Check out the "trying to get involved" thread below for the whole story about getting an old SL6 car ready to race...

My car is a '73 Duster with 225, 1 barrell, cracked exhaust manifold, stock exhaust pipe into cherry bomb ending before rear axle. Interior partially removed. 2.76:1 rear gears.

I pulled this thing out of a field, gave it a tune-up, oil change, tranny service, rebuilt the carb and adjusted tha valves.

At the Bristol Slant Six race it ran a 20.77, 20.85, then better than a 20.60. I lifted and broke out with a 20.60 on a 20.80 dial in. Not sure where that extra .20+ came from. That was bad too... I had cut a really good .027 light and had the other car covered. I should have hit the brakes a little harder. Maybe next time.

Enjoy the thread below on all the prep work I went through to get into the Slant Six racing fun.
Rob

I've been following the Slant 6 movement since about 1990 from out West. The military now has me closer to the action (Atlanta, GA) so I've got my sights set on attending Bristol, Clay City, Wilkesboro, and Brainard if things go according to plan. I'm going to look at a '74 Duster Sunday. It'll be slow and ugly (if I can even get it running), but I'm gonna try to make it out regardless. I've got 83 days to make it happen! If anyone in the Atlanta area wants to lend a hand I'd welcome it. Hope to see ya in Bristol on June 6th!
Rob

83 days of SL6 fun and "thrashing", that is a good start!
Welcome to the message board.
DD

The Duster is rough, but complete. I was hoping for disc brakes, but it has small pattern drums. We're gonna see if we can get it to fire up next weekend. The kids in my youth group at church have a project! remove a couple hundred pounds of unneeded stuff (it's strictly a race car) and we may hit the 19s. Yeeha! If anyone has any decent used performance goodies for the slant 6, we're now in the market. Hope to see you all in Bristol. Rob

Well, The Duster runs. A quick carb cleaning and running fuel from a fuel can had it running and idling on its own. A little tranny fluid and it seemed to want to go into gear. The exhaust manifold has a huge crack in it. It got cold and dark, so I quit and drove the 1 1/2 hours home. 66 days and $13.64 left to get this thing going. We may make it to Bristol yet! Rob

74 Duster, eh? Sounds familiar. Don't get discouraged. Just do it.


-G

_________________
It's a Slant thing. Even I don't understand.

1974 Duster, EFI /6 soon to be turbo...

Get that Monkay! Get that nasty thing!!

Gunpilot just pulled off the task of getting old stock Slant car ready to race. (Another Duster no less) He ran with the SL6 racers and had some fun in Vegas while learning a lot about the car.
Here is were Gunpilot "jumped-in:
http://www.slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4395
http://www.slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5185
Bottom line is it's not real hard to get a car ready to bracket race if you stay focused on getting the car to run reliably and safe.
(also think about installing lower rearend gearing )
DD

I need to find an 8 1/4 or 8 3/4 to bolt in it so I can find taller gears and get the larger pattern. I'll find someone that knows how to weld that can move the spring perches for me. That's one of the nice things about Dusters. They have nice, big rear fenderwells with high arches so I can have the tires stick out a bit with a much wider B/C/E/F/J/M body rear. It won't be pretty anyway, so we're just gonna go for it! 64 days left!

I finally got up to Winder last night and towed the Duster 75 miles South to Stockbridge. Now it's only about a mile from the house, so I can start digging in. It was fun towing it with the dolly. Anything over 50 and it was "fish-tail city". Maybe the mismatched truck tires on the back. 41 days to go until Bristol.

The interior is gutted now. The gas tank and fuel lines all need replacing. The front end needs several things. Brakes need to be gone through. Rear end is butchered up.
Ron Parker gave me a 3.23 ring & pinion for the 7 1/4. Need to find someone that knows how to set it up.
I have to go to Fort Lewis, WA all next week. 31 days(-10) 'til Bristol. Any bets on whether or not the car makes it? I know I will, not sure about the car.
Rob

