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

[njsteve]

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.

[njsteve]

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.

[njsteve]

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.

[njsteve]

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 Looks like someone replaced the turn signal switch back in the 1970's with a superceded Chrysler part that covered several applications.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.

[njsteve]

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!

[njsteve]

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!

[SuperNovaSS]

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


Jason

[njsteve]

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.

[njsteve]

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

[CTBob]

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!