Okay, I just can't wait anymore! I've gotta get this thing kicked off with it's own thread. (I'm at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar for a conference and have a little bit of free time and decent internet connection, so I want to take advantage of it )

You can check out the continuing sagas of our other two GodsRods projects:

GodsRods Duster I: http://www.slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5217

Turismo 225: http://www.slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13947

The story of the GodsRods Duster II goes something like this:

I bought Norm Foster's white '73 Duster as an upgrade for our church youth group project back in 2005 while I was deployed to Iraq. Norm had taken the drivetrain out to put into his new Mitsubishi Challenger race car and sold the Duster to me as a roller.

I went through several ideas of how to get the car put back together and back on a race track so it would be used while I was gone, but none of them ever happened. It has been sitting at a friend's place in Chatsworth, GA for the last five years waiting patiently. He installed a roll cage and frame connectors early on.

Here's what the project entails:

'73 Duster with lexan windows, 8 point roll cage, frame connectors, centerline wheels, 8" Ford axle with 4.62 gears and a mini spool, fiberglass hood, fuel cell, etc.

Engine: Gary Bruner is building a serious race engine for it using the 7.005" K1 rods and 3.504 Wiseco pistons. He has the truck block at the machine shop now. He used block filler to make the block stronger.

Seymour Pederson gave us a big valve ported head that Gary had built a few years ago to use. It has 1.78 / 1.4X valves and flows 201 cfm at .600 lift.

The cam is an UltraDyne 290 @ .20, .597 lift, 104 centerline, 263 duration @ .50 grind.

I will be ordering a 4,500 RPM converter for it soon and have just ordered a manual valve body for it.

We're hoping for it to run mid to high 12's in the quarter mile.

The plan is for Gary to have the engine and tranny built and hopefully in the car by the time I get back from Afghanistan sometime later this summer (July/August).

I hope to find a good church wherever we get stationed (hopefully Fort Knox, Kentucky) and start the GodsRods youth group ministry again. I also have my two oldest boys (Andrew 16 and Chase 14) that will be driving age when we get back! Michael and CJ will be a couple years away still, so I have some time to put together some Slant 6 drag cars for them.

I don't have any good pictures of the car, so if anyone has any old photos of Norm Foster's white Duster from when he raced it back before 2005, please share them!

I have a list of people to thank that will be lettered on the trunk of the car before it hits an event. I will post that list here as soon as I get back to Kabul where my notes are. I don't want to forget anyone.

I'll start posting updates to this thread as progress continues.

Whew! Now I feel better.

_________________
Rob

I’m Mater
The Kentucky Poser

Sounds like great progress, Rob! Can't wait to see "II" runnin' strong.

Lou

_________________
Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Wow! The whole thing sounds fairly serious. Rob my oldest son and is 15 and is also a "Chase". Stay safe over there!

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66 Lil' Red Piggie Valiant (Mater Crusher) - Thanks Zilla!!!!! 72 Demon (Number 1 Son's)

We'll have to get our boys together if we wind up getting stationed at Fort Knox! Is your Chase into cars? Mine is a big help when I'm wrenchin'. He's been looking through my car magazines before he forwards them to me so he can get an idea of what he likes... Right now it's early Novas (Chevy IIs). My oldest, Andrew is set on a Mustang... Where have I gone wrong!?

BTW: I got the SSRN you mailed. I just made the connection with your screen name and the return address.

I've read through it at least a dozen times.

I know it's posted here, but I like hard copies that I can carry around with me. Thank you for sending it!!

_________________
Rob

I’m Mater
The Kentucky Poser

Hey Rob! My Chase is consumed by football! He did like watching some nostalgia drags at Goodguys one year.

Glad ya liked the SSRN. Just trying to help out Lou (he puts up with alot of beginner questions from me).

Hope ya do get to relocate to Fort Knox. I am trying my best to make to Clay City this year. Not a racer yet - more of a spectator - but one of these days.....

All the best, Wayne.

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66 Lil' Red Piggie Valiant (Mater Crusher) - Thanks Zilla!!!!! 72 Demon (Number 1 Son's)

Hey Wayne,

Watching is fun, but racing is the ultimate! Chase went with me to my very first Slant 6 race at Bristol in 2003. I think the pictures are still in the Gallery section.

Every one here is very patient with my beginner questions. I think I'll be a "beginner" forever at the rate I'm going. I keep starting over, and over... Hopefully this next move will settle us down for a bit and I can actually do some serious drag racing.

I hope we do get to meet at Clay City. I should know within a couple weeks if Fort Knox is a "go" or not. My wife and I are looking on-line at houses and land. She has her criteria and I have mine. (land, shop, garage...)

