Fools Gold - Jody Babcock - This wicked street/strip turbocharged Mopar is one cool father/son

This wicked street/strip turbocharged Mopar is one co 8

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Story by George Pich Photos by Matt Trombley

ool father/son project! www.rpmmag.com

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Jody & Jared Babcock’s Gold Duster AKA “Fools Gold” may be an original 22,000 mile find, but once you take note of the big tires filling the wheelwells and the chute to help the turbocharged beast slow after a hard hit at the track, all bets are off.

“We purchased this car as an original stock 6 cylinder Gold Duster in 2013,” tells Jody Babcock of the rare find Mopar.

The car was bought with a plan in mind, and that plan was for Jody to build it with his son Jared through his early teens, and then by the time he was old enough to drive and race, it would be his to do so with.

The Gold Duster name was actually an option package offered by Plymouth that started mid-way through the 1970 model year. It consisted mostly of badging, gold stripes, upgraded seats, carpeting, insulation and a vinyl roof. Although it was offered with the 340 engine, many were base 6-cylinder offerings. As you can imagine, this particular car, equipped with the “leanwww.rpmmag.com

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ing tower of power” Slant 6 engine and a few extra bells and whistles added to the base Duster’s very minimalist trim, was not the most popular in the lineup. But still, they’re rare and we think having one 48 years later is pretty cool.

The car ended up near the Babcock’s home in Battle Creek, Michigan when the previous owner shipped it from Northern California with hopes of building it into a 340 clone. That never happened, though, as Jody stepped in to buy it.

Having been raised in a car oriented family, Jody had the horsepower bug since he was old enough to drive. “My first car was a 1967 Plymouth Belvedere II which I still own. I raced the car on the street and track occasionally,” he said.

After taking a break from cars to raise a family, Jody decided it was time to get the family into cars. By the time his son Jared reached his teens

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275/60/15 Mickey Thompson ET Street Radials the rear wheelwells nicely and you can just catc glimpse of the Caltrac bars if you look hard eno 12

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A nice clean small block Mopar with single turbo install made possible through the skills of Jody that were passed down to his son during this build.

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And it all fits under a flat hood, which is interestingly one of the reasons Chrysler first built the Slant 6 that originally occupied this space; to provide a lower profile engine.

The engine is a Brett Miller built 358 inch Mopar creation, originally commission for NASCAR use.

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.100" .200" .300" .400" .500" .600" .700"

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59 113 171 215 240 252 258

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The original interior is near-perfect. How about those wood grain infused door panels and bench seat with armrest, now that is class!

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Owner-built chromoly c run 8.50 in

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cage work is certified to the ¼ mile.

There is nothing hidden on this car by body and paint work

he was more interested in going to the track with his dad, so Jody decided to buy a car for a father/ son project, specifically, a Duster.

This Gold Duster was an unmolested, original paint survivor car with only 22,000 miles on it, so a perfect candidate. “I am a fabricator for a living and had done numerous cages and a lot of turbo fabrication for other people, so I knew we had to build a turbo combination,” said Babcock. And once that decision was made he would find a used R3W8 NASCAR engine to snap up and use as a base for the project.

The pair, along with patients from the rest of the family and help from some friends, built the car 100% in their home garage over the course of about 7 years.

“Being a fabricator for a living, I

wanted to make sure that my son had some skills in the garage, even if he chose to make a living some other way. He was involved in every step of the build and was hands-on throughout,” he added.

Jody stressed also that the length of time to build the car had a lot to do with budget, “It is a 100% debt free build” he said proudly.

The unibody frame was braced and tied and an 8.50-certified chromoly cage was fabricated.

Up front, Tory Shellehamer built a chromoly coilover conversion with tubular upper and lower control arms, Menscer double adjustable coilover shocks and rack and pinion steering. A custom width Dana Strange S-60 rearend with 3.54 gears, spool and DTS girdle cover is suspended by a Calvert mono leaf system with Calvert bars and double adjustable coilovers.

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A Strange Dana S60 rear was shortened and filled with 3.54 gears, a spool and a capped with a DTS girdled cover.

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A custom cooler for the turbo along with a fuel cell and battery take up some of the trunk space, but amazingly there’s still room to spare.

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The Holley EFI dash is barely noticeable among the factory dash and gauges.

Twin “340 Four Barrel” hood scoops are a nice touch.

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A complete conversion has taken place up front of the Duster which includes a tubular k-member and control arms, coilover shocks and rack and pinion steering.

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Jody And Jared Babcock’s 1972 Plymouth Gold Duster Street/Strip car Chassis Type & Mods: Uni- body, Frame tied, 8.50 Chromoly cage.

Suspension: Front suspension is a Tory Shellehamer Chromoly coil over conversion with Menscer double adj. coil over shocks.

Rear suspension is Calvert mono leafs and bars with Menscer double adj. shocks.

Body & Paint: Original. 22,000 mile, 100% original paint car from Northern California.

Engine: Brett Miller built 358 inch Mopar race block, W8 Mopar race cylinder heads, billet solid roller turbo cam.

Rotating Assembly: Billet Winberg crank, Carrillo rods, Diamond custom turbo pistons.

Induction: Cast Mopar 598 race intake manifold, 90mm throttle body.

Power Adder: Single turbo.

Electronics: Holley Dominator EFI.

Transmission & Converter: PTC aftermarket Glide and PTC converter.

Rear Differential: Custom width Strange S-60, 3.54 gear, spool, DTS girdle cover.

Other Important Information about the Vehicle: This car was a father/son project started when my son was 11. We built the car to be a local No/Time grudge car that we could street drive, and race in the Mopar heads up 10.5 class. Throughout the build he has learned how to work with tools and do a little welding. This whole car was built in our garage and wasn’t finished until he was 18 (he’s 19 now). My plan to get him involved paid off as he just purchased a first gen S-10 for our next turbo build.

How Many Years Racing: Around 20 years with my old car, and my son is just starting his racing career.

Thanks To: First I would like to Thank my wife Michele and daughter McKenzie for putting up with us being in the garage a lot of late nights. Thanks to Brett Miller for the engine work, Tory Shellehamer for the front end work, Rick Trunkett for combination advice and engine tuning, Tim Clow for helping us a lot on the car and laptop. Thank you!

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Stand clear when you hear the duster fire up as a single bull horn exhaust exits spent gases out the right front.

The single turbo mill is a Brett Miller built 358-inch Mopar race block stuffed with a billet Winberg crank, Carrillo rods, Diamond custom turbo pistons and billet solid roller turbo cam. A pair of W8 Mopar race cylinder heads are studded in place and a Mopar 598 race intake is fed by a 90mm throttle body, controlled by a Holley Dominator EFI system. A PTC Powerglide trans and PTC converter send the boosted ponies rearward.

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When you step inside the car, aside from the cage, Holley digital dash, some harnesses and shifter, you’d swear you were at the lot test driving Plymouth’s latest muscle car offering. Much of the pristine factory interior, including bench seat with armrest, has been retained and really gives the car a cool factory original vibe.

Jody feels the most unique feature is the car’s original paint and condition. “There is nothing hidden on

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this car by body and paint work,” he said. That, plus the fact that the car’s performance the very first time to the track exceeded their planned performance goals, and everything else from here on is, Jody says, “just icing on the cake”.

As for the most memorable experience with Fools Gold to date; “It would be getting to the point where I actually got to see my son drive it for the first time. That was an amazing moment for me.”

RPM