The Mopar Motorhead

Front Seat Adjusters Upgrade

2012-02-04T13:46:00.000-05:00

The front seats from the Barracuda were removed during the floor pan replacement project. This allowed me to inspect the seats to determine what kind of condition they were in and to map out any repairs. I also wanted to see if a spacer could be installed to raise the seats a tad in order to eliminate the low rider feel of the seating.

The first thing I noticed was the metal adjusters were attached to a wooden 2”x2”x13" which was then attached to the seat. The 2”x2”x13" was notched to allow space for the adjuster handle. I don’t know if this was stock or not but it looked a bit hokey to me. In fact, I now wonder if these are even the original seats. The upholstery is definitely not original. I have not been able to find any pictures of the original set-up so I am hoping to check it out on someone’s car at a show this summer.

I first disassembled the adjusters remembering, for a change, to label all the parts. Next, I mocked up the seats in the car using wooden blocks to test various spacing. Once, I found a height I liked, I measured the wooden blocks. This gave the new seat to floor dimension which only added about 1” to the original height.

The original set-up used 2”x2”x13" wood blocks sandwiched between the adjusters the seats. Then additional wooden spaces were installed between the adjusters and the floor. How about this idea? I decided to replace the wood with metal. From an on-line metal supplier I bought some 2”x2” square tubing cut to length. I also ordered a handful of 2”x2”x1” bar stock to use as spacers. I still had to drill all the metal parts for bolt holes but that was easily accomplished on the drill press.

The new set-up consisted of the seat, a 1” spacer and the adjusters all bolted directly to the seat. The 1” spacer gave me the additional height I wanted and provided space for the adjuster mechanism. Finally, another 1” space replaced the wood spacer and is installed between the adjuster and the floor. This description sucks so check out the pictures.

Before assembling all these parts, I cleaned up the adjusters then gave them a nice coat of paint. The new metal was sanded, cleaned and painted too. The original floor boards had several sets of wallowed out holes where the seats had been mounted and remounted numerous times. The new sheet metal floors eliminated some of the holes and I welded up all the other ones. I set the reassembled seats back in the car and marked the location of the mounting bolts. Next, I drilled a new set of holes for each seat. Finally, the seats were test fit. All good.

After everything was test fit, the seats came back out of the car. I am still working on the floorboards plus I plan on getting the seats reupholstered before the final, final installation.

1964 Plymouth Barracuda

2011-12-15T16:23:00.001-05:00

The Barracuda beat the Mustang to market by two weeks (April 1, 1964). It was rushed to market as a direct competitor to the new Mustang. From 1964 through 1969 the Barracuda was an A-Body. It was replaced with the more famous E-body version for 1970 through 1974.

The 1964 Barracuda was actually just an option package for the Plymouth Valiant. The fastback Barracuda was identical to the Valiant sedan hardtop from the centerline of the car on down. Stylist Milt Antonick added a massive, wraparound back window. The huge window exposed 2,074 square inches of glass. The window let in so much sun; it was tinted to cut down on solar heat gain. The extra weight of the glass made the Barracuda about 100 pounds heavier than a Valiant sedan hardtop. The unusual fishbowl window was either loved or hated by the public.

The base engine was a 225 slant 6 with a 145 horsepower. Performance for the slant six was 0-60 mph in around 14 seconds, with a top speed of around 95 mph. A 273 cubic inch V8 was available with 180 hp. The 273 c.i. equipment Fish would run 0-60 in 12.9 sec, and traverse the quarter mile in 17.8 @ 72 mph. Top speed for the V8 was just over 100 mph. Gas mileage was 16-19 mpg.

With awkward looks and only average performance, the Plymouth Valiant Barracuda fastback only sold 23,443 units in its short 1964 season which was worse than the previous year's Valiant Signet. The Mustang kicked the Barracuda’s butt in sales outselling it by more than 8 to 1.

The Barracuda body style changed significantly with the 1966 model year. The 1964 and 1965 Barracudas and Valiants do share some parts but the low production numbers makes finding restoration parts difficult. Also the market for reproduction parts is small. The repro parts that are available are expensive.

Garage Door Upgrade to the Mopar Motorhead Cave

2011-12-01T13:57:00.000-05:00

My garage has an 8’ x 7’ and a 16’ x 7’ garage door. The doors are the typical builder grade, single thickness panel with no insulation. That’s 168 square feet of R-value ZERO. Hopeless to heat in the winter. I had considered adding insulation to the inside of the door. Lowe’s even sells kits.

The big 16 foot door was always was noisy going up and down. Then thanks to my neighbors playing golf in their front yard, a sliced ball banged off the door leaving a nice dent. Over time the flexing of the door traveling up and down caused a crack to start in the corner of the dent. Over the last year the crack has grow and multiplied to the point that every time we closed the door, the top panel would visibly flex and make a horrendous noise. My normal maintenance plan is “run to failure” which is exactly what happened. One day I hit the close button, “Bang, Crash, Boom,” and the door stopped half way down. On inspection, the bracket that connects the door to the opener had been ripped off the door and was lying in the middle of the floor. A couple of the interior cross supports were bent almost a foot from straight. The door panels were so bent out of alignment that I could not even shut the door manually. It was dead.

Time for a new door. I have actually installed garage doors in the past but never a big 16 foot door. We decide to have a new door installed by Costco, no less. Since we were replacing anyway we decided to upgrade. We spec’ed out a door with two-layer construction sandwiching a 1” layer of insulation with windows along the top which has an R-value of around 8. We also decided to replace the 8 foot door at the same time.

I was amazed by the 2 guys doing the installation. In less than 3 hours, they had removed the old doors and installed the new ones. Wow, what a difference! The cave is not such a cave anymore. The light really brightens the space. The test will come this winter when I fire up my little propane heater.

WD-40 - The Duct Tape of Lubricants

2011-11-15T10:50:00.000-05:00

I don’t know about your garage but in mine, I have cans of WD-40 all over the place. I use it for everything. It is the universal lubricant. I’ll admit it may not be the best solution for every lubrication problem but I usually give it a shot as a first try especially since a can is always at hand.

A recent Popular Mechanics article reported on a test of WD-40 in five applications against lubricants designed specifically for the application (loosening rusted bolts, freeing up rusted compression rings, lubricating bike chains, cleaning and lubricating firearms and silencing squeaky doors). In all cases, WD-40 lost! My bubble is burst.

You can read the article yourself (as long as the link stays alive) at Popular Mechanics WD-40.

Ok, so it was not the best at those five applications. I can think of lots of others uses. In fact, entire websites exist just to list all the uses. Here’s just a few from Joey Green's Wacky Uses for WD-40 website:

· Attract fish. When sprayed on fishing bait, WD-40 covers up the scent of human hands on the bait to better lure fish, according to USA Today. The WD-40 Company receives hundreds of letters from consumers confirming this use, but prefers not to promote WD-40 as a fishing lure since the petroleum-based product could potentially pollute rivers and streams, damaging the ecosystem.

· Cure Mange. While spraying a dog with WD-40 gets rid of parasitic mites, according to USA Today, the WD-40 Company, feeling that the potential misuse of the product is too great, refuses to condone using WD-40 to cure mange on animals.

· Remove a ring stuck on a finger. Several medical journals claim that WD-40 is the perfect cure for a toe stuck in the bathtub faucet, a finger stuck in soda bottle, or a ring stuck on a finger.

· Remove baked-on food from a cookie pan. Spray WD-40 on cookie pan and wipe clean. Then wash with soap and water.

· Take squeaks out of new shoes. Spray WD-40 into the leather and shine.

· Free a tongue stuck to frozen metal in winter. Spray WD-40 on the metal around the tongue.

WD-40 actually is short for “Water Displacement #40”. The product began from a search for a rust preventative solvent and degreaser to protect missile parts. WD-40 was created in 1953 by three technicians at the San Diego Rocket Chemical Company. Its name comes from the project that was to find a 'water displacement' compound. They were successful with the fortieth formulation, thus WD-40. The Convair Company bought it in bulk to protect their atlas missile parts.

A Few More Local Car Shows

2011-10-20T15:53:00.000-04:00

August 20, 2011 - A Midsummer Night's Dream Car & Cycle Show at Longs Park in Lancaster, PA

The Mopar iron was really out at this show! It was a good overall show. I was able to concentrate my picture taking to just Mopars. The park was big so plenty of space for parking show cars although spectator parking was at a premium.

One of my favorites at the show was this 1964 Dodge Dart with a hopped up slant six. What a beautiful engine compartment. Check out those headers. This what I would like to do to the slant six in my Barracuda.

1964 Dodge Dart

Awesome Slant Six

Fins

1968 Charger

More Midsummer Night's Dream Pictures Here

September 17, 2011 – Chariots of Fire at the Boeing Facilities in Essington, PA

Several car shows have been rained out this season. I was worried that this show would be another victim to our recent very wet weather. The skies were overcast and the temperatures on the cool side. A few sprinkles came down while I was there but not enough to chase anyone away.

My favorite of the show was this not quite stock 1970 Dodge Challenger Convertible. How about that engine? It’s a HEMI. That had to be a tight squeeze shoe horning the motor in to the engine bay.

1970 Dodge Challenger

HEMI!!!!!

1967 Plymouth GTX

Super Commando

More Chariots of Fire Pictures Here

September 18, 2011 – Hagley Car Show in Wilmington, DE

I may be a bit biased about this show since my wife is the registrar and on the car show committee but it was one great show this year. Hagley Museum and Library is a great venue for a car show. A diverse collection of around 600 cars was parked on the show field. Dennis Gage from My Classic Car was in attendance filming for an upcoming episode. This year’s feature was “Rumble Seats”. Plus a second feature celebrated “100 Years of Chevrolet” with a display of Chevys from each decade.

1935 Dodge Coupe

1966 Plymouth Barracuda

1970 Plymouth Fury III

More Hagley Car Show Pictures Here

October 8 – AACA Hershey Eastern Fall Meet in Hershey, PA

The Hershey show is not for everyone. This 4-day show is heavily slanted towards pre-war cars although AACA classes run through 1986. It is all about stock restorations. You are not going to see any modified cars here. The swap meet is awesome but don’t wait to the last day. Folks are packing up by then. Also wear good walking shoes if you go. I’m sure I walked more than a mile just to get from my parking spot to the show field. By the time I looked at the show cars and the car corral, I was done.

I thought the 1955 Chrysler 300 was the best car of the show. It was perfect. I don’t think it looked that good brand new. The 1936 Dodge Convertible was a close second. The owner told me he has been bringing the car to Hershey for 10 years.

1953 Dodge Pickup

1936 Dodge Convertible

1955 Chrysler 300

More Hershey Pictures Here

October 16 – Historical Car Club of Pennsylvania Fall Meet – Media, PA

This was my last car show for the season. The show was held at the Delaware County Community College. The HCCP put on a good show. They also have a flea market which is really a cross between a car part swap meet and a garage sale.

I did not take a lot of pictures at this show. Too busy gawking at the cars. I really liked the 1978 Lil Red Express and the 1940 Plymouth Sedan.

1978 Lil Red Express

Indian Motorcycle - Sort of?

1940 Dodge Sedan

Flat Head

More HCCP Pictures Here

Floor Pan Replacement – Part 4 – Let the Welding Begin

2011-09-26T14:03:00.000-04:00

It’s July. It’s 100 °F. Let’s start welding!

As I mentioned in previous posts, I am not a welder. I got a short lesson from my friend Wayne and I practiced on some scrap metal. Plus, how could I forget, I watched a couple YouTube videos. I figured welding in floor pans would be the best welding education possible. As a bonus, those crappy looking welds would be covered by carpet!

I started by tack welding around the perimeter of each panel trying not to overheat any one area causing the metal to warp. After, the first go round, I decided to switch from the flux core wire I was using to solid core and shield gas. Maybe it is my imagination but the next pass around the perimeter seemed to go better.

Most of the welding and grinding complete.

I also used plug welds to secure the pans to the sub-frames and support brackets. These plug welds required some adjustment of the welder power and wire feed rate. One thing I learned is not to be afraid of making adjustments to the welder. Lots of variables come in to play so if the weld looks or sounds bad, make an adjustment. I noticed right away that when I welded near stampings in the original floor pans, I quickly blew right through the metal. I guess those stampings cause the metal to be just a little thinner in those areas. I learned to cut back the power as a neared any stamped areas.

