(Photo by Rich Pasley) – The car that this 340 based 416ci Chrysler small block lives in is pictured below in all of its wheel up glory. Owned by Steve Clukey, the machine is a 1970 Plymouth Duster that Clukey has owned and raced since it was brand new. The car is awesome because of both the high winding small block and the fact that it is backed by a four speed Lenco transmission. In fact, Clukey has never raced anything but stick shifts and has moved from conventional four speeds to G-Force style clutchless transmissions to the big daddy Lenco now. The car is all steel and it was running in the 9-teens at over 140mph at the NHRA New England Hot Rod Reunion. Hell, it was running so well, Clukey banged shift rods to a class win in the Hot Rod eliminator category. It was awesome!
To run those 9.15 elapsed times, you know that the mill has some suds. In this video, where multiple pulls are shown, the engine makes 764hp and 614 lb/ft of torque. We’re not sure what is on it for cylinder heads but they move some air and like RPM as the engine is pulled to nearly 8,000 RPM each time the dyno operator shoves the handle forward. I have watched this car race for the better part of 15 years and it is freaking awesome. It comes out of the hole and pulls 100′ wheelies with regularity. If he isn’t pulling second with the front end in the air, there’s some sort of problem. The best part is that it does this virtually every time down the track. The cam is massive in the motor and at idle the thing just sounds like it wants to rip your face off with a brutal sound that the word “lope” doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of. It stopped Chad dead in his tracks when Steve drove by us in the pits. We both looked at each other and did the car guy “that’s awesome” laugh. This is one serious little buzz saw of a motor!
PRESS PLAY BELOW TO SEE STEVE CLUKEY’S 416CI SMALL BLOCK MAKE SOME GREAT NOISE AND POWER!
This car comes sometimes up here in Canada at Napierville dragway. Surely the most pissed off idle i`ve heard.
This is my dads car. His best ever is a 8.95 @ 149.83
I would like a rough summary of the chassis modifications ,curb weight ,and engine specifications