She's finally purple again! FC7 70 Shaker Cuda340

[VCODE]

I've been working on installing the freshly assembled steering column today. The wife helped me man-handle (or is that woman-handle?) it into the car and through the firewall. It went pretty easy. Only problem is this purple/green/tan connector from the column. I can't seem to find what it connects to? There doesn't seem to be anything under the dash for it to mate up with. Any suggestions?

Hey Steve, That is for cornering lights. Not really the correct turn signal switch but it will work. Just disregard.
Bob

[njsteve]

Thanks! I hate mystery connectors! It was a Chrysler part, just not the right one they put in back in the day. (The car has been off the road since 1978).

[njsteve]

Here's what the turn signal switch is: 3488805 mid 1970's C Body with cornering lights.

[njsteve]

Today's escapade involved getting the car running. Dave's electric gremlins seemed to have followed the car up here. I had everything hooked up and went to turn the key and...nothing but some weird clicking from the door ajar/key-in ignition buzzer relay next to the glove box. This is something that should definitely NOT be activating when you hit the crank position on the key.

I decided to use my remote starter switch hooked to the starter relay, and leave the key in the run position. She started right up no problem. Good oil pressure, all gauges working except the fuel level. Lights working, horn, radio etc. Just nothing from the crank positon of the ignition switch. Just that weird relay activating related to the key buzzer. Even when the actual key buzzer leads were unplugged, it still activated the relay.

So I called one of my buddies down the street who has a Sassy Grass Green AAR Cuda. He said to bypass the steering column entirely and just try to start it with an independant switch. So he loaned me an NOS starter relay and an NOS ignition switch. His advice was to just hook up the ignition switch to the harness plug under the dash and see what happens.

So I followed his advice, hooked it up and turned the knob.

Instant start and no buzzer relays activating!

So it looks like the reproduction ignition switch that Year None sold Dave was an internally miswired piece of crapola that was backfeeding full battery amperage into the column when turned to the crank position. The wiring path of least resistance was the key buzzer switch which backfed the power to its own relay. So you can add that ignition switch to the list of other crappola they sent him like the placebo reproduction fuel filter that had an entrance but no exit for the gasoline to get out through, to the carb.


Anyway, She is alive.

I then returned the NOS parts to my friend. He gave me a consolation prize of an old 1970 ignition switch from one of his parts drawers. That one worked just fine, too. I then searched ebay and bought the same NOS part number 2947486 he loaned me. $150. Should be here next week.

I could use a 1970 turn signal switch though, since I have to go back into the column for the third time in a week when I replace the ignition switch. The second time was after I fully assembled it and stood back and saw the turn signal lever still sitting on the workbench. AHHHHHHHHHH!

[njsteve]

Yay! Miracles do happen!

The replacement AMD windshield arrived today via truck, packaged in a thick cardboard box, sealed inside with expandable styrofoam, enclosed in a wooden frame, bolted to a pallet, and completely wrapped in plastic with "Do Not Accept If Seal Is Broken" tape all around it.

I like whomever packaged this. This was obviously a sarcastic rebuff to my complaints.

Well played Mr. Windshield Wrapper, we salute you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsC3ni7A88M&ab_channel=zatoblade

[anlauto]

I just went through the same ignition switch problem with the 71 Cuda I recently finished....brand new switch...never worked properly once.

[njsteve]

This is some serious s&%$ here. That defective switch was grounding out 12 volts from a 10 gauge wire into the metal column. That's the kind of defect that can burn up your car, garage, house and family in the middle of the night.

I've always been paranoid about disconnecting batteries from my cars when they are stored. Now I have a legitimate reason to back up my paranoia.

[njsteve]

Here's the updated shot of the dash with the vintage 1972 Mopar tachometer and the Stewart Warner oil pressure gauge, mounted. Feel free to ignore all the dirt and footprints on the carpet. I spent a lot of time crawling under there over the weekend.

[njsteve]

I've spent the last couple days experimenting down in the la-bora-tory, Frankenstein-style. Working on refinishing the steering wheel. The original woodgrain wheel was in great condition with no cracks or splits whatsoever, but since it was a manual steering car, there really was no grain or painted finish left on the upper surfaces of the wheel. It was pretty much tan plastic from the front view.

So after reading various blogs, the most useful of which were from stage and movie set designers who made wooden-appearing prop weapons out of PVC pipe, etc, I came to the process I used.

