70 duster: updating, and a no-dough pro-touring makeover

[Bjkadron]

Very nice!

[Bullockracing]

Sweet ride - I sure miss my '73 Duster... It was my second car, and I loved it! Not near as nice as yours, but in my mind I pictured that it would be one day...

[dusterbd13]

long day, so this may be somewhat incoherent.



short version for those that don't like to read: the autocross was great. had a blast, and was quicker than dad.



left out this morning at 7AM, chasing the sun. nice drive down to Maxton, NC. about 1.5 hours each way. light traffic, highway sparkling in the sunrise, good air, great tunes on the radio. we got there as they were still setting up. registration and tech was a breeze, and we ran into a couple of guys we knew. also a bunch of guys that just wanted to check out the bright red duster with the nasty exhaust note.



drivers meeting was at 10AM, and we did the novice course walk. during that, we realized just how bad the track surface was. LOTS of sand/gravel. also, very rough as far as chuckholes, etc.









dad had the recommendation that we tape the car to protect the paint. so, we begged/borrowed/bought 4 rolls of 1 inch wide painters tape. took about 30 minutes of the first 1 hour run session to do it, but I'm grateful that we did.



over the course of the day, i got somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 runs in. only thing i did to the car was check the fluids and torque the lug nuts. just wanted to get a feel for where i was starting from.



the last session, i started "timing" the field. since this was a test and tune session, there was no timing equipment set up. so i used my CD player, where it read the seconds into a song. started the song when a car left the line, looked at the time when it crossed the finish. the RX8's and Mini coopers were running 28-30 seconds. dad was running 31-34 seconds. i was running 29-30 pretty consistently.



the car has a few kinks to get worked out. under-steer is fairly significant when its not under throttle, it runs rich, there's no turn in, i flop around inside like a drunken fish, and fuel slouches down the car from the filler neck, even with only 1/2 tank. its geared right, plenty responsive to throttle, and an absolute HOOT out there. i was actually running up to 50 at some points on the track.



heres pics, to prove that it happened.















michael

[Bryce]

Awesome!!!!

[dusterbd13]

had a little time in the shop tonight, and a little space now that the s10 has been paid for and is gone.



a while back, my rear end began to get very, very noisy. like a very amplified, very pissed off handheld plunge router. used to be that any throttle over 55 would get it to howling. after maxton, any speed with load made it howl, from idle on up. i got a quote from a local shop that does most of our drive train work for 600 bucks max, and that was with gears, clutches, bearings, everything. fair enough. more than i really WANT to spend, but.....







also started redoing the front suspension. plans are to go to 3/8 taller FMJ spindles for better negative camber gain, and offset UCA bushings for better alignment specs. I'm thinking of going with the recommended specs from hotchkis, which are -1.5 camber, +7 caster, and 1/16 toe in.

to get there, other than the offset bushings, i had heard reference in some older forum posts about using spacers between the lower ball joint and spindle. plans are to do about .25 inch spacers for my alignment numbers.

while i have the front apart, id like to make sure things are as right as they can be. to that end, I'm planning on adjusting the strut rods to where there is minimal bind, checking these crappy ADDCO mounts to make sure they are not binding, and setting the t-bar ride heights equally without the sway bar attached this time. also fixing the ackerman by getting the tie rod ends the same length as one another. anything else I'm missing in the general tune up and
optimization?



the spindles are already purchased from a mid 80's M-body that had only 54000 miles on it (and it was at pull-a-part!)



heres a pic to show the height difference.







assuming this works as i think it will, ill be selling the a-body pieces to offset some cost.



got the passengers side torn down tonight for the most part.







and my growing pile of removed parts





this Sundays Ill finish getting the drivers side taken apart.



