Better late than never, got to drive the vert finally this year!

[JH27N0B]

My driving in my convertible has been very restricted in recent years.  The engine has been leaking badly, and I've been hesitant to take it more than 5 or 6 miles away to a couple local cruises with the problems.
An engine refresh was in order, but I was buried with my T/A project, so it was becoming one of those "gonna fix it someday" stories.  Though at least I had it out an about a little, as opposed to it sitting decaying in a garage or barn.
I pulled the trigger recently and got a local Mopar guy who does restorations and maintenance to do a partial overhaul of the engine.
Not surprisingly, he found other issues with the engine, so it became a little more involved than the simple resealing job I'd hoped for.  The engine now has a valve job on the heads, a new timing chain, and a new carb, among other things. And then repainted it the correct corporate blue.  The previous owner had painted it turquoise when he restored the car 25 years ago.  The steering box was leaking, so that got rebuilt.  New brake lines in front, and fluid flush, and the heater box got restored and a new heater core and evaporator installed.
I decided to restore and install the AC now too, but many of the components are still down in FL getting restored.
He'd got finished with the engine, and wanted me to drive the car some in the meantime while we await the AC, and he brought it back last night on a trailer.
Mondays here there is a nice large (400+ car) local cruise, and the weather was perfect, so I took the car for a shakedown cruise.
Been a bummer this season only having "Boring Blue", my '09 Challenger, to take to cruises, so I was quite happy to be out with the top down finally!
Thanks Joe for the prompt and competent work on my car!

[JH27N0B]

Sad truth is that one thing often leads to another, so now I'm thinking I really need to rearch or replace the rear springs.  And as I mentioned in a recent post here, I need to get new tires and am looking for something beyond the too common Radial T/As.  The dash pad has cracks, so I really need to send it in to get redone.  Over the winter for that task I think.
Saw a lot of friends at the cruise.  Even Tom Lembeck was there.  He is a big time Mopar collector with a ton of top tier E body convertibles including 2 '71 hemi cudas.  He had a real TX9 N code cuda out tonight, which now has a shaker and 440-6 barrel.  I'd heard he was out a couple weeks ago with his real shaker V code Challenger vert.
We had a nice chat and he came over to check out my vert too.

[Cuda70-74]

Nice car and I bet the feeling of driving her is even better

[RUNCHARGER]

Your car looks great. I bet it was a joy to get it out.

[JH27N0B]

Monday evenings are usually pretty busy for me, but I've still managed to get to this cruise 3 times so far this season, and hope to get there another time or two before it wraps up in early September.
They get an interesting mix of cars there.  Here are my pictures I've taken there so far this year.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/111914442@N04/albums/72157684126545311/page2
By the way, Tom Lembeck has 3 hemi wing cars, and mentioned to me he really would like to sell his orange Superbird and maybe his green Daytona, so any of you with money burning a hole in your pocket and looking for a hemi wing car, give Tom a call!

[73440]

Glad you could get the car out!
Thanks for the photos, You sure get a nice mix of cars there !

[Cuda Cody]

The convertible is looking fantastic.  Really nice man.  And thank you for sharing the photos.   

[303 Mopar]

A cruise on a Monday with 400+ cars is fantastic!  We can't even get a show on the weekend with that many cars around here.  You vert is gorgeous, glad you got the engine issues fixed.  Tom sounds like a really nice guy, wish I could meet him someday and check out his rides.  I've watched a bunch of the videos on his collection, and would love to have that Daytona!   

[Spikedog08]

Great news!  Love riding in the convertible!   

[340challconvert]

Your Challenger convertible looks stunning.
Glad you got the chance to get it out and enjoy!

[schtick]

That is a good looking E body! Love the Magnum rims on it. Enjoy!

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk