My best friend just acquired a 1974 Plymouth Trailduster! Since he is not mechanically inclined, I just became the man in charge of building this rig. It has the 318 motor and auto-tranny. He has some moderate plans for it, but since I am new to this type of vehicle, I am looking for help. Once completed, it will be his daily driver here in Boise. We are looking for reliability along with cosmetic upgrades. I will be going through the whole thing from top to bottom.

Can you all point me in the right direction for a source of parts and things I need to look out for int he drivetrain/motor combo? We are already talking about converting to fuel injection and I know the NP-203 is a full time unit. I am unfamiliar with this transfer case. Does it even operate in 2 wheel drive? I know there is a part-time kit I can add, along with manual hubs for better mileage and drivability but is there a good source I can look to for this?

I had an 1985 Chevy in high school and college which I heavily modified so I am not afraid to tackle this project.

Any good sources of information or vendors.

Also, is there anything that is a "must-do" during the re-build?

Thanks!

 

Hi!

First, here is an article I wrote about the 203 that covers the major points and then some.

http://voices.yahoo.com/the-process-...54.html?cat=27

Also, in case you weren’t sure, it’s running the 727 transmission. Bullet proof – you won’t need to beef it up a bit.

For the rebuild (the 318, right?), I would consider a mild torque cam (I went with the Comp Cams 256h) and 1.88/1.60 valves in the heads. Those two upgrades will really punch up the power.