My "new" '74 Duster- or why I need a project like a hole in the head
- Thread starter 72bluNblu
- Start date
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Did you notice the
?????????
Yeah, I saw it. It’s like saying “I don’t mean to be rude” and then immediately saying something rude. It’s not a free pass, you’re just being disingenuous.
Plus, you don’t drive your car at night, so I don’t see how your opinion on lighting is relevant in my build thread anyway.
Yea you are 200% correct. I should have kept my sarcastic mouth completely shut!
I guess if people wern't running down the road 85 mph they would not need such light maybe. ha...again.
Car looks awesome great pic
49ersrock
Member
Looking forward with your EFI install, that is if you decide to go that way. That's the plan for my 67 Valiant one day
That is my plan, although I don't think I'll be getting to that this year.
Current goal is to get my new shop built this year, so until that's done I probably won't be undertaking any major work. I've got an oil pan seal to swap out to get back on the road at the moment, which itself is going to be a pain. I'll have to see how much has to come off to get the Milodon road race pan to drop out far enough to reseal the pan. Probably a lot!
Beyond that I have a set of 13" brakes with Viper calipers to install, been sitting on those for a good two years now. And I managed to acquire a set of 1.14" MP torsion bars, so those may go in to replace my 1.12" Firm Feel bars at some point. I also have a Bergman AutoCraft roller bearing idler arm to install, and a Firm Feel sector support kit to get on there as well. Plus a few little things here and there.
But the EFI will probably end up being next winters project, when I have a shop to get more significant work like that done again.
limegreen70
Pokorny Enterprise's
Do you still have a Manual Steering box in this car?
Yessir, a 16:1 ratio Flaming River manual steering box.
And yes, that's with 275/35/18's up front and +6.5° of caster.
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What EFI system are you planning to use? Apologies if this is mentioned somewhere in your thread already.
I’ve been looking at the Edelbrock Pro-Flo. I like that it’s got multi-port injection and its own distributor. That said I’ve also hear the issues with the intake needing more work and the distributor being too tall, so it’s gonna be a winter project for sure so I have more time to deal with any issues.
That kit seems like a really good value. That super victor EFI intake is over $500 alone. I think Pete Bergman has some experience with that kit.
Yeah I’ve talked to Peter about it, he shortened the distributor for one of his installs.
It seems like a great kit, biggest issues are general casting stuff for the intake mostly.
Jarlaxle
Well-Known Member
How the %^&*(*^% do you get that much caster?
I've done it two different ways at this point. Right now it's with a set of SPC UCA's from @BergmanAutoCraft, they have more than enough adjustment to get even more caster than that although on my car at least I've found that ~6.5° is the sweet spot. If I go too much under +6° the tracking tendency of the wide 275 front tires becomes more noticeable. But much above +6.5° and the resistance to turning starts increasing exponentially, it starts getting a lot harder to turn the wheels past about +7°.
The other way I managed that much + caster was actually with a non-adjustable set of magnumforce UCA's, but with K7103 offset bushings installed into them. I was actually able to get about +8° with that set up, which I accidentally discovered by just setting a rough "max caster" alignment because I didn't think it would be nearly that much and found out later when I did a proper alignment how much caster I had actually dialed in. The problem with doing it that way is that you're committed to running at least +5° or more of caster, because all you've got is the camber bolts to do the adjusting.
I went with the Terminator X, solely for the fact that I expect Holley to support that ECU for far longer than eddy will the pro-flo. Lots more info on tuning the Holleys out there as well.
Have you thought about splicing in a Prius EPAS system for power steering?
Have you thought about splicing in a Prius EPAS system for power steering?
Yeah that’s definitely a consideration as well for the EFI, although I think it’s pretty easy to get too far into the weeds with some of that. I liked the integrated distributor that the Eddy has, but I haven’t looked into the latest offerings from Holley either as the EFI conversion isn’t my first priority at the moment.
I have looked into some of the EPAS systems, but I’m pretty happy with the manual steering for now. I really haven’t had any issues with it, and I haven’t found it to be as bad for effort as it sounds like it should be. It would be pretty slick to incorporate EPAS and a steering quickener to step down to a 12:1 steering ratio though!
DionR
Well-Known Member
I was no where near the level of potential steering effort you are but made the switch to power steering winter before last. Not because the effort was too high, but because the 20:1 ratio was just too slow.
I had actually planned to step up to a 16:1 manual box but had most of a factory PS setup already and figured that would be the cheap way to get a faster ratio. Then I got $200 off a Borgeson box in a Goodguys drawing so I made the leap and jumped right over the 16:1 ratio to 14:1 but spent more money than the 16:1 manual box would have cost me.
