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Aesquire
| | Posted on Sunday, December 06, 2020 - 10:45 am: | 
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Florida? Swimmers. Kids at the beach. Wet salt water towels and swim clothes. Flooding pretty common from hurricanes. And that's a known water trap area, as the drain holes are small and easily plugged.
That's in great shape. It's a small engine for a big car, but in the real world that just means you flog it more and use more potential, with a lot less risk of crashing or arrest. More speed is available.
My '77 van had the 360 w/2 bbl, and a crazy friend took the carb & did all the speed tricks normally applied to a big 4 bbl. Improved the power & mileage. Not a lot. My '79 van had the 318, & ended up with headers, Edelbrock intake, and got 20 mpg. & could do the one wheel peel just fine. I admit that it wasn't the fastest car in the 1/4 mile at the strip, but not the slowest either.
I'm serious about the "crate". In some distant future, the "numbers matching" OEM pos parts you save will be a treasure to the guy who wants to restore it to "all original". Spray with CLP and plastic bags.
To be honest, I didn't bother to with the van, since no one cared about them. That's changed.
In the last 30 years or so the "resto - mod" business went from poly bushings and semi metallic pads ( all we had in the 1980s ) to full suspension and brake kits to actually improve old classics to far better than original, for handling and braking. Crate the old stuff.
Or just polish and enjoy. |
Kmbuell
| | Posted on Monday, December 07, 2020 - 10:32 pm: |
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Love the grill on those, beer grill till the late model cop Chargers.
Looks great, Have fun planning and prepping. Great tribute to Mom as well |
Kmbuell
| | Posted on Monday, December 07, 2020 - 10:34 pm: |
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Damn auto correct! Best grill, not beer grill. |
Cmmagnussen
| | Posted on Monday, December 07, 2020 - 11:02 pm: |
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Mmmm.. beer grill  |
Zane
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 08, 2020 - 04:02 pm: |
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I've never grilled beer. Usually just drink it raw, out of the can. |
Shoggin
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 08, 2020 - 06:03 pm: |
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Raw beer!? Oh man thats risky.
I heard you can get brain poisoning like that. Symptoms are dizzy spells, bad balance, and even memory failure!
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Ratbuell
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 09, 2020 - 08:16 am: |
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...and kids...
 |
Ratbuell
| | Posted on Sunday, December 13, 2020 - 09:34 pm: |
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So, more fun with the Charger today (my one-day weekend this week). I replaced the engine mounts - both were torn, and the engine was sitting about 3" higher on the driver side than on the passenger side. Now, it sits nice and level. And I can close the hood without hitting the air cleaner.
I also cleaned the block where the stampings are - it looks like the motor was built one week before the car. Motor is stamped for June 30, 1970, and the car's build date was July 6, 1970! I also cleaned off the spot on the oil pan rail where the VIN gets stamped, and....IT'S A MATCH. 50 years old, still has the original engine!!
I have the interior out, and one of the new floor pieces is here. Waiting on the other piece (supposed to ship 12/22), and then it goes to my buddy's body shop to get them installed. Then, when it gets back, I reinstall the interior and start chasing wiring (if I haven't started before the body shop trip) - I still need to get the dash lights figured out, and there's a half-dozen freakin' WIRE NUTS under the hood, for splices - THOSE are gonna go away, and I'm going to fix the wires the right way.
Starting tomorrow, though, I officially have all winter to get it sorted - first snow tomorrow, BIG snow Wednesday...and it won't leave the property while there's salt on the roads. Body shop trip will be in the enclosed trailer. Next time on the road? Spring, after rain washes the salt away. |
Ratbuell
| | Posted on Sunday, January 03, 2021 - 11:26 pm: |
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So, the last couple weekends have been massive disassembly - removed the rusted out battery tray, pulled the steering wheel, dropped the column, pulled the dash cluster, and started going crosseyed with wiring diagrams.
Figured out the dash dimmer switch is bad, which is why no dash lights. Figured out which terminals to jump to make the lights come on, without dimmer function - headlights on, dash lights are "on", full power.
Ordered LED replacement bulbs. This thing was a pain in the ASS to remove, I don't want to do it again if at all possible.
Troubleshot the horn circuit. All continuity is good, needs a relay. Cleaned the contacts since I had the column apart anyway.
Rebuilt the cluster. Installed the LEDs. Built a 12vDC power supply for the house, so I could make sure polarity was right on the LEDs.
Cut and installed a small patch on the inner fender where one of the battery tray bolts attached. Installed my new tray - it actually supports the battery now! Installed the cluster in the dash, plugged everything in (theoretically in the right locations), hooked up the battery, and....
VICTORY!!
Put the rest of the dash and column back together. No extra pieces - bonus!
I'd also pulled all four marker lights and both taillights, and totally disassembled them. Cleaned all the lenses. Repainted the taillight reflectors. Cleaned all contacts. Rebuilt the taillights and the rear markers - the front markers take different bulbs (of course!), so I need to order a new pair before I can reassemble them. I silicone-sealed the rear markers to fight corrosion, and plan to do the same up front. New bulbs in the taillights - correct bulbs. 6 bulbs total, the 2 center ones are tail only and the four outer ones are tail and brake. They had the wrong bulbs in the inner ones and they looked like they were stuck on "brake" - looked pretty dumb.
