Author: Cruiser
Bob’s Component Resto, Part 24: The Instrument Panel
So how have we been sleeping lately? Wonderfully, I hope. Nothing like reading one of my stories to put you to sleep, I know. We have a special request from FABO Gold Member GGs66GT who loves slipping off into dreamsville reading my series, so at his special request we present tonight’s component resto chapter, the instrument panel. We all enjoy admiring our finely restored dashboards when we’re driving. Like most everything else on my 1974 Duster when I bought it, my dash needed a lot of…
Gentlemen: How do you look when you’re hot?
Hello all. Here’s something I’ve been wondering about for a while. I’ve attached a photo of the temp gauge from my 1974 slant six powered Duster. This is what my temp gauge shows when the car is fully warmed up and operating at 70 mph. Does this look like yours? Does this look about right? Some specifics for my car: Totally stock engine, new high quality 195 degree thermostat, outside temperature was 30 degrees. Timing 10 degrees BTC, stock carb, auto trans. Gauge cluster professionally…
Bob’s Component Restoration, Part 23: Thermal Control
Good evening kiddies! Rumor has it that some of our brother/sister Moparites are having trouble of late falling asleep without a slumber inducing story from yours truly. And so we present tonight’s latest chapter to help you drift off: Thermal control. Every single one of us has a liquid cooling system in our Mopar rides. And yes, you can run your motor without a cooling system (like a VW Beetle) if you don’t mind your engine seizing up into a solid mass of iron. I don’t recommend this….
Do you have rods in your head? I do.
Hi All: I was changing the thermostat in my 1974 slant six yesterday, and something interesting caught my eye. As I peered into the cylinder head through the thermostat opening, I saw two rods – one straight and one curving – in the head. They appeared to be about 1/4″ in diameter. They looked like they shouldn’t have been there, so I tried pulling them out through the thermostat hole but they wouldn’t budge. So I just left them there and finished the stat installation job. The engine runs…
Mission accomplished, 43 years later!
Mopar friends: I’ve just returned from a trip that I’ve been planning for the last few years, and I’m passing along several photos that you might find interesting. My first car was a 1974 Gold Duster that I bought in the summer of 1977 before my senior year at college. After I graduated in May of 1978, I entered the Navy and remained on active duty until 1984. Last year I retired after 36 years working for Northwest and Delta Airlines. I always had this obsessive desire to re-create my first…
Have you disconnected your OSAC system?
Has anyone bypassed their OSAC system in your slant six engine? To do this, I’d assume you just connect the vacuum supply hose directly from the carb vacuum source, to the vacuum advance on the distributor. Do you screw up your engine if you do this? How do you know if your OSAC system (mounted to the side of the air cleaner) is actually working? Earlier slant sixes never used this system. Thinking about disconnecting it in my 1974 six motor. Thoughts, anyone?
Why is my slanty chugging?
Hi All: Here’s one for you expert slant six tuners. I have an interesting thing happening with my 225 in my 1974 Duster (torqueflite auto). First of all, I just love the motor. It runs great and has plenty of power for my car. I’ve restored it completely stock. The replacement 1974 model year motor has 100K miles on it and has good compression. The head and valve train were overhauled 5K miles ago. The exhaust system is totally stock, including the resonator which came automatically with the…