The 20:1 box was just too slow for the local roundabouts. Probably wouldn't have cared if they hadn't started putting those in.
Well I can tell you from experience that a 20:1 manual box SUCKS on an autox with a sharp S and a hairpin! Talk about arms flailing EVERYWHERE!
Yeah I think the 16:1 ratio is ok for how quick it actually turns.
The steering effort really isn’t a big deal as long as I’m doing more than 15 mph or so. It gets pretty heavy for say, a parallel parking maneuver, but I don’t really do enough of that for it to be an issue.
My only concern would be that on a slow speed AutoX course it would be too much effort. On a faster AutoX course it would ok, and it seems like most of the events set up for these cars are fairly open and quick for an AutoX. If the Miata club sets the course it might be a different story!
The steering effort really isn’t a big deal as long as I’m doing more than 15 mph or so. It gets pretty heavy for say, a parallel parking maneuver, but I don’t really do enough of that for it to be an issue.
My only concern would be that on a slow speed AutoX course it would be too much effort. On a faster AutoX course it would ok, and it seems like most of the events set up for these cars are fairly open and quick for an AutoX. If the Miata club sets the course it might be a different story!
Jarlaxle
Well-Known Member
What did you have to do to get the tires to fit?
The 275's in front?
Originally not much, I run the 275/35/18's on 18x9's with about 6.1" of backspace if you take out the extra track width I get from the 13" DoctorDiff brakes. I extended the lower fender brace by about 2" to push the corner further out and cut the lip back at a 45° angle or so.
At that point the car was probably lowered ~ 1.5" from stock. As I've lowered the car further I rolled the lip on the fenders, and then rolled them again and added a little "push" to the fender with the fender roller. But that was to get down to lowered about 2" from stock, and my tires never rub on the fenders. I'm maxed out for lowering at the moment though, I started to get witness marks from the tops of the tires on the bottom side of my inner fenders. Currently the top of the wheel opening is about 24 7/8" from the ground, and I get a little more compression travel with the QA1 LCA's I run.
I've seen people do less to run 275's but since I use this car as my primary driver most of the year I don't use "show car" clearances, it has to do speed bumps, pot holes, steep driveway transitions etc.
Jarlaxle
Well-Known Member
Yeah...I think 275 is a bit much for me. Maybe I'll run a 235 or 245...
245's are a pretty popular size, lots of 245/40/18's or 245/45/17's available. Run with a 5.5"-5.7" backspace on an 8" wide rim and there should be plenty of room all around.
DionR
Well-Known Member
I want a 275 front tire bad.
But when I step up to an 18x9 wheel I will probably start with a 245/40R18 and see how they fit is on my car first. Partly because I see the 245/40 all over the place used on Marketplace and I have seen exactly one 275/35R18. So something cheap that I am pretty sure works seems like a better gamble than jumping right to the 275 and maybe needing to massage some sheetmetal right away. I expect to do some massaging at some point, but nice to take it in smaller chunks.
The other reason I am looking at a 245/40 first is the source for 35-38mm offset wheels seems really small. I found an 18x9 +30mm wheel I like for a price I am comfortable with and figured I would start there. Worst case, having the wheel widened 1/2" in the back would push the offset back to about +36mm. Can't say it would be cheaper than buying a wheel with the right offset to begin with, but it's just an idea right now.
The other factor I have to be careful of is that I need to make sure whatever 18" wheel I pick will work with my homebrewed Brembo kit. Most manufacturers don't seem to have much to say about it, so I have been focusing on wheels that might fit a 2009 GT500, which is why I am leaning towards the AM 2010 GT500 wheel. Others might fit, but not ready to order one and hope I can send it back if it won't work.
Add that my hubs are already machined to match a Mustang hub (outside of issues with the depth of the hub) and it makes some sense to be looking at wheels that would fit a GT500.
245’s can be run pretty easily on the Duster’s. I’ve got 245/45/17s are on my Duster. I’ll have to measure to my wheel opening to compare to Brian’s Duster, but I’m running an HDK slammer suspension so I’m pretty sure it’s every bit as lower if not lower. I didn’t do anything to the fenders when I had it lowered on 1.03 torsion bars, but the HDK ended up dropping it at least another inch and the tire would rub the lip at full lock, so I ended up rolling the fender lips.
I guess here I had it at 23.5” but I think I raised it up some due to the tires hitting the bottom of the inner fender when I hit decent sized bumps.
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