First, I got an old mitre saw blade and used it to randomly scrape across the entire circumference of the wheel to try to duplicate some major grain structure. I then used a piece of 60 grit sandpaper glued to a paint stirrer stick and dragged that across the surfaces as well.

This is probably the one restoration process where the sloppier and more haphazard way you do something, they better it turns out.

Then I wiped the rim down with plastic cleaner - the same stuff you use to get plastic interior panels ready for dyeing.

Then came the Minwax Dark Walnut stain. It is made for wood, not plastic so it takes a bit longer to do anything. I slathered on a layer with a sponge brush. I waited half an hour and wiped it off with a clean T-shirt scrap. It looked good and stayed in the scratches I made with the sawblade and sandpaper. So I did another coat... and another. Probably four all together and let the last one stay on overnight. The stuff gets tacky after a while so you really have to rub hard with the cloth to get the excess off the surface. It serves more as a burnishing than a removing of the material. It looked pretty nice this morning but needed something more.

So I went to the Home Depot and picked up a pack of the Varathane wood repair markers. These are alcohol-based paint markers that come in various wood shades. They worked great. I used the Walnut, Ebony, and Maple markers. All you do is randonly drag the tip across a couple inches of the wheel surface and then immediately wipe it with the rag. This stuff dries very quickly. If you dont wipe fast enough it leaves a heavy mark. But if you just reapply in the same place, it reactivates the paint and you get a second chance to wipe it off. I started with the Walnut, then did the darker Ebony, and finally the Maple. Just making random scraggly marks around the entire front back and sides. Then wiped it all down with some heavy pressure which polished it up nicely.

After all that, I sprayed it with several coats of satin clear Rustoleum.

And here's the results:

Before and after:

[anlauto]

That's pretty cool Steve, turned out really nice    Now you can start your new side business 

[njsteve]

The NOS ignition switch arrived today. Here is the comparison. Repro on the left and NOS on the right. There really is no comparison.

None of the terminals on the repro are in the same locations as the NOS unit. All of them are loose and not securely riveted. Look at the brown wire at the top of the repro switch on the left. It is so loose that the terminal rotates and touches the large black wire's terminal. I bet you that had to be the internal short right there.

[njsteve]

Got the new igntion switch/harness back in. I also swapped back the reproduction key switch with the original key switch as well. 1970 used a brushed finish on the key bezel. No one reproduces it and they just tell you to swap it for the 71 to 74 chrome bezeled unit. No thanks. Also, the darn key required a tug of war to get it to come out every time. Even after I ran the key through the wire brush several times. That can get pretty annoying when the key-in buzzer is going non-stop.

I then reassembled the column and installed the steering wheel. All nice and new looking.

Oh, and it even starts with the key now. Like it's supposed to.

All the dash lights and gauge lights work.

Things still on the list: The gas gauge is still reading empty even though I ran a ground wire, alligator clipped from the tank to the frame, and the fog lights aren't getting power. Gotta install the windshield and align the front end (doing that myself with the contraption I bought). Oh, and seats would be nice. I pulled a calf muscle pressing the clutch in while sitting flat on the floor.

[njsteve]

The Boy and I installed the windshield today.

I had him watch around 30 seconds (about as mush as either of us could tolerate) of a Graveyard Cars episode where they had a couple glass guys install the windshield on a 71 Limelight Green 'cuda (and randomly dubbed in a 70 Challenger install during the scene for no apparent reason other than it was also Limelight).

We then wandered out to the garage, stuck the four suction cups on the glass and plunked it in place. I had already placed the 5/16" butyl tape in place last night. It all went in uneventfully.

It took a few hours for the weight of the glass to gradually settle down and seal all the way around. I had to stick in the rubber blocks as well as some wooden shims to keep it from drooping down but it seems to be holding now.

The AMD glass is nice and thick, like an original windshield. It even has a Chrysler logo in the center like the originals do.

Sorry for the blurry photo. I did some black friday shopping today for new phones for the wife and the boy. So I can get one of their more modern hand-me-downs when they come in.

[njsteve]

I also installed my old set of wooden pistol grips that were previously on my orange 1971 Six Barrel 'cuda ragtop in 1985, and then on the red 70 Hemi Charger R/T-SE in 1990. When I sold that car in 2013, they went into a box in the closet. I bought them at the 1985 Mopar Nationals back in the day. Some eccentric dude from Colorado hand-made them out of Cocobolo wood with some crazy wood-working duplicating lathe. I have an extra unfinished set that still needs final sanding.

[anlauto]

Nice to have a piece from your old rides on your new ride...