THE STORY OF MY 93 PLYMOUTH SUNDANCE DUSTER

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7/9/06: On may 21st I got into an accedent with the car and it is totalled. It was a very sad day for me. I updated the site for the last time. I plan on keeping it online for a long time.

PAGE 1: The story
PAGE 2: Exterior pics
PAGE 3: Interior pics
PAGE 4: List of the mods and pics
PAGE 5: Timeslips
PAGE 6: Pics of the blown trans

THE STORY
I bought the car in febuary of 2003, in Chicago, for a winter beater. At the time I drove a 95 Lebaron GTC convertible in the summer. The car had about 128k miles on it and was equipped with the 3.0L V-6 and the A604 overdrive transmission. I bought it for $1,000. I beat on it pretty hard, so within a month the transmission started slipping bad, and the engine was burning alot of oil. I had alot of performance parts I was going to use on the Lebaron, which had the same engine and trans. I came up with the crazy idea to use them on the Sundance instead, because it is a much lighter platform. So out came the engine and trans. The car sat for about a year with no drivetrain. I was not planning on it taking that long, but you know how projects are. I was low on money and could not afford it.

Here is a picture of the car sitting with no drivetrain.

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The duster I bought for parts:

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Finally around January of 2004 I got to work again. I had a machine shop rebuild the block for me, and I bought a rebuilt set of heads on ebay for only $200. I bolted the heads and accessories on, and swapped it to the A543 5 speed trans with a 3.77 final. I was dumb and used epoxy to plug the EGR on the plenum. I didnt prep the surface properly, so upon start up the epoxy got sucked into the motor. It took a chunk out of a piston and head. So I pulled the motor back out and decided to rebuild it with higher compression. I bought mitsu diamante pistons which raised the compression from 8.85:1 to 10:1. Finally in June of 04 I got the car on the road. I immediatly notice way more power, and I didnt even get on the gas yet! It was awesome. A week after I got it running I went on a road trip from Michigan to Colorado with no problems at all. I was very happy with the results.

My intentions were to build a reliable quick daily driver. My goal was a mid 14 second ET with most of the interior and only a few bolt on mods. The project was successful. The engine ran perfect for the 2 years I drove the car. The car rarely broke down. I beat the living hell out of the car and put many many miles on it. The engine never skipped a beat. I ran the car down the dragstrip hundreds of times.

RACING SEASON 2004

In July I hit the track for the first time! The car had blown struts, stock exhaust, and timing was retarded to be safe. I was also running with full interior, and I weighed 275 lbs at the time. I ran a best of 15.25 @ 89.7mph the first time. Not bad at all for the first run ever. Then I installed eibach springs and koni struts, and a 2.5" mandrel bent exhaust with a high flow cat and 2 chamber muffler. I hit the track again and ran a 14.92 @ 91!! I was so happy to be in the 14s! The next visit to the track I removed the seats and spare tire. Race weight was about 2,900 - 3,000lbs. I ran a best of 14.72 @ 92!! I went back again and advanced the timing, and got better launches. I did 14.568 @ 94.14! I already accomplished my mid 14 second goal within a few months after getting it running!

RACING SEASON 2005

I hit the track as soon as it opened in april. The first visit of the year a shifter cable went bad on me, so I didnt beat my record. I replaced the cable and went back tne next week. Conditions were great, and the car was hooking up great! I ran a best of 14.345 @ 93.77. That day I realized my car was capable of 13's with a little more work. I bought new tires, and for some reason I wasnt hooking up very well for the rest of the year. I could not beat my record. In october 2005, I swapped the stock heads with some lightly ported ones. While I was doing the head swap I noticed several little bugs that were slowing me down. I fixed the bugs and hit the track the last day it was open for the season. I ran a best of 14.38 @ 94.75. I didnt beat my Record ET, but my trap speed was higher than ever! I was totally pumped for the 06 racing season.

RACING SEASON 2006

The first visit of the year in april I almost tied my record. I ran another 14.3 @ 94. I only got a few runs in though. I decided to retire the car as a daily driver because the body required too much work to be worth keeping it on the road. The last straw was when the heater core died. So I completely gutted the interior. I removed everything from the dash to carpet. Race weight was about 2,600lbs. The first run I ran a 14.2X @ 97.60!!! I about pissed my pants when I saw the trap speed! I still wasnt hooking up good, so the best I mangaged was a 14.208 @ 96.96. I was stoked! I figured If I could get the car to hook up like it used to, I would pull a 14.0. I planned on getting slicks and shooting for high 13s. Then in May is when all my hopes and dreams faded away. I fell asleep at the wheel and totalled the car.

