So last summer I got the chance to buy a 73 duster with all the demon sheet metal to make it a nice clone.
its sun faded and old but everything works and its supposed to have a crate motor (unknown at the time) and some rpm heads. the owner bought the car in Kentucky with a knock that turned out to be loose rockers. so I bought it sight unseen just couple pictures and the guy brought it to me. he gets it to my house and we go for a ride. its the one wheel peel master of the world. its a blast to ride in super quiet 2.25" exhaust and stock mufflers out the back but for sure has some power.
so I bought it and drove it as my daily for about 2 months befor I got a chance to go home to go to the track. while driving it I noticed the valve train got a little louder but I never owned a mopar or even an older v8 that was not a roller motor. so I payed no attention to it. so finally I got to go home and I drove it 283 miles home then 54 miles to mokan also got 18mpg. ran 14.70 first pass it was fun got back up there ran 14.55 not as much tire spin. so I get back to the pits and the rockers are really loose this time. so we borrowed a wrench and adjusted valves in the pits just the driver side since track was closing got back up there went 13.70 and mphed 103 from the earlier 92. it was huge gain. but didn't relies how hurt my car was. so the next day we start looking over the car to reliese I still got 2.70 rear gears and a 500cfm edelbrock carb. so considering It was sreaming. the next day we did some more adjusting on rockers there were really really lose again. but we doctored it up and I drove the 213 miles back home. few days later I got a fuel pressure gauge and a new fuel pump. so I put the fp gauge on first and go for a test run.
fp drops to 1 about as fast as it could drop. so I go home drive to work few days till the weekend and add the 140 mechanical edelbrock pump and go for a another test ride car loves the fuel but the rocker are starting to make noise again.
no where close to as loud as they were but still noisey. so few weeks later I buy an explorer 8.8 
and the original plan is to cut one axel tube and use a sec short axel to make it a centered axel. but then about a week befor I go back to Miami to do the work I read you can just center the explorer axel under the duster and it will be almost perfect so it is what I did. I just stopped at grand prix in Tulsa 
and got spring pirches and we unbolted the old rear 
and we cut old pirches off the 8.8. centered it got my pinion angle right and welded it up and bolted it back in. 
looked beautiful cause then I was able to install my 15x10 6.5 bs race stars off my old mustang. So now I have 31 spline axels and 4.10 gears and 28x10 et streets and the next night we head back to mokan.
first thing the car all of a sudden wont start after I drove it all day. got it started and pull up to the line and it runs 13.8 @92 cant figure it out but all of a sudden it has a stumble. we try and make another pass but its dead. take it home jim tinted the windows
and I went back to enid. friend calls me later that week and I chewed up my cam and 4 lifters. had to be from the excessive loose rockers and the daily driving. so I call comp get a custom cut cam and some new lifters friend installs them for me but warmed up ideling it has low oil pressure so we decide to check the bottom end and it took me about a month to come back to Miami.
We got the car up on a lift and we pulled the oil pan to look
and we found tons of trash in the pick up and a mangled oil pump I was hoping all that came out with the oil change but not even close. That was in September. That was the bad but what we did find was a really nice full balanced short block with ross pistons arp everything. so now I know I paid for what I got. so here it is January I got my bonus check and I managed to order oil pump kevko large oil pan airgap intake got a 750 carb got 3" x pipe and 1 chamber mufflers posi and last but not least caltracks and mono leafs. I still need some brackets to go to disk brakes on the front to run my skinnys and adjustable shocks front and rear and an msd box but I am a lot closer.
its sun faded and old but everything works and its supposed to have a crate motor (unknown at the time) and some rpm heads. the owner bought the car in Kentucky with a knock that turned out to be loose rockers. so I bought it sight unseen just couple pictures and the guy brought it to me. he gets it to my house and we go for a ride. its the one wheel peel master of the world. its a blast to ride in super quiet 2.25" exhaust and stock mufflers out the back but for sure has some power.
so I bought it and drove it as my daily for about 2 months befor I got a chance to go home to go to the track. while driving it I noticed the valve train got a little louder but I never owned a mopar or even an older v8 that was not a roller motor. so I payed no attention to it. so finally I got to go home and I drove it 283 miles home then 54 miles to mokan also got 18mpg. ran 14.70 first pass it was fun got back up there ran 14.55 not as much tire spin. so I get back to the pits and the rockers are really loose this time. so we borrowed a wrench and adjusted valves in the pits just the driver side since track was closing got back up there went 13.70 and mphed 103 from the earlier 92. it was huge gain. but didn't relies how hurt my car was. so the next day we start looking over the car to reliese I still got 2.70 rear gears and a 500cfm edelbrock carb. so considering It was sreaming. the next day we did some more adjusting on rockers there were really really lose again. but we doctored it up and I drove the 213 miles back home. few days later I got a fuel pressure gauge and a new fuel pump. so I put the fp gauge on first and go for a test run.
fp drops to 1 about as fast as it could drop. so I go home drive to work few days till the weekend and add the 140 mechanical edelbrock pump and go for a another test ride car loves the fuel but the rocker are starting to make noise again.
no where close to as loud as they were but still noisey. so few weeks later I buy an explorer 8.8 
and the original plan is to cut one axel tube and use a sec short axel to make it a centered axel. but then about a week befor I go back to Miami to do the work I read you can just center the explorer axel under the duster and it will be almost perfect so it is what I did. I just stopped at grand prix in Tulsa 
and got spring pirches and we unbolted the old rear 
and we cut old pirches off the 8.8. centered it got my pinion angle right and welded it up and bolted it back in. 
looked beautiful cause then I was able to install my 15x10 6.5 bs race stars off my old mustang. So now I have 31 spline axels and 4.10 gears and 28x10 et streets and the next night we head back to mokan.
first thing the car all of a sudden wont start after I drove it all day. got it started and pull up to the line and it runs 13.8 @92 cant figure it out but all of a sudden it has a stumble. we try and make another pass but its dead. take it home jim tinted the windows
and I went back to enid. friend calls me later that week and I chewed up my cam and 4 lifters. had to be from the excessive loose rockers and the daily driving. so I call comp get a custom cut cam and some new lifters friend installs them for me but warmed up ideling it has low oil pressure so we decide to check the bottom end and it took me about a month to come back to Miami.
We got the car up on a lift and we pulled the oil pan to look
and we found tons of trash in the pick up and a mangled oil pump I was hoping all that came out with the oil change but not even close. That was in September. That was the bad but what we did find was a really nice full balanced short block with ross pistons arp everything. so now I know I paid for what I got. so here it is January I got my bonus check and I managed to order oil pump kevko large oil pan airgap intake got a 750 carb got 3" x pipe and 1 chamber mufflers posi and last but not least caltracks and mono leafs. I still need some brackets to go to disk brakes on the front to run my skinnys and adjustable shocks front and rear and an msd box but I am a lot closer.
