1973 Dodge Monaco Coupe, 127242 miles

[1970FuryConv]

@saforwardlook OK Steve, some pics of my 1973 Monaco
@bigmoparjeff Jeff, I think you expressed interest too
Short story: Bought car Jan 2021, Stockbridge, GA, FB Ad. $6000. I bought the car from an estate. Car had been sitting at least 2 years. Executor let me work on it in the dead man's driveway for 3 days to get it running enough to drive onto a car carrier. Since the carrier delivered to my home in Virginia, I have worked mainly underhood. Also, brakes. Had the dash apart to replace radio and WW switch, fix wiring. Lots wiring issues in the engine compartment. Etc.
Car is now reliably driveable and a lot of fun!
Reason for purchase. Love the body style. I had a 1973 Dodge Monaco that I sold in 2006. It ended up in Finland. Biggest regret of all my car sales by far. Promised myself if I ever found one in decent condition, I'd buy it. @71Polara383 Wyatt, to quote you. The only way this one is leaving my possession is when someone takes the keys out of my cold dead hand.
So here we go!
Hidden HL work. Had motor rebuilt by Jeff Woods, in Texas

 

[1970FuryConv]

Interior. Seats were recovered by PO. Not sure if color match to original. Think the seats should have fabric inserts. Positive side: seats look OK.

 

[1970FuryConv]

More interior

Door Windows: work. Quarter windows, not yet

 

[1970FuryConv]

Trunk. Really nice condition. Proof Monaco was garage kept for most of its life.

 

[Beep Beep Dave]

Very nice congratulations!

Dave

 

[LocuMob]

That's a sharp looking car, congrats!

 

[1970FuryConv]

360/727: 360 is original. 727 is not.
I started with a Demon 1900 625 carb. POJ. Internal choke linkage fell apart. Roll pin blocked the throttle blades half way open and I was idling at 3000 rpm.
Current Carb is Carter 9625SA rebuilt, Excellent
Intake: Weiand 8007. Used to convert for 2bbl to 4bbl. Note: Weiand 8007 has no coil mount.
Big shout out to Ray @halifaxhops: his rebuilt distributor finally fixed my ignition problems! Highly recommend him!
Wheel Well right side: removed and painted right side in order to replace heater hoses.
Wheel Well left side: replaced because of large hole from battery acid rot. Painted another wheel well and bought battery tray new.
Did lots of other repairs to make everything work and not leak.

Car is an ongoing project, but lots of fun now.

 

[1970FuryConv]

@ayilar Yes, I now own a Dodge c-body. Fender tag for your reference.
Ben

E57 360 2bbl
D34 Std duty auto trans
DP23K3F188293 Dodge premium coupe 360 1973 Newark DE plant 188293 pdtn #

EW1 Eggshell White Paint
R4L3 Interior R-class, split back bench seat, parchment fabric
000 No upper door frame color
117 January 17, 1973 Production Date
176940 Order#

V1W Full vinyl roof white
U Build to specifications for USA
H51 Air Conditioning with Ft Heater
L31 Fender turn signal lights. (No turn signals in dash)
N88 Auto Speed Control (cruise control)
P21 Power Bench Seat

P31 Power Windows
V5X Protective vinyl side insert body mouldings, black
26 Radiator
end

It also has power front seat that's operational!

 

[CBODY67]

Looks good! Congrats!

CBODY67

 

[saforwardlook]

What a beautiful Monaco! Although some do not prefer triple white cars, I like them and this one is a fine example. You scored .

I like that the dashpad isn't cracked nor is the tilt wheel.

I agree that the front seat was likely at least partially redone since the vinyl color match could have been slightly more beige to match what are definitely the original rear seats based on the R4L3 on your fender tag.

The styling on these Monacos is among the best of of what Chrysler offered and the front end design in particular is so unique and so well done.

I like that your car also has an AM/FM radio and its power bench seat is relatively rare too.

Thank you very much for remembering to share your photos with us.

Seeing this car makes my day!




h

 

[MacLebaron]

Very nice, glad you have it back on the road!

 

[ayilar]

Congrats @1970300vert – wonderful car! Do you have some of the history?

PS: Any chance you’re bringing DP23K3F188293 to Carlisle ?

 

[mrfury68]

Nice score of a well optioned Monaco. Very sharp looking car. Thanks for the pics.

 

[lemondana]

Beautiful Monaco! Let 's see some closeup pics of your throttle linkage and kickdown linkage. From the one picture it looks like possibly it could use some fine tuning. Just trying to help.

 

[MonacoBlue]

More interior
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Door Windows: work. Quarter windows, not yet
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I’ve got the same color door panels carpet and dash in a wagon. Coupe looks fantastic!
PS SEM paint color for door panels I used “Phantom White” and it was very very close in shade. A good match, if you ever need it for a touch up. Works well on armrests. Yours look great so hopefully you don’t need it.

 

[1970FuryConv]

Congrats @1970300vert – wonderful car! Do you have some of the history?
PS: Any chance you’re bringing DP23K3F188293 to Carlisle ?

