The front seat foam was in really nice condition other than what appeared to be a large motor oil stain on the passenger seat upper. As if someone knocked over a can of oil and let it soak into the seat back. Luckily the old burlap and vinyl absorbed the majority of it. All the rest of the foam was still nice and pliable. I used all new burlap underneath it. I only had to surgically glue a small section of new foam on the driver's side bolster where the seat cover had been repaired (badly) and they glued it directly to the foam.

I used all new foam, burlap, and cotton on the rear seats. (they dont use any molded foam - it's all regular flat material).

Hey, Steve! Thanks so much for the photo rotation (so they're no longer an aberration)!

Thanks, also, for contacting "Rappin' Rodney!"

The seats look great! Yet another project victory, much worthy of the near-Herculean effort!

I have been waiting for the slow delivery of the alternator parts - new front and rear bushings and brushes so I could rebuild the alternator. It's a 1970 model with a date code of the April, 1970, just in line for the April 30 build date.

The circular casting mark with the "70" in the center and the 12 pie-shaped sections around it is the casting date code. You count the pie-shaped sections with "dots" in them to get the month. At the last filled-in month you count the dots. It looks like one dot in the fourth section meaning it was cast the first week of April, 1970.

The assembly date is the 17th week of 1970 which would be about a week before the car's scheduled assembly date.

Sadly, it looks like this alternator was rebuilt and heavily sandblasted long ago, so the casting marks are not crisp anymore. They also blasted the front casting code into oblivion. I had to heli-coil both front mounting holes back to the original bolt size. It's not the prettiest looking unit but it's correct for the car as it is an original roundback early unit. The later models have a square back without the visible pressed in diodes.

At least the original stamped steel, single groove, pulley was still there. All the modern rebuilds have a solid aluminum pulley that sticks out like a sore thumb on a restoration. It's the Mopar version of the Ford "CAUTION FAN" sticker on seen on every "concorse" restored Camaro. ;-)

I know I am late to the party here...
In addition to flex agent in the clear Dave Beem turned me on to Spies Hecker flexible primer...
It is the best flexible primer I have ever seen, I have used it on endura parts since then.

It adheres incredibly well, doesn't crack, and remains fexible...
The rep painted a plastic beach ball allowed it to cure and then deflated the ball... the primer remains on the deflated ball... no cracking or peeling.

Dave's old ZL1 clone endura was painted for 10 years with no issues and I had a couple painted for 6-7 years prior to selling with zero issues.

Here's a comparison of the correct 1970 round back versus the later replacement squareback alternator (with the aforementioned ubiquitous aluminum pulley).

Got everything installed and the bracketry routed correctly. Even have a reproduction fan belt installed to match the cracked and frayed original one.

Oh, and before I did anything greasy this morning, I got the passenger side seat installed. Which was after I got the seat tracks lubricated and reassembled last night. The key to seat track rebuilding seems to be soaking them for a week in purple stuff degreaser, scrubbing them with a wire bristle brush, then washing them in really hot water with dishwashing detergent, scrubbing some more and then soaking them for a few days in the evaporust to get rid of the rustiness. Then more hot water, then paint and reassembly with chassis grease. They work nicely now.

I'll try and get some photos of the driver's side seat track parts when I start assembling them in the next day or two.

Lookin' great 'n better by the day, Steve! Nice progress!

Potential cautionary tale on the repro belts, though. Now, granted, this occurred about 15 years ago, but I bought a couple of new (at the time), beautiful & correct-looking repro belts for the hemi (including 1 for a spare). Properly adjusted, at any significant rpm, it would just throw it (much to my surprise & that of Al Cocchiaro). Reinstalled & readjusted = same result.Tried the second one = same result (again).

I replaced it with the new-from-Chrysler (non-correct-looking) equivalent, and, have never, subsequently had a problem. Perhaps, "these days" they've scienced 'em out better, or, perhaps, what I had was just the proverbial "bad batch," but if you're on a shakedown run, be sure to bring yer tools, just in case you're on the receiving end of a less-than-desirable occurrence. (At least, the current weather up our way isn't so overheating-potential friendly!)

…And, if, perchance, it/they do prove problematic, you can always install it for a show (which is why I kept mine)!

