1966 Polara 500 Ragtop

[LocuMob]

One will never know...

Looks to new to be factory, different materials. Came right up, usually doesn't happen with an original sticker.

Watch, it was some rare sticker...

 

[Dsertdog]

Looks to new to be factory, different materials. Came right up, usually doesn't happen with an original sticker.

Watch, it was some rare sticker...

Maybe it was a no warranty sticker for a 1 of 1 dealer installed street Hemi...

 

[bigmoparjeff]

Maybe it was one of those CB Jeebies stickers, if you are old enough to remember them. It's about the right size. I still have a few stashed away somewhere.

 

[Dsertdog]

Went to the local cruise night. It was so hot...somewhere between Phoenix and the surface of the sun, that turnout was minimal so I got a coveted shady spot.
Anyway a thunderstorm popped up in the humid atmosphere and with the 2nd lightening strike, I left.

Got a couple photos though.

 

[Dsertdog]

I came home from the cruise and we took Ruby to the storage garage. We've had nasty storms off and on since.

During a break on Friday, I pulled the valve covers off to have them hot tanked. I was surprised by how clean the rocker arms and underside of the covers were, but the drivers side had some pieces of valve seal in the oil rail. So a valve job is in the future.

Anyway I got the valve covers back and while they are oil and paint free, there's still gasket material and rust to remove. So I've fired up the wire wheels.
The front cover hasn't been worked yet, the rear has about 15 minutes of wire wheelin'!

 

[65sporty]

The valve seals can be changed without removing the heads. If it's running good I would put off a valve job and just change the seals.

 

[Dsertdog]

Ya know...
I had those fancy air adapters for the plug holes, a valve spring tool, all that stuff. US made too!
Pretty sure I sold it about 2-3 years ago. I should look though.
The future...that's a point in time I couldn't fathom when I typed that. "The future, an unknown point between tomorrow and never." You can quote me on that.

 

[Dsertdog]

Progress at times seems incremental. There's the other daily things that must be done....and the rain and humidity make proper painting a hassle.

 

[Dsertdog]

This is the one step forward one step back entry.
The valve covers were installed. A fuel leak (my fault ) sprayed gas on the rh cover and caused some wrinkles in the fresh paint. Sanding a re-shooting on the car were moderately successful. Hoses wires cover it as well.

I also resprayed the oil cap, polished the fuel line to give it a like new look and washed and sprayed the air cleaner top. I also re-shot the earlier attempt at painting the water pump.

My attempt at rebuilding the stock washer pump may be a failure. It sprayed fluid out of one nozzle for a millisecond but is leaking out the pump body....near as I can tell.
I'll remove the nozzles and feeder hoses and check for blockage. The main hose to the "Y" connection is fine.

A productive, yet frustrating day. At least there was no Car -B - Que!

 

[mr. fix it]

This is the one step forward one step back entry.
The valve covers were installed. A fuel leak (my fault ) sprayed gas on the rh cover and caused some wrinkles in the fresh paint. Sanding a re-shooting on the car were moderately successful. Hoses wires cover it as well.

I also resprayed the oil cap, polished the fuel line to give it a like new look and washed and sprayed the air cleaner top. I also re-shot the earlier attempt at painting the water pump.

View attachment 314179 View attachment 314180 View attachment 314181

My attempt at rebuilding the stock washer pump may be a failure. It sprayed fluid out of one nozzle for a millisecond but is leaking out the pump body....near as I can tell.
I'll remove the nozzles and feeder hoses and check for blockage. The main hose to the "Y" connection is fine.
View attachment 314182

A productive, yet frustrating day. At least there was no Car -B - Que!

I ended up using a universal Trico pump and hiding it under the bottle.

the covers turned out very nice

 

[Dsertdog]

While I was having my morning cup of personal perseverance, I hypothesized that my washer nozzles might be plugged.

I pulled them off and cleaned them with a pin, back blew them with air, and ended up back flushing them on the washer hoses. They were plugged up alright.
Now they work just like new!

I cut just the swelled part off the pump end of the hose that feeds the nozzles and pushed it back on the pump nipple. That seems to have stopped most, if not all the leakage.

But now I have working windshield washers.

 

[mr. fix it]

While I was having my morning cup of personal perseverance, I hypothesized that my washer nozzles might be plugged.