Passenger's side - front

It was slow going but went pretty well. Except for the heat . . and the welding fumes . . and the fire. Round and round I went. Eventually, all the dots were connected (literally) and I had a continuous weld around the perimeter of the pans. I was amazed at how it tightened up the entire car. I could actually stand in the car without fear of falling through.

Even with the pans welded in place, I still had to cut several batches from sheetmetal to fill holes that the new pans did not cover. Between my inexperience and all those short welds it all looked pretty ugly. So next, I broke out the old grinder. Welding fumes may be bad but metal dust is worse. This job required a face shield and respirator at all times. The grinding was actually much harder than the welding but had to be done.

Driver's side - rear.

I still have a bunch of holes to fill in. Some previous owner must have relocated the seats several times. I am not sure which ones are the original so I am filling them all then I will re-drill. It’s slowly getting there.

Floor Pan Replacement – Part 3 – Starting to Come Together

2011-09-20T14:02:00.000-04:00

I am a little behind in my postings and a little out of sync. I did most of this work in June/July before I had the fire mentioned in the previous post. I’ve got some catching up to do on the blog.

With all the rusty metal removed, it was time to fit in the new floor pans. In most areas the floor pans from Auto Body Specialties covered more area than what I had removed so they needed to be trimmed to fit. In several places, the patch panels did not cover all the rusted areas that I cut out. Custom batches would be required and they won’t be made from old soda cans!

Floor pan trimmed and drilled.

My initial plan was to use butt joints to install the pans. I quickly saw a couple of problems. First, this requires a pretty tight fit between the two pieces being welded together. The gap needs to be about the thickness of a dime. I did not have the metal cutting tools that would allow me to make that accurate of a cut. Heck, I was using tin snips and a cutting wheel to trim the pans. Second, after practicing my welding on scrap sheetmetal, I determined that filling that small gap with a weld without burning through the surrounding metal was quite difficult. My friend Wayne showed me how to back the joint with a dissimilar metal to aid in filling the gap. This method works great but in practice, I either did not have good access to the back side of the joint or the surface was too curved to attach a backer. Deciding to keep it simple for my first welding project, I went with a lap joint.

White spots mark locations to be cleaned before welding.

I started fitting the pans by setting them in place then tracing the opening in the floor from underneath the car. With the floor pans removed and lying on the garage floor, I drew a second line about ½” outside of the traced line. Then, I cut on this second line creating a ½” overlap. This was followed by lots of test fitting, trimming and test fitting again. This was very time consuming and I made more than a few errors.

Some sheetmetal screws in place but hard to see.
Note gaps the patch panels don't cover.

Once the pans fit as well as possible, I marked the locations of the sub-frame rails and other support brackets on the bottom of the pans. I next drilled a series of 3/8” holes that aligned with these support features. Eventually, I will plug weld the pans in place through these holes.

With the newly trimmed and drilled floor pans sitting in their final resting place, I installed small sheet metal screws around the perimeter of each pan and also through the pans into the sub-frame and support brackets.

Almost looks like a solid car floor!

I think we are ready to weld!

Fire!

2011-08-14T22:10:00.000-04:00

I had a little mishap on Saturday that could have turned into a disaster but for the quick thinking of my son and a piece of never before used safety equipment. Saturday afternoon, I was inside the Barracuda welding the third and last floor pan into the car. I was stitch welding a long joint on the transmission hump. First, I noticed that all of a sudden the joint was illuminated much better. It appeared to be backlit from below as if someone placed a bright drop light under the car. Almost at the same time, I noticed smoke coming in through several, yet to be welded, joints and holes in the floor. Then smoke started bellowing up on both sides of the car. I had a fire! This all took place in a matter of seconds.

I immediately knew what happened. Welding sparks had dropped onto and ignited a large piece of cardboard I had under the car to catch a variety of oil and transmission fluid leaks. I panicked. I could see the entire car going up in flames and taking the entire house with it.

I threw down the welding gun and my helmet and ran into the house to get water. I never thought about the garden hose just outside the garage door. I was shouting, “Fire! Fire!” as I burst into the kitchen. I started filling up a gallon pitcher with water. My son ran for the fire extinguisher that has hung, unused, in our pantry for 8 years.

We both sprinted back to the garage. I flung my water with little effect. He hit the fire with just one blast from the extinguisher and the fire went out. I dragged the still smoldering piece of cardboard into the yard. I used the garden hose to completely put out any remnants of fire. Next, we surveyed the damage. Surprisingly, other then the extinguisher chemical coating everything in the garage, I only noticed a little soot on the underside of the car. Thanks to the quick thinking of my son and a fire extinguisher that we had almost forgotten about, a disaster was prevented.

It took the rest of the afternoon to clean up the mess. The first thing Sunday morning, I was at Lowe’s buying two new fire extinguishers; one to replace the used one from the pantry and a nice big one that I mounted right on the wall next to the garage door. I learned a lot of lessons from this little incident but the biggest one is to not take fire for granted.

1967 Dodge Coronet R/T

2011-08-02T14:30:00.002-04:00

I thought I would add a new feature to the blog. Occasionally, I will post some specifications and information on one of my favorite cars or just a car that interests me. If anyone has a particular Mopar they would like to see featured just post a comment of send me an email.

A 1967 Dodge Coronet R/T in Bright Blue Metallic with either the 440 or the 426 Hemi is definitely on my short list of cars that I would like to own. Wouldn't it make a geat birthday gift (hint, hint dear wife)? The 1967 Dodge Coronet only had a few body changes over the 1966 model. The changes included a face-lifted front and rear plus simulated air vents and racing stripes added to the body sides. Completely new for ’67 was the R/T package (Road/Track). The R/T package included a Charger-like grille but not the retractable headlights like the Charger. Also included were a non-functional hood scoop, R/T emblems, front bucket seats and lots of suspension goodies. The Coronet R/T was available as either a 2 door hardtop ($3,199) or a convertible ($3,438). The standard motor was the 440ci V8 rated at 375bhp or for just an additional $908 you could get the 426ci Hemi rated at a whopping 425bhp.

Only 10,181 1967 Dodge Coronet R/Ts were produced of which only 238 were Hemi powered. A convertible option was also available with 628 topless cars rolling out the factory doors. Performance was billed at 0-60 in 7 seconds and 15.4 seconds in the ¼ mile for the R/T 440/375. For the 426/425 times of 0-60 in 6.1 seconds and 14.5 seconds in the ¼ mile were a bit faster. Not too shabby for a 3,600 lb car.

Today’s asking prices for a decent R/T with a 440ci are around $30,000. I saw a nice looking Hemi R/T advertised for sale in West Chester, PA at one of those shyster muscle car brokers’ websites for $89,000. Let’s just say “Big Bucks.”

From Mopar Musle Magazine

For Sale on AutoTrader for $28,500

I Swear, No Car Shows Next Weekend

2011-07-20T11:58:00.000-04:00

This past weekend was a great weekend for car shows. We spent both Saturday and Sunday (and Wednesday night) checking out great cars at a couple of pretty cool venues. This did not leave much time to work on the Barracuda but I needed the inspiration.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011 – Top Dead Center Motor Club Cruise Night at the Thorndale VFW

TDC Motor Club is a local Chester County, PA club. They usually have very good group turn out at local shows. I thought I would check out their Cruise Night. A nice selection of cars was in attendance. The good news is that I finally ran into fellow EVBCer Steve and his way cool 1966 Barracuda. The bad news is that I swallowed a bug.

1968 Dodge Coronet R/T

More pictures from the show here.

Saturday, July 16, 2011 – National Chrysler Products Club at Peddler’s Village

I had never heard of this National Chrysler Products Club nor had I ever been to Peddler’s Village. The shopping enticed my wife and daughter to tag-along. I looked at cars while they shopped. This was a judged show which brought out a field of outstanding Mopars of all years.

1970 Plymouth Superbird

More pictures from the show here.

Sunday, July 17, 2011 – Delco Cruisers Downtown Media Car Show

This was another big show sponsored by a local car club. Several streets in Media, PA were cordoned off. Cars lined both sides of all the streets in the show area. A live band was set up on one street, as well as, several DJs at other locations. All the local restaurants were open for business. The Delco Cruisers really had it organized. It was a real block party.

1967 Dodge D100

Yes, it's a Hemi!

More picture from the show here.

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Rust Never Sleeps

2011-07-20T11:38:00.000-04:00

In the process of removing the gas tank, I got up close and personal with the trunk. The trunk area had been re-painted with the typical gray/white spatter finish. I noticed a few areas where the paint was flaking off. Also, a couple of areas looked “thicker” than stock. I started poking around with a scraper only to uncover several very rusty spots that will require welded in patches.

A previous owner used their favorite patch product; a flattened Slice soda can, to cover the holes. Then they piled on either seam sealer or undercoating over the patch. Finally, they re-sprayed the trunk to hide the repair. It did not look too bad but just not very durable.

Do they even still make Slice?

Note tire visible through hole.

Fuel System Overhaul – Part 1

2011-07-13T15:43:00.000-04:00

Since my floorboard replacement project calls for welding very close to the fuel line and gas tank, I decided to remove all the gasoline from the tank and lines. I started by siphoning the gasoline from the tank. The tank contained less than 5 gallons which I added to the gasoline can for my mower. That old Craftsman will burn anything. I did notice a fair amount of solid particles coming through with the gasoline.

This led me to the idea of overhauling the entire fuel system from the tank to the carburetor. The plan was to remove and clean the gas tank. Replace the level sender in the tank. Replace the steel fuel lines and maybe replace the fuel pump. If you recall from previous posts, my gas gauge does not work and I still have problems with the carburetor. Maybe bad gas and/or a rusty gas tank are the culprits.

To start the project, I flipped open my trusty service manual to page 14-79. The tank disassembly procedure was short so I’m thinking easy. One of the first steps was to remove 5 screws that secure the gas filling tube to the tank. I searched and searched but no 5 screws. The filler tube sort of disappeared into the hatch area and the carpet seemed to be hiding the screws. So out came all the carpet from behind the back seat (hatch area). This revealed a sheet metal pan that forms the hatch area. This needed to come out too. But the pan would not come out until the folding panel separating the hatch area from the trunk was removed. With all this removed the 5 screws were revealed! The rest of the job was simple. The J-bolts and tank supporting strap were removed. The passenger side of the tank was lowered. A little twisting, turning and wiggling freed the tank from the filler tube. The filler tube remained in place in the car which makes me wonder why I even needed to remove those 5 pesky screws. The screws really only held a seal in place.

Next came the cleaning of the tank. First, I poured out the remaining few ounces of gasoline. It was a nasty red/brown color. Think rust. I could not feed that crap to my Craftsman so I let it evaporate in a bucket. Next, I removed the sending unit. It was in bad shape. A scraper and scrub brush got most of the accumulated road dirt of the outside of the tank. Now, how to clean the inside? The Google consensus was: your pick of solvents, a handful of rocks and lots of shaking. One industrious dude posted a YouTube video of his ATV on jack stands with the gas tank strapped to the rear wheel and the throttle taped open. Effective but noisy. I used acetone, rocks and one son. After 3 or 4 iterations, the spent acetone was a little less brown. It was good enough to move to the next step which was soap and water, rocks, and more shaking. Finally, I flushed the tank several times to remove all the soap.

I then peered into the tank to admire my handwork. It was pretty dark in there. I noticed a bunch of white specks in the tank. What the heck were they? Oh, no. Sunshine! Yes, the darn tank had a bunch of pinholes in it. I guess these could be welded up but as it turns out, new tanks are relative cheap and readily available from several sources. Lucky for the mailman, the gas is very light.

Chryslers at Carlisle 2011

2011-07-12T14:25:00.000-04:00

On July 9th, I made my annual pilgrimage to Carlisle, PA for the 2011 Mopar Nationals. This year my oldest son and my friend’s son went along for the ride. I was a little apprehensive about the turn out since the number of cars at the recent Carlisle GM show was low. I feared the economy or gasoline prices would reduce the attendance. Wrong-o, the place was packed. The show was freakin’ awesome. It’s really too much for just one day. We tried to cover as much ground as possible but I know we missed a lot. If I ever get my car on the road, I will go for the entire weekend.

The Early Valiant/Barracuda Club tent was up in its usual spot but in my two visits, no one was home. I saw, my friend and fellow club member, Steve’s 1965 red Barracuda but no Steve. After scouring the swap meet area, I did find a pair of elusive headlight bezels but they were in worse condition than the ones I already have so I passed. Finally late in the afternoon, hot, tired, sunburned and foot sore, we headed home. I can’t wait until next year!