Tuesday i have a half day at work. ill be dropping my UCA's off to get the bushings pressed (i could do it, but for the 30 bucks it will cost me, its worth the money for me not to have to) and my hogshead off at the drive line guys.



hoping to get it all back together in time to make the Sanford autocross next month.



cost as of tonight is still the same.



michael

[Bjkadron]

the car has a few kinks to get worked out. under-steer is fairly significant when its not under throttle, it runs rich, there's no turn in, i flop around inside like a drunken fish, and fuel slouches down the car from the filler neck, even with only 1/2 tank. its geared right, plenty responsive to throttle, and an absolute HOOT out there. i was actually running up to 50 at some points on the track.
michael

also started redoing the front suspension. plans are to go to 3/8 taller FMJ spindles for better negative camber gain, and offset UCA bushings for better alignment specs. I'm thinking of going with the recommended specs from hotchkis, which are -1.5 camber, +7 caster, and 1/16 toe in.

to get there, other than the offset bushings, i had heard reference in some older forum posts about using spacers between the lower ball joint and spindle. plans are to do about .25 inch spacers for my alignment numbers.

while i have the front apart, id like to make sure things are as right as they can be. to that end, I'm planning on adjusting the strut rods to where there is minimal bind, checking these crappy ADDCO mounts to make sure they are not binding, and setting the t-bar ride heights equally without the sway bar attached this time. also fixing the ackerman by getting the tie rod ends the same length as one another. anything else I'm missing in the general tune up and
optimization?


michael

Did you get stiffer torsion bars? I forget. If you did, this might be where some of your understeer is coming from. The roll resistance should be higher in the rear or less in the front than it currently is to help that. But I wouldn't change it a lot until after you have the front done as that will change things. With the stock type UCA's I would shoot for more like -1.5 camber, 3.5-4* caster, and same toe. If you have to sacrifice one, I would sacrifice a little caster to get the camber. Also, with the spacers, you will be changing the scrub radius and increasing stress on everything. So the thinner the better there. With the 1/4 spacers you would be getting a bit over 2* change. Shocks will help the turn in also. As will getting the slop out of the steering system. Everything else sounds good. Great progress!

[Tucks69]

Duster looked good on the autocross course! When are they going to have another track day? I am about 30 minutes from Maxton.

[dusterbd13]

Did you get stiffer torsion bars? I forget. If you did, this might be where some of your understeer is coming from. The roll resistance should be higher in the rear or less in the front than it currently is to help that. But I wouldn't change it a lot until after you have the front done as that will change things. With the stock type UCA's I would shoot for more like -1.5 camber, 3.5-4* caster, and same toe. If you have to sacrifice one, I would sacrifice a little caster to get the camber. Also, with the spacers, you will be changing the scrub radius and increasing stress on everything. So the thinner the better there. With the 1/4 spacers you would be getting a bit over 2* change. Shocks will help the turn in also. As will getting the slop out of the steering system. Everything else sounds good. Great progress!

still running the .89 t-bars. no plans currently to go stiffer, though the shocks are on the list. i may go 1/8-3/16 spacers, depends on what i find to make my spacers from. i do know that the scrub radiaus will be adverly effected, but i think that it will be so minimal as to be unnoticible.
also, the spindle to ball joint bolts are 1 inch diameter hardened steel. that, with the amount of support that they recive from the castings, makes me not worried about it. i will,m however, be keeping an eye on it. the guys over at mopax have pretty much convinced me this is the way to go for where im trying to get.
as far as the caster measurements, im hoping with the offset UCA bushings, shimmed spindles, and well sorted rest of it to be getting into the range that i want. 7 is pretty agressive, and may gove too heavy a steering feel with my FFI stage 3 box, but thats why its called fine tuning, right?

Duster looked good on the autocross course! When are they going to have another track day? I am about 30 minutes from Maxton.

down in rockingham? im 45 minutes from you! i lie up the way in albemarle.
hoping to run with tarheel over in sanford next month, but the way work is right now im not holding my breath. doing my side work (wiring and vettes) is either feast or famine, and right now is feast. i dont have a free saturday until sometiome in april.

web site for tarheel is
http://www.thscc.com/general/info/calendar.php

they run a great event. great guys, good courses, good fellowship, and great organization. i prefer to run with them over central carolinas SCCA.

