Slowly but surely I'm getting there

The engine is in, Transmission is bolted in and convertor hooked up, Tranny mount modified and bolted in place, starter is shimmed up and bolted in place, and the headers are now on, RacePak bolted in place, and my nitrous progessive is bolted in place. Its been a long slow process but I can now see the light at the end of the tunnel.


Untitled by John Cadamore, on Flickr

Untitled by John Cadamore, on Flickr

Untitled by John Cadamore, on Flickr

Looks good, congrats on the progress

Looking good John!

Nice and clean

Tex

Looks great !

Nice work John!

Nice work John!

Nice Hellcrate!

looks like a fun car!

Very nice John!

LOOKS NICE !

BIG BLOCK NITROUS A-BODY....THATS MY FAVORITE !!!

Go get 'em. I feel your belief and relief.

Thanks guys for the kind words. This has been one of those love hate projects that was a good idea back in 2014 and probably not such a good idea now. I had this engine in my Daytona when I wrecked it in 2010 so it has been sitting there for way to long. Some bad health issues in 2016 really set me back and when you are laid up you get some crazy ideas. I first redid the engine as a NA combo to at least get the car out. Then I thought well maybe a small hit of nitrous so I called Vic at Wiseco to see how much nitrous those pistons would handle (not much) and I scratched that idea so the engine came apart again. I had bought a nitrous convertor off of Jason Digby and a set of nitrous pistons and when I went to put it together I needed a 7.150 rod. Jason at that exact moment was switching to turbos so he had a set with very few hit available so I grabbed them. During all this delay my Son Matt kinda lost interest in working in the shop so honestly at that point I should have sold the car, and may still do so but at this point I'm almost to close to give up. I built a nice 1.69 low gear-set powerglide for it, and Its been so long ago I bought either a 3.70 or 3.89 rear gear (9 inch) that I have to set up yet. Chassis cert is due so I will probably go ahead and get a 6.50 cert for the car just in case I do sell it. I spoiled myself with my black bracket car small block by making it so racer Friendly. It is such a fun easy car to race as I can make 9.40 quarter mile passes (6.0 in the 1/8) and never take the trunk or hood off or even charge the battery. I guess sometimes in life we Have an itch we gotta scratch. This was mine as I wanted to see if I could build a competitive heads up type engine. If you get an itch try to scratch it BEFORE you start getting old. LOL. I have to kinda drop this project for awhile so I can finish a 360 engine for my bracket car so I can start the season with it while I freshen my 422 small block.


Untitled by John Cadamore, on Flickr


Untitled by John Cadamore, on Flickr

Looks Sweet!

Looks awesome keep plugging away, almost there

Lots of good ideas look bad with hindsight. That's pretty much how it is. Getting old certainly changes ones perspective on many things. To me, a car that is a PITA to work and can't be street driven is useless. I've spent my entire life (as long as I can remember) going to race tracks. I don't need that any more.

You may change your mind once you get some hits in the car. Either way...if you keep it or sell it, there is no wrong decision.

Personally, I love the car and combo. But, as you pointed out...it's not your simple to run, super fun Duster.

. Nice job I'm sure you will have a smile from ear-to-ear when you get to let go of the button

what tire are you going to run ?

Probably the Mickey Thompson 275 (10.5) as the car is built To be legal for Josh’s Monster Mopar rules. My local class at Quaker City allows a bigger tire but you better be 4.60-4.80’s to play with those boys. It was a great series several years ago but a 5000.00 purse started drawling in some hitters. I’m just a minnow in the ocean so I gotta keep it FUN. If I would start hacking on the car to make it user friendly I just lost the value of the car as it sits but it would or could be a fast bracket car.

I see a black car getting parked for a while...........while you go VERY fast!

Fun stuff there John. Good to see progress

A few more pictures. This is back when CRAZY Stephen Daurity owned the car with a small block in it.

Untitled by John Cadamore, on Flickr



Untitled by John Cadamore, on Flickr


Untitled by John Cadamore, on Flickr






Getting some front end mods after I bought it




Untitled by John Cadamore, on Flickr


Some of my handy work.


Untitled by John Cadamore, on Flickr

Untitled by John Cadamore, on Flickr

Untitled by John Cadamore, on Flickr


A few port molds I took so when I do my next set of B1 heads I can get there and push a little harder on them. Kinda nice having a 3D copy of a port that I can easily study while watching tv.



B1 head mold pictures 003 by John Cadamore, on Flickr\


B1 head mold pictures 008 by John Cadamore, on Flickr

Unloading slicks in exhibit A (1st picture) can get expensive I hear....

p


I’ve heard that before from someone

Cool car John! Does it have a mid plate?

No mid plate. I couldn’t fit one in there even if I wanted one. The stock firewall, stock frame rail, stock suspension mounting points make these cars very tight

Yes you can John as mine has one with a steel front and you have a removable glass front...We have no trouble installing engine & trans together,JMO !!

There’s that magic word again (WE). We is ME at my shop and working on the floor makes everything harder. There is absolutely zero room for a mid plate on this car. Heck my B1 head drain fitting is smack up against the firewall.

Understood as I typically work alone also but bring in help on some of it....Our biggest issue is the dry sump oiling system that I'm going to shed some day !!

Also we ran low 5's for years without one with no problems !!

wow, dig that. Nice car.

Thank you Sir

Understood as I typically work alone also but bring in help on some of it....Our biggest issue is the dry sump oiling system that I'm going to shed some day !!

Also we ran low 5's for years without one with no problems !! [/quote]




After I get the bungs welded on my collectors and back on I will post a couple of pictures to show you what I mean about being tight. I love how the front bars tie everything together BUT being this car was built for a small block some could have been moved slightly to free up some room. I've only had one car that actually had the mid plate connected to the frame and that was my old Daytona. This car is built pretty rigid. I kinda jumped over to my bracket car and hope to be putting together an engine for it by this weekend. Taking advantage of a 70 degree day to SCRUB the block down for final assembly.

I am jealous! Well, maybe scared of going from 8.90s to what this beast will run! Looks good, John!😀

Thanks Greg. One of our members said I'm scared too after wrecking my Daytona. LOL. Maybe I will just run it NA and purge my nitrous just to "look cool". The 138mph my Duster runs in the 1/4 is so much slower than the 159mph my Daytona ran.

Beautiful car John! Workmanship is excellent. You know you have to finish it, you don't have to keep it, but if you don't finish it you will hate yourself in the morning. It would always be the one that got away. I wish I was as far along as you are. That car has some great potential, looks like a stout combination! Remember, we only go around once- no dress rehersals! Again awesome car! Bill - you have a pm.

Thanks but I can’t take any credit except for the engine, transmission, and soon the third member. My buddy straightened out the frontend for me and being lit the headers and Stephen built the car. I went with Induction Solutions for the nitrous system after watching how he worked with a few of my friends getting them set up. Never using nitrous before that was important to me. I almost sent the intake out to get plumbed for nitrous but why get any deeper into it until I get my feet wet.

I don’t see a pm.

try again, board ate the first try Bill