It's a Quanta brand repro belt. Dave has a spare one still in the package. We shall see if this one ejects once the roads clear up in a month or two. From the interwebs, it looks like you're right about them not staying put under actual operating conditions. Just for show I guess.

The two plastic bushings finally arrived for the shifter/ignition lock linkage. It only took three weeks for the post office to get here.

I may try to get that installed tomorrow. But it means lying down on the cold concrete. Ugh.

OK, where's Dave? We need to start on Purple Part Deux:

I found this one on facebook (I posted more info in the ebay sales section of this site). https://www.yenko.net/forum/showthre...46#post1528346

A very rare: 334 built - 440 4bbl, 4-speed FC-7 purple cuda down in Florida. Looks like a really neat car and it was built one day before, and 4,000 or so VINs away from my purple cuda.

Somebody buy this!

I finally got the other seat track assembled and installed on the driver's seat. I then carefully walked the entire seat up fromt the basement, through the house, and out the front door into the garage. And into the car it went!

I then spent an hour vacuuming up the several hundred hog ring remnants (old and new ones) and assorted mouse crap, acorns, and rotten old upholstery residue from my wife's basement work area, which I had transformed into my temporary upholstery shop. She was quite pleased with the early Christmas gift.

So the interior is all done now. Just waiting on the 1970 turn signal switch from my friend down the street, who is having a couple of them restored at the moment. As you may recall, the 1970 E-bodies used a one-year-only turn signal switch that had the emergency flasher button that pulled out to activate instead of pushing in to activate like the 1971-up units.

Next is the shifter/steering column lockout mechanism, since the last bushing finally arrived a couple days ago.

Sweeeet!!! Lookin' excellent, Steve!

…And in response to what you posted (re: the neat FC7 440-4 'Cuda in the ebay sales section of this site): "It was built the day before my purple 340 shaker cuda. (I wonder if they built them in color batches?)"

The answer is "Yes!" It was more efficient that way. Same-color cars (Dodge/Plymouth) were scheduled to be painted in batches, which is why, when removing an interior, sometimes you'll see evidence (dusting+) of another color, because that was the first car in the new batch of the next selected color. They, usually cleaned out the spray gun somewhere in the interior. The reason they did this was because they didn't want to waste valuable finish paint. As an example, when the batch of FC7 Purple cars, in which your car & the 'Cuda-For-Sale were included, was completed, if the next selected color was B5 Blue, the first cars in the Blue batch would probably have some purple on the interior metal (such as the floor pan). (As many of us know, that area didn't USUALLY get a whole heck of a lot of coverage, however, as they say, "your mileage may vary.")

Thanks for the confirmation, Bob!

I tried to install the shifter/column interlock hardware yesterday but I figured out that I have to remove the clutch cross bar to do it as the bellhousing mounted bracket for the interlock cross bar actually has a hole that the clutch crossbar ball-stud goes through. Ugh! That will take a bit more time this weekend. I also had to make my own .610 wide, thin, plastic bushing for the large hole in the column lever that engages with the rod to the interlock cross bar. Anyone have an actual part number for that particular weird bushing? Since the cotter pin hole is so close to the rod's shoulder, the bushing has to be rather thin for it to slip over the end of the rod but still allow for a thin washer and then the cotter pin to access the hole. You cant just use a grommet on th elever - the rod end won't protrude far enough out to insert a cotter pin or clip.

You're welcome, Steve! Glad that I was able to help!

In regard to your search for the elusive bushing, perhaps I can assist (however, I'm not certain). I checked Ye Olde '70/-71 Parts Catalogues (Aug./Sept/(& primarily)Dec. '70 Edition -&- the Jan. '72 Final Printing. (The Final Edition sometimes contains additional illustrations, & information (as well as superseded part numbers) which can be helpful, however, the photo depictions for the assemblies were the same in both.)

The sole illustration which shows steering column lock assembly parts is for 3-speed man. w/o console only. (The 4-speed shows no such column lock parts.)

The only Barracuda/Challenger steering column illustration is for auto trans. (I did not include the illustration for manual column shift A & B-body.)

…And, you know me! "Mr. Specific!" I work best with parts-catalog-descriptions.

After you take a look at this, give me a call. Perhaps we can figure this out, and, if there are p.n.s (and, no pesky "Not Serviced" notes) help may be on the way! (There's always hope!)