I didn’t take as many pictures as usual but here a few of my favorites plus a few more Mopar Nats pictures here.

1966 Dodge Charger

Turbo Charged Slant Six - Perfect for my Barracuda!

Rat Rod

Crazy dudes and dudettes!

1934 Plymouth Coupe

Hobart Welder – Another New Toy

2011-07-05T23:50:00.000-04:00

In previous posts, I have agonized on how I was going to get my new floor boards welded into the car. My friend Wayne volunteered to bring over his welder and help me out. I realized the welding would take days of his time. You know the old proverb, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed his for a lifetime.” I used this proverb to rationalize buying a new Hobart Auto Arc 130 MIG Welder. Hey, the car is so rusty that I will be welding on it for years!

Before I put welder to car, I needed a welding lesson. One afternoon, Wayne came over the house to help me set up the machine and to give me some instructions. It was harder than I expected. Even my son could lay down a better weld than me and Wayne’s welds were perfection. I plan on continuing to practice before tackling the actual project.

Also, Wayne had an auto-darkening welding helmet. Wow, what a difference that made. A couple of days later I picked up one at Harbor Freight. No way was I going to be able to use the plain helmet after using his.

Hobart Auto Arc 130 MIG Welder.
Hobbyist weld that runs on 110V.

Ugly welds . . . cool helmet.

Take your pick of ugly welds. Practice, practice, practice.

Less Car Shows – More Wrenching

2011-07-05T23:14:00.000-04:00

I know it has been a while since my last post but sometimes life gets in the way. I have not been ignoring the Barracuda, just the blog. In the next few blogs, I am going to try to catch up a little on my progress although some of you may call it regress since more parts keep coming off the car and few go back on.

I have tried to cut back on the car shows this summer so I can devote some free time to actually working on the car. I’ve been pretty good but I am addicted to car shows. So here are a couple of quick summaries:

Chester County Antique Car Show – May 29, 2011

The show was held at the Kimberton Fairgrounds in Kimberton, PA. The Valley Forge Mustang Club uses this show as their annual car show so about half the field is Mustangs. They advertise so much that I skipped this show last year thinking it was Mustangs only. Actually, the show features plenty of other makes. I was somewhat disappointed in the numbers of Mopars in the show hence this is the only Mopar picture I took.

1972 AMC Gremlin. Hey, its cool . . . now!

And a few non-Mopar vehicles:

1976 Mercury Capri

1951 Ford Anglia

1964 Ford T-Bird. The things we remember . . .
My elementary school gym teacher, Mr. Peters, had this exact car.

GM Nationals at Carlisle – June 24, 2011

I was invited to go to his show with 3 great friends that I don’t often get to see. Unfortunately, they are GM Motorheads but I don’t hold that against them! In fact, Dave drove us to the show in his 2008 Hemi Dodge Charge SuperBee with a mere 2100 miles on the odometer. It was a sweet ride!

We were extremely surprised by the poor turnout. I think the Carlisle Fairgrounds holds in excess of 2000 cars but I don’t think 500 cars were there on Friday. We were never sure what the deal was with the low attendance. Maybe it picked up on Saturday? We still enjoyed the show and each of us accomplished a goal we set for the show. Doug found new beauty rings for his 1986 Chevy Pick-Up, Dave found a glove box door for his 1969 GTO Judge, Cush and Doug met Grumpy Jenkins, and I saw a GTO Judge the was not orange. In fact, I saw a red one and a green one. I also found a company that make pre-bent fuel lines for my Barracuda. Despite the lack of cars, it was still a great day!

And I thought they only came in orange.

A red GTO Judge.

10 Mopar Guy Commandments

2011-05-09T15:04:00.000-04:00

The Kaiser Frazer Owners Club International included these 10 car-guy commandments for their May 2011 newsletter. I shamelessly co-opted them (stole is such a nasty word) and modified them to the world of Mopars.

Thou shall not store cars out-of-doors except for thy wife’s modern iron.
Thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s car, nor his garage, nor his battery charger.
Thou shall not love thy cars more than thy wife and children; as much, but not more.
Thou shall not read thy Mopar Muscle magazine on company time, lest thy employer make it impossible to continue thy car payments.
Thou shall not despise thy neighbor’s 1971 Ford Pinto, nor his 1961 Corvair, nor even his 1985 Yugo.
Thou shall not allow thy daughters nor thy sons to get married during the Holy days of Chryslers at Carlisle.
Thou shall not deceive thy wife into thinking that thee is taking her for a romantic Sunday drive when, indeed, thou art going out to look at another car.
Thou shall not tell thy spouse the entire cost of thy latest restoration, at least not all at the same time.
Thou shall not promise thy wife a new addition to the house and then use it to store cars.
Thou shall not buy thy wife a carburetor for Christmas.

Floor Pan Replacement – Part 2 – The Point of No Return

2011-05-03T15:24:00.000-04:00

I am now beyond the point of no return on the floor pan replacement project. After several weekends of work (yes, I’m slow), all the rusty sections of the floor pans have been removed. And it does not leave much. The work was accomplished with the help of an angle grinder with a cut-off wheel, a saws-all and some spot weld cutters. The trickiest part of the job was NOT cutting through important parts located below the floor like the GASOLINE line and brake lines.

Originally, I only purchased 2 patch panels but exposing the floor pan showed that a 3rd one would be required for the front driver’s floor. I placed another order with Auto Body Specialties and had the patch panel in a couple of days.

Although the pictures don’t show it, I have also stripped off most of the paint and construction adhesive. For this job, I tried a couple of different sanding wheels on my angle grinder. Most of them had trouble getting into the stamped areas of the floor pans. I settled on a wheel that looked like a 3M pad but courser. That worked great.

I also decided that I was breathing in way too much metal and paint dust. I use a simple dust mask but that was not cutting it so I invested in a good respirator. Better safety than sorry.

Notice gas pedal has been removed.

See gasoline line passing through cut out area.

A Diversion – Machinist Toolbox Restoration

2011-05-03T15:11:00.000-04:00

OK, so this has nothing to do with Mopars or any car for that matter but I thought I would post before and after pictures of a toolbox I restored. This particular box is nothing special. I picked it up at an auction for $12. The box is neither dated nor does it have any markings on it. I though it would be a good toolbox to practice on. I plan of looking for other wooden toolboxes to restore in the future. I am not sure what to do with the finished box. I may try to sell in on e-bay or use it for my pocket knife collection or even fill it with machinist tools.

Recent Tool Purchases

2011-05-03T15:06:00.000-04:00

Craftsman 2 Jaw Small Gear Puller - #46905

Specifications: Craftsman gear puller with reversible forged arms providing an adjustable reach and a 5-ton capacity.

I bought this puller to free the pitman arm from the steering gear box on the Barracuda. It took some cranking but the arm did pop loose.

DEWALT D28402K 4-1/2-Inch Small Angle Grinder Kit

Specifications: 10.0 Amp, 11,000 rpm motor designed for faster material removal and higher overload protection. The Dust Ejection System provides durability by ejecting damaging dust and debris particles that enter the tool through the air intake vents. A keyless adjustable guard provides tool-free guard adjustments. The weight of the tool is about 5 lb.

The angle grinder was a little scary to use at first but for metal work it is indispensible. I bought some safety equipment to go along with the grinder; full-face shield, heavy work gloves, and a good respirator.

Blair (BLR11096) 3 Piece 3/8" Cutters Heavy Duty Spotweld Cutter Set

Specifications: The set contains 3 - 3/8 " Cutters that fit either a 3/8" or 1/2" hand held drill chucks. The cutters are made of M2 High Speed Steel and in the US of A.

I tried to drill out some spot welds on the Barracuda’s floor pans with a 3/8” drill bit but it was tough going. I picked up this set of spot weld cutters from amazon. They worked fairly well, better than a drill bit, but I still drilled all the way through the underlying metal in some places. I guess it takes some practice.

Book Review – Automotive Bodywork and Rust Repair by Matt Joseph

2011-03-01T13:05:00.000-05:00

If you read my last post, you know I am tackling a big rust repair job on the floor boards of the Barracuda. I am not one to read a lot of instructions. I usually just jump in (or let the wife figure it out for me). However, my pitiful bodywork skills required me to do a little research on this project.

Besides visiting a handful of internet websites, I purchased Automotive Bodywork and Rust Repair by Matt Joseph. The book describes a variety of simple to difficult automotive rust and metalwork projects. This book teaches you how to select the proper tools for the job and how to plan out the project. Several metalworking techniques are presented such as: preparing and cleaning sheet metal, cutting metal, fabrication of patches, welding options, forming, fitting and final metal finishing. Although billed as a beginner’s tutorial, many of the techniques are way beyond my skill level. Joseph is a real craftsman.

The book makes a great addition to my automotive library. I expect it to be on my workbench and rust covered in the very near future.

Floor Pan Replacement – Part 1 – The Flintstone Mobile

2011-02-07T13:26:00.001-05:00

So far this winter, more parts have come off the Barracuda than have gone on it. This past weekend, my son and I decided to tackle the floor pan replacement project that I have been avoiding since I bought the car. I knew the front passenger floor and the rear driver floor were shot. In anticipation of this project, I purchased replacement floor pans from Auto Body Specialties http://www.autobodyspecialt.com/. The parts have been collecting duct in the garage since July.

We started on the project by removing the inner sill plates, the front and rear seats and the kick panels. All these pieces were removed without any problems. I was hoping to find the build sheet tucked up under the rear seat but no dice. We thought the carpet would come out easy too but it seemed to be stuck to the floor. As we worked at pulling it out, we found that it was glued down with some sort of construction adhesive. It took several hours with the two of us yanking and prying with scrapers and bars to finally get the carpet free.

What we found under the carpet was a mess. Besides lots of rust and holes, we found several previous “repairs” if that is what you call them. Someone had installed some thin aluminum sheet metal over a gaping hole in the front passenger floor and several other patches on the driver side floor. One of the patches was an Apple Slice soda can! We removed all the patches and cleaned up all the loose rust which revealed an original Flintstone mobile. Fred and Barney could have easily power the car with foot power alone.

Next we will cut out all the bad metal and start fitting in the patch panels. Unfortunately, I neither own a welder nor do I know how to weld. This should be interesting.

Steering Overhaul – Part 1 Disassembly

2011-01-04T16:20:00.000-05:00

My wife says I look like a little old man driving the Barracuda. The comment stems from the fact that when driving the car it takes a lot of steering action just to keep the car going in a straight line. There I am sitting in the low seat with a big old steering wheel sawing it back and forth cruising down the road. Yeah, it reminds me of grandpop.

Obviously, the steering box needs a rebuild or replacement. Since the steering system has a couple of other problems like big leaks and a bad looking steering coupler, I decided to overhaul the entire steering system from steering wheel to power steering pump.

I started the project by removing the old power steering hoses. They both were in poor condition so they went right in the trash. Next, the power steer pump was removed. I do not think it is the original. The first clue was that it did not have a cap on the reservoir. The reservoir was simply covered with what looked like the packing plug from a new pump. The second clue was that the pump did not quite match the diagrams of the possible originals in some documentation I found. The pump is also blue. I thought they were black.

Next, I attacked the steering column. I surprised at how easy it was to remove it. First, I removed the clamp that connected the column to the steering box. Next I removed 3 bolts holding the column to the fire wall. Then I removed the U-bracket that holds the column to the bottom of the dash and unplugged the electrical connector. A few wiggles and a swift yank and the column was out.

Removing the steering box was a little more difficult. The first problem I encounter was that I did not have a big enough socket to remove the nut holding the pitman arm to the steering box. I had to purchase a 1-5/16” Proto socket to add to my collection. Then once the nut was off, I did not have a big enough gear puller to separate the pitman arm from the steering gearbox. I ended up buying a Craftsman Gear Puller. That did the job. After that only 3 bolts held the steering gearbox to the frame. Although they were a little difficult to reach, I eventually removed them and out came the box.

Now the work begins. I have lots of dirty, rusty, greasy parts to clean. I will replace or rebuild all parts of the steering system. Any bets on what parts are available?

Car Shows – The Best of the Best

2010-10-30T22:48:00.001-04:00

Ludwig’s Corner Car Show, Ludwig’s Corner, PA – 9/6/2010

The car show was held on the last day of the Ludwig’s Corner Horse Show and Country Fair. The show had an interesting juxtaposition with horses and dogs on one side of the road and classic cars on the other side. On this hot and sunny day, I estimated about 300 to 400 cars were in attendance. I saw that one of the members of the Early Valiant and Barracuda Club had his 1965 Barracuda on the show field but I never ran in to him. His car looked great.

