She's finally purple again! FC7 70 Shaker Cuda340

[njsteve]

I pulled a plug out to check how things are burning. Looks very nice. The color change point on the electrode is right at the 90 degree bend point from light grey to dark grey. I am quite pleased with that. (Running 1/4 tank of 100 octane leaded avgas and 3/4 tank of 93 unleaded super.)

[njsteve]

And Fedex Ground strikes again.

I found the only remaining TurboStart reproduction Mopar group 27 size AGM battery left in the United States. (No other sizes available either - I wanted a yellow top but this was an orphan sitting on a shelf).

TurboStart stopped making them a over a year and half ago and keeps delaying any new production til who knows when (maybe later this summer, last I heard from them).

Shipped from Jegs on Tuesday for a Thursday delivery via Fedex Ground...Shows up Monday busted and leaking acid from the bottom of the box.

Jegs immediately refunded my money. Fedex doesn't give a crap and won't pick it up because it's toxic waste (LOL). Jegs told me to dumpster it.

[anlauto]

UNBELIEVABLE  ...you've got the worse luck with that kind of stuff...

[njsteve]

I was fully expecting to see a smashed leaking battery today. I'm glad fedex didn't disappoint me.

[njsteve]

Well the Lucky Horseshoe has been at work...

After I had the episode with fedex smashing the last known repro AGM Group 27 battery in existence, I told my buddy Al who owns the local old-timer garage where we all hang out at. Great guy and an awesome musclecar mechanic in case anyone ever needs one in Central NJ. (Al's Auto Care in Flemington, NJ)

He promptly tilts his head, looks up (which means he is reviewing his internal inventory of junk he has never thrown out) and then casually walks over the the corner of his garage and pulls out an NOS PN2444607 Group 27 Mopar replacement battery that he has had sitting in the corner cabinet under a pile of alternators since 1973.

This is the exact part number for the 1970 battery for a 1970 Cuda, albeit a dealer replacement part since the later style had the dual three-vent caps instead of the single red verticle venting caps.

He then called the local Napa store and they brought over a carton of battery electrolyte and we filled it up. It initially only read 6 volts but after the charger went through the de-sulfating process it is currently charging and holding 12+ volts. We stopped the charger for the day and he will hook it back up on Monday to let it run the full charging cycle for a new battery.

How's that for happy Saturday? Take that fedex!!!!

[anlauto]

Fits right in with your Day Two theme...

[njsteve]

Yeah! 1973 would have been around the time the assembly line battery would have gone kaput!

[RUNCHARGER]

Nice.

[ledphoot]

What an amazing ride you are creating Love purple on the Cuda, it looks awesome.

For some reason I don't like it on Challengers as much.

Thanks for sharing all the work you are doing.

[njsteve]

After driving the car around, I see that under "spirited" acceleration, the shaker almost hits the right side of the hood as a result of the engine torquing against the rubber engine mounts.

Since I dont want a replay of what happened to my 71 383 ragtop 40+ years ago, where the left mount snapped and the shaker smashed into the shaker trim ring and cracked the shaker dome, I decided to make an official, vintage, Day2 torque strap out of old engine hoist chain and a smallblock Chevy intake mainifold engine lifting tab.

(I also ordered a set of MityMount locking engine mounts that hold together if the rubber separates)

But the chain looks cool for the time being.

And no new holes were drilled or animals harmed during the filming of this project.

[njsteve]

It's my Cuda's birthday today! 4/30/70.  As a birthday present I found a nearly NOS, vintage 1976 Sanyo FT489 AM/FM Cassette for it. It arrived the other day and I did a trial install. The AM and FM sound great but the cassette won't load properly and the drive gears don't turn (though you can hear the motor spinning). Most likely needs the belt replaced and the mechanism cleaned and lubricated. So I sent it off for a full refurb. Hopefully it will be back in a couple weeks. I reminds me of the similar Sanyo unit I had in my first car: a 1969 Camaro Pace Car convertible I bought  back in 1976 when I was only 14. The first hing I did back then was rip out the AM radio and throw in a Sanyo from Kmart.

[76orangewagon]

Todays my cars birthday (4/30/1971) as well except mine only 50 this year.

[njsteve]

YAY!

I really have to give a shout-out to Marcus at TurboStart Batteries for finding me not one but two yellow cap S24Y reproduction AGM batteries for the Cuda. He has been putting up with my: "So when will you have them back in stock?" emails for around eight months now.

He managed to locate one early last week and immediately sent it to me...and what happened? Friggen fedex ground destroyed it again, just like the red cap one I got from Jegs a month ago. Inconceivable!

(BTW, like the previously destroyed red cap battery, it went through the same fedex Northampton PA depot that has lost and/or destroyed so many of my packages over the past year - they must have my name on some kind of
"Do Not Deliver To This Guy" List)

It showed up on Friday and the moment I saw the young lady behind the counter at my PO Box handling it, I had to yell to warn her to put it down immediately: She had picked it up in a bear hug and I could see the acid staining on the cardboard as she held it against her shirt. She thought I was some kind of pervert, when I asked her if she had another shirt to change into. Before she could pepper spray me and call the cops, I quickly explained that it was leaking battery acid and that it may be on her clothing now. She then said: "Oh is that the vinegar smell I'm smelling?" So eventually she believed what I was saying as I opened the box to take photos and call Marcus and tell him what happened. It was around 3:30 PM by then.

When I got it out of the box it looked like they had hit it with a hammer or something because a chunk was taken out of the top corner of the battery. You could see the damage to the upper middle of the box on the outside. It looked like a deliberate attack and not an accidental drop while handling, because the top of the battery where it was damaged was not at the actual top of the cardboard box due to the layers of styrofoam on top of the battery. Someone had to have taken some time to find that spot.

Well, enough with my conspiracy theories for now...

When I got in touch with Marcus I think he was more mad than I was. He then went on a Holy Grail quest and managed to find a second one that he made sure that everyone along the way knew how important it was. It was triple-packaged with multiple layers of cardboard and styrofoam packing and sent it out Friday afternoon by 4:00 PM. I imagine he probably insured it for a million dollars just to teach fedex a lesson if they ruined this one too.

It just arrived today (Monday) and it was in perfect shape.

Thank you Marcus!


So here it is installed and makes the engine compartment finally look correct.

[njsteve]

Oh, and if you're wondering what happened to the 1973 NOS Mopar battery: after filling and charging ...and recharging... it just would not get to full voltage and would only show around 90 cold cranking amps. It seems that since Mopar stored these as "damp dry" and not completely dry units, after 48 years, the plates were sulfated and inert and there does not seem to be any way to activate it back to its intended voltage. 

[anlauto]

So when are they bringing them back for the general public ?