm meter to ground...thought i found it...turned master cut off switch back on....after a couple seconds i turn it off....i could a smell wiring burning...found the hot wire to the voltmeter had got hot...apparently went installing the hot lead..i used a washer on it..and the washer was was shorting out against the mounting bracket....

got that repair...turned switch back on....flipped fuel pump and i could it singing in the rear of the car...tested the rest of the circuit for power ...everything good to go...

waiting on parts for the steering wheel...was hoping to get engine in car monday ...but with no steering in car...might not be do able since i need to get car out of way to get engine and trans in front of car...
 
Saturday afternoon...my parts for the steering column showed up this afternoon...should be able to get the column back together....wondering about the steering column bearing...

and need to find the nut that goes on the pitman arm...trying to take one off another manual steering box but it does not want to come off..got it soaking with penetrating oil
 
Well..finished up putting the steering column back together and got it installed...no longer a column shift column .. now a floor shift column...much cleaner looking.

did some small stuff...got tail lights working.....did a rewire on those tail lights..using stock wires that are located under the kick panel on the driver side.

Car has 4 tires on it...and sitting on all 4 ......first time in months...

With MATS next week...i am not working on this Duster the rest of this week and probably not till after MATS....need to do a couple things on the other cars to have them ready to rumble...plus i need to fix a few things on the old motorhome...blew tire last year and it took out the copper tubing for the propane...no propane no refigerator...plus got a new 2 barrel to put on it....the old oem has had it....

And I am waiting on a torque converter to come back from the manufacturer that I am going to use in this Duster...should make a difference....

Also need to make a list of stuff I need to find at MATS....see if there are any deals on Carpet, need a couple of good arm rest...and a few other small stuff... front side markers...
 
I had the front wheels up in the air for the last two months...lol

If I did not go to Hawaii for two weeks...probably would have made it...LOL

First bracket race is towards the end of April with a friday night TnT...the old duster will be ready then..
 
Still working on stuff...rejetted the holley 950 on my demon..still had jets in it from Sacramento raceway last September...

putting a new carb on the old 360 motorhome, using a holley 2300 2 barrel...had to order an adapter for it to fit the manifold...and got a gasket kit for it too...should be here tomorrow from summit...plus blew a tire at the last race last year and it took out the copper tubing that feeds propane to the hot water heater and stove...went to Lowe's today and got some copper tubing and fitting to fix it tomorrow...

while waiting for stuff..i went to check the msd 6 in the duster...hook up a distributor and coil and set ignition switch to on...got nothing...well..I have another msd 6 i know that was good...so i go about switching out them...only takes a few minutes..anyway...i found that big red wire that goes to the battery side...was not hooked up...by then I had everything disconnected...so I tested it out the side the car...and then put it back and it fired like it was suppose to...amazing...

First TnT is Friday April 19......
 
well..again..not working on 71 Duster...but working on stuff

spend day fixing old motorhome...had to replace propane line to stove and hot water heater...got that done...and then had to replace flashing plate that got damaged....

had some 18 gauge sheet metal left over...cut...screw..caulk...done....

ordered a carb kit for a 2300 holley and carb adapter ...gotta put it together in morning and install it....holley 350 two barrel...half of a double pumper...lol
 
modified the front the rear wheel wells for 29.5 tall slicks, only took a few minutes...

daughter snapped a picture...

I have a very nice set of 9 x 29.5 x 15 but as usual the slicks hit the front of the wheel wells..but with 5 minutes with a cutting wheel..they fit...saves me almost 400 bucks from not having to buy a set of 9 x 28....kind of kills the 4.30 gearing a little..but we can address that later.. and the 904 has a low gear set in it anyway...
 

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Well..finally the UPS guy showed up...Now i can go get the motorhome running with new carb on it...plus he dropped off another box i was waiting for...

A converter i had just got back from being "freshen" ...should help this little 360 get to the 60' clocks pretty good..
 
Ok..old motorhome new carb on it...nothing fits out of the box...then the EGR valve is in the way of the throttle linkage on holley...take off the egr valve and it is blocked from underneath it....cool...

had to fix trailer lights wiring...had no running lights last time...good thing it was daylight...got that fixed....

gotta go get some racing gas in morning and fill the propane tanks on motorhome...and clean cars up a little...
 
Wednesday....

Getting ready to go to MATS....motorhome runs great with new holley 350 2 barrel...can not believe the difference...need to readjust throttle pressure linkage..as it shifts to early...

got 10 gallons of gas for motorhome...7 gallons of propane..and 20 gallons of racing gas for weekend....got frig getting cold... air up all tires...trailer tires...

Going to start loading cars in morning...not going to leave until 3 pm for long trip to track (5 miles)...they take forever to get the cars parked..one at a time...no hurry to get there and wait..

Gotta move 71 Duster from one bay to another that has more room...as engine and trans will go in next week...
 
Just curious Tony, does LVMS run these events on there web feed? If so, i'd like to check in and see if I can see y'all making a pass here and there.
 
All is good...no waiting at the gate...i could not believe that....left house a 3:45 pm and got there a few minutes after 4 pm...what a trip...

Daughter was about 30 minutes behind me due her after to work....
Got cars teched...and had to take her back to get her car so she could get back home...then went back to track and one of our FABO member had parked next to us....
 
they lowered the value of the real estate around us..
 
Ok..MATS is now history....life goes on..

During the weekend...got a few parts for the 71 Duster...driveshaft loop showed up...picked up a MSD 3 Step...and a reworked 8 inch converter came back..

Plan is to get engine and trans in car before week is over if everything goes as planned.
 
Tuesday....got alot of stuff coming to get this car finished in the next week or two..

slicks showed up today...should have them mounted on friday..

Carpet..Dash Cap...1 wire alternator...wheel screws...ordered..

Moved 360 for this duster from my garage to my garage...LOL...also moved a 408 ...and a complete 360 .020 short block...

going to finish up shifter tomorrow..and begin to get the motor and trans mated up...going to pull pan on trans on bench one more time to double check rear band adjustment...
 

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Any small blocks you want to part with? Need another motor for my street driven dart hardtop.
 
SO what do those wheel wells look like now? And not moving springs in? Asking becase I figured could be easier to move rear back 1in and gain tire clearance then cut the lip, IF you were moving the springs in anyways of course.
 
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