Doug Markel's 1973 Duster *Orange Sunshine*

Orange Sunshine   is a 1973 Plymouth Duster owned and built by Doug Markel , from Gibsonburg, Ohio.

Doug said he has owned the car for the last 9 years. He purchased the Duster from his good friend  from Hamilton Ohio who also races. When he found out he was looking for a car he contacted Doug and said he didn't need two race cars so he bought the Duster as a rolling chassis . 

Doug added the power plant, transmission, gears and  electronics along with some neglected TLC. He said it's been a lot of fun, racing and making  many friends along the way, at the race track.

Some of specifications include a Ladder Bar rear suspension with a 9" rear and 4:30 gears.  Big 14x32- r15 Goodyear Slicks handle all the power that big Mopar engine throws down.

The front end consists of a Tubular K- Member fitted with stock-style torsion bars.

For the power plant we have a Big-Block Wedge Stroked to 500 Cu In. For this combination Doug chose to stroke a  400-B block. He filled it with  Ross Pistons, .030 oversized bore with 14:1  compression. The  bullet was Machined & assembled by Graham Performance Engines.

The top end features a pair of Max -Wedge Stage VI Mopar Heads, They were fully CNC Ported by KG Engines. The valves are lifted by 1.7 Intake and 1.6 Exhaust rockers. On the bench they flowed 374 CFM @ 700 Lift . A custom hydraulic Clay Smith cam was ground to 640 lift . An Edelbrock Super Victor Intake with a 1050 Dominator Carb. supplies the  E85 fuel.

The engine was Dyno'd at Graham Performance Engines and it made 784hp and 750 ft/lb torque at 6400 rpm. Gear-Shifting is handled by a 727 Torque Flight Transmission with a trans-brake.

 

 

Doug said likes to race the Box/Super Pro Class through out the season. The majority of the events I participate in are the Chrysler Classic and Mopar races held through out Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and an occasional trip to Tennessee.

I try a couple times a month to get to Milan Michigan for their Sunday points race. But in 2021 Milan has closed their doors.

All the race venues except Summit Motor Sports Park in Norwalk is 1/8 mile racing in the Super Pro class. The car is very consistent with a dial of 6.23 in the 1/8 and 9.78 in the 1/4 mile.

 

 

 

   Here is a shot of Doug's office

 

 

 

 

Here is a view of the delay box that Doug uses to keep very consistent.

 

 

Doug would like to thank Mike Graham at Graham Performance Engines, Dave Moroschan at KG Engines and a couple real good buddies who help him in the pits and also help work on the car (Dave Eschedor & Rob Graham).

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Thanks Doug, for sharing The Orange Sunshine Duster with us , we look forward to updating your story as the team progresses !

                                         All photos courtesy of Douglas Markel 2021.