My 71 Duster work in progress

Well, those heads definitely oil through the rockers too. The hole directly above the fourth upper head-bolt hole from left is the oil passage.
 
Dr.Jass said:
Well, those heads definitely oil through the rockers too. The hole directly above the fourth upper head-bolt hole from left is the oil passage.
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I'll take your word for it. I got that one out of the box and packaged back up without dropping it. I'll wait until I'm ready to install it before I take it back out.
 
RUSTY Cuda said:
Nice shiny new stuff, I don't get to see much of that.
Is your bank account going on strike yet your working it hard!
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The engine is explained by my rusted out junk Dakota with 175k on it instead of a nice 75k mile CTD.

The A12 is a too late to turn back now kind of thing.
 
b-body-bob said:
The engine is explained by my rusted out junk Dakota with 175k on it instead of a nice 75k mile CTD.
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The first time that Cummins needed repairs, you'd be wishing you had a junk Dakota. Hell, you might be wishing that at every $100+ oil change. Truth is, your Duster is a much wiser investment.
 
Fear of repair bills is exactly why I sold the CTD. The front end was squeaking and so the CV joints needed replaced and one or both of the front ABS sensors had gone out. So either way it needed to come apart and I'm not too interested in working on parts that weigh as much as I do. I "fixed" the ABS by pulling the relay, which turned on the BRAKE light, which kept it from passing inspection.

The AT had also started the typical "hunting for a gear" behavior when going down the road, the fuel pump had never been replaced and the dash plastic had basically exploded. I kind of got out while the getting was good. It had < 80k miles on it.

OTOH if I put anything in the bed of the Dakota it squats down and rubs the exhaust on the driveshaft. It needs heavier springs, or some leafs added to the spring pack. You don't realize how handy it is to have a truck that will haul or pull pretty much anything until it is gone.

 
The cam is on the way; no tracking from Jeg's but it shipped from Howard's so I'm not surprised.

I think I've got everything I need now except a distributor. I've got a used factory one that I'm going to try to use with a new pickup (the plug is cut off) and curve kit. I may even use the advance limiting plate from the distributor currently in the 400 and try to save some $$ there. (The one in my 440 is a Mallory with the built in adjustments so I don't need it there)

The price is still $25 less than Summit. Probably related to trying to recoup the additional cost for drop shipping.
 
I've got an 05 ram 1500, my only 4 wheel drive , I keep as a backup or gotta go in the snow vehicle but it started draining the battery at night.
It hardly ever moves, 160ish K miles, I bought it with 130 5 or 6 years ago
Wifey say sell it, but I always had the van & a pick up for the boys to help me at work, just gotta have a hauling unit even if I use it once a month, now I just pull the battery cable after use.
I think it might have to do with the wipers, when I put the cable on they go on. & now they don't park right?
 
Mine was an 02 so it sounded like a UPS truck. Turning it off at drive throughs got to be a real drag, man.

Also, I got the 273 rockers now, and some nifty little funnels small enough to use pre-filling float bowls through the vent tube. No more dumping fuel all over the place out of a pop bottle while imagining my hand is steady enough to hit that 1/4" hole.
 
b-body-bob said:
OTOH if I put anything in the bed of the Dakota it squats down and rubs the exhaust on the driveshaft. It needs heavier springs, or some leafs added to the spring pack. You don't realize how handy it is to have a truck that will haul or pull pretty much anything until it is gone.
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That right there says it all. When I went to just my '06 1500 it was tough. I don't know that my next truck will be a diesel, but it will be a 3/4 or 1 ton and 4X4.

I like shiny new parts!
 
I forgot about this. I prefer my parts marked up. Thanks Mr. Parts Seller.

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To be fair that note could've been on the bag for years.

My machine work was supposed to be done last week so I'm going to aggravate him again after the holiday.

For fun - I saw a post on FABO where a known builder told a guy if he wasn't starting the engine daily the cam would dry out and it would eat lifters - so he needed a roller setup.
 
b-body-bob said:
To be fair that note could've been on the bag for years.
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It is what it is. I bought a Tuff Wheel adapter for $110 shipped. I got it Friday, with "$10.00" still written on it. It's worth more than what I paid, so I don't care if he found it at a yard sale.

b-body-bob said:
For fun - I saw a post on FABO where a known builder told a guy if he wasn't starting the engine daily the cam would dry out and it would eat lifters - so he needed a roller setup.
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I hope he got laughed off the forum. For an extreme example, the 383 in my Super Bee sat in a field for at least 13 years before I got it started. I sold it to a friend, who installed new pushrods--they were all bent--along with fresh rings and gaskets. His wife drove that car for about a decade with the original cam and lifters still moving the valves.
 
Dr.Jass said:
I hope he got laughed off the forum.
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My reply was "Did he quote you the cost for machine work to do that?" The builder is known for building pro-stock engines IIRC. The whole thing was like a story of how to be manipulated by a builder and still think you did the right thing.
 
b-body-bob said:
The whole thing was like a story of how to be manipulated by a builder and still think you did the right thing.
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The Last of the Mohicans... er, the last local machinist here will not assemble an engine with hypereutectic pistons. He'll do everything else, but he won't put it together. "I'm not taking the blame when one of the pistons explodes." He's busier than a one-armed fiddler with crabs.
Ray Barton would not assemble a stroker big-block with stock rods when I was there. People went elsewhere; their shit broke rods. A 496 RB built by DLI did so while being tested on our dyno. It hadn't even hit 450HP yet. The owner wanted to watch it being tested, an idea almost as bad as the cockpit camera on American Airlines 191.
There are those that are talented, and those that are credible. It's hard to differentiate sometimes.
 
Dr.Jass said:
The Last of the Mohicans... er, the last local machinist here will not assemble an engine with hypereutectic pistons. He'll do everything else, but he won't put it together. "I'm not taking the blame when one of the pistons explodes." He's busier than a one-armed fiddler with crabs.
Ray Barton would not assemble a stroker big-block with stock rods when I was there. People went elsewhere; their shit broke rods. A 496 RB built by DLI did so while being tested on our dyno. It hadn't even hit 450HP yet. The owner wanted to watch it being tested, an idea almost as bad as the cockpit camera on American Airlines 191.
There are those that are talented, and those that are credible. It's hard to differentiate sometimes.
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IIRC the guy just wanted a street engine and it turned into a 15k out the door stroked out screamer. Maybe he was just talking to the famous guy because he's local. He definitely had chosen the wrong builder.

There's a whole side story about supposed to have high compression K-Bs but photos showed them to be dished flat tops like factory. Supposed to be 0.010 in the hole?

Anyway... when you build it yourself you've got nobody to blame but yourself.
 
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