michael

[Bjkadron]

still running the .89 t-bars. no plans currently to go stiffer, though the shocks are on the list. i may go 1/8-3/16 spacers, depends on what i find to make my spacers from. i do know that the scrub radiaus will be adverly effected, but i think that it will be so minimal as to be unnoticible.
also, the spindle to ball joint bolts are 1 inch diameter hardened steel. that, with the amount of support that they recive from the castings, makes me not worried about it. i will,m however, be keeping an eye on it. the guys over at mopax have pretty much convinced me this is the way to go for where im trying to get.
as far as the caster measurements, im hoping with the offset UCA bushings, shimmed spindles, and well sorted rest of it to be getting into the range that i want. 7 is pretty agressive, and may gove too heavy a steering feel with my FFI stage 3 box, but thats why its called fine tuning, right?

michael

Ok, I didn't think you had upgraded the bars. Overly stiff Front (when compared to the rear) roll rate is just one of the things that could cause understeer. You might consider getting/making subframe connectors. Because if the chassis isn't stiff enough to transmit the loads then any tuning would have minimal effect. Sounds good otherwise.. can't wait to see how it works.

[dusterbd13]

so, i spent a few hours on it last night, and she fought me EVERY step of the way.

earlier this week, i got the other side torn down, and the new Moog offset UCA bushings pressed in (cost 35, not 30. money well spent. if anyones local, go down to Mabry's automotive. the guy is GREAT to work with.)

last noght, after it got too dark to work outside, i headed down to the shop. went to install the UCA on the passnegers side, and started to fight the car. little "persuasion" with a 2x4 and a 3 lb hammer, she went where she was supposed to. then the bolt holes wouldnt line up. had to take the shock out, the swaybar off, etc. finally got it all back together with the new spindles and spacers, though, and did a rough alignment. how i did that was to put an old rotor with no studs on the spindle, (no t-bar tension right now, by the way) and jack the UCA until the spindle pin was at right height measurment from where it was before (measured to the fender lip. and yes, i know youre supposed to measure at the inner pivot of the LCA. never been successful at that though. i just cant seem to be consistant with that method.)
roughed in the passengers side at 1.5 negative camber, 4.5 positive caster. used 2 hardened 5/8 washers per bolt for a totak of .25 shim stack.

heres pics. ive been working outide on the honey-do list all day, and im beat. add 43 to whatever the total was.





Michael

[csx4766]

Looking good Michael, everything you are doing just makes the car better.

[bonecrrusher]

Whats up with CCR SCCA? I've ran with them several times and never had an issue.... The location thing might suck for you since your not near Charlotte.

[dusterbd13]

well, ive got no real beef with CCRSCCA. little shy on runs the last time i went to one of their events, and the guys running there were a little standoffish. i think that had more to do with the fact that at the time i was running a multicolord lowered s10 than anything else.

i do enjoy their charity autocrosses down at carowinds, though.

and im 37 miles east of charlotte. still closer to go to maxton than to knights though.

another benifit is that i know a lot of the tarheel guys from open track events.

michael

[dusterbd13]

a while has passed with not a lot of work on the duster.



i got the drivers side back together, my strut rods FINALLY adjusted (stay away from the American muscle pieces. they are absolute crap. half the threads disappeared (sheared off the strut rod) while i was adjusting them. the front nuts did take a torque setting on them, so I'm just going to keep an eye on them. as a side note, the previous alignment guy that took 6 hours and charged me 200 bucks for an alignment that was nowhere near correct and actually caused the tire to contact the fender never tightened the strut rods back up after he adjusted them. may explain some of the evil steering/braking/handling characteristics of this car)



also, i worked with my brake sliders some. i noticed some odd wear on my pads, as the inboard pad is worn down about half way, while the outboard still had machining marks on them. came to figure out that when i POR15'd my calipers and caliper adapters, i never cleaned them back up where they were supposed to slide. the grease cant help a friction fit. so i took out my zizz wheel with an SOS pad and scrubbed them shiny. fresh grease and they should be good to go.



heres pics of one side done:





i still have to st my T-bar preload when i get it back on the ground. also have to trim my wheel studs some more. they're bottoming out in the lug nuts. then i can finalize the alignment and hook the sway bar back up.



while I'm waiting on my hogshead, i started working on my air dam again. its an 80's S10 piece made from 2 spares i had. took the good one, cut it in half. sectioned in a piece of the bad one to lengthen the whole unit to fit my car better. 6 3/4 inches worth of splice. took my harbor freight plastic welder and wended it back together. still have to do the front side, then ill check it for fit. if i still like it, ill do my bodywork, smooth it, and spray it semigloss black. may add brake cooling ducts too.













lastly i FINALLY got my splash shields installed.

add 7 dollars of screws and washers, as i lost the originals. or used them on something.







i pick up my rear end from the re-builder tomorrow. that's gonna hurt......