For those of you following the saga...
I'm trying to figure out the basic wiring I need for a drag car. Ignition, charging system, neutral safety, etc. Car was running points distributor even though everything for electronic was hooked up. Need to get a dist. and ECU. The under hood wiring was a bit butchered up.
Looking around for a gas tank. Tried to clear fuel lines with no luck. I'll just pull them out and run a new line I guess. No return line needed I think(?) Just a one way valve back at the tank for venting(?)
I'm planning on replacing the butchered up 7 1/4 rear end with the 2.76 7 1/4 out of my Dart. It has highway gears, but I know it is a good rear end with good brakes and the larger bolt pattern. I'll eventually find someone to help me replace the 2.76s with the 3.23s Ron Parker gave me.
I still need to partially rebuild the front end (idler and Pitman arms mostly, I hope) and pull the front drums to check the front brakes. The master cylinder had the wrong top gasket (way too big, hung out on all edges). I got another one from the pull a part.
Late nights (10 p.m. to 1 a.m. usually) in a parking lot in the rain are starting to take their toll. I started using a drop light last night. Yippee!
How many of you can relate to this story? This SlantSickness is some bad stuff! I'm lovin' it! 21 days 'til Bristol. If I continue with my current routine of three hours a night three nights a week that equates to about 30 work hours to get it done.
Hmmm, maybe I need to beg my wife for some more quality Duster time. Most of you know about the fine line between a supportive wife and a not so supportive wife and what it takes to walk that fine line without going too far to the dark side. It's getting darker!
Rob

After spending Friday and Saturday at Reynolds, GA watching so many Mopars running down the dragstrip and spending time with Dale Rose, Charrlie, and Cecil I was motivated to make some progress on the Duster.
I was able to spend a couple hours Monday putting in the gas tank, de-greasing the engine and sorting out the under hood wiring. I was able to get the fuel line un blocked with liberal amounts of penetrating fluid followed by lots of compressed air. After seeing the super serious rust in the gas tank I'll keep a close eye on the fuel line! The replacement gas tank has four "vent' tubes out the side of the tank rather than the one on the front top. I plugged the four "vent" tubes with bolts and will run a vented gas cap. If anyone has any doubts about that method, please let me know! I don't want to do anything stupid or unsafe.
I'm still a little doubtful about my wiring capabilities. Especially since the car has electronic ignition, but is currently running a points distributor and there are signs of some burnt wires at the bulkhead and a couple other connectors. I also haven't decided that I know for sure that I will have a functional charging system. I'm studying the wiring diagrams in my Chilton book and the charts that Doc posted that gives me confidence that I can get it to start and run. But the charging system and neutral safety switch, etc. still have me a little confused. The wires go so many different places to complete the loop I'm not sure what all I can bypass and still make it work. I probably should have left the complete harness in for now and figure things out later. Oh well!

Just a note from one who knows. Make sure your ECM has a good ground. It won't run without it. When I switched my sons dart over, I didn't want to drill holes to mount the control module until I was sure I had everything wired right. It took a lot of head scratching and frustration to figure out it was wired perfectly fine. It just wasn't grounded.

Rick

Thanks Rick,
I haven't touched the ECM yet since it is sort of disabled right now. The car started and ran before I pulled the wiring harness. I tried to get it started last night, but I obviously removed some wire(s) needed to make it run. I just posted a list of questions in the "other" section titled "wiring removel for a drag car". Hopefully someone will see a stupid mistake I've made and save the day.
Last night I gave up on the wiring and worked on something I understand. I started removing the rear end to replace it with the one out of my Dart.
8 days 'til Bristol and I need to:
1. Replace the rear end (easy).
2. Go through the front end and brakes (we'll see).
3. Complete tune-up and tranny service (easy).
4. Replace the distributor and ECM (maybe, or I may just keep points for now if I run out of time and money or both).
5. Find and fix all of the vacuum leaks (we'll see).
6. Replace carburetor float bowl gasket or rebuild carb (we'll see).
7. Oh yeah, figure out why it won't start!

Bristol or Bust I guess. (with or without a car to race)

Rob

I got the wiring set up last night. Charrlie walked me through it over the phone. It's not so scary if you stay basic and don't let the spaghetti wiring diagrams scare you into thinking you need it all!
Now to get busy with all of the other details that need to be done.
7 days 'til Bristol...
Rob

Okay, last update before I tow outa here...
1. Wiring is done (-taillight). Haven't verified charging system yet.
2. Firewall is closed up (with aluminum pieces and sheet metal screws).
3. Rear end is swapped (6 leaves are much stiffer than old stock ones).
4. Battery tray is re-mounted and pretty secure.
5. Better tires have replaced the old, mismatched studded snow tires.
6. Oil change and tranny service done.
7. Ordered idler arm, carb kit and front brake flex lines (in today).
Still gotta do...
1. Plugs, wires, idler arm, front brakes
2. Taillight
3. Carb rebuild (it aint just the gasket leakin'!).
4. Radiator overflow ala plactic bottle and coat hanger.
Still want to do...
1. Pull power steering pump and box & put in manual box (in trunk).
2. Install two barrel and header (once I find a carb for it).
3. Install at least a gauge or two to monitor things.
4. Drive this thing!

See Y'all in Bristol.
Rob