I'll do my best to coax you into racing! I'll even let you drive one of mine if you don't have one of your own to drive.

_________________
Rob

I’m Mater
The Kentucky Poser

Rob thanks very much for your offer! How about I ride shotgun first? Haven't even been down the track yet! Have a good one!

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66 Lil' Red Piggie Valiant (Mater Crusher) - Thanks Zilla!!!!! 72 Demon (Number 1 Son's)

I will be attempting to bring two Slant cars to several of the races too, so may have a car to drive. Look forward to seeing you at CC...

Lou

_________________
Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

I'm done travelling around Afghanistan for a couple days (I hope). It's much different flying around Afghanistan in C-130s and Blackhawks than driving around Iraq in HMMWVs! My poor old back and knees still don't like it much though. I'm pretty sure the body armor and rucksack I lug around with me have gotten much heavier over the last few years!

Here's that list I mentioned that will be on the trunk of GodsRods Duster II before it hits a track. All of these people have helped or supported us in one way or another and several of them have contributed in many ways. They aren't listed in any order. My sincere thanks to each of you!

Special Thanks to:

Jerry Martin
Joel Carroll
Gerald Wright
Ron Parker
Mark Walter
Terry Carr
James Tullis
Rob Armstrong
Chris Jones
Charlie Schmid
Doug Dutra
Seymour Pederson
Rick Mariano
Norm Foster
Chuck Rivers
Mike Brumagen
Tom Drake
Frank Brent
Cinda Brent
Rob Pierce
Bruce Guzick
Art Upchurch
Chris Street
Mike Zappia
Gary Bruner
Dale Rose
Meril Bruner
Cecil Higginbotham
Lou Madsen
Slantzilla
GTS225

_________________
Rob

I’m Mater
The Kentucky Poser

Target of opportunity. I was able to get into the site and wanted to post something,... anything...

I was going to call Gary today to see how his Dad was doing and see if he had done anything more to the engine, but then I realized that he's probably at Knoxville racing this weekend, Duh!

OOh! I know! I'll call people at the track on their cell phones!! Maybe I'll get to hear some Slant 6 drag cars in the background!!

Now I'm excited!

_________________
Rob

I’m Mater
The Kentucky Poser

Called Gary:

His Dad is still hanging in there.

The engine is back at the machine shop for final balancing/machine work. Then it will come back for final assembly. He has the torque converter I ordered. Forgot to ask if he found a tranny to put it in.

I'm not sure if things will get put together in time to race this season or not. Time will tell.

We had a bad connection, but he said there were eight racers at Knoxville this weekend.

I feel better now that I've done something Slant 6 related. See ya in a couple months!

_________________
Rob

I’m Mater
The Kentucky Poser

I talked to Frank the other day after the Knoxville race. He said there was quite a bit of conversation about the white Duster probably having some significant rust issues after sitting out in the elements in Georgia for the last six years.

I'm from Arizona where we aren't used to rust issues, so his comments made me a little concerned and let the wind out of my sails a little bit.

I pouted around here for a couple days and then decided to call Joel and ask him if the Turismo and Duster had rusted into piles of unusable muck.

He said they have the normal surface rust you would expect (along with a little mold), but that there is not worrisome rust issues that would give him any pause in using either one as a race car. Granted, he builds Rat Rods for a living, but he made me feel better that the two cars I've been pinning my hopes on these last six years are probably still okay.

I guess I'll find out in a couple months...

_________________
Rob

I’m Mater
The Kentucky Poser

Well, I finally made it back stateside and have now attended my first Clay City race.

I got to meet up with some old friends and meet a couple new ones.

Gary picked up the Duster and it is now in Maynardville, TN along with the engine and transmission.

Some of the concerns about the Duster are more the installation of the roll cage and amount of work still needed to get it to where it can handle the level of performance the engine will be putting out. (Remember, I bought the car while I was in Iraq and had someone install the rollcage 5 years ago. I haven't even seen the car since 2003 long before I bought it! )

I need to make a trip down to TN and look at things myself. Then I'll make a determination of whether the serious race engine will go in GodsRods Duster II or if I'll use the engine and tranny out of GodsRods Duster I.

More later...

_________________
Rob

I’m Mater
The Kentucky Poser

Lukus Bruner sent me some photos of the Duster. Duster is a good name for it right now, but we'll polish it back up soon enough.

Let's see if this works...



Seemed to work. If you click on the image it takes you to Image Shack and then you can see the other photos of it. Let me know what you think!

_________________
Rob

I’m Mater
The Kentucky Poser

I've talked to both Gary and Meril... They ain't willin' to do anything more to this thing until I go look at it. Seems that it needs a bit of work still...

_________________
Rob

I’m Mater
The Kentucky Poser