Dual Purpose Dusted
Who says that musclecars weren't made after 1971? Andy Burleson of Bakersville, North Carolina, is definitely not one of those believers. He brought a potent combination of a '74 Plymouth Duster and an .030-inch over-bored 340. At first glance, it looked like Andy had brought a knife to a gunfight. But upon further inspection, we found he actually had brought a gun with big bullets. Andy has owned the Duster for about nine years and, with help from his father, has made the body look as good as it does. Andy plans to keep the Duster as stock looking as possible and catch unsuspecting brand-X guys off guard. He certainly caught us, so we aren't going to argue.
What Makes It Go
Engine
Block: .030-inch over 340
Crankshaft: Stock 3.31-inch stroke
Rods: Eagle I-beam 6.123-inch
Pistons: SRP 9.8:1
Cam: Comp solid .540/.549-inch lift; 252/256 degrees duration at .050-inch lift
Heads: Edelbrock RPM ported by Hughes Engines
Induction: Victor 340 intake and Carb shop 750 Holley
Exhaust: tti headers with 3-inch pipe and Flowmaster mufflers
Add-on: 150 shot of nitrous
Transmission
727 TorqueFlite
Torque converter: PTC 9 1/2-inch
Shifter: Hurst ProMatic II
Valvebody: Stock
Suspension
Rear: 8 1/4 with a Strange spool and mono-leaf springs and Cal-Tracs
Gears: 4.10
Front: factory K-frame with disc brakes
Car weight: 3,300 pounds
*Best Pass
Launch rpm: 4,000
60-foot: 1.60
Shift point: 7,200
Eighth-mile: 6.804 at 102.83
Quarter-mile: 10.668 at 126.39
*using 150-shot of nitrous
Andy Burleson made most of...
Andy Burleson made most of his passes without the juice and ran in the mid 11s. He made one full pass with the juice on, but got in trouble with the track guys.
The interior of Andy's Duster...
The interior of Andy's Duster is basically factory-stock except for the shifter and tach. the sleeper look is the goal here.
Andy came to our shootout...
Andy came to our shootout with the smallest gun, but the little 345-inch LA held its own and definitely earned our respect.
Andy did quite a bit of tuning...
Andy did quite a bit of tuning between trips down the 1320. he changed the timing from 33 to 40 degrees and richened the carb after each pass.