Dustman70
New Member
My son started learning to be a mechanic. So we helped him buy a 1970 Duster 340 that needed some TLC. I've never done much more than change oil, clean spark plugs and set timing 40+ years ago on my 73 Maverick that used to burn oil. So I'm generally in over my head.
Interesting that the Duster has a vin that indicates 71, but the guy we bought it from said he bought it as a 70 and it has always been registered as a 70. So we're thinking maybe it was a late 70. The car was originally a 6 cylinder, but that was replaced with a 72 340. The engine was rebuilt about 30 years ago with Keith Black pistons, mild cam, bored .30 over, hardened valve seats and an aftermarket balancer.
The car had a Holley carb with a manual choke and the first thing we did was replace that with a Holley 670 with an electric choke. We had our mechanic replace much of the steering and now the car runs great.
What we are working on now is the car seems to be running too hot. We flushed the system and are running it right now without a thermostat. It has an aluminum radiator, clutch fan and an electric push fan. It will run fine on the thruway and stay at about 190. When my son drives it around town (the way a 19 year old boy drives) the car will heat up to about 205. When I drive the car (like a 60+ year old many drives) the car will stay under 200. We can't find a shroud that will fit, so we are going to try making one ourselves out of sheet metal.
We are going to have the mechanic check the fuel mixture and the timing to make sure we did that right.
Another interesting thing we noticed is that after the car has been driven for a while, the fuel filter is just about completely empty and we can see small air bubbles coming up through the fuel line. After the car sits for a while, the filter will refill. I've read that if the car is running too lean, that could cause the engine to run hot.
If anyone has any suggestions, we would sure welcome them.
Interesting that the Duster has a vin that indicates 71, but the guy we bought it from said he bought it as a 70 and it has always been registered as a 70. So we're thinking maybe it was a late 70. The car was originally a 6 cylinder, but that was replaced with a 72 340. The engine was rebuilt about 30 years ago with Keith Black pistons, mild cam, bored .30 over, hardened valve seats and an aftermarket balancer.
The car had a Holley carb with a manual choke and the first thing we did was replace that with a Holley 670 with an electric choke. We had our mechanic replace much of the steering and now the car runs great.
What we are working on now is the car seems to be running too hot. We flushed the system and are running it right now without a thermostat. It has an aluminum radiator, clutch fan and an electric push fan. It will run fine on the thruway and stay at about 190. When my son drives it around town (the way a 19 year old boy drives) the car will heat up to about 205. When I drive the car (like a 60+ year old many drives) the car will stay under 200. We can't find a shroud that will fit, so we are going to try making one ourselves out of sheet metal.
We are going to have the mechanic check the fuel mixture and the timing to make sure we did that right.
Another interesting thing we noticed is that after the car has been driven for a while, the fuel filter is just about completely empty and we can see small air bubbles coming up through the fuel line. After the car sits for a while, the filter will refill. I've read that if the car is running too lean, that could cause the engine to run hot.
If anyone has any suggestions, we would sure welcome them.
aboard!