Hagley Car Show, Wilmington, DE - 9/19/2010

The Hagley Car Show in its 14th year did not disappoint. The show field had over 550 cars. The weather was great! The special feature this year was compact cars. The compact car area included about 25 Corvairs from a local Corvair Club, an AMC Pacer and a couple of AMC Gremlins. Also a friend of a friend of mine had a very nice 1961 Metro in the feature. Another nice touch at the show is the parades. Twice during the show about 20 cars parade around the museum property while an announcer tells the audience about each car.

Antique Automobile Club of America Fall Meet, Hershey, PA – 10/9/2010

Wow, what a show! This 4-day meet culminated with the Saturday show. The show field had over 1200 cars! Besides the cars in the show, the car corral (cars for sale) held several hundred very nice and expensive cars. A huge flea market took up as much space as the show car field. It is impossible to see everything at this show in one day so I had to skip the flea market. The AACA is all about original cars and all the cars in the show field are judged as to originality. This is not exactly my thing. I am all for upgrades and performance enhancements. Still the show had tons of beautiful cars.

One car that stood out for me was a 1967 Dodge Coronet R/T. It was immaculate. The blue paint job was perfect. You could have eaten off the engine. I went back and looked at this car several times it was so impressive.

I am trying something new; linking to more pictures at Flickr. I hope this works!

More AACA pictures here.

Historic Car Club of Pennsylvania, Media, PA – 10/17/2010

This was my last car show of the season and it was a good one. The show was held at the Delaware County Community College in Media, PA. In addition to the car show, a flea market was included. The flea market included everything from car parts to glassware. It was really just one big garage sale. I spend about half an hour looking at all the treasures.

The parking lot of the college was constructed in levels up the side of a hillside. I started at the bottom level, walked to the top and then walked from the top to the bottom giving all the cars a second look. What I like about the HCCP is that they accept just about any car into their club. The car does not have to be original. It is hard to pick a favorite but the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang replica was cool.

More HCCP pictures here.

The Carburetor Exchange

2010-10-30T21:58:00.000-04:00

You may recall from previous posts my problems with several carburetors I purchased from The Carburetor Exchange. Basically, after trying to get a good rebuilt carb from them, I finally gave up and went back to my original carb. They were helpful and polite as we swapped carburetors back and forth but once I decide to return the last one for a refund, they became quite rude. They wanted to charge me a restocking fee for a carburetor that did not work! I wrote them a letter explaining my position but they would not budge. Then after I returned the carb at my shipping expense, they did not refund my money. After several e-mails and a telephone call, I finally received my refund less a $30 restocking fee.

I have had great success with all the vendors I have used so far for parts for the Barracuda. Unfortunately, my experience with The Carburetor Exchange was poor. I do not recommend them.

Where Did The Summer Go?

2010-10-05T15:59:00.000-04:00

Before leaving for our summer vacation, I dropped the Barracuda off at my local mechanic’s shop to get an inspection and a front end alignment. Although the tires on the car were old, they had pretty good tread. The right front tire had a lot of tread wear on the outside edge and I hoped an alignment would fix the problem. I made the fatal error of saying that I was not in a big hurry since we would be away for a week. On returning from vacation, I was informed the shop had not started any work. At the end of week 2, they told me the tires were too old and dry rotted and would need to be replaced to pass inspection. I bought an inexpensive set of tires to get me through the inspection. At the end of week 5, the tires had been installed but no other work was completed so I picked up the car. At least they did not charge me anything.

Since I still needed the work done, I found another nearby auto shop. These guys jumped right on it. Unfortunately, they came up with a laundry list of items that needed to be fixed before the car will pass inspection. I opted for just a front end alignment. Several days later, they contacted me with more bad news. The car would not hold the alignment. They found several worn out parts in the front suspension including the ball joints and tie rods. After discussing the problems with the mechanic, we decided I would buy all the required parts and they would do the installation. In hindsight, I probably should have just taken the car home, bought the parts and a few new tools and did the job myself but since the car was already there . . .

I ordered an Original Performance Super Front End Kit from Performance Suspension Technology (www.p-s-t.com). The kit included every replaceable part required for the front end. The kit came with a lifetime warranty and the shipping was free. The parts arrived in less than a week’s time.

It took more time than expected to get the front end rebuilt but the mechanic did an excellent job. He even repainted the upper and lower control arms before reinstalling them in the car. Unfortunately, the alignment became a hold-up. It turned out that my shop actually used an alignment machine at another shop and it was only available on Saturdays. So after 7 weeks, I finally was able to pick up the Barracuda with its nice new front end but still no inspection sticker.

So the summer just slipped away while the Barracuda collected dust in someone else’s garage. I never made it to a single show with the car. Now, the car is tucked in for the winter. I am ready to start on a few projects of my own. First on the list is to get the fuel gauge working. Next, a rebuild of the steering box and power steering pump is in order. Then I will be installing floor board patches. I wonder if any of my friends can weld?

Wings - N - Wheels Car Show – Dover, Delaware

2010-07-21T21:31:00.002-04:00

On July 17, I attended the Wings n Wheels Car Show in Dover, Delaware. The show was sponsored by the Delrods Car Club (http://www.delrods.org/) and the Air Mobility Command Museum (http://www.amcmuseum.org/). And yes, I was at the show without my car. I am starting to think that I need more time wrenching on the Barracuda and less time at car shows looking at other cars. But I just can not help myself. I love going to car shows.

This particular show was very unique. The AMC Museum is located on the grounds of the Dover Air Force Base. Besides the airplanes in the Museum hanger, the tarmac around the hanger is the home to many more vintage military planes. For the car show, participants park their vintage cars in clusters around the vintage planes. Not only were over 300 cars on display, many of the airplanes were open for inspection.

The day was hot, in the 90’s. Car owners either placed their lawn chairs in the shade of the big airplane wings or set up tents to create a little shade. A Cub Scout pack selling ice cold water for $0.75 were very popular. It took us several hours to work our way through all the show cars but it was worth it. Among the participants were many unique cars including a couple of Studebaker Avanti’s, several rat rods, and some nice custom paint jobs. I was also happy to see 3 or 4 early model Barracudas although no 1964s. I am definitely putting this show on the calendar for next year.

Enjoy the pictures.

Starsky and Hutch

Great paint.

Fins

My sons next car. . . so he thinks!

Sweet Barracuda

Looks old but this is a fresh paint job

Errr! More power.

Book Review – Auto Math Handbook by John Lawlor

2010-07-21T20:39:00.000-04:00

I think my engineering geekiness made me buy this book. Yes, it is a math book. It is not exactly a book to read while sitting on the beach.

First the good stuff. The book is a good collection of mathematical formulas that someone working on cars might need. It also has great instructions on making measurements. For example, one section discusses cc-ing cylinder chambers. I also liked the little anecdotes sprinkled through out the book. One story tells the history of the word “horsepower.”

My only issue with the book it that it is outdated. It was published in 1992. Today, I could easily look up all the formulas on the internet. Also it has a section on BASIC programming and the DOS operating system. It would be nice if the publishers commissioned a revision. The bottom line is that I would not recommend buying this book. . . unless you like geekiness.

I will leave you with one important equation.

Blood Alcohol Concentration = ((OZ x % alcohol x 0.075) / weight) – (hours x 0.015)

Let’s see, I drank 2 glasses of wine while writing post so. . .

Book Review – How to Rebuild Small Block Mopar Engines by Don Taylor

2010-07-21T20:32:00.000-04:00

I think this is a great book for the first time engine builder, as well as, the more experienced gearhead. It covers all aspects of rebuilding small block Mopar engines. The first chapter discusses diagnosing engine problems first in hopes of avoiding an unnecessary rebuild. This chapter alone is a great education in troubleshooting engine related problems. I plan on photocopying the first chapter and keeping it in the garage for reference. Subsequent chapters cover engine removal, disassembly, cleaning, reassembly, and re-installation.
The book documents an actual rebuild of a 273ci engine out of a 1969 Dodge Dart. The book is a detailed, step-by-step guide with loads of helpful pictures. As the rebuild progresses, the author discusses all the tools required to complete the task and whether or not it can be done in the home garage.

This book is all about rebuilding to stock specifications. It does not discuss any type of performance upgrades. Since a stock rebuild is being documented, this allows the author to list all the required measurement specification which really makes this a handy reference book. I highly recommend this book as an addition to any Mopar Motorhead’s library.

2010 Carlisle Chrysler Nationals

2010-07-14T22:08:00.000-04:00

I ventured out to the Carlisle Fairgrounds on Saturday for the Carlisle Chrysler Nationals. The Barracuda is still not ready for such a long drive (about 80 miles). In fact, the car is currently visiting a local repair shop for a front-end alignment and an inspection. The first half of the drive was marred by a steady rainfall. As I approached Harrisburg, the rain stopped but the sky remained cloudy. Lucky for the show attendees, Carlisle remained dry all weekend.

I found a parking spot very close to one of the gates. I paid my admission fee and walked through the gates into Mopar Heaven. If you are a fan of Chrysler products and you have never been to the Carlisle, mark your calendars now for next year’s show. You will not be disappointed. After spending many weekends at local car shows and only seeing a handful of Mopars, what a pleasure to see over 2000 Mopars in one location.

Where to start! I first made a quick pass through the show car field. Then I spent some time looking for parts in the vendor midway. Next, I walked through the car corral (cars for sale) and finally made another pass through the show cars.

With so many outstanding cars, I will just touch on some highlights. The show field had a good selection of early style Barracudas although I only saw one 1964. I could have easily missed some. I saw an interesting 1961 Valiant 2-dr with a slant 6 and a Hyper Pak set-up. In the row of Dodge Chargers, I saw 6 General Lee clones. Not my thing but the cars were still well done. One of the buildings was dedicated to “barn finds.” The building held a dozen or so cars literally pulled from barns or fields. They were very rough but all were restorable. I stopped by the Early Barracuda Valiant Club tent twice but each time no one was home. That was poor timing on my part. Drawing a big crowd was a Hemi Roadrunner complete with a mechanical mechanic working in the engine bay. Mr. Norm had a couple of cars at the show including a nice Dodge Demon. How about the Christine Car Club celebrating 1957 and 1958 Plymouths, the Steven King book Christine, and the movie based on the book. What a cool club!

I only spent 5 hours walking through the fairgrounds and I know I missed tons of great machines. Maybe next year me and the Barracuda will be able to spend the entire weekend at Carlisle. Here’s to 2011!

Breaker Points Replacement with PerTronix Ignitor

2010-06-28T14:04:00.000-04:00

It was the late ‘70s and we were in high school. My friends and I were just learning about cars; sometimes the hard way. A couple of guys were trash talking about their fast cars and a challenge was issued. My friend D*** was the proud owner of a 1969 Dodge Coronet 440 (the names are disguised to protect the guilty but you know who you are). The car had a 318ci engine, auto transmission, and 4-doors. Not exactly a muscle car but, hey, that’s what we could afford.

D*** knew his car was faster but a little modification could never hurt. So in preparation for the little grudge match, D*** decided to recurve his distributor. I was recruited to help install the recurve kit and get the car tuned-up and ready to race. At first things went smoothly. The distributor was removed, the kit installed and the distributor was returned to its hole in the block. Then the trouble started. As D*** was reinstalling the points, that pesky little screw that holds them in place fell down inside the distributor. We looked high and low for the screw. Since we could not see it, we assumed it “fell through the distributor into the oil pan.” D*** rounded up a replacement screw. This with much more care, he finished installing the points and condenser. With everything buttoned back up, it was time to start the car. D*** hopped in the car and cranked the engine while I stood watching. What I heard was something like “Grrr, Grrr, BANG” and I saw the distributor turn about 180 degrees all by itself. Of course the car would not start after that.

D*** removed the distributor to diagnose the problem. What we saw made our shoulders slump. The missing screw was jammed between the advance weights and the inside of the distributor housing. We also noticed the key on the end of the distributor shaft was sheared clean off. No race was going to take place that night!

Eventually, D*** purchased a replacement distributor, got everything reassembled and the car ran great. Although I was never sure that the recurve kit made much of an improvement.

Ever since that incident, I have not been a fan of points. Every time I remove a distributor cap, I think about that time. In addition to my fear of point, I also have a very hard time getting them adjusted correctly. I read an article someplace about an electronic alternative to points. PerTronix (http://www.pertronix.com/) makes a kit to replace breaker points with an electronic box. I gave the company a call to see if they had a kit for my slant six. They did so I placed my order.

