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

[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.

[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.

[CTBob]

Hey, Steve! Nice find!

To address your inquiry, it's called a "multi-pin connector." (It appears to be way too big to be a DIN connector, which is a kind of multi-pin connector, an example of which is the connecting cable on the Chrysler cassette player/recorder, circa '71, as was in your hemicuda convertible.)

As far as sources are concerned, perhaps try contacting Parts Express, as they may be a source for what you need, or, if not, be able to provide a helpful suggestion. https://www.parts-express.com

My only other thought, if the above is not viable, is to search for a complete non-working unit which you may be able to acquire on-the-cheap, simply for it's parts. (I hope that this helps.)

[njsteve]

So the Sanyo arrived and I did a quick swap in to see if it all works. The AM/FM sounded great but the cassette wouldn't load properly and when it did you could hear a motor whining inside but no tape movement. So the belt is probably gone after almost 50 years. I have it packaged up to go out tomorrow to a guy out in California who specializes in refurbishing old car stereos. So stay tuned! (pun fully intended).