I pulled them off and cleaned them with a pin, back blew them with air, and ended up back flushing them on the washer hoses. They were plugged up alright.
Now they work just like new!

I cut just the swelled part off the pump end of the hose that feeds the nozzles and pushed it back on the pump nipple. That seems to have stopped most, if not all the leakage.

But now I have working windshield washers.

It's a common issue for a 52 year old car. Mine were plugged pretty badly as well
Hope the leaks stay at bay

 

[Dsertdog]

I ended up using a universal Trico pump and hiding it under the bottle.

the covers turned out very nice

I'll replace mine with the Mustang pump, same as the Mopar repop but 1/3 the price. The original pump sprays great but also leaks while doing so.

This is a little detail project I started yesterday and finished this morning. It improves the engine area immensely! The next project will be painting the steering pump.

 

[mr. fix it]

Looking great

I remember the Mustang washer pumps now that you mention it.

 

[Dsertdog]

Today I brought the Polara home and took on a new project.

I took out the gauge clusters and replaced the headlight switch. Now the interior lights work and the courtesy lights function without opening a door.
The cool little tool I bought doesn't work for the switch nut but I found something that did. However it will remove the antenna and convertible top switch.
The clusters each got new bulbs and the ammeter terminals were cleaned.

Right after I finished it started raining, and I found out where all the leaks are. There's a lot of 'em.

My bucket's got a hole in it...

Photo of the original switch shows the problem.

I just spotted a mystery fuse....oh crap!

Here's the terminal before I cleaned it.

 

[Dsertdog]

My buckets got a hole in it,
my buckets got a hole in it!
My buckets got a hole in it,
so I can't buy no beer.

A brief but heavy Oklahoma downpour tried to turn Miss Ruby into an aquarium!
But now I know where the leaks are, and boy will fixing 'em be expensive!

 

[bluefury361]

I just got caught up with your thread, man, what a beautiful Polara. I'm a sucker for a big, red/white convertible. My barn find survivor is a 1967 red/white Polara 500 convertible. Stored since 1974. It also needed some love and I'm trying to maintain as much original as I can. Hope to drive it to Ocala for the Mopar meet in November.

 

[Dsertdog]

I just got caught up with your thread, man, what a beautiful Polara. I'm a sucker for a big, red/white convertible. My barn find survivor is a 1967 red/white Polara 500 convertible. Stored since 1974. It also needed some love and I'm trying to maintain as much original as I can. Hope to drive it to Ocala for the Mopar meet in November.

View attachment 321494

Hello!
I'm a big fan of your car as well!
We chatted briefly about trading washer bottles and I wanted to buy the front slots off your '67 but they were sold.
I'm enamored with the '66 spinner wheel covers but want to run polished slots on occasion and want 15s because I hope to convert to newer disc brakes.
Other than that and maybe an electronic ignition, and the duals, I'd like to keep it the way it is and just drive it. So far I've put 300 miles on it since February. The PO put 7 miles on it in 2018 and about 20 in 2017. It likes to be driven!
I wish you safe travels to Ocala kind sir!

 

[Dsertdog]

Today I started to deal with the worst rust I found on Ms. Ruby.
I'm glad I didn't wait any longer.
The pictures tell the story.

Driver's side

I used puppy pads filled with Apple Cider Vinegar laid on the floor for about a week. I changed them out once.
Here's the results before and after wire brushing.

2 coats of Rust Bullet red.

The passenger side was a lot worse. There were a few pinholes. Someone on one of my other posts about dealing with rust suggested using fiberglass mat as a patch if the holes were not too large. That's what I did, but I also filled them with some POR-15 patch, which is about the consistency of spot putty. Then I matted them over.
Before I got carried away I removed the rear seat bottom. No build sheet, but I know the bottom was made 11/5 of 1965 and Auto trim works in Ontario was the vendor!

Now it's time have an evening coffee and a hot shower.

 

[Dsertdog]

Today we were having our "Native American Summer". We used to call it Indian Summer.
Anyways, I decided to kick *** and remove the front seats and the rest of the carpet.
I started on it right before lunch because I spent the morning putting an aftermarket throttle body on my Ram.

I removed the drivers seat and figured out why the seat wont go up or down...

That won't be cheap! :'(
I got the seats and carpet out, Fixed an insulation issue, and ground down the rust on the drivers side front. The old carpet was tossed.

Then I put the seats back in, and took her up to storage. It's supposed to rain the next two days.