Michael

[Bjkadron]

Very good! You are making a lot more progress than I am.

[dusterbd13]

i try to make a little every week. een if its just a couple of bolts.

granted that time is now split between my duster and my new truck, so less gets done than usual. maybe after i finish my interior resto i can focus on the duster some more. (probably not. ill find other stuff that needs to be done too, but a guy can try to lie to himself, right?)

[dusterbd13]

so, budget total from the previous updates: 1766.64



for this one, it hurts. a lot.



740 in rear end rebuild, 15 in gasket and posi additive. gear oil was actually free (had two bottles of 85-90 Valvoline in my storage building, unopened, from god knows when.

so the new total is: 2521.64



that's a hellofalot more than i had anticipated spending to get it to this point. kind of discouraging, really, but then again I'm doing it right and not cutting any corners.



so, heres what 740 worth of hogshead looks like:











new clutches, gears, bearings, seals, and pinion yoke, plus setup. its quiet now.



if i had to do it all over again, i would have gone with the explorer 8.8. would have been considerably cheaper, and gotten rid of my wheel spacers and rear drums all at the same time.



i also got all my front wheel studs trimmed off 3/8 of an inch, but didn't take any pictures. you really cant see a 3/8 shorter wheel stud in a picture.



trial fit my new front air dam. still not finished with it. need to make a bracket to hold the center of it at the proper angle. after that, bodywork and paint. then ill decide whether its staying.









and a picture of the better of the two strut rods threaded portion.





got the ride height set right after this picture, sway bar reconnected, and did a quickie alignment on it. max caster on the eccentrics, camber wherever it fell, and 1/16 toe in. camber was right at -1 degree, caster right at 5.5 positive.



took it for a quick test spin (3 or 4 miles), and thought i heard some rubbing. couldn't really find where it was coming from, even after dong a thorough nut and bolt check. it rained all last week, so i didn't have any time to drive it.



Saturday, i was planning on getting some miles on it. it was actually sitting in the driveway warming up when my phone rang that my dad had totalled his brand new Z06 up at VIR. put the car away, and loaded up the truck and trailer to go take my mom to see him, pick him up, and haul back what was left of a 80,000 Z06 corvette. Saturday was a very, very crappy day. but my dad and his student were both more or less OK. just banged up pretty good.



today i got the car out since it was nice to put some miles on it and get a feel for the new setup. ran good, good turn in, drove straight, steering wheel straight. really liked it so far, except for an odd intermittent pull over slight bumps.



when i got down near work, i hit the crowned manhole cover with my right front corner, and immediately had the steering wheel pulled from my hands and point me towards the nice, shiny, new light pole. after i got the car squared away and quit cussing, i turned around and SLOWLY got home. nothing hurt but my pride.



this was not the fault of bumpsteer. what happened was that my right front corner actually locked up in compression. the lip of the UCA ground my wheel to a halt when it came into contact with it, causing my underwear changing course correction.

this was always the tight spot with my old spindles, but with the new found negative camber and taller spindles, it apparently has used up all my fudge factor. there's some nice shiny grooves in both the inside hoops of my front wheels where the higher side of the UCA is contacting, as well as some deeper gouges where the lip in front of the UBJ is hitting.



I'm going to grind the lip down about 1/8-3/16, and see if i get the clearance i need. if I'm still hitting, ill go back to the shorter spindles.



just as a reminder to all, CHECK EVERYTHING THROUGH THE FULL SUSPENSION ARTICULATION, NOT JUST RIDE HEIGHT. i usually do this, but got sloppy this time and it nearly bit me in the ass.



updates when i find my fix.



