She's finally purple again! FC7 70 Shaker Cuda340

[anlauto]

Youda thunk they would have painted them black then, if it was just to hide future rust.  I remember back in the day how it was a trend to paint your undercarriage and wheelwells white! What the hell were we thinking back then???   

They should have done them in high temp cast grey...

[njsteve]

FINALLY got her registered and titled today and got my historic vehicle plates. It took four attempts over eight months to get an appointment at the local DMV in Joysey. That's six months after they finally reopened. They kept closing the site for Covid-infected employees. Each time I'd make an appointment a month out, I'd get a cancellation email a day or two before. I even scheduled backup dates..and they got cancelled.

I got done at the previously scheduled lunchtime appointment this morning. Got it all transacted and paid by check. I got home and I noticed they had just sent me a text and an email cancelling my appointment just 15 minutes after I had completed it! i guess I escaped just under the wire before they closed again for another two+ weeks.

In New Jersey there are only a couple DMV's that are doing the out-of-state car titling (and historic tags issued). It's like a Three-Card-Monty game of trying to get an appointment and actually have the place stay open long enough to get your plates!

I WON!

(BTW, I must be on a winning streak, I also won $14 in the billion dollar megamillions drawing Saturday, with 3 of the 6 numbers!)

[RUNCHARGER]

I'm always a bit antsy until I have a car titled and insured in my name.

[njsteve]

Me too. It's been rather frustratating not being able to get the paperwork done since no DMV was open (or stayed open long enough). But in the end, she's all registrated now!

[njsteve]

I got the March, 1970 dated, tube-style bumper jack mechanism refinished in its original black (since that's the color it was from the factory). It's now installed along with a Tony's Parts, reproduction short lug wrench. Of course I had at least two of the long B-Body handles sitting, unused in my tool box.  I also refinished the jack base and "2931101" hook for elastomeric bumpers, refinished in light grey paint. (Thank you TerryM "mccannix" for the original jack, hook and base).

Now I need to actually refinish one of the 14" Rally wheels to act as a spare. Anyone have a leftover, old, 14" bias ply they're not using? I'd rather not spend a whole lot of money on a single repro Polyglas if a reasonable facsimile is laying around somewhere. (It's just for looks so it doesn't even have to hold air).

[R/T's 4 R/P]

When did they switch to tube style jacks?  I thought all of the 70 model year had T-style?
Sorry to divert from a thread on your absolutely stunning car.
What brand paint did you use on the car?

[njsteve]

From what I am learning, they used whatever arrived at the plant from multiple manufacturers. This jack is dated "OC" for March 1970 and is a E-body jack. The SPD of the car is 4/30/70 so it fits the build time frame nicely.

[njsteve]

I used Krylon Pewter Grey Gloss #1606 for the base and hook and Krylon Satin Black for the mechanism. The original zinc plating was really nice so I left it as-is.

[njsteve]

Thanks to a friend over in PA, I now have a F70x14 bias ply to use as my spare tire. (It's a vintage BF Goodrich but suits me just fine for the visual role it plays in the spare tire location).

I was also able to find a correct sized (though rusty)14x5-1/2 steel wheel off ebay from a seller in Rhode Island. After soaking it in four gallons of Evaporust for about a week I was able to get all the crustiness off it. I then used body filler to fill in the pits and it worked out pretty well.

It is probably from the mid 1970's so I am happy since I only paid $45 for it instead of several hundred for a part-number-perfect example of a 1970 rim. This one is a 3699402 stamped rim which is stamped in tiny numbers above the valve stem hole which is totally not visible when the spare is mounted in the car. It has a Mopar sticker inside which says 4026530

Anybody know what this steel wheel's actual application was? And the approximate date from the stampings?

[MoparCarGuy]

FYI - 1970 Challenger and `Cuda cowl blackout application was hit-or-miss beginning in March of 1970 and was discontinued on April 27, 1970 by engineering. The cowl blackout has been found on some original cars after April 27th but it disappeared altogether by May/June 1970. The change roughly coincided with T/A - AAR production which ended on April 17, 1970.
The process differed on Trans Am cars in that they painted the cowl first and then masked off the area to paint the body color. This change in cowl blackout application is believed to have caused confusion on the assembly line until blackout was discontinued on April 27th.

[Topcat]

When did they switch to tube style jacks?  I thought all of the 70 model year had T-style?
Sorry to divert from a thread on your absolutely stunning car.
What brand paint did you use on the car?

My production for my 71' was Oct 70 and it was a tube style.
So I presume the T style was phased out in August for the 71' production.

[njsteve]

FYI - 1970 Challenger and `Cuda cowl blackout application was hit-or-miss beginning in March of 1970 and was discontinued on April 27, 1970 by engineering. The cowl blackout has been found on some original cars after April 27th but it disappeared altogether by May/June 1970. The change roughly coincided with T/A - AAR production which ended on April 17, 1970.
The process differed on Trans Am cars in that they painted the cowl first and then masked off the area to paint the body color. This change in cowl blackout application is believed to have caused confusion on the assembly line until blackout was discontinued on April 27th.

The car had prior evidence of the blackout. And she was sheduled for production during that last week in April with the "430" on the fender tag. April 27 was a Monday and the 30th was a Thursday.

[MoparCarGuy]

FYI - 1970 Challenger and `Cuda cowl blackout application was hit-or-miss beginning in March of 1970 and was discontinued on April 27, 1970 by engineering. The cowl blackout has been found on some original cars after April 27th but it disappeared altogether by May/June 1970. The change roughly coincided with T/A - AAR production which ended on April 17, 1970.
The process differed on Trans Am cars in that they painted the cowl first and then masked off the area to paint the body color. This change in cowl blackout application is believed to have caused confusion on the assembly line until blackout was discontinued on April 27th.

The car had prior evidence of the blackout. And she was scheduled for production during that last week in April with the "430" on the fender tag. April 27 was a Monday and the 30th was a Thursday.

The car is turning out very nice and I figured you matched what you found. Your car could have been produced earlier than the Scheduled Production Date (SPD) of 430 and, even if it was built a little later, the assembly line was still spraying cowl blackout.
My Cuda has an SPD of 613 (June 13, 1970) with a window sticker print date of 0605 (June 5, 1970) and did not have the cowl blackout.

Consider yourself lucky as cowl blackout is one of the many cool things that Mopar did!

[njsteve]

Thanks! I just having fun. Sort of a "Day Two" kind of restoration with the vintage mag wheels and all. I wish I could find a nice set of cast aluminum or chrome "Direct Connection" valve covers from back in my high school days. All I seem to see are mordern versions or later 1980's "Mopar Performance" aluminum valve covers. I beginning to think I hallucinated the idea that they made the DC valve covers in the early 70's for small blocks???

[MoparCarGuy]

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find!"

https://moparconnectionmagazine.com/theyre-back-get-brand-new-direct-connection-valve-covers/