The four speed interlock was only used on 1970 models. They got rid of it for 71. So it may be hard to find a parts breakdown. I looked in my old parts book under item 36, section 19-46-13 grommet and came up wih 1553304 grommet and 1553305 bushing? As indicated, there is not really any listings other than "column shifted manual 3 speed" indicated.

Here's some interweb photos to show what it looks like. The problem is that the length of the section of the rod that goes through the bushing is not long enough to go through that bushing and grommet and still allow for a clip to go through the hole. Very strange. I might just stick with my hand-hewn plastic bushing for the moment just to get it mocked up.

Once I get the contraption in tomorrow I will be able to actually see what end of that rod goes into the column lever. It really seems that it bends one particular way in order to reach the bell crank (with the small tipped end on top) but who knows, I could be wrong...stay tuned.

Well it looks like it was right about being wrong.

After finally getting the bellhousing mounted bracket installed (after completely removing the clutch cross shaft) and then reinstalling the clutch cross shaft and then the shifter/column interlock cross shaft, I could see that I had identified the wrong end of the linkage arm as the one that engages the column lever.

One of the problems you run into when referencing factory "catch-all" diagrams is that they don't show all the possible permutations of the parts. Nowhere in the books do they show a diagram with both the clutch cross shaft bracketry and column lock out bracketry combined into one picture. And the linkage arms they show aren't necessarily in the right position in real life as in the diagram - the "flipped" arm being a prime example. If I tried to install it in the orientation shown in the diagram, (with the small end up), it runs right into the clutch cross shaft and never reaches its corresponding mounting arm.

So, once I got the lever flipped over, I could see the longer "nub" would actually clear a regular grommet and sleeve on the lever. So I got that all installed using some old GM grommet and it works great. You place the shifter in reverse and turn the key off and remove it, and the column locks the shifter in the reverse location. Until the key is turned to the run position, the shifter will not be operable.

So now I guess I can hunt down the Mopar factory 1553304 grommet and 1553305 sleeve in order to be "matching part number correct."

Hey, again, Steve! Congrats on success! (Yay!)

[Note: This is being posted subsequent to talking with Steve about the above success, however, prior to his most recent (today’s) post, in response to #896 from yesterday, I spent considerable time yesterday evening (post-post), and, this morning, poring over the Parts Catalogs in an effort to provide an assist! …And, as it turns out (as they so often say at Apple), moments prior to my being ready to post this, I refreshed the page, and, voila! Steve had arrived at the solution, which is great! …However… “Doh” for me! Murphy’s Law reigns supreme! At any rate, following a conversation with Steve, as I mentioned to him, I’m posting this anyway, ‘cause, perhaps, it may prove helpful to fellow auto fans in general, and, MoPar fans in particular, about the wonders & pitfalls of Parts Catalogs, and, Service Manuals.]

So I looked at your Post #865 on p. 87, which includes your pic of the lock assembly items -and- the illustration from the Chassis Service Manual.

I’m, also, re-posting my Parts Catalog photo illustration pages with the addition of circling the areas in question/discussion & related. Even though it states “MANUAL 3 SPEED TRANSMISSION,” I believe that there is a lack of a 4-speed illustration because the parts are, for all intents & purposes, the same (or, at last, close enough that they wanted to conserve paper, not unlike cleaning out spray guns inside cars). I rechecked my earlier printing catalog, and, although it is, by-&-large, from December of 1970, in actuality, I have pages (including Standard (non-power) Steering) from as early as May 1970, so it provides a wealth of info (including parts (and, illustrations thereof) which made it to the catalog, but were cancelled in production, and, therefore, deleted from subsequent printings of the catalog).

ROD 19-48-1 (upper left-hand corner of top illustration) is “ROD, Gearshift Lock Col., w/3, 4 Speed Man. Trans. Floor Shift, 70 B, J (Barracuda, Challenger)” in the Parts Catalog (pn 2996 413)

CLIP 19-48-23 (same illustration) (used on both ends of the 2996 413 Rod) seems to be “CLIP, Gearshift Lock Trans. Rod w/4 Speed man. Trans. Floor Shift” (pn 1635 232). Quantity shows “1,” however, it is, also, listed as “AR” (As Required) in the same section. Worth some research. By description, this is the closest, among the possibilities, however, I ain’t guaranteein’ it’s correct.

