The Crusty Cuda: Whole lotta Shakin' (N96) Goin' on!

[PeteLeathersac]

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Crazy stuff just like the 70's again...Purple cars and now w/ the Acid.

~ Pete

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[njsteve]

Can't get more Day Two accurate that this. 1973 would have been around the time the original assembly line battery went kaput.

BTW, I have an entire 100 miles on the car as of today!

[Xplantdad]

Awesome stuff, Steve!

[CTBob]

Hey! Yay! The site’s back up! Woo-Hoo! (’Tis a “site” for sore eyes!) Now I can express my enthusiasm for cool, NOS, period-correct Dry Charged MoPar service battery; over what had, originally, been dismay, re: destruction of rare, authentic, production-line repro battery as the result of being poorly (read: not at all) packed by negligent sender, and, mishandled by carrier.

For those who would enjoy knowing what Chrysler Corp. service batteries of the era looked like, as well as what part numbers they carried, here are 5 pages of the 8-page Chrysler Parts battery catalog; December 1970 printing. (The 3 pages which I’ve omitted are non-CP logo batteries, as well as other-manufacturer (i.e. domestic: GM/Ford/Checker/Rambler/Studebaker+ & imported: Fiat/Jaguar/MG/Sunbeam/Triumph+) applications for the batteries listed. In addition to the aforementioned, there are listed applications for items as diverse as farm equipment, outboard motors, and, golf carts.) The catalog, further, includes activation & testing information. I thought that, perhaps, it may prove of interest.

[njsteve]

Thanks Bob. It's interesting that the factory replacement battery immediately went to a three vent cap in 1970 instead of the assembly line individual red/yellow/green screw-in caps.

[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]

Tested out the chain and it had too much slack in it. The shaker still moved waaaay too far over under load. So I cut a link off the chain at the top and then spaced the engine lift bracket up a small bit with two hardened washers between the sway bar support bracket and the engine lift bracket. That gave me just enough slack that the chain was not tight when both ends were attached.

I also replaced the speedometer cable with a new reproduction cable. I had to go the OER brand route since it had the correct 1" size nut to attach it to the speedo housing on the tailshaft. All the generic replacement cables have a small ferule style cap that isn't even close to the correct size and the cables are at least a foot too long. So after an hour under the dash, I had the new cable routed properly. It actually has to go over the pedal support brackets and then to the side in order to engage at the proper angle with the speedometer. Not fun while hanging upside down.

But it was successful and the speedo needle no longer jumps as the car travels. It reads nice and smooth. I also pulled the internal cable out and greased the heck out of it before reinserting it into the cable housing and installing the whole thing.