Installation of the kit was pretty easy. The old points and condenser were removed. The little electronic box was bolted in their place. One of the wires from the box went directly to the coil. The second wire had to be routed over to the resistance block on the firewall. I was able to splice the wire into the existing connector. After the wiring was complete, I installed the supplied rotor and popped the distributor cap back on. The car fired right up and after setting the timing, I took the car for a spin. It ran fine.

PS: For this posting, I asked D*** for a picture of his old car but unfortunately, he does not have one. Bummer. If any one has a picture of a 1969 Dodge Coronet 440 4-door in beige, please send it along. Maybe one of the readers of this blog has a picture of the actual car.

60 Amp Alternator and Electronic Voltage Regulator Upgrades

2010-06-23T12:24:00.000-04:00

This upgrade is discussed in the Technical articles section on http://www.earlycuda.org/ and also in Frank Adkins’s book, Chrysler Performance Upgrades.

The project involves upgrading from the stock 45 amp alternator to a 60 amp alternator and installing an electronic voltage regulator. This upgrade will improve charging and eliminate voltage spikes from the original points-style regulator. This will eliminate the variation in headlight brightness and get rid of the engine noise heard through the radio. It is a must if you plan to upgrade to a more powerful stereo system in your car which is on my wish list. I got to have those tunes!

I ordered the following parts: BSHAL504X - 60 Amp Alternator, ECHVRC38 - Voltage Regulator Connector and MPEVR38SB - Voltage Regulator. I also had to purchase some wire, wire connectors, and shrink tubing. My first step was to study the wiring diagram in my Factory Service Manual and compare it to the diagrams at the website and in the Adkins book. Those nice pictures never look like the wiring under the hood.

The second step was to replace the old alternator with the new one. It was a simple bolt-in and only took 10 minutes. (Note to self: Next time disconnect the battery first to avoid some sparks). Next, I removed the old voltage regulator and mounted the new one on the firewall. Then I strung a length of wire from the alternator over to the regulator will lots of extra wire.

With the basics in place, I started to solder wires and connectors. At the alternator side, I just added one slide on connector to the new wire. The voltage regulator required a special 2-wire plug. One of the plug wires was soldered to the existing alternator wire. The second plug wire was spliced into the new wire and the ignition switch wire forming a Y.

Once the soldering was complete, shrink tubing was slide over each splice and heated. This stuff is great. It shrunk down and made a nice tight fit over the splice, no electrical tape needed (Note to self: Next time slide the shrink tubing on to the wire BEFORE soldering the wires together).

Finally, I reconnected all the wires, crossed my fingers and turned the ignition key. She fired right up. I will have to wait until I install a new stereo to see if the upgrade lives up to expectations.

Carburetor – Redux - Unfortunately

2010-06-22T11:24:00.000-04:00

Back in December I posted about rebuilding the Carter carburetor on the Fish. I was trying to fix a starting problem with the car. The rebuild seemed to fix that problem. Of course all this work was going on in the winter and I rarely had the car on the road. Once the 70 inches of snow we got here in the northeast melted, I was able to drive the car around and test out the carb rebuild. It was not so good. The car fired right up but just touching the gas pedal caused the engine to stall. If I really feathered the pedal, I could get the car moving but it stalled often. When I pulled back in to the garage an opened hood, I noticed a little gasoline leaking from the throttle plate shaft. Hum? My first thought was a problem with the accelerator pump and maybe a worn out throttle plate shaft. I played with the carb for a few days but could not improve the problems.

I decided it was time to replace the carburetor. I stopped in to the Napa Auto Parts store one day at lunch to order the carb and much to my dismay, found out that although a part number was listed, the carb was no longer available. After doing some research it looked like a Holly 1920 would work on my slant six. Unbelievable, it too was no longer available.

My next idea was to order one over the internet. A Google search turned up several companies that sell remanufactured carbs. I visited several websites but none had either of my possible replacements carbs listed. I had to resort to making telephone calls to each of the companies. I finally contacted the Carburetor Exchange out in California and they could supply the Carter BBS 3678 that I needed. In less than a week the new remanufactured carb showed up on my doorstep. I few days later I headed out to the garage ready to install the carb. I quickly noticed that the throttle linkage did not match the set-up on my car. More phone calls, more e-mails, more shipping and another carb was on the way. This time they were sending a Holley 1920 with the correct linkage.

The day the Holley showed up, I was out in the garage installing it. The carb looked nice, everything lined up, and the throttle linkage fit perfectly. The car started right up without requiring any adjustments. I headed out for a quick test drive. The car ran great, no stalling and no hesitation. On parking the car back in the garage, I noticed a strong smell of gasoline. I opened the hood and saw gasoline leaking from the fuel bowl gasket right on to the hot intake manifold. Yikes! I tried tightening the 4 fuel bowl screws but the leak continued. It was a Saturday but I gave the Carburetor Exchange a call and as luck would have it, they were in the shop. I explained the problem and they decided to ship me a new gasket for the fuel bowl.

As soon as the gasket arrived, I installed it on the Holley. Unfortunately, the new gasket did not fix the leak. This time around the Carburetor Exchange said to send the entire carb back to them and they would fix the problem. A couple of weeks passed and the Holley was returned. I installed it and the $%!# leaked again. This time I observed that the leak was not from around the fuel bowl gasket but from a vent hole on the bottom of the carb.

This time around I told the Carburetor Exchange that I wanted a different carb, not the same one rebuilt again. A few weeks later another Holley carb shows up on the door step and hoping that the 4th time around was the charm, I installed it. The car started. The carb did not leak. The car ran terrible. In fact, I could not even keep it running. Adjustments seemed to have no effect. I played with the timing and the fuel system but nothing worked. To prove to myself the carb was causing the problem, I rebuilt my original carb for a second time, swapped it back in to the car and fired up the car. It stayed running and after some minor adjustments the car sounded pretty good. I took it out on the road and I did not have any stalling problems. After months of fooling around, the car is finally back on the road.

Herr’s Factory Cruise Night

2010-05-31T20:23:00.001-04:00

The first big local car show of the season is the Herr’s Factory Cruise Night. The cruise is held at the Herr’s Potato Chip Factory in Nottingham, PA. on May 20, 2010. This Thursday night cruise draws a large and varied crowd of classic cars.

I had hoped to have the Barracuda ready for this cruise but it was not to be. I still have several jobs to finish to make the car road worthy. However, my son and I still went to the show. As in previous years, the cars were spread all around the Herr’s property. We got our exercise in checking out all the cars.

Of course, I wanted to see if any early Barracudas were in attendance. I was very disappointed. Not one Barracuda, of any year, was on the show field. However, it was still a good show.

WARNING: Some of the following pictures are of non-Chrysler vehicles!

Rear Leaf Springs and Shock Absorbers

2010-04-27T20:09:00.010-04:00

One (more) of the annoying problems with the Barracuda is that the rear of the car really sags. The bumper is not quite dragging on the ground but it is low. When you are driving the car it feels like you are looking up in to the sky; forget about seeing the road directly in front of the hood.

I have been researching replacing rear leaf springs for awhile. Several websites sell “heavy duty” springs that are advertised as giving your car 2 to 4 inches of extra lift. I was afraid that this might give me the jacked-up look a of ‘70s cruiser. I just wanted the original ride height. Someone on the Early Valiant Barracuda Club forums recommended ESPO Springs and Things (www.springsnthings.com) for all things bouncy. I contacted the very helpful folks at ESPO and found that they carry a 5 and a 6 leaf spring. The 5 leaf spring was a direct replacement for the stock spring while the 6 leaf spring was their heavy duty spring. After a little discussion, I placed my order for a set of the 5 leaf springs, a set of shackles and a set of U-bolts. The order also came with all the rubber bushings and miscellaneous bolts. At the same time, I ordered a set of Monro-Matic Plus Shock Absorbers (PN 31131) from Rock Auto Parts (www.rockauto.com). In about a week all the parts were delivered. I am getting to be on a first name basis with the UPS man.

I had some concern about this job. First, I have never replaced springs before and second I was worried about the stored energy in the spring. I pulled my trusty 1964 Plymouth A/B/C-Body Factory Service Manual off the shelf and read through the removal and installation procedure. It looked like a piece of cake.

I first supported the rear of the car from the sub-frame, letting the rear axle hang free. Starting on the driver’s side of the car, I next disconnected the shock absorber at its lower bolt. I then stuck another set of jack stands under the axle. The 4 bolts holding the front spring bracket were unfastened. Then the U-bolts were removed. Lastly, the rear spring bracket was removed and the spring was out. The only problem that I encountered was that large bolt holding the front spring to the front spring bracket was stuck tight. No amount of penetrating oil, banging or heating would free it up. I had to resort to the sawz-all to get it off. Luckily, a new bolt was included with the springs. I then just reversed the procedure to reinstall the new spring and shock.

I them moved to the passenger’s side of the car for a repeat performance. The job on that side went much the same including the stuck front spring bolt. The big difference was that I did the passenger’s side in half the time. After all the parts were installed, I lower the car back on to the ground and sure enough, it sat nice and level! I bounced the car a few times then crawled back under the chassis and tighten all the bolts to the torque settings specified in the Manual. The entire job was a piece of cake.

I was very glad to get this job done but it is one of those repairs that no one will even notice. Big deal the car sits just it is supposed to. Maybe I should have gone with the heavy duty springs and added a few inches lift. At least people could see that change. Oh well, I am happy with the results and that’s what counts.

(Note the gasoline leak around the sender unit. It has been added to the to-do list.)

Spark Plugs, Wires and Belts

2010-04-16T19:48:00.002-04:00

I did manage to complete a few small maintenance jobs on the Barracuda. The belts on the car looked a little rough. I picked up a new alternator belt (NBH257575) and a new power steering belt (PBH15360) from my friendly neighborhood Napa Auto Parts store. It is so nice to work in an un-cluttered engine bay! The old belts came off without a hitch. The new belts went on just as easy as the old came off.

My son also installed a new set of spark plugs. The old ones still looked pretty good but it was good experience for him. A few days later I put in a new set of spark plug wires (CH617SP) and a new distributor cap (C190P). I bought this batch of parts from Pep Boys. I am trying to spread the wealth. At this time, I did not change the points or the rotor. There is a method to my madness. I have plans to eliminate the points by replacing them with a Petronix Ignitor Electronic Ignition system. More on that upgrade in a future post.

Door Lock Replacement

2010-04-03T22:02:00.003-04:00

This working for a living really puts a cramp in my hobbies. Work has been crazy and I have only managed to complete a few projects on the Barracuda. I have had even less time to write this blog. It has been over a month since my last post so I do have a few projects to recap.

As I mentioned in previous posts, the Barracuda had several broken locks when I purchased the car. I fixed the trunk lock awhile ago so it was time to tackle the door locks. The driver’s side door lock worked fine but the passenger's door lock was missing. Also, the ignition switch was hard to turn and it took some jiggling to get the key out. From the factory, one key starts the car and opens the doors. I wanted to keep the same scheme on my car.

First I purchased a new Ignition Starter Switch (Part # ECHKS6528) and an Ignition Lock Cylinder (Part # ECHKS6482) from Napa Auto Parts. That was the easy part. Trying to find a door lock for a reasonable price was impossible. I finally bought 2 used ones from Desert Valley Auto Parts, a classic car salvage yard in Arizona (www.dvap.com). The folks as DVAP were very helpful and within a few days I had the locks in hand. The locks were usable although the chrome was a little more pitted than I wanted. So I ordered another set from Wildcat Auto Wrecking, another classic car salvage yard specializing in Mopars (www.wildcatmopars.com). Again the folks at Wildcat were great.

Between the 4 door locks, I easy put together a very nice looking pair. Of course none of these door locks came with keys. I took the door locks and the key from the new ignition switch to a local locksmith and in a day he had the door locks keyed to the ignition switch key.

I already had the door panel off the passenger side door from repairing a stuck door so all I had to do was take the door panel off the driver side door. The door handles and panels are easily removed from these cars. I had the door apart in less than 5 minutes. The door locks are simply held in by a clip. I little flick with a screwdriver and the locks came loose. A little rod that connects the door lock buttons to the lock cylinders also must be removed. Installation of the new locks was just as easy as removing the old ones. With the new door locks installed, I replaced the door panels and hardware on both doors.