“WASHER” (The 2 shown at the top attachment point do not show any PTC (Part Type Code), i.e. 19-48-23 above. That USUALLY indicates that it is just considered Standard Parts (Section 18 in the Parts Catalog); items where you just have to replace what was there with something comparable, or similar, (or, in their absence, ascertain what you need). …And, why does one of those “washers” suspiciously resemble a grommet? Hmmm…)

Steve stated: “I looked in my old parts book under item 36, section 19-46-13 grommet and came up with 1553304 grommet and 1553305 bushing? As indicated, there is not really any listings other than "column shifted manual 3 speed" indicated.”
As per our subsequent phone conversation today, playing “Devil’s Advocate,” I asked him why he thought that the pn 1553 304 grommet, and, the 19-46-14 pn 1553 305 bushing were applicable (#s 35 (invisible) & 36 in the steering column illustration), even though the grommet is showing for “Strg. Column Gearshift Tube Lever” -or- with “Auto Trans. Floor Shift,” and, the bushing is showing for “Auto. Trans. Column Shift.” His reply: “Because it is there!” (Kidding!) In actuality, looking at the parts illustrated (both in the catalog, and, in Steve’s detailed photos), despite lack of info, and/or, conflicting info, in the Parts Catalogs & Service Manual, (and, of course, the bonus being that Steve has the parts in hand), those part numbers appear to be highly probable choices.

The moral of the story is that, though I greatly appreciate them for what they offer, Parts Catalogs are incomplete (as are Service Manuals); Illustrations (especially pre-production ones) can vary from ACTUAL production items (i.e. Steve said that there is no swivel/adjuster in the upper half of that 19-48-1 lock rod), and, “exploded view” perspectives can, at times, lead one to not fully understand the relation of one part to another in “as assembled” form. Add to that, that Service Parts can vary from Assembly Line items, designs change, vendors change, and, on, and, on, until, sometimes, it’s just a conundrum! I/we thought that this might prove helpful. I learn something(s) new every day. If this has helped someone, great! …And, if anyone can shed additional light on the subject(s) that would be much appreciated, too!

Always the voice of reason as well as brevity, Bob. ;-) I knew you'd have the answer(s)

That added connundrum of the several different part numbers in the diagram that show a "clip," refer to it as 1635232 in the parts catalog. And as I thought, it's just a regular Hurst shifter-style "pretzel" spring clip which also superceded to 1137669 (also a Hurst shifter-style spring clip).

But, hey, I did get the contraption installed and actually working as designed!

And I got the seatbelt properly routed through the seatback side cover.

I'd send the schmuck a pic of the wheels and tell him thanks.

I tried, but since he blocked me, I couldn't get through! :-)

I started on the rear differential. It is a 3.23 open and I wanted to at least put in Sure-Grip unit and replace the half-century-old bearings. I was considering upping the ratio to a 3.55 but after discussing it with Cass at DoctorDiff.com he said to stick with the 3.23's. The amount of change would be negligable. The reasoning was that a 3.23 running relatively short 26.45" tall F70x14 tires will be running almost the same rpms as a set of 3.55's with a set of 28" 275/60x15 tires. A real gear change like a 3.73 or 3.90 would result in some actual seat of the pants gains but I am looking for a crusier not a quarter miler with this build.

So essentially I already have the actual performance of a 3.55 with the shorter 14" tires.

So I am ordering a new Sure-Grip "Powr-Lok" unit and the install kit and axle bearings as well. https://www.doctordiff.com/8-3-4-clu...-powr-lok.html

Here's the smelly parts after I got eveything out today. The gear lube was dark but smooth. I had a piquant bouquet with thankfully, no metallic notes. The pattern looked nice.

Looks like the gear set is dated 5/21/1970 and a 1971 casting date on the housing. It appears to be a 29 spline pinion - it takes a 1-1/4 socket on the pinion nut.

Be sure to measure the backlash BEFORE you disassemble it so you will know how to set it when you put it back together. Also do a pattern check with gear marking compound before you take it apart, and take pictures of the pattern. That way you will know if the pinion depth changed when you installed the new bearings.

Setting up rear end gears is a magic that I don't have the skill (or tools) for. I will bring them to the local guys in town that set up my other rear ends. They did a great job with the Pontiac 10-bolts I had them do.

