quote Originally posted by TheDuke: As for the engine, I'm aware that pretty much everyone on here thinks the duke is not worth it and it's a better idea to swap engines but I am not interested in doing that...

You're the one who mentioned the "swap" word first, in your opening post.

The duke will be fine for your son. I enjoyed driving my '84 (with a transplanted 5-spd). Heck I even autocrossed it for a couple of years. What several of us are warning you about is throwing money at a duke and perhaps expecting too much of a performance return on your investment. Remember, a bone stock 2.8 is 140 HP... and it's very doubtful you'll get a re-worked duke to run reliably at anywhere near that output.

The guy I bought it from has one he put a Cadillac 500ci in

I did say swap in that I said I wasn't doing that, you had me wondering, I had to go back and look. In any event I wanted to pull as much as I could out of it, turns out depending on who you listen to there are claims of 200+hp builds. Which is to say it's possible to do, but what I'm gathering is that it makes it a very short lived increase. I'm pretty sure after reading all that I can on here about 2.5 builds, which isn't nearly as extensive as swaps, that 120hp still gives you reliability and longevity. Would that be pretty widely confirmed?

I did some looking around at one point, they did make a “super-duty” Dukie. While there certainly isn’t an aftermarket for duke like ther is for an LS engine, But an engine is like an air pump; increase air and fuel for more power. I know there is a few pages on the internet with some good duke upgrade starting point.
I agree, everyone needs to learn manual. It’s still cheaper and better in this internet persons opinion. As to future swap, a 3800 with a supercharger is crazy good, cheap swap, and fits well.

quote Originally posted by TheDuke: I'm pretty sure after reading all that I can on here about 2.5 builds...

Just in case you missed anything, have a look Here and Here.

There are no doubt plenty of other threads (found by using different search terms), but this should keep you out of trouble for awhile.

Wow Patrick, your search bar must have gone to school longer than mine. Those are really good posts, thanks.