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

[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.

[njsteve]

Sad news on the 1973 battery that my friend, Al found. Seems like it won't take a full charge. It gets to 12 volts under charging but when you test it for CCA, it only shows about 100 cold cranking amps when it should be 400+. And after a day off the charger it only shows 6 volts. A very sad day indeed. I guess sitting for 48 years must have damaged a couple cells. :-(

But Al said he will look in his house over the weekend. He recalls having an original, red cap group 27 NOS battery in there somewhere. That was actually what he was looking for when he found the 1973 replacement battery.

[njsteve]

(cross posted in the Lounge section as well)

I just found an NOS Sanyo FT489 (circa early 1970's) for the purple Cuda. It is missing the male half of the quick disconnect harness attachment that you would splice your power/ground/speaker wires into.

Does anyone have any idea what precisely this barrell-shaped, male section of the connection is called and where I could locate one? I believe it has 8 or 9 prongs.

The first photo is the Sanyo I bought, The second photo is off the internet of a complete harness with the section I am looking for.

Thanks for any help.