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

[njsteve]

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.

[CTBob]

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.")

[njsteve]

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.

[CTBob]

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!)

[njsteve]

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.

[njsteve]

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."

[CTBob]

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!

[njsteve]

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!

[njsteve]

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

[southernfriedcj]

Originally Posted by njsteve

...ebay crazy who blocked my bids because I asked too many logical questions about the set of wheels.

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