Next I removed the old ignition switch. It was removed by unscrewing the chrome bezel surrounding the switch from the front of the instrument cluster and sliding the switch out from behind the dashboard. I quickly discovered that I do not bend like I used to. Worming my way under the dashboard with my back on the floor and my legs up over the seat was a little more painful than I remember. The new switch went in easily. The new switch turned smoothly and the car started which is always a good thing. Another repair complete!

All I need to do now is find a cool keychain to hold my new shiny keys.

Book Review – Chrysler Performance Upgrades by Frank Adkins

2010-02-27T14:18:00.002-05:00

I have had Frank Adkins’ book Chrysler Performance Upgrades sitting in my To-Be-Read pile for a while and another snowy week trapped in the house prompted me to read the book.

The author, Frank Adkins, is highly-trained ASE certified master technician and Chrysler aficionado. From his bio in the book it also appears that he lives somewhere near-by. He attended several schools in the area.

The 10 chapters cover all the important systems of a car: brakes, axles, suspensions, driveshafts, fuel delivery, electrical, auto and manual transmissions, cooling and engine swaps. The information in the book is practical and usable by us Motorheads.

The book also contains interchangeability data, lots of pictures, part sources and great tips. Although engine swaps are covered, the book does not include any information on engine performance modifications. This book makes a great addition to my Mopar library. It is now on the shelf next to my Chiltons.

The Third Door – Trunk Lid Repair

2010-02-18T20:45:00.007-05:00

Of all the cars I have owned and all the cars my friends have owned, I have never seen any with broken locks. Why does my Barracuda have two broken locks? Besides the passenger door lock, as mentioned in a previous blog, the trunk lock is also broken. The chrome lock cover and the tumbler are missing. I have been using a screwdriver to open the trunk. It was high time for a fix. Lucky for me, unlike the door locks, the trunk lock was readily available as a NOS part from several e-Bay sellers. A quick bid and a week later I had my part.

The trunk lid on the Barracuda is very short but it sure is heavy. The car also does not have trunk lid hinges. At first I thought, “What an awkward design, you have the hold the trunk lid open by hand?” A little investigation revealed that the trunk was supposed to have a trunk lid rod to hold it open. It took a few weeks of looking but a used one came up on e-Bay. The trunk lid rod arrived and all it needed was a little cleaning and lubricating and it was ready to be installed.

I grabbed my parts and headed to the cold garage for the install. First, I propped the trunk lid open with a piece of 6” x 6” lumber I had left over from building a deck. The trunk lid rod simply slid over one metal stud on the trunk lid and a second stud on the trunk. Oddly the studs were not treaded. I did not think the trunk lid rod would stay in place by itself so I used a couple of push-on spring steel nuts. After installing the part, I removed the wooden prop and tested the trunk lid a few times. It worked great.

Next I was on to the trunk lock. The old lock was held in by a simple clip. The clip came right off with a push from a screwdriver. With the clip off, the old lock fell out. The installation of the new lock was just as easy. I slid the lock in to the hole in the trunk using the new gasket that came in the box. The lock lever needed to be aligned with the trunk latch. The lock lever was shaped a little different than the original but it fit find. I slid a new clip in place and the job was done. I added the new trunk key to my key chain and the old key is now hanging from the zipper of my ski jacket.

Stuck Passenger Door – Part 2

2010-02-04T12:37:00.005-05:00

My passengers no longer have to climb in from the driver’s side of the car. The stuck passenger door is fixed! Once I forced the door open, the repair was fairly easy. First I removed the female half of the latch from the door pillar. It looked to be in good condition, although it was caked in crud. I used some parts cleaner and gave it a good scrubbing.

With half the latch removed, I was able to close the door and see that the alignment was fine. That was great news because I was not looking forward to re-aligning the door. The repair manual gives a good description on how to do the job but it still looked tricky.

Next I attacked the male half of the latch mounted to the door. The latch was missing one of its mounting screws. This made the latch a little sloppy. I also determined that this screw hole was stripped. Leaving the latch in place I re-drilled and tapped the hole for a ¼” – 20 machine screw. The extra screw really tightened up the latch. With latch in place, I gave it a good cleaning paying special attention to the star wheel. I also dabbed some wheel bearing grease on to the star wheel.

With everything clean and ready to go, I re-attached the female half of the latch but I left the screws loose enough that I could adjust it. I carefully closed the door, keeping my fingers crossed that it would not stick. I could see right away that the door lined up much better than before I forced it open. I opened the door and tightened up the screws holding down the female half of the latch. I tested opening and closing the door a few more times and it worked perfectly.

The passenger door is still missing the lock. The original lock has a broken tumbler so I am looking for a replacement lock. I will be leaving the inside door panel off until I complete the lock repair.

Early Valiant Barracuda Club

2010-01-28T20:43:00.008-05:00

I attended the All-Chrysler Carlisle Event at the fairgrounds in Carlisle, PA this past July 2009. At the time, I was very close to buying a project car but just could not decide on what I really wanted. The first generation Barracuda’s were on the short list. As I was drooling over the row of early model Barracudas, I noticed a tent for the Early Valiant Barracuda Club (EVBC). I grabbed a little flyer with their web address on it and stuffed it in my pocket planning to check out their web site when I got home.

It took a few weeks for me to remember and to find the web address but I am sure glad I did. The EVBC has a very cool site. You can visit them at www.earlycuda.com. I still had not bought a project car so I just lurked around the site although owning an early Cuda or Valiant is not a requirement of joining the Club. Finally in September 2009, I bought my 1964 Barracuda. I then officially joined the Club. I set up a username on their discussion forum and signed up for their mailing list.

On the website you can expect to find a great selection of tech articles, specification documents, how-to articles, and book reviews. The site posts a large number of pictures and even a few videos. The president Roger Kizer also periodically posts a blog. The EVBC has one official annual Club meeting which is held at the All-Chrysler Carlisle Event. I hope to be there with my car this year.

Most of the Club interaction occurs through the website forums and the Club mailing list. The mailing list is great! Owners of early model Valiants and Barracudas from all over the world exchange a wide range of information about our hobby. New car owners, like me, get the opportunity to ask lots of questions and the “old pros” gladly chime in with great answers and helpful hints.

Stop by the website or join the mailing list. Maybe I will “see” you there!

Hemi Under Glass

2010-01-22T22:17:00.011-05:00

My buddy Tom gave me an interesting gift for Christmas. In a local hobby shop, he found AMT 1965 Barracuda Hemi Under Glass 1/25 scale model car kit. Very cool! He snooped around the internet and the hobby stores looking for a model of a ’64 Barracuda but had no luck finding one.

Does any one know if they ever produced a model kit of a ’64?

Now I have a dilemma. Do I build the kit or do I keep it unopened as a collector’s item?

Stuck Passenger Door – Part 1

2010-01-15T14:06:00.003-05:00

My Barracuda has the ultimate suicide door. The passenger door is stuck shut. If I happen to be driving off a cliff, I may be able to leap out the driver’s side but the passenger is a goner. The car has suffered from this annoying problem since I bought it. We have tried to open it from inside and outside but no amount of pulling or pushing has worked. I was starting to worry about deforming the door skin from pulling on the outside door handle so hard.

I finally decided to investigate the problem. The first thing I noticed was that when I inserted the key in to the door lock and turned, it felt funny. The key was very sloppy in the lock and did not seem to be turning anything. So my first thought was that maybe the door just was not unlocking. To further diagnose the problem, I needed to dig deeper. The only way to access the lock cylinder and latch mechanism with the door closed was to remove the inside door panel.

In this old car, removing the door panel is easy. First you remove the door and window handles then the armrest. Finally you remove a handful of trim screws and slide the panel away from the door. Unfortunately, some of these screws are really hard to get to with the door closed. I needed a ¾” long Phillips screwdriver to reach the last 2 screws hiding between the passenger seat and the door. I don’t even know if they make a screwdriver that short. I certainly did not have one. So I improvised by using a little Phillips bit from my electric drill and a box wrench to turn it. Crude but effective.

With the door panel off, I could sort of see the back side of the latch mechanism and the lock cylinder. My view was blocked by the position of the door brace; right in front of the latch! Using a drop light positioned inside the door, an inspection mirror, plain old feeling around in the dark and some Houdini-like contortions, I did find a few problems. First the actual lock cylinder was lying in the bottom of the door so the key was turning nothing. With the cylinder out, the little bar that runs from the back of the lock cylinder to the locking mechanism was just hanging there. I also noticed that one of the screws holding the latch mechanism in place was missing. Other then those few issue, I did not see anything that would keep the door from opening.

Finally taking the advice of one of the members of the Early Valiant Barracuda Club, I decided to use brute force. I sat in the front seat and held the temporarily re-installed door handle up. My son lay in the back seat and kicked the door. After just 2 or 3 kicks, the door sprung open and I managed to grab it before it flew in to the garage wall. We still do not know exactly what the problem is but we do have a few repairs to make. Stay tuned for Part 2. Also in a future post, I will talk a little more about the Early Valiant Barracuda Club.

It’s Cold Out There

2010-01-06T22:26:00.006-05:00

So far this year, the temperatures have not climbed out of the 20’s. This is not the best weather to work on a car. Back in September, I planned on spending a lot of time in the garage this winter working on the Cuda. Of course from the perspective of the mild September weather, it sounded like a plan. Now the reality of a cold garage is sinking in. My old bones are not made for lying on a cold concrete floor.

Although the garage is insulated, the 2 garage doors are not. I think the steel doors have the same R-Value as paper or maybe tissue! A friend suggested one of these portable propane heaters that attaches to a 20-lb propane tank. I picked one up at Lowe’s for a reasonable price. To the heater, I added the spare propane tank from my grill and I was ready to put some heat in to the garage.

So a few days ago, I tried it out. The little heater does put out a good amount of heat but it struggles to overcome the heat loss through the garage doors. I was working on a little project on the car and the chill was just about out of the garage when all of a sudden one of my boys came home and hit the garage opener. As the door went up all the heat went out.

I am working on a battle plan. Here’s what I have so far:

1. Hang “Do Not Open” signs on outside of garage doors
2. Buy warmer clothes, maybe Carhart cold weather coveralls
3. Install garage door insulation kits

Cooling System Maintenance

2010-01-02T10:45:00.004-05:00

As I have been working around the engine compartment, I noticed that the radiator and heater hoses looked really old. I also noticed that the lower radiator hose was wired in place to prevent it from touching the alternator belt. In fact, it looked like a hole had been worn through the hose and patched with silicon. So off I headed to the Napa store to see if the hoses were available. Sure enough, they were available and in stock. I bought an upper radiator hose (NBH 777), a lower radiator hose (NBH 7271) and 7 feet of 5/8” OD heater hose. I also picked up a couple of gallons of PEAK Antifreeze/Coolant and a bottle of PEAK Coolant System Flush.

I drained all the coolant from the radiator through the petcock. I was surprised to see that the petcock was a plastic, maybe nylon, plug. I expected to see a metal valve on a car of this age, so maybe the radiator is not original to the car. Next I removed all the old hoses except the water pump by-pass hose. The 2” by-pass hose is near impossible to remove without removing the water pump and since it looked to be in decent condition, I decided to leave it alone. The new Napa hoses were then installed using new hose clamps.

My son handled the next part of the job; flushing the cooling system. He poured in the Coolant Flush and topped the radiator off with fresh water. Next he started the car and let it warm up for 10 or 15 minutes before shutting it off. He let the coolant flush sit in the system overnight. The next day he drained out the Coolant Flush. It looked like ice tea. He next refilled the system with clean water. He then ran the car for 15 minutes, let is cool down and drained the water out of the system. At this point the coolant system was as clean as we were going to get it.

Now we wanted to add fresh antifreeze/coolant but how much? From the amount of spent fluid we drained from the car, we knew we were only getting about half the fluid out of the coolant system. We estimated that adding 2 gallons of antifreeze/coolant would give us the required 50/50 mixture. He poured in the PEAK and ran the car for a few minutes to get everything mixed well and that completed another maintenance job on the Fish.

We were left with at least 6 gallons of used antifreeze. In the old days, I might have poured it down the drain but I am greener than that now. Until I can find a place that takes old antifreeze, I have it all bottled and stored. Anyone have any suggestions?

Carburetor Rebuild

2009-12-17T15:30:00.005-05:00

It won’t start! Well, it won’t start without a little persuasion. When I first took delivery of the car it would not start. It turned over fine but just would not fire. I thought the car was out of gas. The fuel gauge reading “Empty” was another hint. After pouring a couple of gallons in the tank and a few drops in the carburetor it started after a couple of cranks. Unfortunately, that was not the end of the problem. First, even with gas in the tank, the gauge reads empty. That is another problem to be added to the “To-Be-Fixed” list. And second, it still will not start unless I add a few drops of fuel directly in to the carb.

