Dang, this car looks great!:biggthumpup:

I had been working on cleaning and repainting all the gauges, dash moldings, brackets, and the dash frame itself over the past week. The dash frame is painted in a unique suede black finish that takes some patience to apply properly - I.E., you really have to stand back and spray it dry, out of the can for it to come out right.

This morning, with the help of my son, we got the dash assembly installed. It took all of one minute. You just engage the lower forked bracket onto the two kick panel bolts, then hinge the whole assembly up toward the cowl, insert the four screws in the defroster duct area, and it's done.

I then started installing the carpet. It really has to be shoved up forward under the dash for the molded area to properly engage with the shifter hump and to get the cutout in the heal pad to properly aligned with sheet metal kick-out of the driver's side kick panel,where the dimmer switch goes. Now I am in search of original carpet photos to see how the factory trimmed the carpet up under the dash where it engages with the gas pedal, steering column, heater box, etc. Anyone got any E-body under-dash survivor photos?

Nice trick on how to install the dimmer switch thru the carpet:

https://www.hotrod.com/articles/1973...-installation/

This may help you Steve:

http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/in...topic=111538.0

Hi, Steve!

Yes! After, lo, these many years, ’tis I. Having been “RA” (Restoration Assistant) to ya back in the day on several of yer stellar vehicles, perhaps I can, on occasion, be yer “RAFA” (Restoration Assistant From Afar) on this here project! (No matter what, at least I can experience it vicariously through your exemplary photo & text documentation!) My perpetually busy schedule is a little less perpetually-busy, so I thought that I’d join y’all. Kudos to ya (and, of course, Dave) on the ‘cuda!

I scrolled through the last 20, or, so pages, and, perhaps I can render an assist about a coupla’ semi-recent inquiries which you posed.

#701 p. 71 Re: The ground straps for the Shaker air doors, I just checked both my early (Aug./Sept. ’70 Printing) -&- Late/Final (Dec. ’71/Jan. ’72) ’70’/’71 Parts Catalogs, hoping to glean some info, however, it appears that they are not serviced. Perhaps it’s the “Mad Scientist” in me, and, I hasten to point out, sheer speculation, however, considering it’s “arcane engineering Chrysler” here, I wonder of they’re to prevent the driver and/or the dash from getting zapped from a direct lighting strike to the bubble through the shaker cable?! Hmmm…

#707 p. 71 Re: Glass Codes
AS2 = Tempered Glass w/ 70% light passage; non windshield
M27.7 = Model # used by the glass manufacturer; in this case PPG (as mandated by US Law)
26.99 = *Sept. 1969
26.79 = *July 1969
DOT18 = PPG Industries / Pittsburgh, PA. USA
*Not sure of “26” That number appears on the original glass of both my right & left doors of my ‘71 Charger / All other info is complete & correct

#755 p. 76: …And, Re: The jute backing separator board direction of orientation, to be properly installed the jute faces the luggage compartment (aka “The Trunk"). The caveat here is that it “shouldn’t” be installed in a 340 ‘cuda, ‘cause that was “only” used on Gran Coupe models, however, as we often say, “It’s Chrysler,” and (almost) anything is possible. (As a note, that, also, would have been installed on any Challenger SE, or, R/T/SE. My previous ’71 Charger SE included factory-installed jute-backed package shelf -&- passenger/luggage compartment separator panel, and, carpet trunk mat & spare tire cover, as well as clip-in color-keyed cardboard panels to cover the wheelhouses & the inside quarter panels.)

I hope that this helps! MoPar to ya!

PS This is my first time on this Forum, so apologies if I didn’t post correctly!

Hey Bob! Welcome to the interwebs! Thanks for the sage advice.

(Bob and I go back about 40 years or so with our Mopars - he is an invaluable source of Mopar trivia and a terrible fastfood supplier - at the Mopar Nationals in 1986? I asked him to get bring me back a hamburger as I was working on the Cuda in the Brice Road hotel parking lot. An hour later he shows up with a single White Castle hamburger the size of postage stamp.)

Hey, Steve! Thanks for the welcome, and, the compliments! …And, you’re welcome!

…And, re: “terrible fast-food supplier,” guilty as charged! Yup! ’Twas the ’86 MoPar Nats in Columbus. Our friend Rodney & I set out on foot in search of sustenance, and, the only place we found that was open was a White Castle! (Home of the tiny slider.) In my defense it was actually a DOUBLE Cheeseburger (so, it contained not 1, but 2 postage stamps). We did, however, “compensate” by gettin’ ya a large economy size Pepsi… I do, indeed, recall your look of dismay to this day… Sorry…

On the happy news side, this feels good! Having been a member of national Chrysler Corp Car Clubs during their heyday (including CPPA, MMCI, NHOA, RTS, SIAC, Winged Warriors), this feels nice. My time is quite limited, however, if I can help with a question (or, something of that nature), I’ll be happy to do so!