Michael

[Bjkadron]

Owch.. That was almost bad. I knew that was going to be a problem for mine. That Is why I went with the skinnier aftermarket UCA's. Hopefully you figure something out.

[dusterbd13]

so my new update...

i mostly "fixed" my clearance problems with the UCA's and the rim. took my trusty old 4 inch grinder out and ground the snot out of the lip around the UCA. no more lockup problems. the wheels DO still hit the UCA's, but only in reverse. i have no idea why that is....

Friday after work, i surprised my wife by having our daughter at her grandmas house, the car cleaned up and packed, and reservations at a hotel. we both have VERY stressful jobs, and very limited downtime. it was a pretty weekend, so we went away and took the duster.

Friday we left from albemarle, NC, and stopped for dinner at canyons in blowing rock NC. good eats, beautiful sunset, good view. pretty good bluegrass on the jukebox as well...



we laded back in after dinner and headed over to mountain city Tenn. for the night. stayed at the americourt, which was a nice place at a great price.

got up late Saturday morning, filled up the car, checked the fluids, etc. found i lost 1 quart of oil in 200 miles from my leaking oil pan gasket. that's quite irritating, and only more motivation for me to yank the motor this winter.
drove from mountain city over to Boone were we picked up the blue ridge parkway and headed north.


somewhere in the middle of VA, is became very, very foggy. to the point that i could not see the end of my hood. try looking through a gallon of milk in a dimly lit room, and you get the idea. we pulled over for a bit at an overlook (of what, i have no idea). we decided to find something to eat.

this is where we made our most fun mistake of the trip.

we used the button on my new-to-me GPS that said food. selected a shoney's, and followed the voice that sounded like the librarian from when i was in4th grade.

it first took us down a rather poorly maintained 2 lane back road, but it got us mostly out of the fog. we then turned on a state road, which was loose paved. after it had narrowed to the point that it was hopeless to turn around, the road turned to gravel. beautiful area and countryside, though.


a little later, we turned off the state road to a place that was simply labeled "road". that was a less nice road, and i was starting to get nervous, as well as have the fear of needing a 4 wheel drive wrecker to get me out.



the GPS got us back on some two track

that stopped here


shoney's was about 1/2 mile across the interstate. we finally got over there just about the time it started raining.

we had a blast with that part of the trip, though. even though i heard rocks hitting body, bell housing hitting dirt road crown, and had no idea where we were or where we were going, we were both laughing and enjoying ourselves. just what we needed.
(my wife had to take a picture of me driving the duster on a dirt road, and smiling just to prove I'm not always uptight and anal-retentive)


we came home after shoney's due to torrential downpour and hail.

all told, we covered just shy of 550 miles in 2 days in a car that hasn't been thoroughly tested, and did not have a real problem.
best fuel economy seen was 16.25
the new suspension did not exhibit any worse bump steer than the previous, but was much more stable and predictable. felt more sure footed, tracked better, and was easier to drive than it has been since before the total resto
there were some small problems.
no armrest, but we temporarily fixed that with my cooler
the exhaust gets louder the hotter it gets. i think it may be contacting the body when the metal expands, or when the motor torques under constant load
an exhaust leak has started
the wind noise drove us nuts
there's an odd vibration in the steering wheel when under throttle with the wheels turned. i think my steering coupler may be contacting my header

the car is very comfortable for the two of us, not tiring to drive, and reasonably practical for weekend getaways. so right now, we have more "touring" and less "pro-"

up next is more "pro-" in the form of a tarheel autocross down at maxton next weekend.

Michael

[dusterdan]

i am completely new to this sight but i must commend you on the absolutely fantastic job you have done thus far on your car! i have a 70' original S6 car that's getting a stoker motor but the process is just limping along on a college budget! haha i must ask....please give me more info on your gauges i have a rallye dash as well but would love to put autometers on it! if you have part #'s, recommendations, anything would be great! i'm particularly interested in what appears to be a 4-in-1 gauge like the original i didn't know anybody made a replacement! anyways, sorry for the long message thanks in advance, Dan