About 25 years ago a friend ended up with a 1973,340 Duster with a miss. We pulled the 340 down and found a broken valve stuck in a piston.
The block was already .060 over.
We put a piston it it and new rings on the other 7. Then had a shop do a valve job on the heads.
The 1973,340 was a low compression 340 with smaller valves. But it was still a runner. It was a hand full at a stop light drag race.
A few days later it dropped another valve. Yes we were having fun with the car but we did nothing to cause a valve to break off.
This time it broke a cylinder wall. We had it sleeved then bored to match the other 7.
Had the heads checked and another valve put in.
Ran 3 days and dropped another valve! My friend was at the end of his rope with it and was in a bad spot financially.
I traded him my decent 69 Chevelle for the Duster. He got a dependable car and I got the kool but blown up E55 340 car with the stripes,340 call out,fold down rear seat etc.
I had ANOTHER sleeve and piston put in it. I had the heads redone with all new valves and springs.
It ran 3 weeks and guess what!
I pulled the 340 out and scrapped it. I put a 318 in it for a while,while I was building a 360 for the car.
I built the 360 as a 340 copy. Another set of "J" heads,340 cam,4bbl,340 manifolds etc.
The 360 was a gutless turd! Nothing mechanical wrong just did not run like the 340 did. I played with degreeing the cam,timing,carbs etc
Car was a full 1.5 seconds slower than the 340. The 360 I built in my garage ran for many miles with no mechanical problems.
Something to do with the bore x stroke maybe?
I ended up trading it for a lifted Ramcharger as I preferred 4 wheeling and exploring vs cruising the streets.
I often wonder what happened to that car. Occasionally I do an internet search looking for it. It had some ways I could easily identify it by.
Hindsight 2020 I should have mothballed it until I was old enough to redo the car.
But if it has been repaired and painted I would not recognize it.
The block was already .060 over.
We put a piston it it and new rings on the other 7. Then had a shop do a valve job on the heads.
The 1973,340 was a low compression 340 with smaller valves. But it was still a runner. It was a hand full at a stop light drag race.
A few days later it dropped another valve. Yes we were having fun with the car but we did nothing to cause a valve to break off.
This time it broke a cylinder wall. We had it sleeved then bored to match the other 7.
Had the heads checked and another valve put in.
Ran 3 days and dropped another valve! My friend was at the end of his rope with it and was in a bad spot financially.
I traded him my decent 69 Chevelle for the Duster. He got a dependable car and I got the kool but blown up E55 340 car with the stripes,340 call out,fold down rear seat etc.
I had ANOTHER sleeve and piston put in it. I had the heads redone with all new valves and springs.
It ran 3 weeks and guess what!
I pulled the 340 out and scrapped it. I put a 318 in it for a while,while I was building a 360 for the car.
I built the 360 as a 340 copy. Another set of "J" heads,340 cam,4bbl,340 manifolds etc.
The 360 was a gutless turd! Nothing mechanical wrong just did not run like the 340 did. I played with degreeing the cam,timing,carbs etc
Car was a full 1.5 seconds slower than the 340. The 360 I built in my garage ran for many miles with no mechanical problems.
Something to do with the bore x stroke maybe?
I ended up trading it for a lifted Ramcharger as I preferred 4 wheeling and exploring vs cruising the streets.
I often wonder what happened to that car. Occasionally I do an internet search looking for it. It had some ways I could easily identify it by.
Hindsight 2020 I should have mothballed it until I was old enough to redo the car.
But if it has been repaired and painted I would not recognize it.