Turns out the guys that I was going to have set up the gears closed up shop and retired earlier this year. So I will be bring the parts to Bontempo Brothers Competition (BBC) Speed Shop in Linden, NJ. Great shop, right out of the 1970’s. It’s just a much longer drive than my earlier choice. I had them do the 10-bolt from my 1972 Trans Am, fifteen years ago.

https://www.racingjunk.com/Services/...OP-SHOP.html#1

Its great that you have those guys a drive away. Car looks fantastic!

Hello, everyone!

Since I’m kinda’ “new to the dance” here (so to speak), I read the thread in it’s entirety (so I wouldn’t be from “The Department Of Redundancy Department"*). Yes! All 91 pages! Wow! Interesting! Insightful! Fascinating! Cool! …And, an absolute tribute to the voluminous & stellar work of Dave -&- Steve (as well as the input of all fellow enthusiasts)! (*With credit to The Firesign Theatre.)

To paraphrase the 1972 Alka-Seltzer commercial, “I can’t believe I read that whole thing.” For the renewed amusement of those who remember, and, the first-time fun of those who do not, here’s da link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFKifpMtlNs

I took notes along the way, and, believe that I can contribute some helpful commentary on a few different things. I’ll try to present 1, or, 2 at a time, as my schedule allows.

The first is regarding the shaker scoop (bubble) paint. Going waaaaaaay back to Dave’s comment (Post #42, on p. 5), which is encapsulated in Jim’s above comment (#65 on p. 7): Yes! The shaker scoop could be painted either Textured Argent -or- Black Organisol, however, there was one exception. Because the hemicuda feature car in the advertisements was painted FE5 Rally Red, all ‘Cudas with shaker hoods, which were ordered in that color, in 1970, were REQUIRED to have a matching red shaker. In fact, many customers said that they ordered the car BECAUSE of the red shaker! The problem which incurred the ire of those who were in the body & paint department on the assembly lines, was the semi-herculean effort it took to make them look good! The shaker scoops had a rough finish from the factory, with imperfections which were covered by the texture of either the argent, or, black. In order to achieve an acceptable finish which matched that of the sheetmetal, it required quite a bit of sanding, and, filling, otherwise the smooth, glossy red finish would only amplify the imperfections! In an assembly line scenario, where time is money, all that extra massaging was not welcomed!

(Note: The only incident of greater magnitude of design-viewed-with-disdain by factory personnel l of which I am aware was the case of the ’71 ‘Cuda “billboard” engine call-out decals (which I had heard were designed by a college student intern who majored in Graphic Design). I have heard that an internal memo, from production to the design department, was an emphatically stated, “Never make a decal that big again!!!!” (or, words to that effect). …And, I vividly recall the arduous & protracted installation process, back in ’85, on Steve’s EV2 Tor Red 440+6 ‘Cuda droptop. After we spent something like 10 hours per side applying them, I sure can understand why! (They sure did look great, though!))

PS I've included my favorite ad of the era. My next-in-line fave is the Rally Red '70 hemicuda "wearing" the "large economy size" mod floral print tie, emanating from the center of the grille.

PPS …And, finally (for now), if anyone knows the whereabouts of a '70 lenticular flasher promo button which says, "Whats Hot & Shakes? It's Hemicuda!," please let me know! Thanks so much!

"Tom Hale (not to be confused with former head-of-design and fellow AAR owner Tom Gale), and he has created the event poster for the BJ auction for many years. He told me that in 1970 he was working in the Chrysler graphic arts department. He had created the AAR stripe and some other stripes, but was bored with stripes and wanted to design cars. While he was waiting for a departmental transfer his boss came to him and told him his next assignment was to design the stripe for the 71 Cuda. Tom was pissed and in a fit of rage he drew a stripe that covered the entire back half of the side of the car. He submitted the artwork and thought, "if you want a stripe I'll give you a f@#$%&g stripe!" To his astonishment management took the stripe seriously and it was approved."

My new vocabulary word for the week: Lenticular.

Very cool trivia.