Welcome Bob! :biggthumpup:

Well the shipping gremlins have struck again. I ordered a new AMD windshield from Jegs...and the shipping depot "lost" it for 6 days.

They attempted to deliver it today.

Flimsy carboard box.

Box was open completely on one side, with four pieces of broken tape that had been placed over the flaps.

Forklift tire tread marks on the open side flap.

Three pieces of styrofoam for padding.

Loose in the open box.

Chips all along the edges where it had been dragged on the ground.

I refused the shipment.

The problem is that this is how AMD ships glass. (and sheetmetal, as you may recall from our previous episode with the trunk lid(s) shipped from AMD)

Jegs customer service has been great. They refunded me my truck shipping charges and ordered me a new one with instructions to AMD to actually package the glass as if it was made of...

...wait for it...

...GLASS!

It really irritates me that some people/companies don't know how to pack. :no::bs: :thumbsdown: Idiots...

Thank you so much! Greatly appreciated!

The immediately aforementioned response was twofold: both to Xplantdad for the welcome -&- to njsteve for the cautionary tale about the glass!

Just being my angry-old-man, self.

They know how, it just costs more and they don't want to incur the cost.

I understand your point, but I think that it's foolish to think that way about the products you produce. You end up with frustrated and angry customers. I would think twice about buying from a company like that.

----I remember Dale Smith (RIP) when he was doing OEM Glass and I think you could have driven over a delivered box and find a perfect windshield still untouched inside!.....Bill S

Dale Smith, now that’s a name I haven’t heard in along time. I remember buying glass from him back in the 1980s for my Cuda ragtops. He was a good man.

When I ordered a new date coded windshield for the black 1972 Formula Firebird, Pilkington Glass shipped it in something that could have doubled as a coffin. It was a handmade, wooden rectangular sarcophagus with internal scaffolding that held the glass safely inside. It weighed over 150 lbs without the glass!

I had ordered date coded glass from ECS as was the exhaust for my Bee. 100% top notch all the way. Dave was a great guy to deal with (wish he was still here:frown:) and had I of kept Crusty I would have ordered their exhaust for it if I went the "over the top, stress about everything, crazy paint blop Inspector mark" restoration we all love to do!:cool2::biggthumpup:

You're doing awesome on this one Steve! Love it!!!!!

Cheers
Dave

Look what arrived today! In continuing with my Day2 theme I found an original 1970's Stewart Warner Stage III oil pressure gauge on ebay for $35. I had one of these in my first car - a '69 Camaro Z11 pace car back in 1977. They came out in the very early 1970's and were available into the early 1980's. This one is dated May, 1979 (my junior year of high school).

I also found a spare block off plate for the standard gauge panel for $25. This goes where the optional clock would have been if you paid the extra $$ for it in 1970. The block off is made of molded plastic so it was easy to Dremel out the circle for the oil pressure guage to snap into. This is exactly what we all did back in the 1970's. Back in the day, it was actually rare to find a standard gauge panel that didn't have the empty block off plate bored out for an oil pressure gauge or a mini tach. I will run a copper oil feed line instead of using the 41 year old plastic tubing in the gauge kit.

(Note: no dogs were harmed during the photographing of this oil pressure gauge)

This should go in this weekend before the steering column gets reassembled and installed. I also found the built in tach lead in the engine compartment harness. It feeds an empty spot on the bulkhead connector at the firewall. All I had to do was add the interior side portion of the wire with the corresponding connector and I have the tach lead already routed without having to fish a random tach wire to the coil.

As you may recall I am installing this 1972 Mopar tach on the column, just like the old days.

I just got a shipping alert from UPS that Legendary Auto Interiors is shipping the front and rear seat upholstery out this week. I ordered it back in May? They had a six month backlog of orders. Fingers crossed that it arrives safely.

As for the replacement windshield, Jegs sent an email that it was on backorder and it is supposed to ship out directly from AMD later this week...They are probably having trouble finding some old, thin tissue paper to wrap it up in since modern newspaper is too thick and might actually protect it too much.

Well, the Legendary interior showed up yesterday...in a shredded box.

You'd think if you were shipping a white interior you would do something more than put it in an unsealed plastic bag and throw it in a large cardboard box. Then tape the flaps shut with a single section of tape.

