71 Cuda NZ

[Montclaire]

It is a nice looking 73, but,  someone had a hockey stick stripe they didn't want to waste?   

Don't blame me, this is how it looked when I sold it:

[Tony 73]

Looking good.

Most of my interior is in.The panels came up great with the satin black paint i purchased. I have painted the front seat back panels for now also. I tried covering the sail panels in the off cuts of the hood liner but didn't really work . Got some perforated material from a fabric store and covered the parcel shelf and sail panels. The camera photos don't do the the shades of black justice. Will look good in natural light.

Finally got the pistol grip out of the shifter after days of trying. So got shifter boot on.

Clutch pedal was not returning so after a bit of research I removed the LARGE spring with the help of some washers. I have put a MCLOED diaphragm  pressure plate in. Works great now.

Exhaust welded( front section) and in enough so I can do start up.

Got heater hoses hooked up. Fan shroud has just arrived from USA so put in next week, took 3 months to arrive.

Tried startup but failed as I had to ask about Neutral Safety switch. Once i ran a wire to ground I had turnover. Mate came out and we had issue with Ballast resistor getting very hot plus no spark . We had an extra wire from the resistor to the alt field so removed it and resistor issue fixed. Found the electronic pickup gap was 25 thou not .008 so made adjustment. Spark plug gaps were too small so widened them to .35 . Filled the middle carb and she wanted to start. We had a big pop out of the carb but then she settled down. Only ran for couple of seconds at a time but was great feeling. Have since put 2 gallons of fuel in tank. Having trouble getting fuel up to carbs, will pull fuel line apart at the filter before the pump .

Need to fill and bleed brakes next. Must get glass in too.

[Tony 73]

Got the shroud to fit but had to make 3 tabs to rivet to the radiator  flange, radiator is an after market one.

Finally solved my lack of fuel issue. After testing everything working from front to rear I found the sender was clogged, cleaned it and was super confident. Still no fuel  Line clear and pump working ? whats going on. Rechecked . Found an old sender unit and was shocked to find that the one I was using had the pickup tube twisted, therefore the pickup was pointing upward. Will use the old  one for now even though the sender is broken. I now have fuel to the carbs and the odd leak.

Was getting the engine to start but not run.  Turned out to be as simple as the bolt securing the  3 wires to the positive clasp attached to the positive terminal was a little loose.

Engine running and sounds great  .

Will bleed the brakes and maybe try a small forward and back.

[Tony 73]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLpHtjYeOzM

engine running, brakes next and then test run in driveway

[Dakota]

Congrats on getting the motor to fire up. Sounds great!

[YellowThumper]

Congrats. All those little hiccup can be annoying.
Put there on purpose to make success taste even better.

[Tony 73]

Cheers guys.

Been chipping away. In a 3 day lockdown at present so plenty of car time. Got my first drive, be it very small, but felt great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to0uQXoQ8m0

[dodj]

Nice!
I heard Yacinda locked you guys down over one covid case.  Wow.  Glad she's not here. Lol

[Tony 73]

Cheers dodj,  yes Yacinda quick on the trigger. Does make you smile when you see the number of cases in other countries.

I think I have blown the power valve in the middle carb as I getting backfires when I start. Mate said to get it running and then turn idle screws in.

Disc brakes bit sticky, may have to remove and check pistons .

[Tony 73]

Loving lock down, getting heaps of shed time.

Power valve in tack. 3 pumps on accelerator and she fired straight up, after 45s she dropped on to idle, wound in 1 of the mixture screws and engine choked to a halt. Love a small win.

Trunk rubber in place and trunk lid torsion bar in.

Found a thread on Disc brakes that Chryco Psycho had commented on as to removing caliper pistons. said to use master cylinder to push them out, worked a treat. Not happy with the colour of fluid but piston ingrate shape, no pitting. Will remove fluid and the caliper from hose and the give good clean. Am glad I checked as gives me peace of mind about car stopping. Hope other side easy job too.


Door hinges on and ready. Will wait for a mate to help put doors on rather than stress wife out.

Am on lookout for 6 Pack air cleaner, borrowed my mates fibreglass one in meantime.

[Tony 73]

I sucked the old fluid out and saw the dregs. Bit of elbow grease and a variety of tools did the job, good as new. I reused the rubber seals because they were in great nick and I have to order a kit from USA. Bit tricky getting dust seal in. Decided to use the compressed air method on second Caliper. Could only get it halfway out. Had to reattach it to hose and use master cylinder. No luck there either. The pedal was soft , I Realised that I needed to bleed the front as air in line be reducing the pressure. Once bleed the piston popped out. The inside of 2nd Caliper same as first one. Finish job tomorrow and then 2nd test drive.

[Tony 73]

none returning callipers problem fixed.

Today been removing old overspray from door rubbers. Messy job using thinners , soft brass wire brush and scotchbrite.

[Tony 73]

Fiberglass lid for air cleaner got painted today. Used a 2K Vitamin C that I painted my RR .

Got springs on hood hinges with out loosing a finger

Got the grill out, the original paint in great condition. The valance insert ? will need a paint.

[dodj]

Looking good!
Not much longer till it's on the road. Can't be many cars like yours in NZ I'm guessing?
Kudos on keeping all your fingers attached....

[Tony 73]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DucxhFYTW0

Cheers dodj,  might be ten  1971's.

It's a bit noisy, will have to look at another muffler maybe or had a hotdog beside the tank. Will wait till it fails the certification .