And, I looked at the broken wire on the trunk light and decided to fix that, too.
I'm sick of wiring. But at least I didn't let any smoke out...still have a full jar.
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Pwnzor
| | Posted on Sunday, January 03, 2021 - 11:29 pm: |
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Is that odometer reading accurate????
If so, then ••••. |
Ratbuell
| | Posted on Monday, January 04, 2021 - 12:01 am: |
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I presume it's been around once. As such, I titled it "beyond mechanical limits".
It's a clean car...but not 6,000 miles clean. |
Court
| | Posted on Monday, January 04, 2021 - 06:57 am: |
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Awesome !
Love the Lucas smoke. |
Ratbuell
| | Posted on Monday, January 04, 2021 - 08:20 am: |
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Only thing I'm concerned about is the speedo cable. It's a 3/8" diameter (outer sheath) cable in a 1/2" space, and it is a BITCH to get into place.
I *think* I heard it click into place. It looked like it was seated. I hope it is.
Roads are solid ice, and what's not white with ice is white with salt.
I suspect I'll jack up the rear and put it in gear, and "drive" in the garage on jackstands to see if the speedo climbs. If it doesn't, I'd rather re-disassemble now while I have time, rather than wait until I'm missing driving time because of it. |
Court
| | Posted on Monday, January 04, 2021 - 10:03 am: |
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Does the speedo drive off the transmission ? |
Ratbuell
| | Posted on Monday, January 04, 2021 - 11:04 am: |
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Yep, off the tailshaft gear. I'm not worried if it's "right" - that's a relatively simple gear swap on the trans - unhook cable, remove one 3/8 bolt, swap in the correct colored gear (they're color-coded to rear end ratios and tire sizes). I just want to make sure it TURNS...otherwise I have to pull the entire *#^$&*%^(*&(#$ing dashboard apart. Again. |
Court
| | Posted on Monday, January 04, 2021 - 03:11 pm: |
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There is . . . if the inner (often square) piece is operating freely . . . a good chance you can spin it with your index finger and thumb enough to make the speedo jump.
Long shot . . . might work. |
Ratbuell
| | Posted on Monday, January 04, 2021 - 03:37 pm: |
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Easier to pop a couple jackstands under the diff and fire 'er up.
More fun, too - I can make the Flowmaster 'vroom-vroom' noises while I check it out!  |
Ourdee
| | Posted on Monday, January 04, 2021 - 09:38 pm: |
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Power braking doesn't require a jack or stands. Just sayng. |
Shoggin
| | Posted on Monday, January 04, 2021 - 11:25 pm: |
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Careful of the glass, Ferris. |
Ratbuell
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 05, 2021 - 07:55 am: |
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I won't be kicking the grille while it's up there.
And it has enough miles, I don't have to drive home backwards  |
Court
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 05, 2021 - 11:08 am: |
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Hahahahaha . . . we did that once "in the day" . . . . kind of borrowed a friends VW and about the time we hit downtown his little brother, in the back seat, mentioned that his dad had written down the mileage.
We backed all the way home.
I'm sure the mileage could not have been exactly the same . . but the story was fun. |
Tootal
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 06, 2021 - 11:28 am: |
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We took a biodegrading BMW 2002 on a time distance rally. The owner of the rust bucket was driving, I was navigating and the guy in the back seat was providing comic relief and dispensing beers. Somehow we managed to take a wrong turn and when we realized it we had driven quite a ways. Since the lower dash cover was missing I reached up under the dash and disconnected the speedometer cable and we drove like crazy to get back on course. At some point I suggested we hook it back up so we did. When we finished the rally our mileage was within .7 miles of where it was supposed to be and we took first place!! However, after we finally stopped laughing, we admitted our guilt and gave the first place prize to the runner up. I think it was a radar detector. We still laugh about that one today. |
Ratbuell
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 06, 2021 - 03:32 pm: |
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Seems to be 2002 thing. A friend in high school had one. I went to HS inside the DC beltway, and one night (2am? 3am?) we had the bright idea to see how quickly we could orbit the beltway. Note: 45 minutes is an extremely fast lap..."or so I'm told"  Some friends found out about it and thought themselves better drivers, so we did it again on another night. That second night...the 2002 had different ideas, as halfway through the lap I felt a "CLUNK", the car settled down on the right rear corner, and I watched out the passenger window as the right rear wheel, hub, brake, and halfshaft went rolling past the car.
At triple digit speeds.
I still wonder how I've managed to survive all these years. I guess I'm just to onery to die... |
Chauly
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 06, 2021 - 03:42 pm: |
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I had that happen with an old CJ Jeep when my friend swapped the front brake drums inadvertently. He didn't think it would matter that the left side had left-hand threads on the lug nuts. It did. We walked back along the grass track and found all five! The wheel was 100 yards further ahead... |
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