Here's how it arrived. The white seat covers were out of the plastic bags and laying on the bottom section where the open tears in the cardboard were. All that clear tape was put on by UPS in transit.

WTF is wrong with these companies? I paid them $86 for shipping. Legendary said it was the price they charge for an oversized box. Really? So you couldn't double box it? Did I pay for insurance?

I called them immediately and emailed them the photos. They didn't seem to think there was any problem. All they kept saying was if they were damaged to put in a claim and claims get expedited if they have to make a new set.

I ordered these in August. That's how long it took to get them made.

On the windshield front, Jegs has been great. They refunded my $138 truck shipping costs and had a new wndshield shipped out directly from AMD. I noticed the weight now says 85 lbs instead of 50 lbs on the bill of lading. So maybe they crated it up this time? We shall see. It's due in on Monday bween 8 and 5 PM.

I spent the day finagling with the dash and installing the copper oil pressure line. I was able to create a T-fitting with some brass fittings and the original idiot light sender. I then routed the copper line through one of the plastic push through cowl insulation clips. I just snipped the pointed end off and the copper line fed right through, very close to where it needed to connect to the fitting. I installed the Stewart Warner oil pressure gauge in the instrument pod, which had to come halfway out of the dash to access. Once I get the tach installed tomorrow, I will post some better photos of the dash area

With the help of the wife we woman-handled the newly assembled steering column into place and hooked it up to the steering box. Moving along nicely.

And here's a question for you E-body wiring gurus...any idea what this thre wire connector from the column goes to? I can't seem to find anything under the dash. The wires feed off of the turn signal and hazard assembly.

I got an answer from the E-bodies.org forum. It's the connector for cornering lights on a C-body car. Looks like someone replaced the turn signal switch back in the 1970's with a superceded Chrysler part that covered several applications. So it will just hang there and look lonely from now on.

Today's escapade involved getting the car running.

Remember all of Dave's trials and tribulations during Season One of The Purple Car Saga? They involved the mysterious starting problems and the key buzzer/door switch voltage issue? 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. The wiring path of least resistance was the key buzzer switch which backfed the voltage to its own relay when turned to the crank position. 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!

P.S. Sorry for my more than usual angry-oldmanfulness but the crappy reproduction parts out there and bad business practices by packagers/shippers has me beyond my usual "glass half broken" optimism.

We shall see how tomorrow's alleged scheduled windshield delivery goes...

So stay tuned for further episodes...

...and, dont you dare touch that thermostat...

...and GET OFF MY LAWN!

Well, that sucks but I'm glad you got to the bottom of it. Finally, Dave will have some closure!


Jason

Yes, I think Dave was as happy as I was with this plot twist. I even texted him a video clip of it starting while I was still upside down under the dash.

That was a seriously defective part - this is the kind of defect that could burn your car and your house down in the middle of the night.

It definately affirms my choice to disconnect all the car batteries when not in use.

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=lsC3...nnel=zatoblade

Hey, Steve! Great news, indeed!

No reason to apologize over "less-than-stellar" (to put it mildly) and, in this case, potentially dangerous/lethal repro parts, nor, about do-it-on-the-cheap shipping practices. All that stuff only hurts the industry & our hobby. Why vendors act unconscionably, and, are so short-sighted about their products & services has always been a mystery to me! (Apologies to Fleetwood Mac.) Not only can it damage their reputation, but, of course, their customers rides, and, most importantly, potentially their customers themselves!

PS Thanks for the YouTube link! Whatta' hoot!

Gotta love the Bud Light, Real Men of Genius commercials from back in the day.

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.

My Hoooker headers for my LSA were in a destoryed box. Then the next set had started to rust where the coating was thin or missing. The 3rd set they made sure I got a good set. UPS showed up one day with 2 sets of them to pick up. They were poorly packed and none of the sets were packed the same.

Looking good Steve. Hope to see it in person one day. Can you still see the fuel gauge behind that big A** tach? :D

If you tilt your head you can see it. But since it's not working at the moment I guess it doesnt matter. ;-)

I have to start checking the ground to the tank and see if that fixes it. It does have the little metal strap that goes from the body fuel line to the tank line.

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:

Wow, what a transformation! Creativity at its finest.

Thanks. I couldnt see paying somebody $300 to $400 to do this exact process on a perfectly fine wheel that needed no structural repairs.

Total material cost was $6 for the paint marker set and $6 for the satin clear. (I borrowed the 10 year old can of Minwax Walnut stain from my wife's woodworking supplies - I probably used less than a couple tablespoons in total)

That looks great.

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.