The old news updates

4/20/06
I went racing again last night. I got alot of runs in. The duster averaged 14.2 - 14.4, spirit did 16.1 - 16.4s, depending on who drove it. My heavy friend mostly raced the spirit. The dusters new record is 14.208 @ 96.96. Check out this link to see all my runs:
http://www.turbo-mopar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3717

4/17/06
I went racing on Saturday, but only got 2 runs in! The reason is because it was busy and I didn't get the duster there until near the end. I came so close to beating my personal record. First run was 14.44, second was 14.347 @ 94.33, 2.16 60 ft. Not bad for the first 2 runs of the year. I think the trap speep is low because I ran without a bumper cover, and I might have wound out 3rd gear too high. The good news is the 1/8 mile trap speed was 77.5! I also ran my stock 95 Spirit, 3.0L 3 speed auto, and it did 16.60 @ 82.5. I plan on going back to the track again this week.

2/27/06
I uploaded pics of my blown tranny and put them on page 6. I could not take real good pics because the trans is on the car. I will take some better ones when i remove it from the car.

2/17/06
DOH! I blew the tranny last night! i was driving on a slick road then gave it a little too much gas in 3rd gear and the tires spun like crazy! I let off immediatly but then I heard a BOOM and the car stops accelerating. I was almost home so I was able to let the car roll the rest of the way. I pop the hood and notice a spider gear is on top of the tranny! The differential somehow blew the gears right through the top of the bellhousing. Oh well, thats what I get for doing too many burnouts and drag racing it hundreds of times. If I can afford it I might just rebuild the spare I have. If not I might put all the good internals from the blown trans into my spare trans. I'd like to get an OBX LSD but I dont think I'll be able to afford it. If I use the stock differential again, I'll definetly get some differential pin savers.

1/31/06
I'm just sitting here counting down the days until the drag strip opens. I am trying to think of every little thing I can do to run a 13 second ET. It might not happen on the day the track opens (April 8th) but it will happen this season. I changed my alignment for better traction. The camber was way off on the front! the camber was -1.2* and -1.3* Thats over a full degree off from factory spec! Now the front is -0.2* that should help traction alot. I am also intalling the solid bobble strut. I might install an air shock on the drivers side rear to throw more weight at the passenger side tire during a launch. Better traction should cut about .15 off my ET. I'm installing some light weight 14" rims with skinny tires on the rear. I figure that should save at least 26 lbs which is equsl to losing about 78 pounds off the body! Then I am going to remove at least 50 lbs more off the body. The weight reduction should be good for about .15 off the ET. The ECU is throwing the O2 sensor code because of some bad wires. I plan on fixing that. Then I am installing an AFPR and my air to fuel ratio gauge to make tuning easier. I ported the lower intake and ported the plenum a little more over the winter. I need to fix an exhaust leak near the manifold, then clean the front exhaust manifold whcih is very dirty. Tuning and fixing those problems should be good for at least a full MPH and about a tenth off the ET. My last run of the season was 14.38 @ 94.75 mph with a 2.12 60 ft. So if you do the math, 14.38 - 0.4 = 13.98 ET, trap speed should be at least 96 MPH. Knowing my luck something will go wrong and it wont happen. But I am confident it will happen this season. I also have those Diamante cams which will be installed later in the season.

12/20/05
I just changed a few things on the site today. Check out page 4 too see the pics of the lower intake I ported. I hit a deer the other day doing about 50-60 mph. The good thing is the damage is minimal. It smashed the grill, slightly bent the hood, and lightly damaged a headlight. All I really need is a new grill. I might have to get a new headlight if i cant allign it.

11/06/05
I finally took some pics of my car. Its not much to look at, but its a sleeper so who cares, right?

11/1/05
Well the project was successful, however I didn't reach my goal of high 13s. Thats ok though, because I didnt get the car running until the day I went to the track. So I wasn't able to do everything I wanted to and prepare to race. I went with the 02 sensor code, and had to guess the ignition timing. Also I wasnt able to get my alignment fixed. I also planned on removing more weight. I am still happy with my times though. I ran about .05 slower my record ET, but the trap speed increased. If I could have got my alignment fixed and launched as good as i did in the spring I would have ran 14.2s. My best time on Saturday was 14.38 @ 94.75, w/ 2.12 60 ft. I will definetly be in the 13s next season.

10/22/05
I pulled the heads off, and I am preparing to install some ported and polished ones. I also fixed a lot of problems that probably cost me alot of power. I am going back to the dragstrip next weekend, and my new goal is high 13s @ 95 - 97mph. Next year I am installing diamante cams, possibly a modified diamante intake with a 75mm throttle body, and drag slicks. My goal for next year is low to mid 13s. I have been lazy about getting pics of my car. It's not much to see, but I plan on doing it soon. I am not going for looks, my primary goal is to build a sleeper.