Using my ace troubleshooting skills, I deduced that I have a carburetor problem. I decided to give the carb a rebuild versus replacing it with a remanufactured model. I ordered up a rebuild kit for my Carter BBS 3678 carburetor (Kit # CRB25500) from Napa Online for about $20. I think the remanufactured carb was around $150.

The first thing I did after removing the air cleaner was to take several pictures of the carb with all the hoses and linkages in place. I always think I will remember how things went but I never do so pictures are a must. I disconnected the throttle linkage, the choke, the fuel line and all the other hoses. Next I removed the 2 bolts mounting the carb to the intake manifold.

With the carburetor on the workbench, I began the disassembly following the instructions that came with the rebuild kit. Surprise, surprise, the instructions were not that good. The rebuild kit was generic for several models of Carter BBS carburetors. Consequently, the exploded view drawing did not represent my carb exactly but was good enough for disassembly. During disassembly I noticed gunk had built up in the fuel bowl and on the floats and that the gaskets were pretty brittle. I cleaned all the parts up with carburetor cleaner.

I did have some issues during reassembly mostly related to the generic instructions. Several times I found myself trying to follow an instruction for a part that was not on my model carb. This led to a few tense moments looking for phantom parts. The rebuild kit contained all the required parts except for one minor item. My carb uses 2 ball checks of different sizes. The kit supplied 2 ball checks of the same size. This required me to reuse one of the old ball checks. When I got to the ball check installation step, I could not find the original ball checks, of course. I had spread all the parts out on the workbench after cleaning but with all the jostling of the workbench the check balls had disappeared. These things are tiny, like 1/8” diameter. After 15 minutes of searching high and low, I finally found them wedged in a hose clamp. Lucky me!

With the carburetor completely reassembled, I reinstalled it on the intake manifold. Then weeks passed before I could get back to starting the car and adjusting the carburetor. Finally last Saturday morning, I found some time to work on the car and guess what? You got it, dead battery. Instead of looking at this as a problem, I looked at it as an opportunity. An opportunity to buy a new tool! So off I headed to the Sears Hardware Store and I purchased a Model# 71222 DieHard 10/2/50 Amp Automatic Battery Charger. The day was shot so I just hooked the charger to the battery and gave it a slow charge overnight.

First thing Sunday morning, I was back out in the garage. The charger indicated the battery was fully charged. I then connected my RPM meter to a spark plug wire and the battery. I then cranked the car, allowing the fuel pump to fill the empty lines, filter and carb. Once gas was flowing, the car started right up. Yeah! In no time at all, I had the fuel mixture, fast idle and curb idle adjusted the car was purring like a kitten.

A Handy Reference Guide for Tools

2009-12-13T19:10:00.005-05:00

My friend Steve sent me this humorous reference list of tools. I am sure everyone has had some of these experiences. I know I have. Enjoy!

A Handy Reference Guide for Tools

DRILL PRESS: A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat metal bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in the chest and flings your beer across the room, denting the freshly-painted part which you had carefully set in the corner, where nothing could get to it.

WIRE WHEEL: Cleans paint off bolts and then throws them somewhere under the workbench with the speed of light. Also removes fingerprints and hard-earned calluses from fingers in about the time it takes you to say, ''What the....??''

ELECTRIC HAND DRILL: Normally used for spinning pop rivets in their holes until you die of old age.

SKILL SAW: A portable cutting tool used to make studs too short.

PLIERS: Used to round off bolt heads. Sometimes used in the creation of blood-blisters.

BELT SANDER: An electric sanding tool commonly used to convert minor touch-up jobs into major refinishing jobs.

HACKSAW: One of a family of cutting tools built on the Ouija board principle. It transforms human energy into a crooked, unpredictable motion, and the more you attempt to influence its course, the more dismal your future becomes.

VISE-GRIPS: Generally used after pliers, to completely round off bolt heads. If nothing else is available, they can also be used to transfer intense welding heat to the palm of your hand.

WELDING GLOVES: Heavy duty leather gloves used to prolong the conduction of intense welding heat to the palm of your hand.

OXY-ACETYLENE TORCH: Used almost entirely for lighting various flammable objects in your shop on fire. Also handy for igniting the grease inside the wheel hub you want the bearing race out of.

TABLE SAW: A large stationary power tool commonly used to launch wood projectiles for testing wall integrity.

HYDRAULIC FLOOR JACK: Used for lowering an automobile to the ground after you have installed your new brake shoes, trapping the jack handle firmly under the bumper.

EIGHT-FOOT YELLOW PINE 2X4: Used for levering an automobile upward off of a trapped hydraulic jack handle.

E-Z OUT BOLT AND STUD EXTRACTOR: A tool ten times harder than any known drill bit that snaps neatly off in bolt holes thereby ending any possible future use.

BAND SAW: A large stationary power saw primarily used by most shops to cut good aluminum sheet into smaller pieces that more easily fit into the trash can after you cut on the inside edge of the line instead of the outside edge.

TWO-TON ENGINE HOIST: A tool for testing the maximum tensile strength of everything you forgot to disconnect.

CRAFTSMAN 1/2 x 24-INCH SCREWDRIVER: A very large pry bar that inexplicably has an accurately machined screwdriver tip on the end opposite the handle.

PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER: Normally used to stab the vacuum seals under lids and for opening old-style paper-and-tin oil cans and splashing oil on your shirt; but can also be used, as the name implies, to strip out Phillips screw heads.

STRAIGHT SCREWDRIVER: A tool for opening paint cans. Sometimes used to convert common slotted screws into non-removable screws.

PRY BAR: A tool used to crumple the metal surrounding that clip or bracket you needed to remove in order to replace a 50 cent part.

HOSE CUTTER: A tool used to make hoses too short. Works equally as well on boxes and thumbs.

HAMMER: Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent the object we are trying to hit.

MECHANIC'S KNIFE: Used to open and slice through the contents of cardboard cartons delivered to your front door; works particularly well on contents such as seats, vinyl records, liquids in plastic bottles, collector magazines, refund checks, and rubber or plastic parts. Especially useful for slicing work clothes, but only while wearing them.

DAMMIT TOOL: Any handy tool that you grab and throw across the garage while yelling ''DAMMIT'' at the top of your lungs. It is also, most often, the next tool that you will need.

Title Tales Part – Part 2

2009-12-04T09:16:00.002-05:00

I either like to buck bureaucracy or I just can not follow directions but getting the title for the Barracuda was an exercise in frustration. As mentioned is a previous post from September, I tried to get a title before I had procession of the car but that did no pan out. Once the car arrived, I purchased some classic car insurance and snapped the required 5 photos (VIN plate, left, right, front, and back of car). A few days later, I headed back to the Title Store with my pile of required paperwork. Unfortunately, my photos were unacceptable. I had taken the pictures from slight angles but the requirement was for straight-on shots. Even more unfortunate was that by now the car was in the garage up on jackstands and I could not get a straight-on shot because of the confines of the garage. So no title until the car was rolling again.

Fast forward one month. The wheels are back on the car. The day is beautiful and sunny, perfect for photos. My son and I park the car in the driveway and take a bunch of pictures including the 4 required straight-on shots of each side of the car. A few days later I am off to the Title Store with a briefcase full of papers and pictures. I got it all! On this visit we actually started to fill out the paperwork. The title guy asks for my insurance card. Uh oh! I left it in the glove box of the car. I make the 20 minute round trip between the Title Store and the house returning with the insurance card in hand. During my absence, the title guy, taking pity on me, has filled out all the paperwork. He next requests the pictures. I proudly hand him all 5 pictures including the 4 straight-on shots. He looks them over and sadly announces that he sees a problem. Noooooooo! You’ve got to be kidding. He points out that in the driver side picture the window is rolled down. The requirement is for all the windows to be up so that the Motor Vehicle Department can confirm that the glass is not missing. After some discussion, the title guy decides to send the paperwork through anyway. The worse that can happen is that is comes back and I would have to retake the one picture.

Luck was finally with me. A week later I get a call from the Title Store informing me that my new classic license plate has arrived. I fly down to the store to retrieve the plate. As I was walking out the door, the title guys shouts, “Good luck with the inspection!” But that’s a story for another day.

PS – The free and clear title showed up in the mail a week later.

Valve Cover Restoration

2009-12-03T10:38:00.001-05:00

Once upon a time, a previous owner of the Cuda painted the engine while the motor was still in the car. They did a fair job taping off the engine compartment and overspray can only be noticed in a few spots. However, they did a poor job degreasing and prepping the surface of the engine. Consequently, the paint had peeled badly. The extra long valve cover of the Slant Six looked especially bad. In addition to the bad paint job, the valve cover had an oil leak. It looked like a good time to remove the valve cover, repaint it, and reinstall it with a new gasket.

First, I collected the required parts and supplies. I ordered a new valve cover gasket (FPG VS12680R) and a PCV valve (CRB 29209) from Napa Online. I also picked up some high temperature engine paint from Pep Boys. This particular paint did not have the color listed on the label of the can. The color of the cap is the color of the paint. Luckily, I grabbed the last can of red.

I started the job by removing the valve cover from the engine. Other then dropping a few valve cover bolts and having to work the cover out around the heater hoses, it came off without a hitch. The first problem was that the PCV valve would not come out no matter how hard I pulled on it. The old rubber grommet had zero flexibility. I ended up snapping off the top part and removing the remaining piece from inside the valve cover.

Next I removed all the old paint with paint stripper. With the paint removed, I noticed a few minor rust spots. A little Navel Jelly and some hot soapy water quickly took care of most of the rust. I lightly sanded the cover and wiped it down with some mineral spirits and it was ready for the paint. I laid on 4 coats of high temperature engine paint and the valve cover looked better than new.

I let the paint dry for a couple of days. Then my son and I installed a new gasket and set the cover back in place on the motor. Wow, the color was not even close to the paint on the rest of the engine. The engine was much redder. The cover looked almost orange, Chevy orange! This would not do! Not wanting to deal with the selection of paints at the auto parts store, I ordered 2 cans of Chrysler Red from Amazon. What did we ever do before on-line buying? A few days later, the paint arrived and a couple of coats seemed to cover up the orange although my son said he could not tell the difference. Sure enough when we put the cover in place it still did not match the rest of the engine. All I can guess it that the color used by a previous owner was incorrect. Now I will have to paint the whole motor. . . someday. We finished the job by torquing down the valve cover bolts and installing a new PCV valve.

Brakes – Part 2

2009-10-26T19:54:00.002-04:00

The first thing I am learning from this project car it that time flies. I started working on the brakes almost a month ago and this past Sunday the car was finally drivable. I am sure glad this car is not my daily driver!

Re-assembly of the brake system went smoothly. Of course every project has some “issues.” I first installed new wheel studs in the rear axles, changing the driver’s side left hand threaded studs to right hand threads. To keep the axle from turning as I pulled the studs up, I placed a bar through the back plate and then through a hole in the axle flange. This kept everything from turning as I installed each stud.

The first little problem I ran in to was that I could not easily install the wheel studs in the front wheel hubs. The front wheel studs must be installed with the hubs off the car. Unfortunately, as I tried to tighten a nut down on the stud to pull the stud through the wheel hub, the hub kept turning in my hand. I could not find an easy way to hold it still so I had to come up with a jig. I ended up using 2 of the wheel stud holes to bolt the hub to a 4’ x 2” flat metal bar which I then bolted to my workbench. This allowed me to install 3 of the studs. Next I modified the jig so that I could bolt it to 2 of the just installed studs, then again bolted it to the workbench. This worked great.

Another issue I encounter was with the rear brakes. A little U-shaped clip is used to hold the parking brake bracket to the brake shoe. That U-shaped clip was a bear to get back on. The clip was thick enough that squeezing it closed while holding it in place took several attempts. I should have replaced it with some type of snap ring.

After I had all the shoes and springs installed on all 4 wheels, I realized that I had mixed up the primary and secondary shoes. I had to take everything apart and switch them around. It was amazing how fast the parts went together the second time around. Note to self: The primary shoe is SHORTER and goes to the FRONT.

I installed new inner and outer wheel bearings in the front wheel hubs. They installed nicely but I realized that the inner bearings required oil seals and that they did not come with the bearings. So it was back to the auto parts store to pick up a couple oil seals.

