The engine that came with the Duster (the slant six doesnt count) was a 360ci small block mopar that came out of a 1975 (charger?).

The first thing done to it was remove the heads, and check the cyl. walls

The cam appeared to be slightly worn.

Since the factory heads dont flow well, a set of edelbrock heads will go in their place.

After purchasing the "Mutha Thumpr" roller comp cam,specs 299/319 @ .050, .533/.519 lift. I looked at the cam bearings, they looked a bit pitted and worn, not worth risking a new cam on. So as of 10/26/07 the engine has to get new cam bearings, so the crank, and pistons had to be removed.

old pistons.

Luckally, the cylinder walls are nice and smooth, its still the stock bore.

UPDATE: The engine is at the machine shop; the same shop that made the 383 for the '77 corvette (on other web pg.) What initially was meant to be a bearing swap, with new higher compression pistons has turned into a stroker build. The machine shop checked the crankshaft and found the main journals to not be within spec, so we could have either 1) gotten it re- machined for $250, or 2) we could get a stroker crank for $300. So now were installing a 408 stroker kit with:
Scat cast steel crank
Forged I-beam connecting rods
Forged 9.7:1 comp. pistons

UPDATE: 12/6/07

The Scat rotating assembly has come in, heres a few pictures of the Scat cast steel 4.00" crankshaft and the forged Keith Black pistons The I-beam connecting rods also came in:

The forged Keith Black pistons should give a compression around 9.5:1

UPDATE: 12/30/07

As promised the machine shop had finished line honing the block, and they say that it could be bored by wednesday, and perhaps have the cylinders honed by friday. So, were going to check up on it friday.

UPDATE: 01/04/07
Went to the machine shop today, the block was being decked, but forgot the camera. The projected finish date is mid february

UPDATE: 03/28/08
Engine is still not done, clearancing should be almost done by now, then final cylinder wall honing, and assembly...

UPDATE: 01/07/08
The clutch and bellhousing came in.

The transmission was purchased off of e-bay and was advertised as a manual 4 speed np a-833, but, after some research it turns out to be a fairly rare early production overdrive trans. What makes it rare is the iron housing, most are aluminum, i dont know how rare it is however.

UPDATE: 03/08/08
The Master cylinder for the hydraulic clutch was installed, and the bearing retainer for the trans was machined down from the overdrive spec 5.125 to the standard 4 speeds 4.80".

UPDATE: 04/08/08 the headers have come in, just waiting for the engine before we can do anything else

UPDATE: 04/25/08 The engine is ready for final honing and assembly, if all goes well, and no problems come, it can be ready by 05/02/08

UPDATE: 05/14/08 The machine shop has been dragging its feet for a few months obviously, but has been holding up our build for a month now, calling every three days until it is done and back home.
Trying to install the hydraulic throw out bearing, but having a few issues

UPDATE: 05/21/08 I think i might need to get a spacer to get the throw out bearing closer to the clutch fingers. Last week the engine had the bearings in, cam in, measuring main bearings for proper tolerances, hopefully it will be done friday (ive heard that before) Our engine builder is moving to a larger shop that he has a partnership with on the east coast, so he only has two more weeks left in his old shop (hes not cutting and running, hes still working with a performance shop here, still lives here on weekends) Wish us luck!

UPDATE: 05/24/08 well, ive got nothing better to do now, as you may have guessed, the engine wasnt ready, its in the same shape that it was in two weeks ago. Had to drop off the "cam" for the fuel pump, its just got the cam in, main bearings in, main studs torqued in, waiting for the crank to go in. The engine builder was hoping for it to be done by monday, but i dont see us picking it up till next week at this rate (next week being the last weekend hes in that shop) i dont see why he leaves our engine for so long; hes had it for six months, and hes finishing engines now that ive never seen around his shop before at the same time he's working on ours...

i mean in that same time weve put in a new trunk, lower rear quarter panels, subframe connectors,painted the underside, finished the body work and paint, put in a new differential, the entire interior, the entire wiring harness ("universal fit"), a 4pt roll cage and had the trans rebuilt... he does great work, and is very knowledgable, i just dont know why it takes him so long. This is one engine more than we should have sent to him (vettes 383 runs great, with 5000+ miles but took him about 10 months-should have been a sign) from now on were going to assemble everything ourselves, and check the work from the shop we have machine the stuff: comming up--> 68' roadrunner's 383 to a 496? :)

UPDATE: 05/27/08 thought id keep a log of whats going on still, called the machine shop about 8 times yesturday, no answer, apparently he had already left for his job on the east coast, and wont be back until friday...screwing us over for another week. All this time wasted, and its just a short block! ill be calling friday until he answers, its gotta be done this weekend, hes supposed to be moving out that week. so no matter what degree of shape its in its coming home next week.guess ill be buying some new tools and/or plastigauge, but hopefully not.

in the mean time ill be installing the ignition in its places, its a Mallory unilite in the dist. and a Mallory HyFire 6AL with rev limiter, ill also mount the Mallory coil on the firewall.

UPDATE: 05/30/08 Pics above, i wired the ignition. Well, we called the shop again, half expecting it to be done, but as usual, there was a hold up. He said that the clearance for the mains and the bearings was too tight, so he had to order new bearings. That means that he has done NOTHING to that engine in two weeks, when we went to go see it (05/24) which was in the same shape as the time before we went to go look at it (05/10) so, were going to go to the shop tomorrow and kindly tell him he has one week to get it together, otherwise were carrying everything out of there and doing it ourselves, wish it didnt have to come to making an ultimatum

UPDATE: 06/05/08 The valve covers have come in, and i realized that i dont have a real good picture of the intake, so here they are (below) Last week the engine builder promised he would work on the engine during the week at his new shop, and would deliver it this friday, time will tell...

UPDATE: 06/06/08 I knew it didnt feel right, the engine builder did not finish the engine, because the bearing to crank tolerance was still not to spec, so he had to machine the crank journals down...he said maybe next week, all the stuffs at the east coast now though as i feared...

UPDATE: 06/14/08 Finally the engine is finished, measured the clutch fingers to the trans. mounting plate to see if the hydraulic clutch needed a shim, it doesnt. The heads will be put on about wednesday. Then hopefully next weekend it will be in the car, if we can find the proper pilot bushing.

UPDATE: 06/17/08 This is probably a good stopping point for this page, i put on the heads today (pics below), tomorrow im going to start putting the clutch/scatter shield/trans together and start installing the drivetrain in the car. so head on to pg 6. for updates if youd like!