I think I still have a copy of that same hemicuda ad that I tore out of one of my grandfather's Popular Mechanics magazines. He always had the latest issue on his mantle above the TV (right next to latest Playboy Magazine). ;-)

Thanks so much for the inflow of the Tom Hale info, Lee! That's so great! Very cool! (Now that you mention it, I do remember reading about that, as well.) …So that completes the picture: Step 1.) Tom's aspirations thwarted; wrath incurred! ("Grrrr…") Step 2.) Tom's "revenge" Approved & completed; Production Department's wrath incurred! ("Grrrr…" in return!) Sounds like a true corporate "love-fest!" (Not!!) (Did they not remember the heart (as illustrated in the hemicuda ad in my immediately previous post) which punctuates "Plymouth Makes It?":dunno:)

The Powr-Lok Sure Grip unit and parts arrived from Dr. Diff on Tuesday afternoon and I then dropped them off at Bontempo Brothers Competition in Linden, NJ. If you ever get a chance to stop in there, it is like a time warp trip to 1970. It is an old time speed shop with all four walls covered in NOS and used speed parts. VERY COOL! The back garage and warehouse has racks of engine blocks, heads, rear end parts, transmissions, etc. It's just amazing.

I dropped off the parts and the center section and axles. They disassembled, hot tanked, and reassembled everything in less than two days. Total labor was around $400.

Once I repaint the case and add the inspection marks, I will throw it all back in this weekend. Just waiting for the axle tube seals to arrive.

(The little white specs are styrofoam from the box I brought it home in. So I will be cleaning those off before installation, of course).

I got the paint marks done and managed to manhandle the carrier into place in the housing today. Unfortunately the transmission jack I used to remove the carrier was not too helpful for installing since there was no way to load the carrier onto it and then lift it, since the jack saddle is already about 8" off the ground and won't clear the underside with the carrier sitting on it. So, I had to use the low profile floor jack and over-head lift the carrier while on my back so the flange was on the saddle and then jack it a couple times so I could wiggle it into a balanced positionon top of the jack. Luckily the exhaust was something of a safety barrier to prevent the carrier from falling left or right (onto me).

Got it up in place and bolted up and then had to adjust the axle freeplay on an 8-3/4 rear. It calls for a range between .008 to .018, measured from the left side. To get your correct play, you then adjust the spinning flange on the right side and bolt the keeper in place under one of the flange bolts in order to permanently fix the clearance.

It then took about an hour to pump in two quarts of traditional 85W-140 and a little bottle of Ford friction modifier, (that came with the posi unit). Nothing like trying to hand pump semi-solid, 35-degree gear oil. (Yeah, I should have heated it up in the house overnight). DOH!

I've been on my back on the floor many times with a 84 pound 9 inch Ford chunk above my head doing an overhead lift and then shoving it into the housing with gear oil running over my head and chest. It's lots of fun. I've been doing that about 4 times a year since I started racing my Camaro, switching from street to strip and then back again. I think I'm going to invest in some aluminum cases.

Since you do it four times a year, you could just bolt in a small winch or pulley to the underside of the trunk above the carrier location and pull it up into place effortlessly. Hmmmmmm. I should patent that idea...

Good idea. You design it and I'll build it.

----Feel your pain, Steve. Have been doing something similar, but different but the same frustration level!.....Bill S

And what happens this morning? I go to pick up the new, fluffy dog pillow my wife bought yesterday for the Jack Russell, off the floor. (Probably weighs about half a pound) ...and pull a muscle in my back.

I took the purple mobile out for a spin today to test the rear differential installation. Bontempo Brothers did a great job on the sure-grip installation. Not a sound out of the rear end. Totally silent. Ran her through the gears for about ten miles. Didn't even have any popping out of gear under coast conditions. So maybe the transmission doesn't need synchros after all. Just needs to be warmed up and driven.

At 60 mph, the tach reads 2,600 rpm.

Here she is, in all her dusty glory. Next project might be to actually wash and wax her.

Things left on the short list:

1) S24MY Turbostart sealed Group 24 repro battery. Out of stock everywhere, even though Summit, Jegs, etc., will take your money and then tell you a fake future shipping date from the manufacturer. Even TurboStart themselves say they arent building them til at the earliest late March 2021. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/tbo-bb-s24my (Says 2/2/21 shipping date when checked on 1/18/21)
2) Bumper jack assembly, base plate, bumper hook, etc.
3) Sunny days to drive it and some cruise nights again...

Very nice Steve. Congratulations.