Finally I packed all the bearings and the wheel hub with nice clean grease and installed the hubs and drums on the front of the car. All four tires were then installed using a new set of lug nuts. With a little help from the kids, I manually bled the air out of the brake hydraulic system. The car is still not tagged so our test drive was limited to the neighborhood. The brakes worked fine although the pedal was a little low. I think a few turns on the adjuster and it will be good.

Brakes – Part 1

2009-10-06T22:06:00.001-04:00

The first project for the Barracuda is new brakes. The plan was to replace as many old brake parts as possible, keeping in mind that I may want to upgrade to disc brakes some day. I did not want to replace the brake lines at this point but I was considering upgrading to a dual master cylinder.

The first step was getting the right tools. I love this part. My 30 year old floor jacket has not worked in years but I never really had a reason to replace it. . . until now. A trip to the Sears Hardware Store netted me a new Craftsman floor jack and 2 jack stands. I already had 2 jack stands on a shelf in the garage.

My son and I inserted jack stands on all 4 corners of the car. On removing the wheels the first thing we noticed was that the driver’s side of the car had left hand threaded lug nuts. Now, we know why one of the studs was broken off. Someone probably took an air wrench to it in the wrong direction. With the wheels off we proceeded to remove the brake drums. It took some persuasion but we got them off without too much difficulty. On inspection, the brake drums appeared to be pretty thin. They may be the originals? We also noticed that the 2 front wheel cylinders were leaking. Other than 45 years of dirt, grease and brake dust, everything else looked OK.

Although it took several days for all the parts to arrive, a local auto parts store was able to supply most of the parts: brake drums, wheel cylinders, and wheel bearings. They could not get brake hardware kits and they only had a few wheel studs. Since I wanted to convert the driver’s side wheel studs to right hand threads, I decide to just replace all 20 studs on the car. It took several weeks and 2 auto parts stores to round up all the studs.

Removing the old wheel studs was a bit of a chore. The rear ones came out with a little penetrating oil and a few hits from a heavy hammer. The front ones were another story. The studs pass through the wheel hub assembly and the wheel hub assembly is pressed on to the brake drum. Actually, one of the car forums I frequent said the studs are swaged to the brake drum. That is probably a better description of how the assembly is put together. Each stud had 4 little places that were expanded and held the wheel hub assembly to the brake drum. We used lots of penetrating oil and banged the hubs off the brake drums. Then, I made up a jig to hold the wheel hub assembly steady while I banged the studs out. Next, I removed the inner and outer wheel bearings from the wheel hub assemblies.

With everything apart, we completely cleaned all the parts that were going to be re-used. I do not have an easy way to clean parts. I will need to come up with a tub or small parts cleaner for future cleaning. For now, I started with a scraper for the thick grease then followed that with a wire brush. Next I cleaned the parts with soap and water. Dawn dish detergent seemed to do a good job. With my collection of new and old parts we were ready to start the reassembly. The next post will cover getting the brakes put back together and in good working order.

Mine, Mine, It’s All Mine

2009-09-13T10:27:00.002-04:00

Two days after the Fish swam towards New York, it finally made its way back downstream to Pennsylvania although not without some troubles. Once again, we met the truck at the old restaurant. This time when we pulled in to the parking lot, several cars had already been removed from the trailer leaving the Barracuda as the lone car still sitting on the trailer. The reason it was still on the trailer. . . it would not start! It cranked fine but would not turn over. We decided to push it off the truck to make it easier to work on. With the key turned on, I noticed the gas gauge was pegged at empty. We ran back to the house and grabbed the gas can. After putting a few gallons in the tank and a few drops down the carburetor, the car fired right up. After giving the truck driver directions to his next stop, I headed out on the road with the Barracuda. My wife was close behind in the mini-van.

The first problem with the car appeared at the first stop sign along the route home. I applied the brakes but the car kept going. I had to really push the brake pedal to the floor to get the car stopped. Other than that little problem, the rest of the 5 minute ride home was uneventful.

I parked the car in the garage and started checking it out. It does look pretty good. The paint job is relatively new although it has a few bad spots, probably from poor preparation before the paint was applied. I started a list of the many minor items that will need to be addressed. One of the most annoying items is that the trunk and passenger door locks do not work and consequently the trunk and the door can not be opened. I also noticed that the tail lights are not working. Hopefully, it is just the bulbs and not an electrical problem.

This weekend, I plan to give the car a better inspection and to pull a wheel off and inspect the brakes. The brakes will definitely be the first project to tackle.

It Was That Close

2009-09-07T20:52:00.002-04:00

I received a phone call from the transport company on Friday telling me that the car would arrive on Saturday and that the driver would call around 10 AM to get directions. This was great. The car would arrive several days ahead of schedule. Unfortunately, I had to cancel some plans I had scheduled for Saturday morning but I was OK with that because I was finally getting the Fish. Finally around 1 PM on Saturday afternoon, the driver called asking directions. Oddly enough the driver did not have a GPS nor did it seem like he had a map. I had to hang up, map out a route on MapQuest, and call him back with the directions. He said he was in Baltimore so I estimated he was about an hour and a half away. Since his 18-wheeler transport truck could not maneuver in our neighborhood, the plan was to meet just up the street at an out-of-business restaurant that has a large parking lot. I waited and waited and waited. The call came at 5 PM. They were parked at the restaurant. No way were they in Baltimore when they first called. More likely they were some where south of Washington DC.

My son and I rushed over to the restaurant to pick up the car. As soon as we pulled in to the lot things did not seem quite right. The Barracuda was on the truck alright but a black Toyota was behind it. A small, silver Cadillac and a golf cart were parked next to the truck. The truck driver and his wife were in the process of giving the Toyota a jump from the Caddy. They tried to start the car for 20 minutes but it would not even crank. If the truck driver could not get the Toyota started he was not willing to push it off the trailer because he would have no way of getting it back on. Of course, he did not have a winch on the trailer to pull it back up. After an hour of discussions with his dispatcher and negotiations with the Toyota owner, it was decided that the only option was to deliver the other 3 vehicles then come back the next day with the Barracuda. I was not happy but I did not see another way around the problem.

The truck driver put the Caddy back on the trailer but when he went to load the golf cart, the battery was dead! My son and I were recruited to help push the golf cart up the ramps and on to the back of the trailer. Because the cart was so narrow, we had to move the ramps way inboard. The trailer is only solid where the car tires ride and wide open between the tire tracks. The wheels of the golf cart barely caught the lip of the metal tire tracks. Hold downs were the only thing keeping the golf cart from dropping through the middle of the trailer. As we pushed the cart up the ramps, I was concentrating on pushing and not on my footing. As the golf cart crested the ramps and rolled on to the trailer, my next step was through the space between the tire treads. Before falling all the way to the ground, my shin connected with a solid metal bar that spanned the tire treads. This was one of those times when I literally saw stars. I quickly extracted myself from the trailer and examined the 8” gash running from my shin up towards my knee. I was sure glad I had just had a tetanus shot a few months ago.

With the trailer loaded, the driver and his wife headed to their next stop in New York, promising to call the next day to set up a new pickup time for the Fish. I watched my car head off in to the sunset. It had been that close! As the car disappeared down the road, I headed home to an ice pack and a glass of wine.

Title Tales – Part 1

2009-09-02T14:03:00.002-04:00

Saturday morning I stopped at the local Title Store in Kennett Square, PA to see about getting the title to the Barracuda transferred to my name. The paperwork I received from the owner was somewhat confusing and I wanted the title experts to make sure everything was in order. Although the packet of papers I received contained 2 separate titles, the lady at the counter said everything looked good with the paperwork and they could complete the title work. Unfortunately, I did not have all the other requirements. First, I needed proof of insurance which I did not have. I planned on contacting one of the classic car insurers but I thought I would wait to actually have the car in hand. Second, I needed a photograph of the VIN to verify the number on the title. I did not have that either. And finally, if I wanted to register the car as a “Classic,” I needed a photograph of each side of the car and the front and back. Guess what? I did not have those either. The lady suggested I just wait for the car to arrive. Good idea!

Stop the Presses! Just as I was getting ready to post, I received an e-mail from the seller. The car will be leaving Florida on Friday and should arrive on Monday or Tuesday.

The Mopar Motorhead

2009-08-28T12:43:00.002-04:00

So why The Mopar Motorhead? I was thinking back to high school days and high school cliques snapped in to my mind. Come on, I know you were in one! We had the jocks, the cheerleaders, the nerds, and the potheads to name just a few. I like to think the group I hung out with was above cliques. We got along well with just about everyone. Not long ago, I ran in to an old high school acquaintance and he said, “I remember you. You were one of those motorheads.” What!!! It has taken me 30 year to find out I was in a high school clique. From dictionary.com, “Motorhead: a motor vehicle or cycle enthusiast; also, an enthusiast for working on motor vehicles; a mechanic.” That sums up my friends pretty well. We did have some cool cars and we were always fixing or modifying them.

Although, I certainly can appreciate all makes and models of classic cars, I am particularly fond of all things Chrysler. I assume (bad thing to do) that everyone knows that Mopar is the generic nickname for Chrysler cars. The word comes from the MOtor PARts division of Chrysler. I appreciate the unique aesthetics of the Chrysler body styles. I also tend to route for the underdog and Chrysler has long been in the shadow of GM and Ford. And finally the engines, I think Chrysler’s motor line-up was fantastic. From the ubiquitous 318 to the ground pounding 426 Hemi, an engine is available for every application.

I am no car expert, just an enthusiast. I thought The Mopar Motorhead was a fun moniker to use as I document my journeys with the Barracuda.

Latest Car News: The title to the Barracuda showed up in the mail today but the car still has not shipped. I am hoping it will be here early next week. The title listed the names of the two previous owners. I may contact them to find out some of the history of the car.

My 1964 Barracuda – Part 2

2009-08-17T12:23:00.003-04:00

I started scouring the local newspaper, the local car shows, eBay, Craigslist, autotraderclassics.com and a whole slew of other websites searching for a decent Barracuda. Ideally, I wanted to find one locally. Like my Dad says, “You need to kick the tires and make sure the thing does not leak oil.” He hates leaky cars. At best the local paper lists one or two cars a week in its Classic Auto classified section and I never saw a single Barracuda. eBay looked like my best bet. I was really nervous about buying a car sight-unseen. I have several friends that have had very good luck buying cars on eBay. I occasionally placed bids on cars that looked nice but when it came to placing a winning bid, I always chickened out.

One day at lunch I was perusing eBay and spotted a nice looking 1964 Barracuda. Yikes, the auction ended that very evening! I decided not to let this fish get away and finally placed a winning bid. The pictures accompanying the auction showed a really nice looking car but I can make a pig look good in a picture. The price indicated that this car was a driver and probably will need some work, but that is OK by me, that is exactly what I wanted.

I have swapped many e-mails and several telephone calls with the car owner. So far, the seller seems to be an up front guy and the transaction is proceeding well. He will arrange transportation for the car from Florida to Cochranville, PA. I am expecting to see the car sometime next week. I am keeping my fingers crossed that my fish is not a pig in a poke.

My 1964 Barracuda – Part 1

2009-08-14T22:25:00.004-04:00

After a hiatus of 25 years, I am finally returning to the world of classic cars, specifically, classic Mopars. My door back in to the hobby is a recently purchased 1964 Plymouth Barracuda. This blog will chronicle the restoration, maintenance, and travels of my new fish plus various Mopar related ramblings.

I have been thinking about buying a classic car, literally for years, probably since I sold my last cool car, a 1966 Pontiac GTO, back in 1984. As the old story goes, life interfered. Between college, marriage, kids, career, kids, houses, relocations, and kids, I never seemed to have the time or money to get back in to the hobby. Now the kids are getting older, work is going great, my wife is supportive (very important), I don’t plan on moving anywhere soon, and I have the space. All the stars have finally lined up.

I owned several cars during high school but my favorite by far was a 1970 Dodge Challenger. Boy, I wish I had that car today. Ever since that car I have been a Dodge/Plymouth aficionado. So this year, I semi-seriously started looking for the Mopar of my dreams. My problem was that the dreams were not very clear. I just could not decide what I wanted. I liked everything from a 1962 Plymouth Sport Fury to a 1980 Dodge Miranda. After a few months of looking at everything, I realized that I had to narrow my search. I decided I did not want a completely restored trailer queen or a basket case that I might never get to drive. I wanted an everyday driver that I could work on and improve. I also wanted something a little different. I finally decided on a pre-1970 Plymouth Barracuda

Well, I have rambled on enough for my first post. In my next post I will tell you about purchasing the car.