All the history is in the area of Stockbridge, Georgia. The Georgia state inspection sticker on the car is from 1982. I suspect that most of the miles on the car were put on it from 1973 to 1982. The original owner died. The father in the family that I bought the car from purchased the car from the family of the original owner. The father died, and the brother whose estate I purchased the car from inherited the car sometime before 2011. I know that from one maintenance receipt that I found. From 2011 forward to my purchase, less than 4000 miles were put on the car. The car was kept under a carport, which helped preserve it. The brother had some sort of illness which rendered him incapable of driving so he went out and started the car occasionally, but other than that the car sat for 2 years at least. The executor of the brother’s estate unwisely moved the car out from under the carport at the brothers property and left it to be rained on.

I saw the ad in Facebook in early January 2021. I got in touch with the executor, whose wife had placed the ad. For reasons I can’t explain he didn’t seem that interested in selling the car. I offered to pay full asking price on the condition that I personally saw the vehicle and determined that the body was okay. I flew from Richmond Virginia to Atlanta Georgia and the executor was supposed to pick me up at the airport. He did not. I had to take an Uber to his house. There were lots of excuses for not picking me up. But he did take me over to see the car. Georgia does not title cars that old. I had printed a Georgia bill of sale from the Georgia DMV website. His wife filled it in and he signed and I gave them a cashier’s check for $6000. I spent the rest of the afternoon that I had arrived in Georgia working on the car, taking Lyft back and forth from the local Advance Auto. I spent the next full day working on the car. I did everything from working on the ignition to taking out the taillights and dumping out the water that collected. On the morning of the 3rd day the car still wasn’t running right. I had spent the night before at my hotel thinking about possibilities and I kept coming back to exhaust obstruction. I got a Lyft back to the car on the morning of the 3rd day. The car carrier was scheduled to pick it up at 9 AM and I had to have it running enough for it to drive on to his truck. I started work at 6 AM. I jacked the front of the car and looked under it the exhaust. I found that the muffler was blown open like a clamshell. It looked like the internal structure of the muffler was too close to the intermediate pipe between the Y pipe and the front of the muffler. My most important tool of the trip turned out to be a narrow shovel that I found under the dead man’s carport. I use the shovel to pry out the noise baffles from inside the muffler. I put the car back on the ground. And started it up.

Being unable to breathe for so long and now finally able to breathe, the car started burning tremendous amounts of oil and carbon and clouds billowed up out of the engine compartment and into the passenger compartment. I had to get out of the car and open the doors. After all the old oil burned away and the car was breathing normally, it was idling fine. It was 7:30 AM. The Monaco was ready to drive on to the truck to be taken to my home in Virginia. I’ve been working on it off and on for the last 11 months to get it reliably driveable. I think I have that accomplished. Multiple trips to the office and elsewhere are needed.


As to Carlisle, we are going to have to see how reliable the car is. Another thought is: we both live in Virginia. If you want to come for a visit, you are more than welcome. Just PM me and I’ll shoot you my phone number. Ben

 

[1970FuryConv]

Beautiful Monaco! Let 's see some closeup pics of your throttle linkage and kickdown linkage. From the one picture it looks like possibly it could use some fine tuning. Just trying to help.

Hi Dana
The accelerator cable bracket is a piece I made on my workbench to elevate the cable so that it would work properly with the carburetor, given increased height of the manifold carburetor mounting surface. Throttle valves open fully.

The kickdown linkage needs a much longer slotted rod from the carburetor throttle linkage to the pivoting bracket. I used the nut and bolt to give proper pressure on transmission kickdown lever. The car shifts fine. 1 – 2 is 20 to 25 miles an hour, 2 – 3 is 35 to 40 mph. The transmission delays those shifts at wide open throttle. It’s functioning as close to perfect as a transmission can.

However, I’m always open to suggestions and appreciate yours. I really like your Dodge from what I can see in the avatar. If there’s an introductory thread for your car, I’d like to see it, if you want to post a link. Thanks, Ben

 

[Turboomni]

Congrats and well done!

 

[70FuryFreedom]

Very nice!

 

[rv2]

@saforwardlook OK Steve, some pics of my 1973 Monaco
@bigmoparjeff Jeff, I think you expressed interest too
Short story: Bought car Jan 2021, Stockbridge, GA, FB Ad. $6000. I bought the car from an estate. Car had been sitting at least 2 years. Executor let me work on it in the dead man's driveway for 3 days to get it running enough to drive onto a car carrier. Since the carrier delivered to my home in Virginia, I have worked mainly underhood. Also, brakes. Had the dash apart to replace radio and WW switch, fix wiring. Lots wiring issues in the engine compartment. Etc.
Car is now reliably driveable and a lot of fun!
Reason for purchase. Love the body style. I had a 1973 Dodge Monaco that I sold in 2006. It ended up in Finland. Biggest regret of all my car sales by far. Promised myself if I ever found one in decent condition, I'd buy it. @71Polara383 Wyatt, to quote you. The only way this one is leaving my possession is when someone takes the keys out of my cold dead hand.
So here we go!
Hidden HL work. Had motor rebuilt by Jeff Woods, in Texas
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Very nice, I'm glad you rescued that car, I was eyeballing that one as I live nearby.
I see the car was sold new at City Dodge, City Dodge had a high performance history.